Part 4

It was about an hour later when Bunnie finally managed to track down Kyra, over a hundred miles away. Kyra had left immediately, before Bunnie even had a chance to find her. Bunnie decided to use her rockets to fly through the air- where she was in danger of being spotted by Eggman's air patrols- and eventually noticed some trees that behaved as if a small rapid tornado was moving through them.

Kyra had stopped underneath a tree near a path. She was sitting there, crying. Bunnie noticed the sudden stillness and landed. She found Kyra, brown hair fallen in a mess around her face, still crying.

"Ah'll help," she said quietly.

"No! What can you do? What can anyone do?!" she started crying even harder. "I try... I really do" she gasped between sobs "but its never... enough! Why! Oh momma... please help me! Why did you do it momma?... why!" she sobbed uncontrollably, tears drenching her face.

Bunnie knew she had lost the conversation somewhere, but she also saw that the mongoose girl needed some comforting.

"There, there sugah. Ya'll have a good cry," she said, kneeling besides Myra, "I'm here for ya."

The mongoose kept crying for several minutes, finally collapsing from lack of energy. Bunnie caught her before she fell face down, holding her up until she finished crying. Then Bunnie sat her against the tree, moving a few feet away to wait. Keeping a wary eye on the trail.

"Thanks," said the mongoose after several minutes.

Both remained silent as they ran through the forest. Neither stopped , until they reached the coastal town of Syrin. It was one of the places that had escaped the direct brunt of Robotniks tyranny, it was also notorious for its laid back atmosphere. It now resided under the protection of the National United Front- a small group of countries who learned how to turn Robotniks technology against him. The only reason they hadn't been obliterated was because he didn't consider it worth the resources to get rid of them.

They stopped at a small cafe located near the waterfront. It had a beautiful view of the sea, and since it was nearing sunset, it was exceptionally beautiful. Both received odd looks from their server, but he kept his mouth shut, and gave them their menu's.

While they waited for the food, they began to talk. Kyra especially wanted to know how Bunnie had received her robotic limbs. That brought back a lot of memories for Bunnie, many of them unpleasant, but Bunnie had never been one to avoid conversation about herself. It was also a bit easier to talk about it with someone else who had metal body parts. Before she knew it, they were talking like old friends, and old soldiers. And in a way, they had bonded as friends.

They were deep in Robotnik territory by evening. Thankfully they hadn't been bothered by his goons...yet. Both were concerned about getting to Kyra's home city as quickly as possible. Kyra wanted to make sure her city was still safe, and Bunnie wanted to fulfill Elias's request as quickly as possible. It wasn't until they were thirty miles away that they decided to stop. While their robotic parts were fine, their organic parts were wearing down and needed rest. While there wasn't any trouble yet, they needed to be prepared in case there was. Or as the saying goes: A warrior should beware of fighting when ones mind is weary. That can lead to costly mistakes.

It was still very warm out, so both sat down to rest, keeping a wary eye out for enemies.

Myra looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said, "Let me tell you my story."

Bunnie was surprised, until then Myra had been rather reluctant to talk about that. "You don't have to..."

"I want to talk about this. I trust you."

Both moved around and got comfortable, and Myra began her story.

"Remember how you told me about how you were roboticized. I wasn't that lucky," she paused, "It all started several years ago, after Robotnik declared himself supreme ruler. He attacked our city, and failed to conquer it. You know how well he takes to failure. Once he wants something, he never stops trying. Well, he attacked again, right after our v- even captured a few of our people. But most of us were safe inside our city. After that incident, we kept up our guards, traveled in groups outside, set up a special brigade to deal with S.W.A.T. Bots, and everybody was trained in combative and defensive maneuvers.

"Before we knew it, a year had passed, and their was no sign of Robotnik. Even his S.W.A.T. bots appeared less and less. By the time a year and a half had passed we began to let down our guard a bit, as the S.W.A.T. bots became infrequent. Even though I was pretty young then, I still remember hearing the adults say that they hoped Robotnik had forgotten us. I can also remember a few saying he never would...

"Eventually, most of us acted as if Robotnik didn't exist, and things were just as we thought they should be. Even if they weren't.

