Chapter 3: A breath of "fresh" air


Mobius - Robotropolis underground

The Two started their journey through the underbelly of the city, following the enthusiastic drone's waypoint.

As they walked, Alyx noticed the multitude of pipes on the walls. "What are all these pipes for?" She asked.

Tails glanced over his shoulder. "I'm guessing power and communications conduit. Even before Robotnik took over Mobotropolis, it was extensively automated." He spread his arms wide. "There's an extensive network reaching across the city, it even connects to different zones across the planet." He grinned. "What it would have been to see Mobotropolis before it fell. I was just a toddler before the coup, so I don't remember."

Grady slowed down to hover next to him. "I think it would have been cool to go to a movie theater."

Tails stretched, resting his arms behind his head. "Put it on our list of things to do once Robotnik's gone." He yawned. "I want to fly an aircraft someday." He dropped his arms lazily.

They continued to walk, weaving their way through dark tunnels, crossing catwalks and crouching through maintenance accesses. Alyx frowned. "If they're looking for us... Why wouldn't they look down here?" She asked.

Tails turned to her. "They probably are, but back in the zone we were just in. They have a lot of buildings to go through up top first." He smiled, looking forward. "Plus, these tunnels go down hundreds of meters." He turned forward. "This is an old city."

They continued in silence. Alyx was battling in her head. She needed to figure out what to say if he asked her where she came from. Her father had instilled in her that the best relationships were built on trust. She gnawed on her cheek nervously, she would have to tell the truth eventually. Lying would only make things far worse later. She also couldn't outright say she was a human... Then again... right now she wasn't human, she was Mobian. She resolved to let some of it slip if he asked.

They came up to a closed off floodgate with a dim emergency light flashing red above. Grady scanned the door. "Huh, this wasn't closed last time. Well that's a bummer." The drone swiveled, looking at Tails. "Want to try and open it, or find a way around?"

Tails frowned as he glanced at the door. "How long would the detour be?"

Grady's map grew bigger, the waypoint dot starting to race along different tracks. "ba ba da pa... aaaaand a two hour jog."

Tail's expression fell. "No way, your telling me–"

"That this is a major thoroughfare from the western to the northern zone of Robotropolis." The robot interrupted. "It failed closed. If we are going to stay underground, the detour takes that long." The robot quipped.

Alyx came up to them, eyeing the large steel gate. "Can we try and fix it? Or maybe just jam it open?"

Tails started digging some tools out of his bag. "I can sure try!" he shrugged. "They're probably gonna send me down here to do this anyways." He grinned back at her in the low light, twirling his screwdriver. "This is my expertise." He knelt down, starting to take the maintenance panel apart. "So where are you from, Alyx? Why make the pilgrimage all the way to the LOST city of Mobotropolis?" He playfully exaggerated.

This was it, she needed to choose her next words carefully. "I think I'm from where Dr. Kintober came from. I guess I came to help fix the issues he's created."

Tails paused, he gave her a funny look. "You're from whatever realm Robotnik and Snivly are from?" He slowly gave her a look over in the dim light. "You're a Mobian though..."

Crossing her arms she leaned against the wall beside him. "I know." She flicked her hair dramatically. "One of my charming qualities I guess." She pushed herself off the wall, walking over to him. "Not many Mobians on Earth though. Lota Humans... or there used to be anyways…" She sighed.

He directed his attention back to the panel. "What, did something happen to them?"

"Yea... My planet got invaded by aliens from another dimension." She shook her head as she sat down next to him. "Well I guess this planet's my planet now."

Tails didn't know what to say. He looked back to the open panel instead, starting to dig into the components. Using a tester he started to check for power. "This isn't good." He frowned. "I think the power failed to the control panel itself, No power means nothing to bypass."

Alyx got up, walking over to the dim emergency light. "I got an idea." She pulled out her multi-tool. Activating the wiring function she held it to the emergency light. The holoprojector started drawing the live wires through the wall.

Tails eyes widened. "Is that doing what I think it's doing!?"

