I was still unconscious, and could feel cold air on my body. I felt like I
was floating in the air, there was a muffled sound coming from around me.
"We tracked the beacon to the unit that was sending the signal."
"So it was him? It had been quite a while since you ran away you defective piece of junk. Put that thing in the holding cells with the other prisoners; and make sure you put an electronic inhibitors on him to prevent him from escaping."
I felt my body change direction and soon realized that I was being carried by two of something, I wasn't sure what though. Even with my eyes still closed I could still tell that the ceiling had several lights on it in a row, indicating a hallway of some sort. I could hear the sound of metal clanking on the floor and figured that my escorts must be machines. I felt another change in direction and heard the hiss of a door sliding open; I could hear voices, different than last time. They seemed to be desperate pleas for help; this must have been the prison that was mentioned earlier.
"Put him in here." Said a metallic voice from behind me
I felt my body being placed up against a cold, metal wall.
"Bring the collar." Said another voice, although it was hard to tell the difference from the first, except that they came from different places in the room. I was pulled slightly forward as a thick metal collar was placed around my neck and I was pushed back against the wall, none too gently; then shackles of some sort were placed on my arms. I began to feel a strange tingling sensation through my body that made me feel tired. I heard footsteps leaving the room and a loud slam and several booming clicks as the cell door locked.
"Well I guess I'm in a bit of trouble." I whispered softly, "hey computer, how about a little help?"
'Error.unable.determine..interference.by.'
"That's not much help." I said opening my eyes letting them adjust to the light, what little there was. The first thing I looked for was a door out of this cell; a shaft of light penetrated the darkness, a small slot on the door, just big enough to look through. I struggled to stand and managed to stand, still weakened by whatever the strange devices on my arms were. I shuffled over to the door and peered out into the main room, several other cells dotted the walls all around, and it had a high ceiling with several floors above, each the same as the one that preceded it. Inside most of the cells were ragged prisoners each behind bars. I seemed to have been put in a specially designed cell to keep me from escaping, since I was undoubtedly stronger than your average prisoner. I scanned the room and was going to try thinking of a way out, when the door opened and a man walked in. He was a large man, and very tall, much taller than any normal man should be. A thick mustache and a high collared red outfit covered his face. He turned and made eye contact with me and walked over to my cell. He came to a stop only a few inches from my face, which was still in the small slot in the door. From this close distance I could see his black eyes and the recessed red pupils that seemed to be buried in the back of his eye sockets.
"So you're awake." He said after a bit of silence, "That's good to see."
"Who are you?" I said weakly
"You don't remember me? Your creator? your master? I'm almost hurt." he said as he turned and took a few steps back and laughed softly, "No, I don't suppose you would, it's been a while and we never really 'met' each other." He said as he turned back around, the heels of his polished black shoes making a clear click as they came together.
"You must be Dr. Robotonick then." I said remembering what the computer files told me
"So you do remember; wonderful, wonderful. Maybe you also remember what you're hear for, hmm?" he said twitching his mustache
"Let me guess, I'm supposed to have a defect or something right?"
"Yes, you do." He said marching back and fourth in front of the cell. "But there is also another problem. You see you have what I would find the most despicable of all traits, especially in something that is supposed to be the image of perfection, the machine. You my friend, have a conscience." He said almost spitting on the last word as he stopped in place
"I don't see how that makes me defective, I'd say it makes me better than your perfect and mindless drones you surround yourself with."
"Oh it does make you defective, because you can't do the job that you were programmed to do."
"Kill, just like the rest of those machines of yours?"
"Precisely, but you seem to not want to follow orders. Which brings me to the reason I came down here personally to see you, do you want to know why that is?"
"Not really." I said trying to muster a small amount of humor
"Very funny; something else that's wrong with you I suppose, but seriously I have just been told that the vehicle you stole is missing its cargo. Do you happen to know what that cargo was?"
"Hmm, was it a red emerald about this big, shines a lot and is filled with energy?" I said motioning with my still shackled arms
"That's the one." He said laughing again as if anticipating the humor of my next response
"Never heard of it." I said stepping away from the door and moving into the all-concealing darkness.