"Then...that day...came.

"I was still fairly young- I must of been eight, or perhaps a bit older. The year's kind of blend together around then. I was watching a grasshopper... I can still remember that. I was there at a picnic out in the hills, with my father and mother. A lot of us were out there, enjoying the summer sun. We had no clue about what was going to happen."

She stayed silent for a few seconds, her breathing quite audible, "Turns out, Robotnik was above us with an army of robots. And if that wasn't enough, he had a large boulder, which would either scatter or crush his victims, as it rolled through the valley.

"I can still remember that horrible, horrible sound- most of us looked around to see what it was. Then the ground began to shake. And then...and then my mother...grabbed me, held on as tight as she could, and ran. Their screams are stuck in my memory. Sometimes even in my nightmares. How would I even begin to describe it?! That horrible melody of death.

"But even though she ran as fast as she could, that cursed rock rolled faster. Somewhere along the way, it had hit a small dip, causing it to fly up into the air... right at my mother. Then she, I don't know how, but she threw me as hard as she could. And the boulder came down...and crushed us. I blacked out right about there, I should have died...

"The rest of my story was told to me by other people.

"To begin, I'm going to have to explain that the main person involved in this part is someone I call 'The Professor'. He was a fairly good friend of my fathers- and the key to why Robotnik has not been able to conquer our city.

"Apparently, he was supposed to have been there at the picnic, but had to check up on one of his projects. He arrived just in time to see the boulder making its path of death. He immediately sent a message back to the hospital to send out as much help as they could as quickly as possible- and to send out the brigade. Robotnik had made his move. He immediately rushed in to help those who had been grazed by the boulder or hit by flying debris. Robotnik was clever, but didn't do his homework. Several E.M.P. and magnetic bombs had been hidden around the parameter, and with The Professors warning, they were activated. The majority of Robotniks army was demolished; survivors were quickly shot at and destroyed by both on-and-off-duty members of the brigade.

"Even as that was happening, The Professor was doing everything he could to help the victims of the surprise attack. He literally tore the shirt off his back to help. Then, he found me. I've heard several say the color went out of his fur. Considering what he'd just seen, that says an awful lot.

"Although he never goes into great detail about what he saw. I do know that half my body was crushed flat under the boulder, and my hands were mangled up with fallen debris. He says it's a miracle that my head wasn't crushed. I won't even mention how much blood there was.

"I don't even know how, but the professor managed to discover a weak heartbeat. And for some reason only known to him, the professor determined that I should live.

"Thankfully he had pull with the medical staff, thanks to several life-saving inventions of his. He was able to have my legs (what little were left of them) cut off, and I was placed in a bio-stasis cocoon."

She saw Bunnies confused look and continued, "It's an intelligent bio-robotic cocoon. It'll read your DNA and figures out how your body should be. It'll then create a temporary remedy- in my case it replaced my legs by routing my blood to where it was supposed to go. I learned all that because I hang out with the Professor so much. Heh.

"Oh yeah, I almost to mention that the bio-statis also puts patients into a coma-state. A full sized one, which is what they used, will cause body functions to slow down until the heart has stopped. It's sort of like hibernation, not that I would know what that's like. The cocoon preserves your body in stasis- otherwise you'd never live when your heart stops...and now I'm just babbling. I really do spend way too much time with him.

"Back to my story, it wasn't until much later that the Professor was able to make it into the hospital. He quickly and ruthlessly found out where I was located.

"A well meant young doctor was standing outside the room, which was for Emergency patients.

"I'm sorry sir," he said to Derrick (The Professor), "But we can't allow you in there. She's in a horrible state, lost a lot of blood..."

Derrick grabbed the poor doctor by the collar "Let me in right now!" he growled fiercely "or there's going to be more blood shed tonight!"

A few of the working doctors looked up as he stormed in, and promptly looked down when they saw the look on his face.

The cocoon had been cut open at the top, and my head was visible through the hole. I was deathly still.

"There's nothing we can do," one doctor said before Derrick could open his mouth.

