Chapter 12: The Black Gem Case, Part 1
It was a calm morning. Sapphire was in her room, reading a book, while Tails was preparing for something he needed to do today.
"Hey, Sapphire, could you come here really quick!?" Tails called from the workshop area.
Sapphire put a bookmark in her reading material, and left her room to speak with her mentor. "Y-yeah, did you need something?"
"Not really, I just wanted to ask if you could come with me to Cream's place today?"
Sapphire blinked. She had no problem going to visit Cream and her family, but she did wonder why Tails wanted to go. "Okay... why?"
"There's something I have to go do, and I figured that you might want to watch," the twin-tailed fox replied. "You see, I don't know if you noticed last time you were there, but they have this robot, and-"
At that moment, Sonic came rushing in. "Yo, Tails!"
Sapphire jumped back a bit. "Sonic, can you please stop doing that?"
"Sorry, Saph, but this is important," Sonic replied quickly.
"You do seem a little rushed," Tails noted.
"Eggman's back!"
"...Right now!? Today was supposed to be Gemerl's monthly maintenance check-up," Tails replied.
"Oh, right..." Sonic replied. "Do you want me to go it alone this time?"
"I don't know, I suppose I could delay it until we're back-" Tails started before being interrupted.
"Could I do it?" Sapphire asked.
"Huh?" Tails replied, a little shocked.
"Well, Tails you wanted me to come with anyways, right?" Sapphire explained.
"So you could watch me work on robotic mechanics, and see what's it's like to work with them, but I didn't want you to actually work with them now. Robots are a lot more advanced than other machinery, and more difficult to work with. That, and Gemerl is a complicated machine, even for me. Honestly, I think you should wait until you're a little bit better-"
"Hey, Tails, if she wants to give it a try, let her," Sonic interjected. "She's smart, I'm sure she'll figure it out. And it would be a good way to learn, right?"
Sapphire was suddenly a lot less sure about this, but Tails thought it over, and said, "Okay... fine. I have records of my previous maintenance check-ups that you could use to help you, if you think you can do this. If you don't know what to do, don't worry about it. It's just a monthly check-up, not a huge upgrade or anything like that. If you miss something, I'll fix it next month. ...Or when I get back."
"You sure...?" Sapphire replied. "I'm not so sure anymore..."
"Hey, Saph," Sonic spoke up. "You can do it. I know you can do it, if you believe in yourself."
"Okay... yeah... I can do this! My first time working on a robot! I'm excited!"
"That's what I like to hear!"
"Okay, I'll call Vanilla and let her know what's happening, and I'll send you my notes, update files, and schematics for Gemerl," Tails said. "Fair warning, they're not... amazing. Gemerl was originally one of Eggman's robots, and his tech is notoriously weird. And not only that, he was based off of another very ancient, yet advanced robot. So I couldn't really make really great schematics without reverse engineering him, which... well, there's a good reason we didn't do that."
"Right, I'll keep that in mind."
"Okay, you best get your tools together. I'll send that stuff, and then we best be on our way."
Sapphire was on her way to Cream and Vanilla's house, carrying her toolbox in one hand, and her Miles Electric, which Tails gave her, in the other, using voice command to review Gemerl's schematics.
"Man, I should really talk to Tails about making a smaller version of this thing. It would so much more convenient. Maybe we could call the 'Miles Gear'," Sapphire said to herself while walking, looking up for a moment to make sure she wasn't about to run into anything, as she did occasionally.
She was trying to make sure she knew everything she could before arriving, and was hyping herself up for the monumental task ahead of her. Sure, it's was just a maintenance check, but from the sounds of it, this robot was incredibly important to the Rabbit family.
Looking up once again, Sapphire found that she had arrived at the Rabbit household. Smiling, she made her way to the front door and rung the doorbell.
After a minute, the door opened, revealing the tall rabbit mobian that Sapphire knew to be Vanilla.
"Ah, you're here," she greeted. "It's good to see you, Sapphire. Tails called me, said you coming to check up on Gemerl?"
"Yes... Um, I'm sorry, I didn't see him last time I was here," Sapphire replied.
"Oh, he was watching the house while we were gone. Please, come inside, and I'll introduce you."
Sapphire was led into the home, and guided over to the living room. There, Cream and Cheese were watching cartoons on a large TV, while another figure stood by them.
"Honey, Sapphire is here," Vanilla announced.
Cream looked over, and happily jumped and ran up to Sapphire. "You're here!"
Sapphire let Cream hug her, nervously returning it in her shy mannerisms.
"So, you're here to look at Gemerl?" Cream asked, as she looked up at the older, albeit short mobian, and then let go and backed off.