She traced the live wire back to a conduit joining the control panel. "Ohh! It does more than that." She Smirked. "My dad's friend Russel says I should sell them. PFFF!" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Like I'll ever get that chance..." She chortled. Finding where the two wire paths intersected. She charged the tool, releasing a burst behind the wall. The live wire was welded to the inactive circuit, causing the panel to light up.

He turned to her shocked. "Where did you get this tech!" He shrieked.

She laughed. "Hey, weren't you listening?" She waved the repurposed micro cassette recorder. "I made this one!" She holstered the tool. "Lota neat tech on Earth." She moved to sit on the ledge of the walkway, her feet dangling down near the water.

He paused, looking at the gadget on her belt before moving to continue working. "Must have been hard being around his kind." Grabbing for his tester again he started looking for the relay to bypass.

She frowned. "Not all humans are like him. My dads a human."

He fumbled his tool. "What?"

She gripped the ledge, looking over to him. "Ya know... I kind of picked up that you don't like humans but do you seriously think all of them are like that guy?"

He met her gaze, staring for a few seconds. Giving a huff, he returned his attention to the panel. "I don't know, but I'd be careful who you go telling stuff like this too."

She pulled a leg up, letting her chin rest on her knee and began to tap the wall with her dangling heel. "Earlier you asked me to trust you... so I'm trusting you." She waved her hand. "It probably sounds crazy, right?"

He paused, giving it some thought. She had had multiple chances to attack him, so far she seemed genuine... Considering the fact she was Mobian and she didn't have to tell him anything... He couldn't think of any reason to make this up, other than it was true... Nodding to himself, he made up his mind. He would trust her for now.

Grabbing a flat tip screwdriver, he started forcing relays shut, looking for the gate control. "Teleportation isn't out of the ordinary here. It's just… teleporting that distance is extremely... rare...There have been outrealmers before, Robotnik is one of them..." He slammed the last relay shut. There was a grinding noise as the gate started opening. Water streamed forth filling the channel between the walkways. "Found it!" He smirked.

She got up and walked towards him. "Hey I think I can help, Does this ever need to close again?"

He shook his head. "No, we just need some scrap wire to tie it on."

She grabbed for her multi tool again. "That relay? The one with your screwdriver in it?"

He nodded, pulling out the tool and the gate began to close.

She held the tool out. Pressing a button the relay actuated, welding the contacts shut in the process. The door started re-opening. "And there we go!" She wagged her eyebrows playfully at him.

Tails got up, putting his tools away. "You really made that?"

She got up beside him, hand on her hip. "It's not all me, it's made from scavenged Human and Combine tech." She grinned. "But yea, I made it."

Putting his tools away, he situated his bag at his side, waiting for the door to open. "You mentioned something happened to the humans of your home realm, what happened?"

She moved to the door beside him. "It wasn't just Humans, Other species like the Vortigaunts suffered as well." She gave a small sigh. "After the Black Mesa incident, the portal storms were exploited by the Combine. They conquered the planet in seven hours..." She shook her head. "My world used to have billions of people on it... Now that number is MAYBE in the millions..."

The door finished opening, water flowing through the central channel. They made their way forward, continuing to follow the drones map. Tails was silent for a bit. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. Its a good thing you managed to make your way home though."

Her step faltered for a second. "Ye…yea." She sighed. "I guess this is home now..." She perked up. "So what's this place called?"

Grady spun, shining the light in her eyes. "Welcome to Mobius! Oh you'll love it here! There's lot's of metal and also green for the organics!" The little drone twirled in the air. "There's so many people to talk to! So many things to do!" He circled back to Tails. "Hey, are we going to be heading back to Knothole soon? I want to play tag with the kiddos!"

Tails chuckled, pushing the drone's light out of his eyes. "I've got a feeling we'll be heading back home soon, just hold tight." He nudged the drone back forward.

Alyx's ears perked as her heart skipped a beat. "You guys have kids?" She mumbled. She froze as the realization hit her, the suppression field wasn't here! If more humans came, her race could continue!

Tails held back. "Did you say something?"

