Chapter 7: Information
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Mekion walked until he could walk no further, then collapsed under the arching fronds of a large fern. He was not in pain, for it was his robot side that had been damaged, but alerts and warnings danced through his robot brain.
He had to stop the fluid leaking from the holes so his biometal could regenerate. He tried covering them with his fingers, but it leaked through them. Then almost instinctively, he took a handful of leaves and earth and smeared it on his side. The 'bleeding' slowed and hardened into a plastic-like substance. Mekion lay on his side and rested, not thinking or scanning, just staring at nothing, as if he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.
His sleep had been interrupted, then he had experienced several minutes of pure adrenaline, and now he was tired. Even his robot half was 'tired', for it had diverted all system resources into rebuilding the damaged machinery. Had Robo Knux happened across Mekion at that moment, he could have destroyed him without Mekion offering any resistence.
Slowly his organic mind worked up to facing the things Sonic had said. His name was Shadow. Sonic was his friend. He searched his databanks for evidence of this, but there were no records from before his activation. Of course, his organic side had to come from somewhere. Why had he not thought of that before? So his robot side was Mekion and his organic side was Shadow. He smiled at the idiocy of it. But Metal Sonic was still his Master, and his mission was still to photograph Sonic at close quarters without being seen.
Another thought worked its way to the surface. Sonic had saved him from Robo Knux's claws. Why had Sonic done that? He replayed the event and considered everything Sonic had said. Ah ha. Sonic had said, "Leave Shadow alone." Sonic had interfered before Robo Knux could damage Mekion's organic side. The organic side had been Sonic's friend. Still, he supposed he owed Sonic a favor now, since Sonic had prevented Robo Knux from doing more damage.
He wanted to sleep, but he needed better shelter than a few fern fronds. He looked around. He had come to a low, marshy area where mushrooms grew everywhere, some the size of trees. There was a moldy, damp odor. From his position he looked around the area, seeking a dry spot. Everywhere was tall grass and mushrooms; he was lying on the last bit of high ground in Mushroom Hill. He checked his radar, which told him there were no Mobians for a mile and a half. Good enough for fifteen minutes at least. He rested his head on his arms and went to sleep as his biometal healed itself.
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Sonic's shouts upon recognizing Mekion had awakened everyone in the salt cave. Knuckles jumped up, bleary-eyed and horrified that Sonic had seen Mekion. "Don't start the day this way, this is all I need ..."
Tails was out the door after Sonic, and Knuckles followed him as far as the entrance. It could be a plot to lure the defenders from the cave, so Knuckles stood inside the entrance, watching for danger and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"What happened?" Espio asked behind him. "Why was Sonic yelling?"
"I think Mekion was trying to get in," said Knuckles. "Ugh, now the cat's out of the bag."
"Huh?" said Espio.
Knuckles looked at the chameleon to see that Espio was so sleepy his default purple was hot pink instead. "Mekion is Shadow. He's half-robot now."
A shocked murmur ran around the cave as the sleepy Chaotix tried to wrap their brains around this revelation. "But isn't Shadow dead?" said Mighty.
"No, he's alive and we saw him," said Chimera. The chao clawed his way out of Knuckles's sleeping bag. "Didn't we, Zinc? We knew who he was because of his smell."
"Whoa," said Vector. "That's really heavy. Think he'll remember Sonic?"
"That's what I'm afraid of," said Knuckles. "Now that Sonic knows, I don't know what will happen."
A few minutes later Tails returned, leading Sonic. The hedgehog walked with his head down, every movement spelling dejection. "Are you all right?" Knuckles called.
"Yeah," Tails called back.
Sonic refused to enter the cave and sat outside in the morning light, head in his hands. Tails entered the cave, eyes wide. "Robo Knux attacked Mekion."
"What?" Knuckles stared at him. "What do you mean, attacked him?"
"Ran at him and stabbed him with his claws," said the fox. "Sonic jumped Robo Knux and ran him off, then Mekion acted like he wanted to fight Sonic, too. Sonic let him go."
"How's Sonic?"
Tails glanced at the still figure outside. "He hasn't said anything since I got there."
Knuckles looked at Sonic and sighed. "Leave him alone. He's had a shock."
Robo Knux had attacked Mekion! They couldn't be working together. Had Sonic damaged Robo Knux? Had Sonic spoke to Mekion? Was Mekion hurt? Knuckles wanted to ask, but he left Sonic alone and attended to more mundane things, like rolling up sleeping bags and opening up a box of food for breakfast. Zephyer helped him, and he was glad to have her near.
After a while she looked at him and murmured, "Do you think I could, maybe, use the Master Emerald again today?"
"You liked your taste of power, huh?" he smiled.
She nodded, eyes shining. "I've felt it before, but it always shocked me. This time it didn't." Then, changing subjects so fast it made his head spin, she went on, "Sonic looks awful. Maybe we should have told him about Shadow after all."