That stopped his march. "Nothing?" his eyes twitched between anger and fear, his voice became husky.

"No. Even if she does make it, she will never walk again. And both her hands are ruined beyond repair. Were sorry, Professor.

"Then..." his voice was still husky, so he coughed an cleared his throat. "Then you'll give her to me," his voice became more authoritative, and a determined light shone in his eyes.

"But..." another doctor interrupted him.

"I'll take her, so help me, if I have to carry her with both my bare hands! I will do it!" he took another step towards the operating table. "Joseph" he used one of the doctor's first names, something he only did when he was angry. "Re-activate the stasis-cocoon, and stitch it back up."

The doctor hesitated for a moment, and then sighed. "She's all yours now. I wish you the best of luck." he said, as he went for the supplies he needed. "And once things cool down, I'll get one of the Medi-Evacs to bring her to your place."

A few lights illuminated the center of his otherwise darkened lab. Though it had been days since he'd brought her there, her father had only visited once. Derrick did not like the look on his face, it was wild, angry, scared, and worst of all, confused and injured.

He had moved her into a clear bio-stasis tube- one that would allow her heart to keep beating. It was a strange and grotesque sight- little red and blue streams of blood floating around the area where a pair of perfectly normal and healthy legs should have been.

He knew what he had to do, if she was ever to be even remotely normal again. It was a machine that he had been working on for several months, for what he had known to be the inevitable return of Robotnik. Now his challenge was even greater: to make it work with a living organic body. It would not be easy, he had to make sure that it was the organic side controlling the mechanical parts, and not the other way around. Among many other infuriating and challenging details.

But he was not known as a genius for nothing. He soon invented the parts that he needed. Including a device that could translate the electrical currents of the mind into commands that could be understood by a machine. This, he placed in the back of her neck, after testing it on himself. Like many of his newly created parts, it was built to be lightweight and durable, as well as resistant to outside influences.

He actually hardwired it to her brain, so that it couldn't be influenced by outside power interference's. A single cord was attached with methodical precision to her spine, buried under a clay-like substance that cemented it in place, and protected it from severing. The Professor had been more cautious than usual, during that operation. Knowing full well that one slip up would ruin all he had been trying to do.

He regretted that it wasn't until afterwards, that he managed to come up with a workable radio controlled chip, which he used to control the new hands. It worked by sending the information generated by the converter in her head to the two individual computers located in her hands. But he'd also made sure to install one into the legs, for backup.

His final trick was figuring out how he was going to get the body to heal over the mechanical parts. The bio-stasis tube had worked fine until then, but he had never tested it against metal, and there was no telling what long term effects there may be. Then he came up with a solution, contain it, so it couldn't affect the metal. And while he was thinking about that, his thoughts drifted to the idea of having the gel harden after it had set. That way it could provide a rough replacement for lost limbs. If he advanced it enough, perhaps it could even replace missing bones and skin. If he made it smarter, it might even be able to replace damaged organs and muscles...

Before he realized it, two weeks had passed. And though the city was still mourning those it had lost, it was very interested in the possibilities of both his projects. So he was able to gain all the help and materials he needed.

Soon, it was the night of truth. He'd done all he could to fix Kyra's body, and had even brought it out of stasis.

"He actually took a few pictures of that, he mumbled something about scientific interest, when I asked. I looked really odd, having no legs, only a smooth rounded grey spot where they should have been. I could actually see the wire that he was going to hook up to my legs. It looked like an really odd tail."

The professor was nervous. The natural body was working fine, but he was not sure how well it would work with the robotic half. He had both halves ready, laying next to each other on the large operating table, along with the necessary tools.

The stress was just a bit too much, the future too uncertain... he needed time to compose himself. He walked out onto the deck of his house. The sky was literally ablaze with stars. Was it evening already? Derrick's intense lifestyle often left him time disoriented. As he looked out at the infinite stars, for a moment, he realized how small he really was. He was only mortal, prone to error, he could not control the future...no matter how much he truly desired to. He could change it, yes... never control it.

"I don't know who, or what's up there," he talked into the darkness "but if you have a heart, any heart at all. Then please make sure she turns out alright. I... just look after her, okay? That's all."