"U-um, yeah, I am," Sapphire replied.
"Yay! Hey, Gemerl, I want you to meet Sapphire!"
Cream led Sapphire to the other figure she saw before. He was a mobian-modeled, black-colored robot with some parts colored yellow. His metal face had a three-pronged horn-like part, shaped like an upside-down T, with an opened third eye in the middle, his normal two blue-eyes just below the horn's side-prongs, with red lining underneath. There were three circles on his chest, fin-like blades on his forearms, and his upper arms and legs were thin steel rods.
He looked really intimidating to Sapphire, but regardless of that, he approached her, and held out his hand. "Greetings. I am designated as 'Gemerl'. Pleased to meet you."
Sapphire gave a shy smile, and nervously shook his hand. "H-hi, there. I'm... Sapphire. I'm here to do your maintenance... In place of Tails! Sorry!" She said that last part quickly.
"I see. So Tails is busy at the moment?"
"Uh, w-well... yeah. He and Sonic had to leave... b-but I am his apprentice, so don't worry!"
"You seem nervous?"
"Saph is shy," Cream explained.
"And I think this is her first time doing maintenance on a robot," Vanilla added. "Though I'm sure this will be a good experience for her to take."
"Well, a friend of Tails and Sonic is a friend of mine," Gemerl said, "and they trust you to be able to run my maintenance, then so will I!"
That lifted Sapphire's spirits, have been given confidence from the very robot she was supposed to be working on. "Thanks. So, should we get started?"
Over the next few hours, Sapphire had begun working on Gemerl's check-up. Cream was in the room, continuing to watch her cartoons, while looking over occasionally to watch her friend work.
Right about now, Sapphire was finishing up with the hardware maintenance, while Tails' pre-made security software update was almost completed. It was difficult, but Sapphire loved it. Working with new technology, it was so fascinating for her.
"...And, done!" Sapphire said. She grabbed her Miles Electronic computing tablet, and hit the remote turn on to reboot Gemerl.
As Gemerl eyes flashed on, with him saying with his robotic voice, "powering on."
Waiting a short bit for Gemerl to finishing booting, Sapphire afterwards asked, "so, how do you feel?"
"I am a robot. I can't feel anything. But it appears that I am operating at optimal efficiency," Gemerl replied.
"Well, that's good," Sapphire replied, "I was worried I might have messed something up."
"I am not experiencing any flaws in my systems. All systems are running normally."
"Oh... good." Sapphire got up, and took a good look at Gemerl. "You're a really impressive robot. I mean, I haven't seen a ton of robots before, or any really," she said whispering that last part, "but you are definitely the coolest one I've met. Your AI is so impressive, and the technology you are made of is unlike anything I've ever seen!"
"Thank you, miss Sapphire," the black robot replied.
At that moment, Vanilla walked into the room, carrying a plate, and took a look at Sapphire's finished job. "So, I take it that you're all done?"
"Yes! It was very interesting examining your robot! Thank you for this opportunity!" Sapphire replied.
"Well, don't forget to thank Tails too, for allowing you to do this. He's the one who usually checks up on Gemerl. But I'm glad you enjoyed it. I knew you could do it." The tall rabbit mother lowered her plate. "I just finished making cookies. Would you like one?"
"Oh, sure," Sapphire said while grabbing a cookie. "Thanks. I didn't know you were making these."
"Huh? But you could smell them from here," Cream mentioned.
Sapphire just gave a small, nervous laugh. She was so focused on Gemerl while working on him, that she didn't notice. When it came to technology, she could become fixated on it, everything else got blotted out of her perception.
"Anyways, I assume that you are doing alright now, Gemerl? Nice and strong, I presume?" Vanilla asked the robot.
"Everything appears to be operating at maximum efficiency," he replied.
"Good, good."
"So you're happy with my work?" Sapphire asked.
"Yes, of course," Vanilla replied.
"Thanks. That means a lot to me. Not a lot of people really show interest in what I do, except for Tails, Sonic, and some of their other friends."
"Oh, Sapphire." Vanilla pulled Sapphire into a hug. "I know you must have felt so alone for much of you're life. If you ever wanted to find someone to talk to, I'm always here if you want to come by."
"Thank you..." Sapphire replied, small tears in her eyes. Besides Sonic, she never had anyone show her this much kindness.
"Anyways, Gemerl, since you're working alright, I wanted to ask if you and Cream could get some more groceries. We seem to be running low."
"Of course, ma'am. I will serve this purpose," Gemerl replied.
"Oh, I'm happy to help out, mama!" Cream jumped in.
Sapphire thought on this for a moment, and then asked, "You mind if I come along? I'd like to make sure that he is working properly."
