Chapter 2: Sirens in the distance


Mobius - Robotropolis - 3239

Tails had been rummaging through the warehouse storage units for hours. Pulling old moldy boxes down and pouring through them. He was looking for scrap electronics they could re-purpose, old power supplies and voltage converters for now. As he was digging, his ears perked at a distant hum, he looked up. The whir of small hover engines buzzed getting closer. He stopped his rummaging, holding his breath. He relaxed as he saw it was just his Eye-Spy drone skidding around the corner. He went back to his digging. "Grady, I've told you! Please don't just zip around like that when we're here! You sound like any other eye spy… We got radios so use them." He grumbled.

The turquoise painted eye spy slammed to a halt in front of him. "Boss! you won't believe this! Ohh! and I didn't use the radio because I'm currently using the radio. I mean I heard someone else on the radio!"

Tails smiled, continuing to dig in his pile. "Don't hurt yourself, what did you hear on the radio Grady? Is Sally trying to call us back to Knothole? I think I may have enough power regulators for tonight." He looked up to the little drone. The eye spy had been his ongoing project ever since he broke into Robotnik's AI mainframe; he wanted his own Nicole. Grady had been the biggest thing he had been able to download before his connection had been cut, a greedy mistake. A lot of strange data on that server, it seemed to be from some old applied science company. "Did your scanners pick up any more copper masses in any of these units?" He stretched, yawning.

The little drone shook no. "Boss you're not listening! It wasn't a call from home, someone got hurt! I think..." The bot wavered. "There's an audio signal coming through that's just really strange! It's like someone's just stuck on! transmitting! I've heard screaming and explosions! Now that I think about it… Really intense situation, maybe we should avoid it." Grady whirred, circling him. "There also seems to be an arbitrary analog data stream, but I can't make more than that though."

Tails scrambled up from the scrap metals and plastics. "Wait, someone's in trouble?!" He grabbed for his messenger bag. "Grady! You start the conversation with that! I don't need to know all the little details before! If someone's in trouble we have to see if we can help!" He smirked. "Besides, this could be our ticket off salvage duty!" He started packing his bag. "Sally never lets me do any real missions..." He muttered as he dug out a com cable. Grabbing Grady out of the air, he turned him over, plugging into the drone's maintenance port. Plugging the other end into his data watch, he let the drone go so Grady could continue hovering over him. "Pipe both signals to my watch."

"Sure thing, we heading back after this boss? I need to recharge my cells soon." Grady quizzed, hovering low.

"Sure, yeah." Tails mumbled noncommittal as the first signal piped through his data watch. The sound of panting and grunting came through, followed by the rattle of a metal fence. There was grunt then the sound of a jossle, probably them landing from a jump.

"It was weird, man..." Grady piped in. "I heard an old mark II swatbot, then some screaming and explosions! Those things are so stupid. Can you believe I share the same neural map template? Glad there's better processors the doctor's making now." The robot chirped.

Tails' eyes rolled as he was typing away at his wrist computer. "Don't sound too grateful, he's the enemy."

The eye spy's front flaps flexed. "Hey man, I get it. I'm just glad I don't sound like ol roboto man version 2, it's also nice not needing a management rail."

Tails frowned as he started examining the second analog data stream. "What's a management rail? Is that information from your template's archive?" He sat down cross legged as he examined the graph looking for patterns.

The eye spy landed next to him, "I think so... They ran all over the labs, caverns in an old salt mine that went on for miles! I don't think it's here, It must be from whatever place Robotnik came from. Oh! There's more noise, sounds like they're running again!"

"Hmm, I always wondered about whatever place he came from... or how he got here to begin with..." Tails mumbled. "I think this may be a video signal?" He perked, his ear twitching. "That would make sense, to be paired with continuous audio…" He went to work. "Ok looks like 25 bursts of data per second." His mumbling got faster. "Maybe frames? And inside each of those it looks like 625 sub bursts, possibly a field of contrast? aaaaand that's it! PERFECT!" He grinned. A black and white choppy video appeared on his watch screen. The video seemed to be jostling, showing images of the industrial district he was in. From the looks of it, it looked like the device recording might be a necklace?

