Ch.8 Immortal Darkness in the Stainless Mind
As Sly stared into those screens, he began to notice something. The screens were acting like a weird 3-D pattern. The kind that if you look at it long enough you see a picture. The picture seemed to be a room, a strangely familiar room. One that Sly hadn't seen for 10 years. "No, can it be?" Then there was a change of scenery.
(In Sly's mind…)
Sly was now sitting on a large red chair in the room the screens had showed him. It was the old reading room of the Cooper mansion. Sly hadn't been in it since he was 8 years old, back when his father was still alive. Everything looked like it used to be when he was a kid. Sly looked up to see that all was in order. He didn't know whether this was a dream or a hallucination caused by Sentrak's machine. But he didn't care. For years he had missed this room, this house…his father. If this little side affect gave him one minute to speak with his dad, even if it wasn't real he'd take it. Now all that was missing from the room was his dad. He looked around. He looked to the right, he looked to the left, but he couldn't find him. "Is he even here?" he thought. He was about to get up, but stopped when he felt a heaviness on his lap. He originally thought it was Sentrak's restraints that were holding him down. But as he looked down, he saw not a rope tying him to the chair, but a small raccoon child.
The boy on Sly's lap was about 8 years old. He wore a blue t-shirt and had a curios look on his face.
"Who're you?" Sly asked.
The boy giggled before answering. "I'm you're son dad!"
Sly blinked in shock. "My…son?"
"Yup!" the child smiled. "Sid Cooper is my name! Thieving's my game."
"Right… Um, Sid?"
"Yeah dad?"
"Could you do me a favor? It's a strange favor. Could you tell me about yourself? Just a bit?" Sly asked.
Sid looked at Sly quizzically, and then asked. "Is this a game?"
"A game?" Sly thought for a moment. "Sure it is."
As Sid chatted on, Sly couldn't help but smirk. This dream state was incredible! The Cooper Mansion was in perfect detail and Sid was…charmingly realistic. The raccoon was almost sad that this wasn't real. Oh well…might as well enjoy himself. But still the question remained…How did Sentrak expect him to be brainwashed this way?
Sly's thoughts were interrupted when Sid fiercely tugged at his arm. "Dad! You didn't answer my question!
Sly looked at Sid. "What question?"
"What the surprise is!" Sid reminded.
"Surprise?"
"Yeah! You said that after dinner you'd give me something real important!" Sid explained.
"Ummm…" Sly was unsure of how to answer.
"Wait, don't tell me. It's that big book, right?"
"Big Book?"
"Right, the one with all of those pictures of our ancestors. I think it's called the Thievius…something. I can't remember the last part of the title."
"The Thievius Raccoonus?" Sly thought out loud.
"Oh, yeah that's it! So is it the Thievius Raccoonus, dad?
"Sid, how old are you?"
"8 years old."
"Eight years old? Sly thought. "That's how old I was when I was supposed to inherit the book! Is it possible? Is this a simulation of that night? From my father's perspective? And if that's so…then that means that…"
As Sly was thinking, Sid had gone off his lap and looked through the window. "Dad…"
"Yes, Sid?"
"Who's that strange man in the garden?"
At hearing this, Sly sprang out of the chair and went towards the window.
A lone figure stood amidst the green. A dark silhouette of a strange creature. At first Sly couldn't tell what it was, but one look at the shadow's yellow eyes and Sly knew immediately who it was.
"Clockwerk…" he said silently.
"What dad?"
Sly turned to face his son. He put both his hands on the youth's shoulders. "Sid, Hide in the closet."
"What?"
"Hide in the closet!" Sly ordered. "And hurry!"
"Dad, what's going on?"
"Just hide Sid, hide!"
(Sly's Pov)
I felt terrible for shouting at Sid. And seeing him cry as he went into the closet, only increased my guilt. Even if Sid wasn't real, he was real enough…That I wanted to protect him.
I picked up my cane from the floor, then walked towards the door. For years I had replayed the scene of my father's battle with Clockwerk over and over. And each time I thought of it, the same question came to my mind. "Would I had done any better?" This question burned in my mind for nearly a decade. I knew fully well that I would never know. Well, now was my chance. To see if I would fare any better against the mechanical owl.
I waited a few minutes before I heard the feint creek of the door opening. And there he was. My family's ancient enemy just stood there staring at me. He looked exactly the same on that dreadful night, all those years ago: tall, menacing, wicked. Somehow, despite his size he managed to get through the door. I tried to look around him to get a glimpse of the Fiendish Five. But they weren't there. It was just me, Clockwerk…and Sid.
Minutes seemed like hours as me and Clockwerk exchanged bitter glances. I was never much of a religious thief. Ever since my father died. Still, I tried my best to say a silent prayer, but was distracted by imagining Sid, and how much I wanted to spare him from the terrible things Clockwerk may inflict upon him. And as Clockwerk shrieked and charged at me I thought. "Perhaps that in itself was a kind of prayer."
To be continued…