The Humans' Dilemma

Among Guardians Corin was unusual, perhaps, even unique. He had been through the years of training on Angel Island, graduated just as almost every other student had, however he did not possess a Charge. He was nonetheless important, the position he held was crucial. He was growing increasingly nervous. Corin was the single representative of Guardian kind, in what the humans laughingly called democracy. He held no place on any of the individually squabbling governments. No country had any wish to declare the wandering Angel Island as its own. The few other countries containing similar Guardian Schools chose almost exclusively to ignore the fact. Corin represented Guardians, and to a worrying extent Shremu kind in the World Senate, where civilised and not to civilised countries met to discuss their issues, climate change, world poverty… and now a growing crisis affecting all races with equal malevolence. Today Corin was taking an unusually active role in the debate.

He stood on the stage, completely alone, addressing the increasingly hostile assembly. Corin had been Storyteller throughout all his years at the Guardian School, he'd won prices for his eloquent use of many languages, however today he was struggling to get his meaning across. The humans had always been dismissive of the Guardian's beliefs, calling them fairytales, even with the incident with Chaos Controlled and the Coreinth they refused to believe, there had been precious little evidence for what had almost happened, Corin himself was half inclined not to believe it. Corin looked up at the Shremu on the upper balconies of the large room. That was where their representatives were banished to. The lower tables, closer to the stage were allotted almost exclusively to the humans. The only exception among the faces was a single Kitsune belonging to a small and insignificant developing country, and his own table. Corin looked up at the Shremu ranks and sought support. Here most faces displayed concern, anxiety, the disaster hadn't only affected the humans. At least when Corin looked here he couldn't see any faces that were openly hostile. He took a deep breath and began again.
"The world needs to be in Balance, that is something we all know and respect" He paused, looking for the words "We all know of the removal of the Master and Chaos Emeralds, we voted upon it, at the time I encouraged you to vote with me… however the events of recent weeks have led me to believe this decision and this advice may have been a little flawed" A tide of jeers prevented him continuing, his ears picked up insults in various languages. Only after order had been called could he continue "Events that none of us could have foreseen have transpired, resulting in the Shards of those Emeralds endowing many humans and Shremu alike with powers they were not expecting and therefore are unable to control" He felt like he was repeating himself. Mentally he ran over the list of incidents he was aware of…

The boy, James Dart, who'd been endowed with powers much the same as those said to be possessed by Chaos Controlled was perhaps the most alarming example. His power had destroyed a large amount of his school before he'd managed to suppress it through an act of will his new Guardian, Sapphire claimed was little short of incredible. Another, Phil Scobels, whilst not among the most dangerous had suffered quite bizarre effects, and had been transformed into a lizard-like creature. A Shremu hedgehog, Emily, had been nearly drowned when the Shards corrupted her motor control. Another hedgehog, fortunately among the Guarded had been subjected to a wave of energy which would have destroyed her frame, only the efforts of her Guardian, putting herself in place as a shield had saved her from a painful death. Not all had been so lucky. Several existing Shard-Touched, human and Shremu alike had died in the same way, those with Guardians simply reacting too slowly. The list was almost endless, and growing longer with every passing hour. Corin thought the humans had a right to be angry. Nevertheless their anger wasn't getting them anywhere. Their stubborn refusal to listen wouldn't help anyone, at worst it could cost lives. He knew Chaos Controlled and his Guardian were being pursued on separate charges, the unprovoked destruction of a village resulting in the death of many humans. Corin accepted that if this was true they deserved to be punished, however he advised restraint and caution. The humans weren't keen to listen. They were baying for blood, looking for someone to blame. So far that blame was falling heavily on Chaos Controlled, the Guardians, and therefore Shremu kind as a whole. The humans would ensure that Chaos Controlled and his Guardian were thoroughly punished for their mistakes. However Corin worried that in their revenge the only means of restoring the balance may be removed. If the Shards were indeed rising, as his information seemed to suggest, everyone was in big trouble. The crisis would only get worse. Corin felt as though he was in over his head, and wished the delegation from Angel Island would hurry. He knew the humans were chasing Chaos Controlled, who was resisting arrest, which to the humans only made his guilt more certain. However Corin got the impression he was not entirely in the loop, human governments and especially their armies were a law unto themselves. He found himself pleading for the preservation and mercy of a creature he'd always considered virtually invincible.
"If the Shards are rising Chaos Controlled and his Guardian are the only ones who can restore the Balance, for that I ask you to be cautious and spare their lives…

