Well, it was supposed to be a one-shot but, oh well. Patience is not a virtue of mine, so I split it up into some chapters. Don't worry, this won't take long. I hope… )
The Test
Strange…
It was always strange…
The feeling of having the ability to become conscious of your actions again… it felt awesome after the long hours of the numbness of the brain. Having the grey matter in your brain being replaced by colorful images, regaining the ability to smile, cry and frown again, even the ability to feel itself… they were all so… wonderful. So wonderful that I would begin to touch everything in my room, make silly noises, and bite my food very slowly, just to make use of my senses, late into the night…
First came the prick of the needle, infusing pain into my little body. It was actually quite welcome, as pain was still a feeling, and that I have gotten used to it.
All my memories then came back like a gust of fresh air, from the time where I decided to become friends with Sonic, to the time I joined the dark side. During this stage, I did feel a sense of light-headedness, which made those memories a little vague, probably to keep me from going to shock…
I breathed a breath of satisfaction as the feeling of high subsided, making my brain clearer.
Then next came a feeling of numbness of my body as the liquid proceeded to blacken out my nerves momentarily. Something like a restart effect on my nervous system. A second or two later and my five senses came back, like a blast of water onto my face. Suddenly, I could smell the metallic scent of my surroundings, and touch the slippery metal table I was lying on…
Wait… where was I? I was not in my room…
I opened my eyes, but they closed immediately and instinctively the split second they met the blinding light that came from above… I turned my head and tried again, and I saw the digital clock…
8.30 A.M
Wait, that was only 30 minutes after the start of my shift! How could that happen? It would normally say 5 o'clock in the evening, take or give a minute, at the end of my work day.
What was Dr. Robotnik trying to do?
Slowly, I got up and out of the table, looking around curiously… My vision was blurred for a while; everything was double-imaged. The room was donut-shaped; it seemed strangely familiar… with the glass tube in the middle of the room. Through it, I could make out the blur, refracted image of numerous squares of chrome…, with dots of red and brown in the middle…
This was the control room of the Egg Lab, the main part of this fortress, among many others scattered over the world. Some placed in a place as remote as the chilly regions of the Ice Cap Mountains, or so close that it was just miles away from Station Square, hidden underground. They were used for various reasons…, housing armies, military bases, quick roboticization, and many others. However, the one I had always spent my time in, this fortress, was for the purpose of research, and testing…
Finally, the two repeated images in my eyesight converged with each other, and I could see clearly. Then I heard a 'hovering' sound, which enticed me to look at the source of the noise. Turning back my head, I was just in time to see a red and white-striped robot pass through the glass tube, into the jail cells below…
It was facing me, and one of its hands was carrying an open suitcase, which showed vile green liquids contained in the needles. They were new poisons, conceived by Master, waiting to be injected into the unfortunate specimens' bodies, causing them to experience many problems. Those which would lead into a slow, agonizing death, those which would cause people to scream and shout, so loud that I can hear them from here, 7 stories up. They worked extremely effectively, to the delight of my master, Dr.Robotnik. That was why he would always conjure up another type of poison each week, just to 'test' them out on the specimens…
And its right hand was holding something that looked like a stun gun, but with an exceptionally unique design, such that the electricity that was emitted by it did not travel straight like a bullet; instead, it was a close range design that would be able to shock multiple victims at once.
I knew that. I designed it a week ago.
Multiple screams of anguish and pain rang through the metal hallways.
Was… I indirectly actually torturing them?
Did I actually agree to this, having my own inventions used to hurt those innocent people? The people I promised to protect?
A memory replayed itself… during my first few weeks here, I sent a new invention to Robotnik, something like a stun bomb… and my Master personally came down and asked whether I wanted them to be 'tested' on the poor animals. He said it without bias, in a balanced sort of way. There were no penalties or rewards, bribes or threats, he wanted me to make my own decision.
That to me was respect. Something Sonic had never treated me with. He… always flew my biplane without asking, not letting me make my own decisions at all. Sure I felt it from some of my younger once-friends, but that seemed insignificant.
I had a lust for it.
And it was satisfied… by him
For that I was grateful, so grateful that I allowed him to use it for his own purposes. I didn't know what was happening in my mind then, when I could have rejected. I just said a simple yes without thinking of other factors, only due to the fact that he respected me.
I did allow it. I agreed to it completely without even being forced to.
I stood up, and for the first two steps, I walked with a limp. Then, I made a brisk walk to the television screens at the opposite side of the room. If I had the bravery to do such things to permit agony, I mind as well have the bravery to look at what results my foolish actions would bring.
I looked at the first screen from the left. There was no shooting now, just ten rabbits leaning on the wall sloppily, as if they were almost dead. Strings of electricity curled up and down the fur of the weak and frail rabbits. None of them moved. Carefully, I studied the faces of the rabbits, and deduced that they were all from the same family…
At least they would die as a family, knowing that they would be together again… one day.