Tails' face got serious. "Let me save this info. Hey Grady, open a channel to Uncle Chuck."

The little drone clicked, "Sure thing! Closing current radio session, calling Sir Charles Hedgehog.

The sound of ringing filled the storage unit. "Come on Uncle Chuck, pickup." Tails muttered under his breath.

*BLURP* "Robotropolis Freedom Fighter outpost reading you loud and clear!" The older Hedgehog's voice crackled over the line. A familiar robotic Mobian snapped into view on the small screen. Grady's camera eye brightened as he focused in on Miles. The older Robian's face lit up. "Tails! I haven't heard from you in ages! How's it been sunny boy!"

Tails smiled, facing down Grady's camera. "Been good Uncle Chuck! We can catch up later though, I have something for you." He looked back to his watch. "Preparing data packet." He began navigating the small menus on his device. "You may have noticed a new signal... Forwarding info on an unencrypted audio and video stream." He pressed the confirm. "I'm sending my current location and signal strength to the transmission. Can you use your radio array to triangulate it?" He switched his watch to the simple way-point map as the video feed cut out.

Tails heard the old Robian give a hearty chuckle. "Your one step ahead of me I guess, Yea I noticed the signal but... Oh wow! you already figured it out! Why would someone be transmitting an audio video feed through Robotropolis?" Tails heard the sound of an old mechanical keyboard clacking away. "You're the only Mobian we have stationed in that zone... Who could that be, I wonder?" Chuck squinted at his screen.

Tails waited as the soothing sound of mechanical keys continued. "Uncle Chuck, please forward me the tracking info." He shifted his stance. "Grady heard screams in the feed earlier. I plan on intercepting them before Robotnik can catch on."

The typing stopped. "Huh? Oh right! Here you go!"

Tails watched the info show up on his watch. "Thanks Uncle Chuck!" He grinned.

The older Robian's voice continued over the radio. "I can stream this to your watch for a bit without Grady's communications array, but you better hurry... Is Sally okay with you doing this?" He asked.

Tails detached the communication wire from Grady. He got up putting the cable back in his bag. "No!" He scoffed. "She's still being Aunt Sally…" His eyes lit, a sly look on his face as he stared down the camera drone. "But! Per protocol… Mobian life comes first. We can't risk any more of us getting roboticized. I'm within protocol to try and help a refugee." He smiled into Grady's camera. "By the way, put a marker here. I have a pickup ready for power converters in this building."

"I'll try and talk to her again, we need all the help we can get." The Robian paused. "How old are you now?" Chuck asked.

Tails started towards the stairwell at the end of the hall. "Almost 17 or 18 cycles. Probably closer to 18, since we don't know my exact date of birth." He replied, starting up the stairs. "There's evidence that the refugee may have been being pursued by an old mark II swatbot."

"Be careful Miles, they may be old but their laz cannons still punch into flesh." He replied. "I'll send a report to Sally, give me a ring if anything comes up."

Tails made it to the top of the building, stepping into the evening air. His ears flattened back as he grimaced. "I wish you would hold off on that." He nervously eyed Grady's cam and mic as the drone followed behind."

"You know I can't do that." The boy silently grumbled as he could hear the smile in his elder's voice. "Stay safe son! And don't take any unnecessary risks. Over and out." *CLICK*

Tails sighed, his skin starting to itch from the outside air. The chemical humidity was breaking into a light drizzle. "Should have brought my mask..." He muttered, his nose wrinkling at the bitter and sour scent. "Need to get out of this zone before the rain turns from nasty to burning acid." He looked towards the heart of the city and froze. He could see hoards of drones exiting Robotnik's command center, search lights blazing. "Uh ohh..." He mouthed. His heartbeat rose, he still had time though.