The woman re-entered the cell. She'd changed her clothes, so Knuckles guessed that he must have spent a night in this cell. Shadow had hardly slept during that time. Knuckles had, if however briefly, he felt guilty for leaving him alone in his nightmare, but Knuckles was past breaking point. He was running on battery power, wherever whatever strength he was using to exist was coming from, he didn't feel it was from his own mortal being. Knuckles cared about very little now, not the stench rising around him in the cell from stale vomit, nor the incessant pain in his wrists. He only cared about Shadow, and ways of easing his pain. The woman wrinkled her nose as she entered.
"I'm thirsty…" Knuckles stated dryly.
"Your Charge, is his power locked down currently?"
Knuckles didn't answer.
"He too is asking for water. We will not approach him until we are certain we will not be harmed."
"Shadow won't flame you…" Knuckles muttered "Give him what he wants"
"Hmmm… He'd better not Guardian" She took a gun from a holster at her hip and pointed it at his head "Because if he does, you'll be shot. I don't think that would be of any good to either of you now will it?"
For a moment Knuckles considered asking Shadow to flame, dying, and through the Bond taking Shadow with him. He dispelled the thought, Shadow was too badly injured anyway. He locked down Shadow's power, to make sure he couldn't call on any reserves he might have been unaware of, and nodded at the human.
"Give him his water"
The woman shouted to someone waiting outside. As Knuckles waited, trying to keep a senseless fear of the gun contained, Shadow sent him a bubbling confused sensation, at least that was a distraction from his fear. Then as the water arrived Knuckles felt a stab of joy and excitement, perhaps even desperation, then after a moment, that of a need barely satisfied. Knuckles used this moment of calm to reassure Shadow, and try and prevent the return of his claustrophobia. It seemed to work, though anxious Shadow's fear was in check.
"Good Guardian. Here" The woman said before placing a cup of water in front of Knuckles' nose. She laughed sadistically to herself as she left the room. Knuckles came to realise that with his hands tied as they were the cup was virtually useless to him. He closed his eyes and sighed with despair, only to find Shadow emotionally holding his hand, supporting him. Groaning with determination he set about getting as much of the liquid from the cup as he could. It was too big to pick up with his mouth. To begin with he lapped it up with his tongue, like a dog. Then inevitably he knocked it over. The rest he licked from the floor, heedless of the mixed in taste of vomit, blood and sweat. With their thirst sated, if only a little, they both slept.

He woke with a start. Every inch of him ached. His first thoughts, perhaps carried from a dream were that he and Knuckles had been fighting each other, and that was the reason for his pain. When his eyes opened the memory of the truth came flooding back. Instinct made him cry out, oddly this time not with normal speech, the kind human's used, but with a low weak rumble of an Echidna in distress. With the few sounds he'd managed to master with any proficiency, the single call for help. He managed to repeat his cry, if however weakly, before he heard the monsters approach again.

He was woken by a vibration coming through the metal floor, resonating with the sound all Echidna recognised. In a hazy half sleep he went to answer it, to climb to his feet and run towards the noise. Then he remembered he was bound up. He groaned and lay still again, feeling through the Bond Shadow's fear embrace him and take him away. However Shadow had given him an idea. He took a deep breath, gathered all his strength and rumbled a response.
"Peace for I Charge. I heart you… Peace little Charge… No danger soon"
It sounded almost like a lullaby, but so quiet Knuckles doubted Shadow would have heard him. To his surprise Shadow's fear paused, as though he'd heard and was listening. Knuckles did his best to repeat the message, though he was sure the end would have been too fumbled for him to understand. Then after a pause he heard Shadow try to reply with his meagre grasp and ability with the language
"Guardian… I scared… moons- no say… … many dangers"
Shadow's error actually made him chuckle, he seemed pleased at this as he responded through the Bond.
"No fear little Charge… Guardian-"
Knuckles got no further because a human had come quickly into the cell and struck him on the head.
"Silence!" He roared
Knuckles saw stars, knew little, as the darkness closed around him he was aware of himself finishing his sentence.
"Heart you"
And with it Shadow's burning rage.

He smashed himself against the walls of the cell. He should have known better, on the ARK he had broken bones, but vainly he hoped that this cell had been hastily built, and so there would be weaknesses in its walls-if there were he would find them. He felt no pain, rage drove him on, frenzied him into madness. He knew nothing but the need to escape, just like he had on the ARK, the only difference was that now he had no flames.

The humans observing him took a step back from the screens. The sheer reckless force with which he threw himself at the walls showed pure animalistic desperation. He was a determined little devil, if nothing else. On the other hand the Guardian lay unconscious, unmoving, uncaring. The technician maintaining the cameras wished the black hedgehog would knock himself out.

Eventually, after nearly an hour Shadow did.

Later that day the commander of the base found a letter addressed to him on his desk. With a certain casual indifference he picked it up and opened it. The brief contents startled him, and though he would never admit it stung him at his soul.
I give my resignation, active immediately. I cannot stomach what you do here.
Alexander Bell.
The camera technician had resigned.