"I don't know," said Knuckles. "I'm out of my depth on this one."
"Trust me on this," said Zephyer. "You should have told him."
After getting breakfast for everyone else, Knuckles ventured out to Sonic. "You want anything?"
"No," said Sonic. Then he looked up, eyes blazing. "Why didn't you tell me he was Shadow?"
"I didn't ... didn't want you to get hurt," said Knuckles.
"And that was supposed to help me?" said Sonic. "Shadow's alive, and you don't tell me! What's with you and being all secretive? So he's a Mecha-bot now, big deal. You know Robo Knux was trying to kill him? He can't be all bad."
"I ..."
"Yeah, you think you can boss me around and run my life. Well, guess what, you can't!"
Knuckles bristled at Sonic's tone, but felt Zephyer's hand on his shoulder, and kept quiet.
Sonic turned on her. "And what about you? You knew too, didn't you?"
"I take it Shadow didn't recognize you," she said coolly.
"No!" exclaimed Sonic, voice cracking. "He didn't!"
"Then it doesn't make any different whether you knew about him or not," said Zephyer.
"But you should have told me!" Sonic's face worked as if he was holding back tears, then he jumped to his feet and ran into the woods.
Knuckles started after him, but Zephyer held him back. "He'll be okay, Knux."
"But Robo Knux!"
She gave him a sarcastic look. "I don't you'd be a match for Sonic when he's like this, so what makes you think a robot would?"
He exhaled and returned to the cave. He hated this situation, he hated it!
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"Mekion ... oh Mekion ... Guess what! Your network hardware is on!"
The cyborg's head jerked up, spines standing up along his back. He was still lying under the green canopy of the fern, and crickets chirped all around. The air was still and warm. He sent a panicked scan around the area and found he was alone. Then he did a radar sweep and discovered Robo Knux was out of range. Why was he not attacking?
"Caught you napping, didn't I?" said Robo Knux though the voice transmission link. "Too bad your systems come online as soon as you wake up."
"Why aren't you hunting me?" Mekion whispered. He pushed the fronds back and gazed at the mushroom swamp, thinking of hiding spots and cover. However, if he could keep his enemy talking he might discover some way of foiling him.
"I am hunting you," said Robo Knux. "Just not at the moment. I am damaged, you see. By the way, are you dying? I hope you are."
Mekion checked the holes in his side. His black metal was plastered with a hard clear substance, and the holes were no longer leaking. His systems were running at half power, but the internal damage was sealed and 22% regenerated. But there was no reason to tell Robo Knux that. He remained silent, and Robo Knux laughed, the word 'ha' repeated at various frequencies.
"So I hurt you badly, then! I'm considering adding diamond tips to my claws. They'd do even more damage then."
Mekion did not answer.
"I know you're listening," said Robo Knux. "Your network hardware is still on. Why not talk to me and make my repair-time a little more fun?"
Mekion considered, and remembered with uneasiness that Sonic had mentioned Nox. "Who was Nox?" he asked.
A note of evil glee crept into Robo Knux's voice. "You don't remember him, do you?" Mekion kept quiet, and Robo Knux went on, "Ahh, the bliss of psychologically harming someone! Just be sure to tell your Master that you asked."
Mekion said nothing, knowing that Robo Knux was so egotistical that nothing would shut him up now.
"Okay," said Robo Knux. "This is Nox. He was your chao." He beamed Mekion three screen-stills of a black hedgehog-chao with orange stripes on its spines. In one of the images was a black hedgehog holding the chao. "Oh, that's how you used to look," Robo Knux added. "Remember anything yet?"
"No," said Mekion, copying the images to his databanks to review later.
"You will," said Robo Knux. He proceeded to relate the story with the ARK and Shadow's past doings, which the Mecha-bots had pieced together from news articles and Robotnik's records. Robo Knux was sketchy about what had happened at the last moment, when a Chaos Control had saved the ARK, but he concluded with satisfaction, "All we know is that you died. You were stone-dead when that chao turned into a phoenix and grabbed you. He carried you back to Mobius. Here's some snapshots." He relayed several images of a fireball falling from the afternoon sky, a trail of smoke in its wake.
"Mecha saw you fall, he took these pictures. He ran to the point of impact, and there he found..." Robo Knux paused dramatically, then beamed a high-resolution image of a white hedgehog in a crater with a huge golden bird crouched over him. "That bird was your faithful chao, Nox," said Robo Knux. "He was dying in this picture. Here's another."
Another image, this time the bird's golden feathers were gray, and the sprawled figure of the white hedgehog had a golden aura around it.
"Then your chao turned back into a chao, and he was dead. But you were alive."
Another image of the white hedgehog with the black chao in his arms, tears streaming down his face, looking into the camera with a destitute expression.
"Metal Sonic liked you, I guess. He brought you back to his base and made you into Mekion."