Grady came up next to him. "Ummm, I'm picking up a mess of activity, looks like Robotnik's raised the alarm... Actually, I'm getting chatter implying Snivly's heading this one. We better hurry, There's going to be squads of swatbot mark IIIs in the area soon."

Tails looked down to his watch, tracking the target as his face got a pensive look. "We've got to get whoever this is to shut off their transmission." Tails glanced and nodded to the small bot. "We have time, we can escape through the waterworks before the fumes build!" He made his way to the edge of the roof. He watched the little map on his wrist, the target should be crossing soon. He climbed over the edge, grabbing a drain pipe to slide down.

Alyx had been running through this grid of warehouses and storage units for a while. The rain had been steadily increasing, it stank and was slippery. The humidity was making the skin under her new fur itch. She was getting exhausted, it was like she hadn't slept in days... She needed to get someplace safe. The ringing in her ears had dulled to a low hum and the burn on her leg was now just a raw throb. On the building to her right she noticed a movement above. She squinted at the horizon of the top, a soldier dropping from the roof? She took cover behind a nearby barrier. Readying her pistol, she winced, preparing for the sharp sound.

"Hey lady! How ya doin! My name's Grady!" Alyx looked up, wide eyed. There was a little drone hovering above her. She dove to the side, raising her weapon. "AHH! A blaster! Tails help!" Yelped as it zipped away.

She heard a crash and turned her head. Getting up, she peered over her concrete hiding spot. There was a figure splayed in some cardboard boxes at the base of a drainpipe, it jumped to its feet. She leveled the gun at them. "WAIT!" A male voice cut in. "I need to speak to you!" He raised his arms high, slowly moving into the dim light. "I apologize for my Drone, He doesn't seem to listen well–"

"Oh I'm sorry! I'm just trying to be FRIENDLY!" It shrieked as it peered from behind the figure.

Tails shot a disapproving look over his shoulder at the drone as he stepped forward. "We don't have time for that Grady!" He bit "Just keep an eye out for swatbots!" He looked at the young Mobian in front of him. "We don't have much time but whatever that signal is you have to turn it off now!" He rambled. "They're coming and we need to leave!" Lowering his hands, he gestured for her to follow him. "My name is Miles Prower but you can call me Tails. Please trust me, lower the weapon and come with me."

Sirens started in the distance, catching both of them off guard. Hesitantly, she looked him over. He seemed to be the same bipedal race that she was now. Lowering the gun, she holstered it. Making up her mind, she gave a sigh wiping her eyes. "Aright." She sniffed as she took a deep breath. She looked at him, a tired smile on her face. "My name is Alyx Vance."

"Nice to meet you Alex, but we need to go now! You've been transmitting a signal from something." He noticed the headset around her neck. "I'm guessing it's that thing!" He pointed. "We need to stop it before Robotnik's forces zero in on us!" He hissed.

She looked down to her radio, pulling it from her neck. "He can track this?" She asked.

"I was able to track it." He swiftly shrugged, his eyes starting to dart around.

She examined Russel's handiwork, finding a transmit button taped down... Removing the black tape, the button depressed. "Ok, I think I stopped it."

He grabbed her hand, starting to pull. "I'm sorry but we need to leave now!" He was starting to freak a bit. "If you haven't noticed, the rain is getting stronger. We need to get under cover before it eats through our clothes!" He began to jog, pulling her along. "Grady! Give us some low light, enough to see but not enough to stand out!"

"You got it dude!" the drone said, projecting a dim amber light in front of them.

Going with the flow, she just threw the headset back around her neck. Nodding along she followed, she was so exhausted. He had to be with the local resistance; she just let him lead. As she was dragged along, she took a moment to examine her guide. He was a similar fox-like creature, his fur was orange but where she had black accents, his were white. They looked similar enough but he seemed to have one abnormality, it looked like he had two tails swaying behind him as they jogged. He was wearing a tattered hoodie with work pants and sturdy hiking boots. Over his shoulder he had an old military poncho being worn like a cape.