Just then I heard the door open and light flooded into it. He walked over to me and pulled me out of the cell and into the light of the main room. His grip was surprisingly strong for a human being; which I was starting to begin to doubt when I looked at his hand. It was made of metal.
"I see you've noticed my hand, it's quite something isn't it?" he said walking me over to another room in the back of the prison area. He dragged me down a hallway into a small dark room, the only light coming from a large fixture on the ceiling that shown down on a complex looking chamber it seemed to be wired to the many computers that lined the wall. Wires protruded from everywhere creating an indiscernible clutter that made it seem like every wire just led to another.
"This is my favorite invention; I call it the robotosizer, try and guess what it does." He said motioning to his metal hand
I said nothing and just stared at the chamber.
"The silent treatment huh? Well then, humor me while I explain. You see this lovely machine has the power to change any organic life into a machine soldier completely obedient to me."
"I guess that means that you had a little accident." I said motioning toward his hand
"You guessed right. The process was quite painful and that was just my hand."
"The voice of experience I guess."
"True."
"Well then you mind if I guess what you're going to do next?"
"By all means try." He said still keeping a firm grip on me
"You're going to stuff me into that chamber and change me into one of your robot puppets."
"Actually no, I'm not."
"What then?"
"Just watch," he said as he turned his head toward the door, "Bring in the prisoner!"
Two soldiers walked into the room with a prisoner; it was a girl, an echidna girl.
"This is one of the newest prisoners that had been captured from a village I had ordered to be destroyed recently, lovely isn't she?"
I didn't answer, but I did agree with that last comment he made.
"I figured that since the emerald wasn't inside of the transport, you must have done something with it."
"I figure that you're right."
"Well then, guess what I'm going to do with her? No answer? Then I'll who you. Put her in the chamber and prepare to robotosizer her."
"What will this prove?"
"I think that since you have a conscience you will tell me what I want to know, or else this girl will soon be yet another minion in my 'mindless puppet' army. Her fate lies in your hands."
I could see a look of panic grip the girls body as she was held fast by the
"I ate it."
"Hmm.start the procedure."
"I told you what you wanted to know, stop this."
"I don't believe you."
"I absorbed the stupid thing, it's inside of my chest."
"Oh really? Let her go then."
The machines let the girl go and she backed away from them into a corner of the room and was breathing heavily, still panicked and confused at what was going on.
"So now what do you want?"
"Why the emerald of course."
"I told you it was inside of me."
"That's nothing a little exploratory surgery wont fix." He said pushing me into a wall, causing me to fall to the ground. He turned and left with his guards in tow and gave them the order to watch the outside of the door and make sure we didn't escape.
I had sat in a darkened corner of the room, trying to think of a way out. My computer was still on the fritz and wasn't any help, and I still couldn't move with the bindings on me that seemed to be making it hard to concentrate. I closed my eyes and could hear the room's dead silence, or near dead silence. The only sound I heard was breathing; it wasn't mine though. I looked up and saw that the girl was staring at me; even in the darkness she seemed to be staring right into my eyes. I wondered if she was afraid the situation she was in, or if she was afraid of me.
"Who are you?" she finally said after a minute or two passed
I thought about it for a minute, and remembered that the computer had called me Phoenix.
"My name is Phoenix." I said closing my eyes again, "What's yours?"
"Tik'al."
I sat in silence trying to think of a plan to get out, when she called out to me again.
"Are you still there?"
"Yes, why?"
"It's hard to tell with your eyes closed."
"How can you tell in this darkness?"
"Your eyes glow a blue light when they are open."
"I had forgotten about that."
"Why are you here anyway? What did he want with you?"
"He wants this emerald inside of my body; I'm a machine he created to kill people."
"You don't look or act like a machine to me."
"I'm not an ordinary machine; only a few things about me are mechanical, I'm mostly an organic life form like you are."
"What sort of emerald is inside of you anyway?"
"They're called chaos emeralds."
"I've seen those before, that's why I'm here."
"What do you mean?"
"I know the location of the rest of the emeralds, he brought me here and was going to torture me to find out what he wanted."
"Maybe we could get out somehow." I said looking at the shackles that still held me
"How?"