Mekion listened to the story and looked at the pictures, but they aroused no feelings within him. It might have all happened to someone else. At least he knew who Nox was. He reviewed the images of the black chao, and felt a mild touch, again, of something mortal and near to his heart, an echo of the hedgehog he had once been. "Thank you for the information," he said.
"Are you psychologically damaged?" asked Robo Knux eagerly. "In tears, perhaps?"
Mekion didn't answer.
"Ah, probably crying," said Robo Knux in satisfaction. "Metal Sonic will be so peeved at me. Here's a tip, Mekion. Always include duct tape in a repair kit. My arm's as good as new."
At once Mekion shut off his network equipment. The respite was over, and it was time to resume the survival test. At least now he possessed information on what had happened to him before his activation date. He slipped out of the fern and glided down into the marsh among the mushrooms.
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Sonic stood on the top of a hill, gazing north into the eye of the wind that continued to push the island onward. It dried the tears on his face and ruffled his fur, and he faced it as if it were an enemy. He was hurt and angry--angry at Knuckles for concealing Shadow, angry at Zephyer for siding with Knuckles, angry at himself for being so weak as to cry, and angry at Mekion for being Mekion and not Shadow.
Deep down he knew that everything Knuckles had done had been in Sonic's best interest, but that did not stop him from resenting it. Blast Knuckles for caring so much! Shadow, why did you have to come back as a mind-wiped slave?
Conflicting with this was a strangling joy. Sonic knew Shadow was alive, he had felt it, known it! Shadow had to be in there somewhere, deep down. Metal Sonic and Robo Knux were not neuro-surgeons--they might plug stuff into a brain, but they wouldn't tamper with the brain itself. Shadow was still there, buried under the ferocious exterior.
Sonic wiped his face and sniffed. He would show Knuckles--he would find Mekion and make him remember, somehow. He turned in a circle, surveying the island from his hilltop, and wishing he could home in on Mekion the way Knuckles could the Master Emerald. The sky and ocean were blue for as far as the eye could see, except for a line of white clouds on the eastern horizon. The air was mild, the sun warm on his head. This was the climate the island liked.
He plunged down the hill, through a stand of trees, skirted a dense bamboo forest, climbed a hill, descended its grassy side, and found himself surrounded by three-foot-tall mushrooms. Sonic paused and looked around. Mushroom Hill looked the same as it did the last time he was here; tall, widely spaced trees that cast dense shade, where the mushrooms flourished.
Sonic ran among them, ignoring unpleasant fungi odors and avoiding low spots where the ground was wet. He didn't know why he was here, except that he knew that even Knuckles seldom visited this area, because of the mosquitos and gnats--
Something slipped behind a mushroom.
Sonic skidded to a halt, staring. Mekion? Or Robo Knux? All he had seen was the movement, not the color. He slunk toward the mushroom, ready to run. "Hello?" he called. "It's me, Sonic. I won't hurt you." If it was Robo Knux he'd just tear off his other arm.
A black head edged around the corner of the mushroom's cap, and Mekion looked at Sonic with one eye. Sonic froze and watched him, forgetting everything he had intended to say. The two stared at each other for a long moment without moving. Sonic wished he would send a signal that he was friendly, but the only thing he could think to do was put his hands above his head, and he didn't want to surrender. Then he recalled something Slasher had told him years ago: put yourself lower than them and make yourself small. Smaller is less threatening.
Sonic sank slowly until he was sitting on the mossy ground. "See?" he said. "I don't want to hurt you, Mekion. Have ... have you been programmed to hate me?"
Mekion's head gave the ghost of a shake--no.
Sonic felt relief wash over him. All the Mecha-bots were programmed to hate and fear him, but maybe they couldn't do it with Mekion. "Are you supposed to kill me?"
Again that tiny negative head shake. Another good sign! Sonic leaned forward, willing himself to reach the hedgehog under the machinery. "So why do you call me your enemy?"
Mekion was still for several minutes. Then he stepped into the open and stood looking at Sonic. Had Sonic known it, Mekion was making himself vulnerable by leaving cover. It was his way of showing he meant no harm, the way Sonic was sitting down. But Sonic thought that Mekion meant to attack him and tensed.
Now he had a chance to look at Mekion. One half of him was Shadow, pitifully thin with ribs sowing through his fur, and his eye was sunken. His robot side, on the other hand, was built to resemble muscles, and his robot spines were crooked metal blades. The mixture of delicate mortal and invincible machine created a lopsided, pitiable creature, and Sonic longed to sit him down, talk to him, and get him a few square meals.
"I call you my enemy," whispered Mekion, "because my Master told me you are the most dangerous creature I will ever meet."
Sonic was flattered and tempted to laugh, but had the sense not to. "You're as dangerous as I am."