The bitter smell started to lessen as they got further from the junkyard. He slowed down to peer around the corner of the next warehouse. "Hey." She whispered. "I appreciate you guiding me but please let go of my hand, I don't want you gripping too hard."

He did a little start, letting go. He looked back at her questioningly. "I'm sorry! I didn't think I was gripping that hard..." He examined his hand, flexing his grip.

Flexing her own hand, she pointed at a nearby bottle on the ground. Flicking back, the bottle flew to her grip. "Sorry, a friend entrusted something delicately valuable to me. I need to make sure they still work."

Tails eyes bugged out, looking at her hand. "Did that device just pull an object to you?!" He shout-whispered. The sirens pulled him back to reality. "Nevermind, we need to keep moving!" Glancing back around the corner he stiffened. Twirling, he reached for the bottle. "Give me that bottle!" He hissed. "Get down as flat as you can in the shadows!" He ordered, pointing to the ground. "Grady, turn off the light!" Alyx nodded, handing him the object and dove to get prone on the ground. They were next to an intersection between four buildings. He pulled back, aiming the bottle down the left road and hucked it. Turning towards her, he pulled the poncho hood up. Pulling his tails forward between his legs, he sat, dipping his head. He used his arms to pull the sides of the cape out as if to cover them. "Stay quiet, try and be as small and still as you can... My cloak should block their sensors..." He wavered as Grady landed, powering down in his lap.

*CRACK*

The sound of broken glass echoed down the alleyway. Alyx rested her cheek on the ground, slowing her breath as she just focused on the sound of the rain. Her injured tail was starting to get soar as she held it to her side.

*CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK*

Heavy metallic footfalls ran down the street, they stopped at the intersection.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" A synthesized voice droned.

"SITE SCAN." A second bot piped in.

*CLICK*

Alyx saw a blue laser grid sweep over them. She held still, glancing up to the young Mobian's face. He looked like a nervous wreck but he was smiling at her. He began mouthing. "It's going to be ok." Over and over again. She slowly nodded, it almost seemed like he was trying to convince himself more than her.

"NOTHING ON SCAN, JUST SOME TRASH BAGS SOUTH TOWARDS THE SALVAGE YARD. SOUND ECHO PROFILE PINS ANOMALY DUE WEST." The second voice droned.

They heard a whirring as a nasally voice butted in. "Swatbots! report... Have you found anything yet?"

"NOTHING CONCRETE SIR." The first swatbot replied. "AS BRAVO WAS ABOUT TO SAY THERE WAS A NOISE DUE WEST-"

"GO FIND THE SOURCE OF THAT SIGNAL!" The organic voice shrieked. "It's not every day a PAL video signal just shows up all willy nilly." it grumbled. "So much ambient radiation in this place... it can't be a coincidence!" The drone shot up, looking back towards the robots. "Who ever they are, I want them brought to me alive! Uncle will want to question them himself... Where on Mobius they got a transmitter like that..."

The clink of footsteps faded west. There was a moment of silence.

Tails got an odd look on his face, but quashed it. "Come on, we're almost out of this." He got up, offering her a hand.

Alyx waved it off, getting to her feet on her own. "Where next?" She breathed, wiping the mud off her cheek and clothes.

"Just past here there's an entrance to the waterways." He replied as they jogged north. They came upon a manhole next to the fire escape of a nearby warehouse. Miles pulled what looked like a mini crowbar from his messenger bag. Inserting the tool in the corner, he lifted. The cover was pulled aside, revealing the pitch black darkness.

"Uhh." Alyx wavered at the sight of the pit. "There's no brain sucking parasites down there right?"

He got a bewildered look, eyes scrunching at her. "What?"

She flushed. "Never mind!" She moved to climb down. As she descended the ladder, she grasped for her flashlight. Clicking it on, it flickered as the battery finally gave out. "Arg... Why did it have to go out now..." She quietly whined, giving a huf as she forced herself to continue climbing into the darkness.