"I'll need a minute to think of that." I said opening my eyes again, 'I just hope I can come up with an idea before he tries to take me apart' I thought
"We tracked the beacon to the unit that was sending the signal."
"So it was him? It had been quite a while since you ran away you defective piece of junk. Put that thing in the holding cells with the other prisoners; and make sure you put an electronic inhibitors on him to prevent him from escaping."
I felt my body change direction and soon realized that I was being carried by two of something, I wasn't sure what though. Even with my eyes still closed I could still tell that the ceiling had several lights on it in a row, indicating a hallway of some sort. I could hear the sound of metal clanking on the floor and figured that my escorts must be machines. I felt another change in direction and heard the hiss of a door sliding open; I could hear voices, different than last time. They seemed to be desperate pleas for help; this must have been the prison that was mentioned earlier.
"Put him in here." Said a metallic voice from behind me
I felt my body being placed up against a cold, metal wall.
"Bring the collar." Said another voice, although it was hard to tell the difference from the first, except that they came from different places in the room. I was pulled slightly forward as a thick metal collar was placed around my neck and I was pushed back against the wall, none too gently; then shackles of some sort were placed on my arms. I began to feel a strange tingling sensation through my body that made me feel tired. I heard footsteps leaving the room and a loud slam and several booming clicks as the cell door locked.
"Well I guess I'm in a bit of trouble." I whispered softly, "hey computer, how about a little help?"
'Error.unable.determine..interference.by.'
"That's not much help." I said opening my eyes letting them adjust to the light, what little there was. The first thing I looked for was a door out of this cell; a shaft of light penetrated the darkness, a small slot on the door, just big enough to look through. I struggled to stand and managed to stand, still weakened by whatever the strange devices on my arms were. I shuffled over to the door and peered out into the main room, several other cells dotted the walls all around, and it had a high ceiling with several floors above, each the same as the one that preceded it. Inside most of the cells were ragged prisoners each behind bars. I seemed to have been put in a specially designed cell to keep me from escaping, since I was undoubtedly stronger than your average prisoner. I scanned the room and was going to try thinking of a way out, when the door opened and a man walked in. He was a large man, and very tall, much taller than any normal man should be. A thick mustache and a high collared red outfit covered his face. He turned and made eye contact with me and walked over to my cell. He came to a stop only a few inches from my face, which was still in the small slot in the door. From this close distance I could see his black eyes and the recessed red pupils that seemed to be buried in the back of his eye sockets.
"So you're awake." He said after a bit of silence, "That's good to see."
"Who are you?" I said weakly
"You don't remember me? Your creator? your master? I'm almost hurt." he said as he turned and took a few steps back and laughed softly, "No, I don't suppose you would, it's been a while and we never really 'met' each other." He said as he turned back around, the heels of his polished black shoes making a clear click as they came together.
"You must be Dr. Robotonick then." I said remembering what the computer files told me
"So you do remember; wonderful, wonderful. Maybe you also remember what you're hear for, hmm?" he said twitching his mustache
"Let me guess, I'm supposed to have a defect or something right?"
"Yes, you do." He said marching back and fourth in front of the cell. "But there is also another problem. You see you have what I would find the most despicable of all traits, especially in something that is supposed to be the image of perfection, the machine. You my friend, have a conscience." He said almost spitting on the last word as he stopped in place
"I don't see how that makes me defective, I'd say it makes me better than your perfect and mindless drones you surround yourself with."
"Oh it does make you defective, because you can't do the job that you were programmed to do."
"Kill, just like the rest of those machines of yours?"
"Precisely, but you seem to not want to follow orders. Which brings me to the reason I came down here personally to see you, do you want to know why that is?"
"Not really." I said trying to muster a small amount of humor
"Very funny; something else that's wrong with you I suppose, but seriously I have just been told that the vehicle you stole is missing its cargo. Do you happen to know what that cargo was?"
"Hmm, was it a red emerald about this big, shines a lot and is filled with energy?" I said motioning with my still shackled arms
"That's the one." He said laughing again as if anticipating the humor of my next response
"Never heard of it." I said stepping away from the door and moving into the all-concealing darkness.
Just then I heard the door open and light flooded into it. He walked over to me and pulled me out of the cell and into the light of the main room. His grip was surprisingly strong for a human being; which I was starting to begin to doubt when I looked at his hand. It was made of metal.