He continued to stare at the sky for several minutes, having said one of the only prayers he had ever said in his entire life.

Soon, the operation was over. It was nothing fancy, just hooking up the wires and making sure that her body was snugly fit into the robotic shell. He would have to watch over her until morning to make sure everything was fine. By then the sedative should have worn off.

"I remember waking up really afraid...the horrible images burned into my memory. The Professor was there, watching me, with an intense look on his face. I was crying, crying until I couldn't see. I remember screaming, wanting to see my mother, my poor dead mother." She gritted her teeth at the memory, then continued. "I raised my hand and rubbed at my eyes to clear them out, still sobbing. It was then that I noticed something was different. Though I was young, I had heard several horror stories about roboticized victims of Robotnik. The shock made me go silent. I huddled and closed my eyes, not wanting to look.

"The Professor was silent for a moment, then asked me what was wrong.

"I am a robot," I'd replied emotionlessly.

"Only half a robot," he answered me, then stood up.

"Only half?" that confused me, I only knew that you either were, or were not, a robot.

"Yes, to make up for the part of you that got injured."

"Injured, that means hurt, right?"

"Yes," he smiled a little bit.

"Did mommy...get hurt?" I felt scared.

"Yes," he seemed to grow sadder, "very, very hurt."

"Did she die?" my fear increased.

He didn't say anything, I already knew the answer.

"And my Dad?" I said, trying not to choke.

"He's still alive," the way he said it, made me feel like something was not right.

"So how are you feeling?" he changed the subject.

"How am I suh-sah-suposed," I fumbled on the large word, "to be?"

"I don't know. But I do want to see if your new hands and legs are working."

"I won't tell you everything that's happened since then, but the Professor has been my unofficial father- which was really helpful, since it took a long time for my real father to... well... get over my mother's death. And to get used to me, he had a hard time getting used to the fact I was still alive, and part robot. For a while, it was like I had died- and that hurt, bad.

"And I'm sure you've been wondering about those fancy moves of mine," Kyra perked up.

"Well... just a little," Bunnie confided with an up-tipped smile.

"Do you remember that incident with the nanites, several months ago?"

"Do I? I was in the middle of it. Nearly lost my limbs there. Ugh," Bunnie shook her head, trying to forget the awful memory.

"I'm sorry," Kyra replied quietly. "Anyhow," she continued slowly, "through some means or another, The Professor was able to get a hold of some of the nanites. His bio-stasis work was of a similar design. However, the stasis needs a sophisticated system to drive it, while the nanites are capable of thinking for themselves.

"Somehow or other, he was able to isolate the nanites, and bound them to my genetic code. That's how he explained it to me. I can't even figure how he did that, those things are microscopic.

"I didn't even know about it until the day he was ready. He explained things as they were, and asked if I wanted to take the risk. By this point, I've become used to fighting Robotnik and his goons, and I was quite willing to try anything to enhance my abilities.

"When he poured the nanites on my arm, it felt warm and tingly for a few seconds. But nothing happened.

"I think it's a dud," I'd said to the Professor.

"Try thinking about something," was all he said.

"I closed my eyes and thought about the one thing I wanted most. I opened my eyes, looked down, and gasped. My legs looked normal, absolutely and positively normal. I clapped my hands, and heard a muffled metallic ting. So it was just an illusion, but I didn't care! I was so happy I felt like I was flying. I then blinked and looked down. I was several feet off the floor. I panicked and nearly fell.

"How does it feel up there?" Derrick yelled.

"Absolutely totally wonderful!" I shouted, being careful not to lose control of my thoughts.

"By thinking about slowly descending to the floor, I soon found myself back on solid footing. I then hugged Derrick as hard as I could.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank You!" I'd exclaimed.

"Don't kill my back robo-girl," he gasped. I could tell that he was happy, though.

"I couldn't wait to tell my father the good news."

"Wow," said Bunnie, "that's some story."

"Yeah, but I think I've rested enough. I just want to get home now. I hope everything's alright."

Bunnies reply was muffled out by the loud rumble of thunder. A storm was moving in.