A whir followed her as the little drone bounced beside her. "Ugh, I hate when that happens. Don't worry, I have just enough juice to light the way." She heard a click, and the bottom was illuminated in the robot's amber lamp.

The stress left her shoulders. "Thanks..." She backed up away from the ladder. "I... I don't care for the dark."

They heard the scraping of the manhole closing above. "Well there's a lot of dark in Robotropolis I'm afraid." Tails said as he closed the manhole. he seemed to be calmer. Looking down he smiled, hopping the last few rungs to join them. "It's ok though, were safe here, for now."

Alex let out a tired breath as her shoulders sagged. "Thanks…" she groaned. "Nice to meet you Miles." The boy nodded and put out a fist to her as she put her palm out to shake. She noticed the different gesture and quickly moved to match, turning her hand and making a fist. She hesitantly bumped his fist, giving him a grin.

The boy's eyes looked at her a little strange. "Nice to meet you Alyx…"

Alyx took a deep breath as she began rubbing her temples as her adrenaline started to taper down. The dull throb in her leg started making itself known again. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself; she wasn't a little girl anymore. They had a light and it sounded like there weren't any creatures like headcrabs down here, she was safe.

"You ok?" Tails asked, looking concerned at her tense posture.

She slowly nodded. "Yea, sorry... I'm exhausted. It's been a really long day and I'll be honest, I hate the dark."

Grady chirped in. "That's alright Ms. Alyx, stiff over there is terrified of lightning."

Tails flushed an indignant look as he got stiff. "Used to be! Still don't like it but used to be!" He batted at the drone. "Don't go telling people things about me without my permission!" He was flustered. He nervously looked back at her. "Erm…" He blushed. "We gotta get moving..." His bravado returned as his cheeks continued to burn under his fur. "Grady! Bring up a map of the underground and project a waypoint to my metropolitan safehouse."

Grady projected a map of tubes in front of them. A line was drawn for their path, a pulsing dot to represent them. "Sorry, touchy subject…" The drone quipped.

"Sorry." Tails directed towards the vixen.

"Huh?" She tiredly questioned.

"The Lightning thing." He moved past her, leading her down the tunnel. "It's ok for you to know that, I just don't like talking about it." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't want to freak out about that sort of stuff."

"Could of fooled me..." Grady muttered.

Tails stomped, pointing the drone down. "Not helping!" He griped. He relaxed and looked at her in the low light, "I don't like the loud noise. There, you know something about me."

She followed behind, a silence forming between them. She broke it. "Where I grew up, there's animals that can really harm you... They like dark damp places."

"Like brain sucking parasites?" He asked, raising a brow.

Her walk stiffened. "I... Grew up in a rough area?" She questioned.

He gave her a pensive stare. "R-Right..." He looked forward. "Ok, so let's get someplace safe." He shrugged. "Not that down here isn't too bad... but with all that toxic rain runoff, we don't want to stay in here too long." He looked at Grady, "Hey Grady how much power you got left?"

"15, I mean 14 percent." The little drone answered.

Tails nodded. "Right, we better hurry then."

Tail's glanced to the girl. "Come on!" He grinned. "It shouldn't take too long."

She gave a nervous smile back. "Right!" They set off.


Chapter 2 end


Authors notes: A long time has happened since SatAM ended. and in a similar sense it has been a long time since half life 2 episode 2 ended. The release of Half-Life Alyx got me thinking and this crossover was born. It's been quite a few years since Robotnik took over in this, about 15 or 18 years. I like to think that the coup happened and the original series of SatAM took place 5 years after. in this story some of the magic elements are going to be missing or changed. The wizards will most likely not be making an appearance. If you haven't picked up on it this is an exercise of how the characters would be grown up a bit. This is also a bit of crack taken seriously along with trying for a more grounded reality version of Sonic SatAM. Tail's cant fly, he just has a mutation. still thinking on how to work in Sonic's speed. Maybe a sense almost like bullet time reflexes and just natural better speed in those reflexes. We will see. Hope anyone who found this and is reading enjoyed.