She looked at him. "It's fine, just thinking." Grady's map indicated they were getting close. Alyx examined the little bot and felt a pang in her heart, she missed Dog. "Hey, Miles?"

He glanced over to her. "Yea?"

"You made this little guy, right?" She gestured to the drone.

He waved off the drone. "Sort of. Grady's a project I've been dreaming of for years. His hull's an old eyespy drone. His central processor is from a swatbot III, I snagged his template from one of Robotniks mainframes. I guess Robotnik's AIs aren't completely original. My Aunt has an AI assistant and I've wanted my own for a very long time." He puffed up his chest, a spiffy look accompanied by his fists at his hips. "Grady's got some more work, but so far he's been a success!"

The drone tilted back, as if to glance at them. "My microphone's burning! You're making me blush!" He turned to Alyx "I'm a backup of a floor manager for the testing and calibration department. At least that's what I remember from before they backed me up but there could be edits."

She gave the drone a funny look. "You sound so alive! Your inflections don't sound robotic at all!" She looked back to Tails. "So you don't know how to create that kind of intelligence?"

His smile grew sheepish. "No, unfortunately. Grady's basically stock, no mods."

She looked back to the drone. "You're a manager in a company?"

The drone perked up. "My header says floor manager of Aperture's testing and calibration department!"

Alyx rubbed her chin. "Aperture sounds familiar." She snapped her finger. "My dad told me about that place! It was a science company in Michigan! I think it's where Dr. Kintober worked before Black Mesa!"

Tails continued forward putting his hands in his pockets. "So Robotnik was a scientist on the other side? Not surprising..."

Alyx glanced back towards Grady, sighing. "I was hoping... I've got a robot dog back home. Someday... if I ever see him again... I wish he could talk."

Tails got a thoughtful look on his face. "Some of the others might be able to help, if your interested in AI." He turned his head to her. "May have to trade tech though." He noticed the outline of her necklace. It wasn't a necklace at all, it looked like a headset. By the placement of the earcups, it wasn't Mobian. "That's for a human, isn't it?" He pointed.

Looking down, she examined her headset. Pulling it off, she noticed something; the earcups slid up and down the band. Testing her idea, she slid the earcup that didn't have the mic boom up to be where her new ear was. Taking off her headband, she fitted the headset, sliding her hair band over top. Smiling, she wagged her eyebrows. "Works fine!" A static pop hammered her ear, she yanked it back off, fixing her hair. "Not the most comfortable though..."

Looking at the map, they were nearly there. He examined her in the low light. Tails could hardly tell what she was, other then she was Mobian and some of the details of her face. He thought back on what she had said and something odd stuck out. "What's Combine?" He scratched behind his neck, yawning again.

She returned the yawn. "Ugh. don't yawn, I want to be someplace safe before I pass out." She was starting to feel a bit lightheaded anyways. She remembered his question. "The Combine are an extra-dimensional empire. They call themselves… it translates to the Universal Union, we call them The Combine."

He looked thoughtful. "So some faction on Robotniks realm is it? Why do you call them The Combine?"

She frowned. "They integrate species, genetically engineering and combining them in their empire. They're also like a combine harvester, consuming everything in their path." She shuttered. "Be glad they don't know about this world."

Tails stopped, thinking. "You don't think they could follow you here, do you?"

She paused, turning to face him. "The reason Earth was invaded was because we opened a portal to a place the Combine were already seeking. I don't think they know about this place at all." She shook her head. "They seem to be able to detect huge portal storms between dimensions but not small one off portals."

He slowly nodded. "Okay…"

She huffed. "It's not like I wanted to come here anyways." She mumbled.

He frowned. "You're not excited to be home on Mobius? Do you remember anything from here at all?"

Alyx thought about her next words carefully. "I don't have any prior memories of Mobius." She sighed as they arrived at the end of the tunnel. "I'm taking this opportunity as a fresh start." She laughed. "Things may be dreary over here, but so far we've had nothing try to eat us!" Looking up, she saw a ladder to a manhole cover. "So far this has been good." She felt dizzy all of a sudden, grabbing a handlebar to steady herself.