"I am primarily a stealth unit," said Mekion, his flesh-side frowning. "You engage in combat. I must therefore avoid you. But--" He passed a hand over his face in a gesture Sonic recognized. "Why did you defend me from Robo Knux?"
Sonic scrambled for an answer. Because you're my friend? Because Robo Knux was going to kill you? Because your master--Robotnik, probably--is a diabolical fiend and you don't know it?
"I knew you before they made you into a robot," said Sonic, trying to phrase his thoughts so a mind-wiped slave would understand them. "We were enemies at first, but then we got to be friends. I saved you from the Biolizard, and then--" He stopped, feeling the old torment return, and concluded, "You're still the same person, even if you don't remember. That's why I saved you."
Mekion gazed at him and said nothing. Sonic gazed back, hearing the wind in the treetops and wishing it would stir the still air around him. He was so tense that sweat was soaking the spines on his back.
"Correction," said Mekion. "Shadow was your friend. Mekion is your enemy." He motioned to his flesh side. "This is Shadow." He motioned to his robot side. "This is Mekion."
iOh great,/i thought Sonic, ihe's got duel personalities./i Groping for an argument against this, he noticed the clear plastic-stuff on the metal where Robo Knux's claws had punctured it. "But Robo Knux attacked Mekion," Sonic said triumphantly. "And I defended Mekion. You're still my friend, even with a different name."
"All of me?" said Mekion, looking surprised.
"Yes," said Sonic. "I want to help you."
Mekion thought about this. "No. I cannot allow that. It would hurt my Master, and the First Law is that I cannot allow my Master to be hurt."
"First Law?" said Sonic. "You have laws now?"
"Yes," said Mekion. His head turned and he gazed off across Mushroom Hill. "Run," he said, and bolted for the shelter of a clump of mushrooms.
Sonic jumped to his feet and watched Mekion run--he had robotic feet similar to his hoverskates, and moved as if half-running half-skating. Then Sonic looked in the direction Mekion had looked, and heard the low hum of Robo Knux's engines.
What was the deal with Robo Knux, anyway? He hesitated a second, then ran through the mushrooms toward the robot. "Hey! Hey! Over here, you moron!" Sonic saw Robo Knux halfway up the hill, head turning from Mekion's location to Sonic and back, as if he was deciding who he hated worse.
"What's the matter?" Sonic yelled. "Scared I'll tear your other arm off?
"Ha," Robo Knux replied, his uninjured arm panels folding down to reveal the barrel of a gun. "I've never been scared of you, Sonic."
Sonic dodged as Robo Knux fired a rocket that struck a mushroom and exploded in orange fire and a cloud of spores. Robo Knux watched this unusual sight with interest. "They explode! Is that what they call a mushroom cloud?"
"Your puns are as bad as your aim," said Sonic. "I think you've gotten rusty." He bolted off at an angle, and Robo Knux fired another rocket. It missed Sonic and blew up a mushroom cluster instead.
"Even though I missed, I find this extremely satisfying," said the robot, watching bits of fungi hit the ground.
Sonic ran toward the robot and curled into a spindash at the last second. Robo Knux flung up his wing-like arm to shield himself and at the same time slashed at the ball of spines with his other hand. Sonic glanced off his arm, knocking the robot over, and landed on his feet with a shallow gash along the back of his neck. Sonic knew better than to stand there and check for blood, so he ran circles around his enemy as the robot stood up and aimed his rocket launcher at Sonic.
"Why bother me, Sonic?" said Robo Knux. "I haven't bothered you or your little friends, but you're starting to tick me off."
"Why do you keep attacking Mekion?" said Sonic, and dashed in for another hit. Again Robo Knux deflected the blow.
"So this is about the cyborg freak," said Robo Knux, his green eyes flashing in derision. "I'm going to destroy him because doing so would upset Metal Sonic."
"Why should Mecha care?" said Sonic, and flashed in to attack. This time Robo Knux met him with both sets of claws, and ripped chunks out of Sonic's spines as the hedgehog whipped by. "Mecha cares because he built Mekion," said Robo Knux, brushing blue quills out of his claws. "Need I say more?"
"I suggest you leave before I rip both your arms off," said Sonic.
Robo Knux laughed. "Oh, is that what you're trying to do? I thought you wanted to dance."
Sonic crouched for an instant as Robo Knux rotated weapons in his arm to something with a faster fire-rate. Before the robot could fire, Sonic vanished. Robo Knux was surrounded by a blue whirlwind, and the blows came so fast he could not block them. He fired in all directions, spraying the wood with bullets, before his gun stopped working.
Silence fell, and Sonic skidded to a halt, panting. Robo Knux looked down at his arms, which were hanging from his shoulders in mangled tatters. Then he looked up and cursed Sonic's paternal line four generations back.
Sonic shook a finger. "Robotnik needs to clean out your vocabulary storage. See you around."
Then he was gone, leaving Robo Knux fuming and disarmed.