"Of course, Saph! We'd love for you to come with us!"
Vanilla smiled and giggled, amused by the display. "Okay, just be sure to get everything we need, and of course, please be safe."
"Of course!" the two girls said that the same time, Gemerl simply standing by, waiting to begin this mission.
About an hour later, Sapphire, Cream, Cheese, and Gemerl were walking (or flying) back to Cream's home, taking back the groceries they just purchased for Vanilla and her family.
"So, from the looks of it, you're working just fine," Sapphire observed, seeing as Gemerl was near effortlessly carrying most of the groceries, including some of the more heavy ones.
"Thank you, miss Sapphire," he replied.
"Oh, I'm just so happy that you're working so well. That means my first time working on a real robot wasn't a huge failure."
"You shouldn't be so worried, Saph. Your work is amazing. I think you can do amazing things in the future!" Cream told her.
"Th-thanks..."
"'Saph?' This is a nickname for you, I assume?" Gemerl inquired.
"Uh, yeah, my brother calls me that a lot," Sapphire explained. "Um, do go by a nickname? Gem, maybe?"
Gemerl was silent as he contemplated the question, though with his robotic face unable to show emotion, Sapphire thought that he didn't like it.
"Sorry, I guess it sounds more like a girl's name-"
"No, it is fine. I have never been given a nickname, so I had to consider it. If you wish you to call me Gem, I'll allow it."
"Oh, thanks. ...So, um, Gem, do you mind if I ask... What kind of robot are you, or at least, what were you before?"
Gemerl was startled by this, but figured he owed her an explanation. "I am a replica of an ancient, weaponized, mechanical warrior known the gizoid. Apparently, the original gizoid I was based on was a close friend of Sonic's, but he had to be destroyed when he lost control due to Eggman's interference. Eggman made me afterward, based on the previous gizoid's model, and yet I also lost control and betrayed him, later being fixed and reprogramed by Tails."
"I... see." Sapphire was surprised to hear that Gemerl was intended to be a weapon, and was modeled off of another weapon. A very old weapon. How ancient was this gizoid weapon? she thought, I should ask Sonic about it, if he really did know the original one.
As they continued along, Gemerl suddenly stopped.
"Gemerl? What's wrong?" Cream asked, worried. Cheese flew by him, equally worried.
"I'm detecting an unknown presence," the robot replied with warning.
Looking around, they didn't see anything. There wasn't any else around, at least, that they could see. There was an alleyway by them, seeing as they were in a small city are near Cream's home, but it was empty, save for some large trash bin.
Sapphire becomes nervous. She wasn't a fighter. She heard that Cream had gone on adventures before, so maybe she knew how to fight. Gemerl just said he was made as a weapon, and when working on him, she saw some of his built weaponry, such as missile launchers in his arms. So she could depend on him, right?
At that moment, there was the sound of movement behind them. Gemerl moved to act against this disturbance...
But when a loud bang and burst of energy. It merely put Sapphire and Cream's fur on end, when it passed over the black robot, he shut down and fell over.
"GEM!" Sapphire cried he ran over to him, but then a small object was tossed on the ground by them, which then began spewing some sort of gas.
The two mobians and the Chao tried to cover their mouths, but unfortunately, they breathed in some of it, and they began to become woozy, as their conscious' began to fade.
"What... why...?" Sapphire weakly said, before falling into slumber.
Author's Note: CLIFF HANGER! Yeah, so this is going to a multi-parter, about two or three parts. And don't worry, they aren't dead. This isn't THAT kind of story. It's just sleeping gas (like that one scene in Sonic Adventure DX).
Anyway, this was something I was planning for this story for a while, even before Gemerl came back in the IDW comics. But thinking about what I wanted to do for this one, I decided to combine it with another plan I had, and I ended planning this as a multi-parter. As such, more characters are on the way, but I won't reveal them now.
So, yeah, I gave Sapphire her own Miles Electric (for now). This made sense to me that Tails would give her one, and in Sonic Lost World, there are multiples of these, seeing as they are used for video communication. The Miles Gear is an idea I came up with, and I decided to give it a nod here. It's simply a mini version of the device that gets its name from the old Sega Game Gear portable console (and I guess, given my recent interest in Hyperdimension, Nepgear's N-Gear could be a minor inspiration too). Though, interestingly, at the end of the Sonic movie, Tails is seen with what looks like a mini version of the Miles Electric, so there you go.
One more thing, I'm imagining Gemerl to be like how I drew him a while ago on my DeviantArt (where I go by Cobalt-Gemini), though it's not too obvious now. But it will be later, given that the design I made had a few more specific areas for his weaponry, and even a little more of it. So, please keep that in mind for the future parts of this story.