"I see you've noticed my hand, it's quite something isn't it?" he said walking me over to another room in the back of the prison area. He dragged me down a hallway into a small dark room, the only light coming from a large fixture on the ceiling that shown down on a complex looking chamber it seemed to be wired to the many computers that lined the wall. Wires protruded from everywhere creating an indiscernible clutter that made it seem like every wire just led to another.
"This is my favorite invention; I call it the robotosizer, try and guess what it does." He said motioning to his metal hand
I said nothing and just stared at the chamber.
"The silent treatment huh? Well then, humor me while I explain. You see this lovely machine has the power to change any organic life into a machine soldier completely obedient to me."
"I guess that means that you had a little accident." I said motioning toward his hand
"You guessed right. The process was quite painful and that was just my hand."
"The voice of experience I guess."
"True."
"Well then you mind if I guess what you're going to do next?"
"By all means try." He said still keeping a firm grip on me
"You're going to stuff me into that chamber and change me into one of your robot puppets."
"Actually no, I'm not."
"What then?"
"Just watch," he said as he turned his head toward the door, "Bring in the prisoner!"
Two soldiers walked into the room with a prisoner; it was a girl, an echidna girl.
"This is one of the newest prisoners that had been captured from a village I had ordered to be destroyed recently, lovely isn't she?"
I didn't answer, but I did agree with that last comment he made.
"I figured that since the emerald wasn't inside of the transport, you must have done something with it."
"I figure that you're right."
"Well then, guess what I'm going to do with her? No answer? Then I'll who you. Put her in the chamber and prepare to robotosizer her."
"What will this prove?"
"I think that since you have a conscience you will tell me what I want to know, or else this girl will soon be yet another minion in my 'mindless puppet' army. Her fate lies in your hands."
I could see a look of panic grip the girls body as she was held fast by the
"I ate it."
"Hmm.start the procedure."
"I told you what you wanted to know, stop this."
"I don't believe you."
"I absorbed the stupid thing, it's inside of my chest."
"Oh really? Let her go then."
The machines let the girl go and she backed away from them into a corner of the room and was breathing heavily, still panicked and confused at what was going on.
"So now what do you want?"
"Why the emerald of course."
"I told you it was inside of me."
"That's nothing a little exploratory surgery wont fix." He said pushing me into a wall, causing me to fall to the ground. He turned and left with his guards in tow and gave them the order to watch the outside of the door and make sure we didn't escape.
I had sat in a darkened corner of the room, trying to think of a way out. My computer was still on the fritz and wasn't any help, and I still couldn't move with the bindings on me that seemed to be making it hard to concentrate. I closed my eyes and could hear the room's dead silence, or near dead silence. The only sound I heard was breathing; it wasn't mine though. I looked up and saw that the girl was staring at me; even in the darkness she seemed to be staring right into my eyes. I wondered if she was afraid the situation she was in, or if she was afraid of me.
"Who are you?" she finally said after a minute or two passed
I thought about it for a minute, and remembered that the computer had called me Phoenix.
"My name is Phoenix." I said closing my eyes again, "What's yours?"
"Tik'al."
I sat in silence trying to think of a plan to get out, when she called out to me again.
"Are you still there?"
"Yes, why?"
"It's hard to tell with your eyes closed."
"How can you tell in this darkness?"
"Your eyes glow a blue light when they are open."
"I had forgotten about that."
"Why are you here anyway? What did he want with you?"
"He wants this emerald inside of my body; I'm a machine he created to kill people."
"You don't look or act like a machine to me."
"I'm not an ordinary machine; only a few things about me are mechanical, I'm mostly an organic life form like you are."
"What sort of emerald is inside of you anyway?"
"They're called chaos emeralds."
"I've seen those before, that's why I'm here."
"What do you mean?"
"I know the location of the rest of the emeralds, he brought me here and was going to torture me to find out what he wanted."
"Maybe we could get out somehow." I said looking at the shackles that still held me
"How?"
"I'll need a minute to think of that." I said opening my eyes again, 'I just hope I can come up with an idea before he tries to take me apart' I thought