His head hurt something chronic. He coughed and shuddered. He was cold, shivering. He was, of course still stuck in the cell. He couldn't even guess how long it had been. He sniffed the air; he could smell something new, besides the repulsive scent of the unmentionable things staining his fur. This smell was clean, he couldn't see his arm but he could feel something around it. He pondered this, his fuzzy mind curious to pursue anything that took it away from its immediate surroundings. He remembered Shadow telling him about the biosensors he'd worn during his training on the ARK, so even every last heartbeat could be measured and tested. He wondered if that was what he had on his arm. Mildly he wished the humans had given him some of their painkilling drugs. Drugs had been one of the few things the Guardians had traded with them for, there were things herbs and ointments couldn't fix, more than once Knuckles had been grateful for the human's refined chemicals. He lay still now, now that he couldn't ponder the biosensor any longer, instead he listened for Shadow. He heard nothing, where Shadow should have been there was a black void, a nothingness, he guessed sadly that his rage had again burnt him out and he was now sleeping off the effects. Part of him was grateful, and relieved, Shadow wasn't suffering while he slept.

The sound of the door opening woke Knuckles from delirious sleep. He was thirsty again, not that the thirst had ever stopped. He rolled onto his side and turned to look at the door. The same woman entered, he could smell the water she carried in her hands. Knuckles was relieved, desperate and afraid, what would they want in exchange for the water this time? The woman bent down beside him.
"We've been instructed to keep your Charge alive; you on the other hand are expendable. I thought you should know that before you get too comfortable"
"If I die Shadow follows" Knuckles said past the dryness in his mouth.
"I think not, we are more than proficient at preventing you stupid Guardians dragging your human counterparts into death. He will be no different"
Knuckles wasn't aware humans could prevent the Breaking, he'd always believed it was the spirit of the individual that determined their fate. Human science seemed to have no end to it, no end to the realms it would meddle in. He couldn't help but think that the lives of those humans they saved would not be worth living.
"Did… they want to be saved?" Knuckles asked wearily, his throat like sandpaper. The thought of living without Shadow appalled him. The woman snorted but made no response, instead she lifted him roughly and put a cup to his lips.
"We have been told to keep you alive if possible, as you may prove useful"
She tilted the cup, Knuckles did his best to drink the liquid, but his throat stung and didn't want to swallow, most of the water trickled down his front. The water was sweet, most likely laced with glucose, sugar, that little thought of returning energy gave Knuckles a small spark of hope. He sighed softly.
"Pitiful creature" The woman muttered
"If you'd been through what we have, you'd be dead"
"I'd never have gotten myself into your situation"
With more liquid in his mouth the power of speech returned to Knuckles. "Because you were born into a better world"
"We were born into the same world Echidna"
"No, I was born Echidna, and you human, that separates us"
"Yes it does"
"You humans think that because you've lost your fur you're so much more removed from animals than us"
The woman snorted
"We don't do this to our prisoners. Do you have children human?" Knuckles growled
She frowned at his question. "You Guardian, are not old enough to have children"
"I asked you"
Perhaps out of curiosity she nodded "Yes, two girls"
"Do you like to see them suffer?"
"No! Of course not!"
She answered like a mother.
"Would you wish this upon one of your girls?" he nodded towards his current condition, at the ropes biting into his skin.
"No"
"Then why do you do it to us? You wouldn't do this to one of your own, your Geneva Convention forbids it. Are we really so different, that our size and bone structure makes us so much more worthless than even the lowest of your own people? But of course I should have known, humans are the only ones with any right to exist, every other creature must simply be their puppets, or cease to exist."
The woman's eyes narrowed.
"You are a murderer, you should have no rights"
"Really. Tell me, if a man walked into you house holding a knife, and threatened your girls with it and you had in your hand a gun, would you not shoot to kill to defend them, would that action then constitute the surrender of all of your rights? Would you submit to this as your rightful punishment?"
"That's different, that's self-defence!"
"But you're not defending yourself, as only your children were threatened" Knuckles said calmly
"It's the same thing!"
"Is it? If so why am I here, listening to you torment my friend?"
"You are wanted murderers, you resisted arrest, action was taken to apprehend you!"
"Do you believe that yourself, or were you fed it by your politicians? We were no threat to you, yet you fired upon us, to me that make's you the hostile party"
"You became the hostile party when your precious Charge destroyed Skytop village"
"That was not our doing. Shadow had no hand in it. I'm beginning to believe we were set up."
"So far no proof has been attained that it wasn't you…"
"Has any been found to prove that it was? But of course if we've been set up that evidence to the contrary will never be found"
In the back of his mind Shadow had woken up and recommenced screaming for him. He tried not to flinch as the desperate cries hit him with a sudden wave of force.
"Would it really do you that much harm to put us in the same cell?"
Again the woman didn't answer him, now she sank down so that she sat in the cell, her long legs stretched out beside Knuckles, crossed at the ankle.
"Can you possibly comprehend what this is like?" Knuckles muttered, almost to himself, and pulled at the ropes again "I'd rather cut my legs off than listen to this anymore!"
"Listen to what? I can't hear anything"
"No" Knuckles banged his head on the ground "In here! In my head! I can feel him crying…" Knuckles looked her in the eye. "You can't possibly understand what that's like"
The woman seemed taken aback by his gaze, as though for a moment it startled her- chilled her.
"You think listening to you children cry in the other room is hard… I feel his terror and his despair, as well as my own" Knuckles pulled half-heartedly at the ropes "I'd lose both my hands to comfort him… but that won't get me anywhere…"
Knuckles sighed and rubbed his head into the ground. For the first time in his Guardianship he wanted desperately to be apart from Shadow, to be able to sever the link. He wished for the unfeeling black of unconsciousness, for perhaps the first time in his life he longed for isolation. He wanted to bury himself in the ground, if only he could escape Shadow's cries. He jumped, the human was touching his arm. He wrenched away, receiving for his obstinance only a tightening of his bonds.
"I hate you…" Knuckles muttered "All of you… You're just wasted skin."
It took all of his control to stop a sob cracking his voice. With that the woman stood, and walked out of the cell, closing it perhaps more quietly than she had before