Tails's ears drooped a bit in concern. "You feeling ok?"

She let go of the ladder rung, her arms waving a bit to balance. "Yea, I've just been feeling a little dizzy." Holding her hand to her head, she glanced to him. "You wouldn't happen to have some food at this safehouse would you?"

He nodded. "Yea, we can find something to eat." He started climbing the ladder as Alyx and Grady waited below. Reaching the lid, he used his elbow to lift it up and peek out. The coast was clear.

As he started moving the lid, Alyx started ascending the ladder behind him. Her leg was starting to hurt again, her pant leg felt wet too. Maybe she should have used the injection... Grady zoomed above her, exiting the tunnel as she trudged up behind Miles. Getting to the top, she pulled herself out, sitting on the ledge. Her legs were still dangling in the hole. Breathing deep, she held her temple as there was building static; little pinpricks of numbness built as she started to feel dizzy again.

Tails noticed her demeanor and knelt down. "You sure you're ok?" He asked.

It was dark, she could hardly see his outline. "I have an injury on my leg." She pulled both of them from the manhole, resting her forehead on her knees. "I didn't think it would be an issue." She breathed. "It was just a burn, It smelled like it cauterized."

"What?!" He frowned, finally noticing the distinct copper scent lingering in the air. "Why didn't you say something earlier!?"

She started to get up. "I didn't think it would be an issue." She swallowed. "Are we almost there?"

He got back up. "Yea, give me a moment to close the drain, don't want you falling in." He helped her up, pulling her away from the open hole in the ground. Grabbing the pry bar from his bag, he pulled the drain closed.

They were in the old northern metropolitan district. Overpasses stretched above them, blocking the dull night sky. She couldn't see any stars. Even City 17 had stars. There were tall buildings on both sides of them, they stood in the middle of a two lane road. She followed Tails as he led them to an alleyway. They walked in silence as they made their way to the back of the building.

He moved for a door with a broken window. Opening the door he led her inside. It smelled foul, like old rancid meat. She gagged. "What is that?"

He smiled. "It's an old deli, upstairs there's an apartment block, that's where we're headed." He chuckled. "Smells way better, trust me."

They turned, avoiding the shop to make their way down the hall. Grady was hovering above them with a dim light. Tails led her upstairs to the top apartment. "Almost there." He opened the door into his safehouse. There was a kitchenette attached to a living room on the left. A hallway led to the bedroom and restroom on the right. The kitchen was divided by an island with a bar on one side and counter on the other. At the bar there were stools and an old looking terminal. Leading her to the couch, he helped her sit. He moved to turn on the power cell plugged into the kitchen's circuit breaker. It hummed, the pack slowly warming up. He flipped a few of the breakers on, waking the small apartment.

Grady hovered to a pad next to one of the outlets. Landing, he plugged himself in. "What A day. My cells are at 7%. I'll see y'all in the morning." And powered down.

Tails moved his attention to the living room. Flicking on the lights he was able to take a good look at her for the first time. She was a Mobian fox, just like him but orange and black. He blushed, she was cute. He quashed that thought process quick, not the time or place. He moved over to her and gawked at her leg. Sure enough the blue fabric was matted with blood. "How did you not feel this?" He looked down and saw specs of blood leading to the door. "You've left a trail of blood!"

She looked up, hazily meeting his gaze. "Will we have to move again, can they track that?"

He thought, then shook his head. "No... We're fine, the toxic rain will wash our tracks." He stepped forward. "You're not though. Let me go grab my med kit!" Moving to the kitchen, he opened a cupboard, pulling a bag from it. "If you're that woozy from blood loss, I may need help getting you out of here..."

Alyx made up her mind. "It'll be fine. Give me a moment." She pulled the bag from her back and started rifling through it.