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Mekion walked until he could walk no further, then collapsed under the arching fronds of a large fern. He was not in pain, for it was his robot side that had been damaged, but alerts and warnings danced through his robot brain.
He had to stop the fluid leaking from the holes so his biometal could regenerate. He tried covering them with his fingers, but it leaked through them. Then almost instinctively, he took a handful of leaves and earth and smeared it on his side. The 'bleeding' slowed and hardened into a plastic-like substance. Mekion lay on his side and rested, not thinking or scanning, just staring at nothing, as if he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.
His sleep had been interrupted, then he had experienced several minutes of pure adrenaline, and now he was tired. Even his robot half was 'tired', for it had diverted all system resources into rebuilding the damaged machinery. Had Robo Knux happened across Mekion at that moment, he could have destroyed him without Mekion offering any resistence.
Slowly his organic mind worked up to facing the things Sonic had said. His name was Shadow. Sonic was his friend. He searched his databanks for evidence of this, but there were no records from before his activation. Of course, his organic side had to come from somewhere. Why had he not thought of that before? So his robot side was Mekion and his organic side was Shadow. He smiled at the idiocy of it. But Metal Sonic was still his Master, and his mission was still to photograph Sonic at close quarters without being seen.
Another thought worked its way to the surface. Sonic had saved him from Robo Knux's claws. Why had Sonic done that? He replayed the event and considered everything Sonic had said. Ah ha. Sonic had said, "Leave Shadow alone." Sonic had interfered before Robo Knux could damage Mekion's organic side. The organic side had been Sonic's friend. Still, he supposed he owed Sonic a favor now, since Sonic had prevented Robo Knux from doing more damage.
He wanted to sleep, but he needed better shelter than a few fern fronds. He looked around. He had come to a low, marshy area where mushrooms grew everywhere, some the size of trees. There was a moldy, damp odor. From his position he looked around the area, seeking a dry spot. Everywhere was tall grass and mushrooms; he was lying on the last bit of high ground in Mushroom Hill. He checked his radar, which told him there were no Mobians for a mile and a half. Good enough for fifteen minutes at least. He rested his head on his arms and went to sleep as his biometal healed itself.
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Sonic's shouts upon recognizing Mekion had awakened everyone in the salt cave. Knuckles jumped up, bleary-eyed and horrified that Sonic had seen Mekion. "Don't start the day this way, this is all I need ..."
Tails was out the door after Sonic, and Knuckles followed him as far as the entrance. It could be a plot to lure the defenders from the cave, so Knuckles stood inside the entrance, watching for danger and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"What happened?" Espio asked behind him. "Why was Sonic yelling?"
"I think Mekion was trying to get in," said Knuckles. "Ugh, now the cat's out of the bag."
"Huh?" said Espio.
Knuckles looked at the chameleon to see that Espio was so sleepy his default purple was hot pink instead. "Mekion is Shadow. He's half-robot now."
A shocked murmur ran around the cave as the sleepy Chaotix tried to wrap their brains around this revelation. "But isn't Shadow dead?" said Mighty.
"No, he's alive and we saw him," said Chimera. The chao clawed his way out of Knuckles's sleeping bag. "Didn't we, Zinc? We knew who he was because of his smell."
"Whoa," said Vector. "That's really heavy. Think he'll remember Sonic?"
"That's what I'm afraid of," said Knuckles. "Now that Sonic knows, I don't know what will happen."
A few minutes later Tails returned, leading Sonic. The hedgehog walked with his head down, every movement spelling dejection. "Are you all right?" Knuckles called.
"Yeah," Tails called back.
Sonic refused to enter the cave and sat outside in the morning light, head in his hands. Tails entered the cave, eyes wide. "Robo Knux attacked Mekion."
"What?" Knuckles stared at him. "What do you mean, attacked him?"
"Ran at him and stabbed him with his claws," said the fox. "Sonic jumped Robo Knux and ran him off, then Mekion acted like he wanted to fight Sonic, too. Sonic let him go."
"How's Sonic?"
Tails glanced at the still figure outside. "He hasn't said anything since I got there."
Knuckles looked at Sonic and sighed. "Leave him alone. He's had a shock."
Robo Knux had attacked Mekion! They couldn't be working together. Had Sonic damaged Robo Knux? Had Sonic spoke to Mekion? Was Mekion hurt? Knuckles wanted to ask, but he left Sonic alone and attended to more mundane things, like rolling up sleeping bags and opening up a box of food for breakfast. Zephyer helped him, and he was glad to have her near.
After a while she looked at him and murmured, "Do you think I could, maybe, use the Master Emerald again today?"
"You liked your taste of power, huh?" he smiled.
She nodded, eyes shining. "I've felt it before, but it always shocked me. This time it didn't." Then, changing subjects so fast it made his head spin, she went on, "Sonic looks awful. Maybe we should have told him about Shadow after all."