Then a little girl twitched. Slowly she opened her eyes. Looking around frantically, she must have thought that she would be in the calm afterlife by now…, not standing still in that nightmare. Not having the strength to get up, she then leaned back on the wall and closed her eyes again, probably groaning in pain.
The poor girl opened her eyes in sudden realization; her fellow siblings and parents were here too. She immediately looked to her left, and found what seemed to be her grandmother. Gasping, she rolled over and tried to tend to her.
I looked carefully at the frail old lady. She showed no sign of life, not even the slight rise and fall of the chest, and not the slightest pitch. The young girl checked for a pulse frantically; she must have a special bond with her, like that of me and Sonic.
A long time ago. The happy times, when I was such a young kid… so carefree and cheerful… Those were the days when there were no other people, only me and Sonic, traveling about the world, defeating Dr. Robotnik whenever he tried to do something funny. I didn't care whether Sonic got all the glory, or anything like that; the only thing that mattered was Sonic…
And that person alone made my happy.
True happiness. Something I would never feel here…
Perhaps something I would never feel again…
Tears flowed from my eyes, as I saw the little rabbit cry wildly, moving her grandmother frantically, for no reason at all. Robots sprang out from nowhere, and she began screaming at them angrily, with the salty liquid now reaching her mouth. What she was saying however, I couldn't imagine. After all, robots there were just hollow beings, without any feelings or desires. They were mere drones; their only object in life was to carry out their Master's doing… They simply wouldn't listen to anyone they were not programmed to, and…
I gulped. I didn't know why… I just gulped.
A voice rang back from memory. "Look at them, Tails. Walking around back and forth, nothing better to do. Dumb, eh? If you work with him, ever, you would be just like them… that lame… Promise me Tails, don't do anything silly, ok?"
"I promise…"
A bolt of electricity came out from one of the stun guns, electrocuting her. Her head slammed into the wall, rendering her unconscious perhaps for a few more hours. She had been a hero, she tried limping towards them, bashing them with her fists, the meager power inflicted by them useless to the relatively impenetrate armor.
Watching this… I could never be happy. All I could feel was guilt…
Slowly, my eyes drawed away from the fading commotion on to the second…
I was shocked beyond my wits when I saw what was inside the glass container… Could it be?
One-hair eyelashes, long ears that drooped at her back, pale brown skin… and the blue chao with a bowtie which floated just right above her…
Cream…?
"Ah… so now you know why I awakened you, do you?"
I turned my head, and my eyes met the sunglasses of Dr. Robotnik. A smile crossed his face as he looked at me carefully… and then said, "Tails… you have contributed a lot to the development of the Eggman Empire, and I will certainly praise you for that. Your methods, information, and inventions have fended of critical attacks from the likes of that spiky pincushion, and the meddling two-tailed frea…"
I looked at him angrily.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I really can't believe that you would just step into my fortress and say that you wanted to join my ranks. Others… they had to be captured by force and turned into robots…, but you… you just came in voluntarily. You are an incredible asset to me, Tails… and all this while, before you came here, I thought your friendship would be unbreakable! That has been a… slight problem for me, but now…"
"Master…, I was in his shadow for too long. He stole everything that mattered to me, that Sonic… Glory, respect, all these, I needed relief. And you provided it…"
"And to think those fools call this the dark side!" He then did an evil laugh, but stopped after a while…
I looked down, not knowing what to say to this.
He then put his hand on my shoulder, and said seriously, "Tails, I think you have done a lot here, and for that, I trust you a lot…" He then pointed towards the little rabbit in the glass container. "That's why I have decided to give you my position temporarily, to negotiate this stupid rabbit. You can do anything you want, you can use anything you want…, you have my power for this matter."
His position? As the master of all of the Eggman Empire? Robots would follow my every command… in fact I could do anything I wanted! Wait…, I could only do this temporarily. And use it for interrogation purposes only…
The glint in his eye suggested that this was more of a test than a transfer of power. He would be out to watch my every move, and he might change his mind about the 'I trust you a lot' part, if I did just one wrong move. At worst, he might even abandon me and dispose of me, doing world domination alone.
Cream… could I really hurt her? She was full of innocence, a pacifist, did… she really deserve the infliction of pain? I knew that she respected me, she cared about me, she might have even seen me as a role model; what would she do when she finds out that the person that has been a hero in her life has actually turned over to the dark side?
"… she's only a firefly in our midst, nothing more. She won't be tough, she might even succumb to you after you shock her once or twice. After this, you can decide to do anything with her… make her a test subject, a robot, even freeing her is an option. All I want is the valuable information… where are the chaos emeralds…, the location of the cursed hedgehog. That's all."
Robotnik then went up the ramp and, as he went through the door, he said, "Proceed to holding cell 19. Good luck, Tails, I'm counting on you."
I buried my head into my hands, What am I gonna do?
Very long… hehe. Hope you have managed to read this far, and as usual, tell me where I have gone wrong and such.