Tails approached her nervously, a bottle of peroxide and cloth in one hand and some sheers in the other. His embarrassed face was burning under his fur, he hated first aid. "If you can take off your pants and clean the wound yourself, I can get the stitch kit ready... If not, here's some sheers to cut through the..." His eyes grew and he choked on his words as she pulled out a gnarly injector, filled with strange glowing liquid. "What on Mobius is tha-"

Pressing a button, a large needle protruded from the end. He watched in horror as she stabbed the spring loaded injector into her leg. "WHAT IS THAT?!" He reeled back as it began to hiss.

She looked up from the draining syringe, gritting her teeth. "What?"

He pointed to the injector still held in her leg. "YOU JUST INJECTED SOME RANDOM GLOWING THING INTO YOUR LEG!" His ears were flat as he grimaced at the sound of the hissing injection. He flinched at the clink of the sharp metal retracting back into the device.

She set the used needle on the coffee table and shuttered. "What's your deal? Are you squeamish? It's medicine, see the symbol?" She rubbed her eyes, groaning as she relaxed back into the couch.

He slowly relaxed, glancing at the needle. "I'm… sorry, I just haven't seen any medicine like… like that!" He set the scissors and antiseptic supplies down. Slowly, he picked up the used needle. He could still see some remaining liquid, it glowed eerily through the little window. "This is medicine?" He winced, shuttering. "I don't know if I could do that to myself..."

Alyx was taking deep breaths, her eyes were scrunched shut. "From what we can tell, it's healing water from the border world, Xen."

He set the injector down on the table. "And it just... heals you?"

She tilted her head forward the stress melting from her face and she looked at him. He noticed when her green eyes were relaxed, they had an almond shape to them. Maybe a Mobian of far eastern descent, like Whisper. She blinked, tired. "It does. I didn't want to use it unless I had to." She took a deep breath. "Not like there's an unlimited supply now..." She looked up at the boy with a half lidded smile. "They work quite well though." She poked her thumb through a hole near her stomach on the jacket, wiggling her finger. "From puncture wounds to blood loss." She frowned. "Don't think it can regrow limbs though..."

His eyes grew wide. Looking her up and down, he noticed she was covered in tears and patches of old blood. The horror struck him when he saw how many holes had tufts of orange fur poking through.

Standing up, she stretched. "You said there was food?" She asked.

He startled, snapping back to the moment. "Uhhh... Yea!" He moved back to the kitchen. Pouring a kettle, he set it on the stove. "It's not much, but I've got some old noodles we can eat." His mood was returning. "I've heard legends these cups can last hundreds of cycles stored properly!" He looked up, meeting her gaze. "Ohh! There's running water on this block! Robotnik keeps the water mains going for his industrial purposes I guess." He turned flipping another breaker. "I can spare some energy for the water heater if your interested in cleaning yourself." He hopped back to the stove turning on the electric element. "Food is going to take a bit to cook and cool." He started digging under the counter behind the island. Poking his head up he pointed down the hallway. "Last door on the right is the restroom, there might be some soap in there, I don't know." He blanched. "I know you say your ok, but if you need stitches, tell me. I'll be working on the computer for a bit." His head dipped back behind the counter and the sound of rummaging continued.

She stared down the hall, It had been a while since she had a proper clean. Glancing at her pant leg caked in blood, she made up her mind. "I think I will." She gave a grateful smile at him. "Thanks!" Grabbing her bag, she headed down the hallway, entering the bathroom.

As he heard the sound of the door shut, he peered over the counter. Putting the food packs down, he darted around the island. Sitting down he frantically started hitting the spacebar, the old computer waking up. "Come on, come on!" He frantically mumbled as the screen started warming up, he reached behind the screen to plug the coms cable in. The green login prompt materialized and he logged into the terminal. He started the chat client, dialing uncle Chuck. "Come on Uncle Chuck, don't be busy!" He fidgeted, putting the Mobian style headset on.

The window flickered as the image of Chuck materialized. The robian Hedgehog's metal was dull with wear. He was wearing round spectacles with the glass poked out over his red optics. He had a wire brush mustache and a brown trench coat adorned his shoulders. "Tails, just the pup I wanted to see!" His red optics glowed and a bright smile lit his face. "Glad your safe, we were actually talking about you-"

"We?" Tails interrupted.