"I don't know," said Knuckles. "I'm out of my depth on this one."
"Trust me on this," said Zephyer. "You should have told him."
After getting breakfast for everyone else, Knuckles ventured out to Sonic. "You want anything?"
"No," said Sonic. Then he looked up, eyes blazing. "Why didn't you tell me he was Shadow?"
"I didn't ... didn't want you to get hurt," said Knuckles.
"And that was supposed to help me?" said Sonic. "Shadow's alive, and you don't tell me! What's with you and being all secretive? So he's a Mecha-bot now, big deal. You know Robo Knux was trying to kill him? He can't be all bad."
"I ..."
"Yeah, you think you can boss me around and run my life. Well, guess what, you can't!"
Knuckles bristled at Sonic's tone, but felt Zephyer's hand on his shoulder, and kept quiet.
Sonic turned on her. "And what about you? You knew too, didn't you?"
"I take it Shadow didn't recognize you," she said coolly.
"No!" exclaimed Sonic, voice cracking. "He didn't!"
"Then it doesn't make any different whether you knew about him or not," said Zephyer.
"But you should have told me!" Sonic's face worked as if he was holding back tears, then he jumped to his feet and ran into the woods.
Knuckles started after him, but Zephyer held him back. "He'll be okay, Knux."
"But Robo Knux!"
She gave him a sarcastic look. "I don't you'd be a match for Sonic when he's like this, so what makes you think a robot would?"
He exhaled and returned to the cave. He hated this situation, he hated it!
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"Mekion ... oh Mekion ... Guess what! Your network hardware is on!"
The cyborg's head jerked up, spines standing up along his back. He was still lying under the green canopy of the fern, and crickets chirped all around. The air was still and warm. He sent a panicked scan around the area and found he was alone. Then he did a radar sweep and discovered Robo Knux was out of range. Why was he not attacking?
"Caught you napping, didn't I?" said Robo Knux though the voice transmission link. "Too bad your systems come online as soon as you wake up."
"Why aren't you hunting me?" Mekion whispered. He pushed the fronds back and gazed at the mushroom swamp, thinking of hiding spots and cover. However, if he could keep his enemy talking he might discover some way of foiling him.
"I am hunting you," said Robo Knux. "Just not at the moment. I am damaged, you see. By the way, are you dying? I hope you are."
Mekion checked the holes in his side. His black metal was plastered with a hard clear substance, and the holes were no longer leaking. His systems were running at half power, but the internal damage was sealed and 22% regenerated. But there was no reason to tell Robo Knux that. He remained silent, and Robo Knux laughed, the word 'ha' repeated at various frequencies.
"So I hurt you badly, then! I'm considering adding diamond tips to my claws. They'd do even more damage then."
Mekion did not answer.
"I know you're listening," said Robo Knux. "Your network hardware is still on. Why not talk to me and make my repair-time a little more fun?"
Mekion considered, and remembered with uneasiness that Sonic had mentioned Nox. "Who was Nox?" he asked.
A note of evil glee crept into Robo Knux's voice. "You don't remember him, do you?" Mekion kept quiet, and Robo Knux went on, "Ahh, the bliss of psychologically harming someone! Just be sure to tell your Master that you asked."
Mekion said nothing, knowing that Robo Knux was so egotistical that nothing would shut him up now.
"Okay," said Robo Knux. "This is Nox. He was your chao." He beamed Mekion three screen-stills of a black hedgehog-chao with orange stripes on its spines. In one of the images was a black hedgehog holding the chao. "Oh, that's how you used to look," Robo Knux added. "Remember anything yet?"
"No," said Mekion, copying the images to his databanks to review later.
"You will," said Robo Knux. He proceeded to relate the story with the ARK and Shadow's past doings, which the Mecha-bots had pieced together from news articles and Robotnik's records. Robo Knux was sketchy about what had happened at the last moment, when a Chaos Control had saved the ARK, but he concluded with satisfaction, "All we know is that you died. You were stone-dead when that chao turned into a phoenix and grabbed you. He carried you back to Mobius. Here's some snapshots." He relayed several images of a fireball falling from the afternoon sky, a trail of smoke in its wake.
"Mecha saw you fall, he took these pictures. He ran to the point of impact, and there he found..." Robo Knux paused dramatically, then beamed a high-resolution image of a white hedgehog in a crater with a huge golden bird crouched over him. "That bird was your faithful chao, Nox," said Robo Knux. "He was dying in this picture. Here's another."
Another image, this time the bird's golden feathers were gray, and the sprawled figure of the white hedgehog had a golden aura around it.
"Then your chao turned back into a chao, and he was dead. But you were alive."
Another image of the white hedgehog with the black chao in his arms, tears streaming down his face, looking into the camera with a destitute expression.
"Metal Sonic liked you, I guess. He brought you back to his base and made you into Mekion."
