CHAPTER 11: Darkness, Dark Deeds, and- Bullies?
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, #34 FAILED!?" snarled a deep voice, bathed in shadows, sitting in a chair with a tall back. A dark robotic figure on its knees behind the figure flinched.
"Master, #34 was simply ambushed and defeated due to his poor electrical shielding," the kneeling figure said in a quivering mechanical voice. "The reports said the new armor was highly vulnerable to shocking. Did you not read them?"
"SILENCE!" the deeper voice snapped. "Of COURSE I read them you fool. What other flaws did #34 have? The only one reported was the poor shielding against shocks."
"His radar was faulty as well, and his infrared," quivered the robot on its knees. "Most of his tracking systems were riddled with bugs. I find it a wonder his eyes even worked. His failsafe device even went off late."
"Hmph," the figure bathed in darkness grunted. "Never send a prototype to do important work, regardless how efficient they are. What about the new AI? None of the fools in R&D are talking to me."
"That's because they encountered a problem," the robot on the ground stated. "None of the prototypes accept the program. We've had to implant the older AI. The only tidbit of good news have is, the new cannons are coming along nicely. One was test-fired early this morning, and-"
"Shut up!" the figure in the chair snapped again. "I was the one firing it! Of COURSE I know that! And I wasn't even asking about that either! I asked about the AI! Why aren't the prototypes accepting it!?"
"Because their CPUs are based on Eggman's design," the kneeling robot was losing his nerves. "His primitive design has too many flaws. Too low memory capacity to upload the software, for instance."
"Design a new one then," the figure in the chair said in an even more menacing tone. "If you do not have the prototypes working soon, I will have your head, Black."
"Yes Master," Black, the kneeling robot, bowed his head. "I also learned something that I wish to bring to your attention."
"What?"
"The girl #34 was after seems to be falling for the primary target. You may wish to put off killing her until she is more dear to him, then capture her and use her for leverage."
"Perhaps... Next time I want your opinion I'll give it to you. I handle the strategy. Get out."
"Yes, Master." Black stood up, bowed low, and backed out of the room.
"Hmph, I am surrounded by fools, idiots, retards, incompetents, everything under the sun."
When he arrived at school that morning, Tails had no idea what he was in for. He had cleaned himself up since the explosion the previous night, and looked no different, except his fur was shorter. As soon as he sat down in Shaw's class, a girl he didn't know leaned over to him and caught his attention.
"Hey kid," she said, "you might wanna watch your back from now on."
"Why?" Tails asked her with an odd expression on his face.
"You remember when Clyde got those licks for stuffing you in your locker?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"I heard a couple guys talking about that. Seems like some of the ballsier guys came up with a little game. The object, see who can get you worst and get away with it for the longest. You're gonna be the worst picked-on kid this school has ever seen!"
"You've GOT to be kidding me." The girl shook her head, and Tails's heart hit the floor. He was screwed. Daily locker stuffings and God knows what else crept into his mind. "I knew high school kids had some crazy ideas, but what would possess them to do this?"
"That's the wonder of a bad combination of testosterone and a few credits," the girl said in a slightly sad tone. "I hate to say it, but those guys will be able to get away with things pretty easily unless you've got someone watching you pretty much 24/7."
"Oh, this year's gonna be a bitch," Tails mumbled.
"Language, Tails." Tails looked up, and Shaw was looking right at him.
"Sorry," Tails said. Half the class busted out laughing. Shaw looked up at the whole class, who quieted down quickly enough.
"We'll have none of that," he said. "Next time I'll give the whole class an essay on how to act in class." Tails sighed in relief: Shaw apparently didn't plan to do anything other than get onto him about his language. What he heard next brightened up his day a bit. "I've heard some rumors flying around since yesterday. I'm not going to tell what they're about, but if I find out there's any truth to them, I'll be breaking more paddles that very day. I get complaints from parents a lot about it being abuse, but I can't be held accountable for it. It's not cruel or unusual punishment."
Sure enough, on his way to lunch, Tails found himself forcefully guided into a bathroom by a senior at least three times his size: the game was on.
"Hey! Get off me!" Tails demanded.
"Just shut up," the large white tiger said to him in a commanding tone. "I've got money on this. I ain't losing out. This'll be easier on us both if you just keep your yap shut." Before Tails could reply, the tiger grabbed his muzzle and dragged him into one of the stalls. Tails knew what was coming up right then and there. Sure enough, the tiger forced his head down into the toilet and flushed it. Tails squirmed all he could, but he was powerless; the tiger was just too damn strong, even though he had NO sense of subtlety whatsoever. After another flush, he let go of Tails and walked out of the bathroom laughing. Tails stayed in the stall. He climbed up onto the toilet and pulled the door shut. After two swirlies in one breath, he was NOT showing his face again all day, never mind how hungry he was.
"It's not fair!" he heard himself cry out as tears started streaming. He often chastised himself for being a crybaby at the age of 14, but this time he thought he was entitled. Of course, he knew he'd need some excuse to give his teachers the next day for why he cut the last 3 periods of the day, but he'd worry about that when he got there.
Wow, two different perspectives this time. First we have some evil bastard talking about prototypes and primary targets, then we have Tails learning he's gonna have a BAD year and getting two swirlies in the same breath. What a chapter. R&R please.