"Sally's on the other line." He started typing. "Give me a moment and I'll bring you in."

There was a click, the window divided. "Tails!" Sally greeted. Her voice sounded nervous. He could see his adoptive mother's image clear up on the other feed. She was a chipmunk with brown fur with tan on her muzzle going down her front, topping her head was auburn red hair. She was leaning forward in her chair, resting her elbows on the desk as her hands wrung anxiously. She was wearing her Iconic blue jacket over a black shirt. "I heard from Chuck that Robotnik was locking down a sector you were in. I'm glad you're ok!" She started rambling. "This is why I want you to stay in knothole Miles! It's not like the early days–"

Tails cut her off. "Hi Aunt Sally!" His face was nervous. "Look I have important information and only a little time to talk in private before she comes back." He rambled.

Sally straightened up, her expression stealing. He noticed the mood shift. He wasn't talking to his adoptive mother anymore, he was talking to the commander of the Freedom Fighters. "What's wrong Miles, Are you safe? Who's she?"

"I'm fine!" He took a deep breath. "You know that refugee I made contact with? I wanted to talk in private for a bit, She's cleaning up in the restroom right now. I don't know how long I have before she comes back."

Chuck's head tilted. "I take it she was the source of our signal?"

Tails nodded. "She was wearing a radio headset. It looks like it was designed for field work with a remote technician. It's off now so Robotnik can't track it."

Chuck frowned. "That signal, I ran the protocol against the Mobian database, it came up squat. Running it against Robotnik's database however, it comes up with PAL video."

A concerned look crossed Sally's face. "What does that mean?"

Tails butted back in. "Listen, This Mobian girl claims to be from Robotnik's homeworld!"

A shocked look crossed both party's faces, Sally shot up. "What?!"

Tails cut her off. "Let me finish! She has crazy technology Mom! She says she wants to help!" He looked down meeting her eyes. "But I don't know how it's possible, or how she got there to begin with."

He could hear the metal clink of chuck tapping his chin. "There have been outrealmers before, Robotnik wasn't the first one. You know as well as I do, the dimensional barriers are weaker on Mobius. We also have legends of our own people walking the different planes of existence! Heck we have a cluster of warp zones protecting the great forest!"

Sally butted in. "How much have you revealed to her?"

Tails leaned back in his chair stressing. "I don't know... We talked on the way back, nothing much important but… the more we talked the stranger it got!"

"Do you think she's a threat?" Sally hesitated.

Tails thought for a second. "No... I don't. She seems genuine enough... But there is one thing."

Sally met Tails' gaze through the monitor. "What is it?"

Tails hesitated. "She says she was raised by a Human."

Sally bristled. "What?!"

Tails leaned forward waving his hands. "She doesn't seem emotionally deficient or cold like either Snivly or Robotnik!"

They all paused.

Chuck cleared his throat. "What kind of technology does she have?"

Tails grinned. "I think you're going to like her Uncle Chuck. She has these gloves that can grab things from across the room!" His hands started gesturing more as his excitement built. "She has a multi tool that can detect wires through walls and change their paths by cutting and welding them remotely!" He rambled. He froze shuttering."She also has some gnarly looking injectors that can heal lazgun wounds and replenish blood."

Chuck sat back in his seat, the clank of metal echoing. "When you say pull objects..."

Tails frantically nodded. "It has to be some sort of gravity manipulation! NO MAGNETS! We have the ability to push but not to pull! This could open up so many possibilities!"

Sally leaned forward. "Did you say she had medicine that could heal lazgun wounds? Do you think we could replicate it for our field kits!?"

Tails shuttered. "Maybe... there may be a hangup though." He stood, looking back to the table he saw the spent cartridge. "Give me a moment." He ripped of the headset and ran over grabbing the used hypo. Jumping back in his seat he put the headset back on. Holding the object up to the camera he continued. "It's got some sort of strange glowing medicine inside. I was getting ready to dress the wound and she just up and stabbed herself!"