Katherine Kelly leant on the door of the Guardian's cell, inhaling the clean air. Her heart beat hard in her chest, she could hardly face herself. Was she feeling sorry for the pathetic creature? She raised her hand to her face, and watched it shake. The thought of her girls in that situation was what had hurt her, caught her off guard. She shook her head violently, no that was manipulation, the Guardian was just trying to manipulate her. She clenched her hand into a fist to stop it shaking. She couldn't help but think… The Guardian reminded her of her brother.

The Black Hedgehog was clearly delirious. She watched him through the gap in the door, sat at the farthest end of the room. She could hear his voice, it was different to what she had expected, it almost had an upper-class accent to it. He was rocking slowly backwards and forwards singing to himself. After listening to it through a few times she could just make out the words:

The Earth is so pretty
Far below
When will we get there?
No one knows…

Shad and Maria in the sky
Watching clouds pass us by
You're my Angel, you're my light
I'm your Shadow, your soul's delight

Guardian watches Shadow grow
You're my secret
No-one knows

Fire burns never bright
Chaos comes, with it night
Control is hard make it stop
Project Shadow like it not!

"He's been singing that for the last hour, its starting to grate on my nerves"
Katherine nearly jumped out of her skin. She tuned to face Project Shadow's assigned minder, a young man called Joshua Fisher. As she studied his face she noted he was unusually pale.
"Are you supposed to be here? I was told not go near the Guardian in case he read it off me"
As if on cue Shadow stopped his singing, and could be seen sniffing the air.
"Knuckles? Are you there?" He paused waiting for a response. The two humans watched him stagger to his feet and walk to the door "Knux?" Shadow stood there for a moment then sank to the floor, curled up, and cried.
"Why are the humans so mean to us Maria? Why won't father let us out of the Torture Room… I've been a good boy… no fire… hehehehe falling like snow… I want my Guardian!"
"It's like having a two year old in there. His speech was coherent when he first came in" Joshua said simply "Now he just screams most of the time… or talks this dribble"
"Maria go round and round… horseys go up and down… Mari how long you had wings? Shadowkin want wingys too"
"We all think he's calling Maria Robotnik… Poor sod will be a while waiting for her to come rescue him… You hear Alex Bell resigned… Said he couldn't stomach it… don't blame 'im…" He turned to look back at Shadow "It sucks"
Katherine couldn't bring herself to answer, despite herself the Guardian's words rang round and round inside her head.

Moonstone had, more or less, forced her Charge and her father to the Senate. Jessica's father was a well respected politician, and although Moonstone was willing to admit she knew almost nothing about the complicated charade that was human politics she hoped that he could speak for Knuckles. She'd committed several cardinal sins for a Guardian in getting them here, she'd virtually had to blackmail them into it. Persuading her Charge, Jessica she wanted to help Knuckles hadn't been hard, it had been getting her to speak to her father on his behalf that had been the challenge. Once she had broken that boundary Chris, Jessica's father had been virtual putty in her hands, she'd told him it would be a good way to show his faith in his teenaged daughter. Moonstone had led the human on a guilt trip, it was emotional blackmail, there was no other way to put it. However Moonstone took the view that desperate times called for desperate measures. Now she watched satisfied as he stood on the stage, speaking in that euphemistic way all politicians did. Chris, knowing few of the real facts could do no more than add his ample political weight to Shadow and Knuckles' cause. Moonstone desperately hoped it would be enough. Corin, the resident Guardian said the mood was beginning to change, Moonstone just hoped she'd done enough.