Mekion listened to the story and looked at the pictures, but they aroused no feelings within him. It might have all happened to someone else. At least he knew who Nox was. He reviewed the images of the black chao, and felt a mild touch, again, of something mortal and near to his heart, an echo of the hedgehog he had once been. "Thank you for the information," he said.
"Are you psychologically damaged?" asked Robo Knux eagerly. "In tears, perhaps?"
Mekion didn't answer.
"Ah, probably crying," said Robo Knux in satisfaction. "Metal Sonic will be so peeved at me. Here's a tip, Mekion. Always include duct tape in a repair kit. My arm's as good as new."
At once Mekion shut off his network equipment. The respite was over, and it was time to resume the survival test. At least now he possessed information on what had happened to him before his activation date. He slipped out of the fern and glided down into the marsh among the mushrooms.
center* * */center
Sonic stood on the top of a hill, gazing north into the eye of the wind that continued to push the island onward. It dried the tears on his face and ruffled his fur, and he faced it as if it were an enemy. He was hurt and angry--angry at Knuckles for concealing Shadow, angry at Zephyer for siding with Knuckles, angry at himself for being so weak as to cry, and angry at Mekion for being Mekion and not Shadow.
Deep down he knew that everything Knuckles had done had been in Sonic's best interest, but that did not stop him from resenting it. Blast Knuckles for caring so much! Shadow, why did you have to come back as a mind-wiped slave?
Conflicting with this was a strangling joy. Sonic knew Shadow was alive, he had felt it, known it! Shadow had to be in there somewhere, deep down. Metal Sonic and Robo Knux were not neuro-surgeons--they might plug stuff into a brain, but they wouldn't tamper with the brain itself. Shadow was still there, buried under the ferocious exterior.
Sonic wiped his face and sniffed. He would show Knuckles--he would find Mekion and make him remember, somehow. He turned in a circle, surveying the island from his hilltop, and wishing he could home in on Mekion the way Knuckles could the Master Emerald. The sky and ocean were blue for as far as the eye could see, except for a line of white clouds on the eastern horizon. The air was mild, the sun warm on his head. This was the climate the island liked.
He plunged down the hill, through a stand of trees, skirted a dense bamboo forest, climbed a hill, descended its grassy side, and found himself surrounded by three-foot-tall mushrooms. Sonic paused and looked around. Mushroom Hill looked the same as it did the last time he was here; tall, widely spaced trees that cast dense shade, where the mushrooms flourished.
Sonic ran among them, ignoring unpleasant fungi odors and avoiding low spots where the ground was wet. He didn't know why he was here, except that he knew that even Knuckles seldom visited this area, because of the mosquitos and gnats--
Something slipped behind a mushroom.
Sonic skidded to a halt, staring. Mekion? Or Robo Knux? All he had seen was the movement, not the color. He slunk toward the mushroom, ready to run. "Hello?" he called. "It's me, Sonic. I won't hurt you." If it was Robo Knux he'd just tear off his other arm.
A black head edged around the corner of the mushroom's cap, and Mekion looked at Sonic with one eye. Sonic froze and watched him, forgetting everything he had intended to say. The two stared at each other for a long moment without moving. Sonic wished he would send a signal that he was friendly, but the only thing he could think to do was put his hands above his head, and he didn't want to surrender. Then he recalled something Slasher had told him years ago: put yourself lower than them and make yourself small. Smaller is less threatening.
Sonic sank slowly until he was sitting on the mossy ground. "See?" he said. "I don't want to hurt you, Mekion. Have ... have you been programmed to hate me?"
Mekion's head gave the ghost of a shake--no.
Sonic felt relief wash over him. All the Mecha-bots were programmed to hate and fear him, but maybe they couldn't do it with Mekion. "Are you supposed to kill me?"
Again that tiny negative head shake. Another good sign! Sonic leaned forward, willing himself to reach the hedgehog under the machinery. "So why do you call me your enemy?"
Mekion was still for several minutes. Then he stepped into the open and stood looking at Sonic. Had Sonic known it, Mekion was making himself vulnerable by leaving cover. It was his way of showing he meant no harm, the way Sonic was sitting down. But Sonic thought that Mekion meant to attack him and tensed.
Now he had a chance to look at Mekion. One half of him was Shadow, pitifully thin with ribs sowing through his fur, and his eye was sunken. His robot side, on the other hand, was built to resemble muscles, and his robot spines were crooked metal blades. The mixture of delicate mortal and invincible machine created a lopsided, pitiable creature, and Sonic longed to sit him down, talk to him, and get him a few square meals.
"I call you my enemy," whispered Mekion, "because my Master told me you are the most dangerous creature I will ever meet."
Sonic was flattered and tempted to laugh, but had the sense not to. "You're as dangerous as I am."