Chuck chortled. "Still don't like needles my boy?"

"This is serious!" Tails diverted, his cheeks flushing under his fur.

Sally looked at him hard. "Do you think she is trustworthy Miles?"

He slowly nodded. "As I said earlier, I think she's genuine. She seemed more tired and frazzled. Maybe a bit miffed she was in this situation to begin with... But she says she wants to help. She seemed up front with the info too."

Sally looked away, rubbing her chin in thought. "We could use the help... and the technology, especially if its tech Robotnik doesn't have. We can't let Robotnik get her either..." She met Miles' gaze. "If she wants to join us... bring her via the underground route. If she has links with humans... We can't trust her with the main path to Knothole... yet."

Tails slowly nodded. "You're talking about the mine shafts?"

Sally nodded, confirming. "Bring her blindfolded, I'll have a powered cart and a blindfold ready for you on the far end."

Tails grinned, saluting. "Eye Ma'am!"

Rolling her eyes she smiled, waving him off. "Ok, enough of that. How have you been, camping in Robotropolis? Avoiding the patrols I hope?"

He leaned back, relaxing. "Yea, things have been fine, no big issues staying under the radar. Once the alarms die down in the industrial district, you can have the pickup crews go to the buildings I marked in my reports. I have a lot of parts we can bring back."

Chuck gave a thumbs up. "Good to hear son."

Tails just remembered. "Hey Chuck, I have a thought. Her name is Alyx Vance. Can you try and access the old Mobian social services database? Maybe she was teleported off-world as a kid."

Chuck nodded. "Good idea. It may take a bit to safely tunnel back into that network but I can surely take a look." A ringing came through on his line. "I've got another field agent calling in. Talk to you later Miles." He nodded to Sally. "Princess."

Sally nodded back. "Keep up the good fight Uncle Chuck." His video feed cut.

Sally focused back on Miles. "It will be good to have you home." She smiled. "Xander's been asking after you." She shifted in her seat, leaning forward. "His 10th birthday is coming up and he will be so glad his cool older brother will be home."

Tails blushed. "It will be good to be home Mom, its been a few months."

Sally sighed. "It's funny, he looks up to you just how you used to look up to Sonic."

The fox perked up. "How is Sonic?" he asked.

She sighed. "Due to be home soon. He is hitting a power plant in southern Robotropolis. You know Robotnik though. His infrastructure has so many redundancies now... We need more electronic warfare experts." She paused. "Tails... I want you to stop working towards field missions... I want you in the electronic warfare division..."

He sighed. "I get where you're coming from, but I want to be out on the front-"

She cut him off. "You know as well as I do, the right exploit can do so much more damage!"

He put his head in his hands. "Can we talk about this later?" He heard the door to the restroom open. "Hey, you'll be able to meet our guest soon." He turned looking down the hallway.


Chapter 3 end.


Authors Notes: Wow, I thought i'd be uploading this for like maybe one person to read. The story is sitting at over 80 views! I'm getting more practice editing and writing. I'm trying to be descriptive and have natural dialog. If I get enough practice maybe I can post a chapter once a week to every two weeks. I have a vague outline of where I want to go but things keep changing or being refined. If you have an account or ability to post and you see a continuity error or some mistake I've made let me know. I'm also trying to keep it accessible but that is extremely difficult. If you are interested in the source material here are some specifics, Half Life Alyx is a big one but its a VR exclusive and aperture desk job from portal. Portal 2 later. For the source material for sonic right now its Sonic The Hedgehog, that's not really going to bring up much because so much is name that so look up Sonic SatAM . The current distribution right holder WildBrain cartoons has it uploaded to their youtube for free as of this date. Sonic SatAM is not as popular but is very nostalgic to some people me included. When I first started this idk I think iv tried to start this story… it feels like 5 times and the quality just wasn't good enough or just felt off or way too cheesy. With this chapter I think this is about to pass the longest thing I've ever written, maybe someday I'll be one of those 100k+ words writers! Hope you enjoy.

Traveler out