"I am primarily a stealth unit," said Mekion, his flesh-side frowning. "You engage in combat. I must therefore avoid you. But--" He passed a hand over his face in a gesture Sonic recognized. "Why did you defend me from Robo Knux?"
Sonic scrambled for an answer. Because you're my friend? Because Robo Knux was going to kill you? Because your master--Robotnik, probably--is a diabolical fiend and you don't know it?
"I knew you before they made you into a robot," said Sonic, trying to phrase his thoughts so a mind-wiped slave would understand them. "We were enemies at first, but then we got to be friends. I saved you from the Biolizard, and then--" He stopped, feeling the old torment return, and concluded, "You're still the same person, even if you don't remember. That's why I saved you."
Mekion gazed at him and said nothing. Sonic gazed back, hearing the wind in the treetops and wishing it would stir the still air around him. He was so tense that sweat was soaking the spines on his back.
"Correction," said Mekion. "Shadow was your friend. Mekion is your enemy." He motioned to his flesh side. "This is Shadow." He motioned to his robot side. "This is Mekion."
iOh great,/i thought Sonic, ihe's got duel personalities./i Groping for an argument against this, he noticed the clear plastic-stuff on the metal where Robo Knux's claws had punctured it. "But Robo Knux attacked Mekion," Sonic said triumphantly. "And I defended Mekion. You're still my friend, even with a different name."
"All of me?" said Mekion, looking surprised.
"Yes," said Sonic. "I want to help you."
Mekion thought about this. "No. I cannot allow that. It would hurt my Master, and the First Law is that I cannot allow my Master to be hurt."
"First Law?" said Sonic. "You have laws now?"
"Yes," said Mekion. His head turned and he gazed off across Mushroom Hill. "Run," he said, and bolted for the shelter of a clump of mushrooms.
Sonic jumped to his feet and watched Mekion run--he had robotic feet similar to his hoverskates, and moved as if half-running half-skating. Then Sonic looked in the direction Mekion had looked, and heard the low hum of Robo Knux's engines.
What was the deal with Robo Knux, anyway? He hesitated a second, then ran through the mushrooms toward the robot. "Hey! Hey! Over here, you moron!" Sonic saw Robo Knux halfway up the hill, head turning from Mekion's location to Sonic and back, as if he was deciding who he hated worse.
"What's the matter?" Sonic yelled. "Scared I'll tear your other arm off?
"Ha," Robo Knux replied, his uninjured arm panels folding down to reveal the barrel of a gun. "I've never been scared of you, Sonic."
Sonic dodged as Robo Knux fired a rocket that struck a mushroom and exploded in orange fire and a cloud of spores. Robo Knux watched this unusual sight with interest. "They explode! Is that what they call a mushroom cloud?"
"Your puns are as bad as your aim," said Sonic. "I think you've gotten rusty." He bolted off at an angle, and Robo Knux fired another rocket. It missed Sonic and blew up a mushroom cluster instead.
"Even though I missed, I find this extremely satisfying," said the robot, watching bits of fungi hit the ground.
Sonic ran toward the robot and curled into a spindash at the last second. Robo Knux flung up his wing-like arm to shield himself and at the same time slashed at the ball of spines with his other hand. Sonic glanced off his arm, knocking the robot over, and landed on his feet with a shallow gash along the back of his neck. Sonic knew better than to stand there and check for blood, so he ran circles around his enemy as the robot stood up and aimed his rocket launcher at Sonic.
"Why bother me, Sonic?" said Robo Knux. "I haven't bothered you or your little friends, but you're starting to tick me off."
"Why do you keep attacking Mekion?" said Sonic, and dashed in for another hit. Again Robo Knux deflected the blow.
"So this is about the cyborg freak," said Robo Knux, his green eyes flashing in derision. "I'm going to destroy him because doing so would upset Metal Sonic."
"Why should Mecha care?" said Sonic, and flashed in to attack. This time Robo Knux met him with both sets of claws, and ripped chunks out of Sonic's spines as the hedgehog whipped by. "Mecha cares because he built Mekion," said Robo Knux, brushing blue quills out of his claws. "Need I say more?"
"I suggest you leave before I rip both your arms off," said Sonic.
Robo Knux laughed. "Oh, is that what you're trying to do? I thought you wanted to dance."
Sonic crouched for an instant as Robo Knux rotated weapons in his arm to something with a faster fire-rate. Before the robot could fire, Sonic vanished. Robo Knux was surrounded by a blue whirlwind, and the blows came so fast he could not block them. He fired in all directions, spraying the wood with bullets, before his gun stopped working.
Silence fell, and Sonic skidded to a halt, panting. Robo Knux looked down at his arms, which were hanging from his shoulders in mangled tatters. Then he looked up and cursed Sonic's paternal line four generations back.
Sonic shook a finger. "Robotnik needs to clean out your vocabulary storage. See you around."
Then he was gone, leaving Robo Knux fuming and disarmed.
