Preface: there is a drinking scene at the very end of this chapter, it is not an endorsement of underage drinking(21 in the states), in fact I am a recovered alcoholic so... yeah. Battling depression with alcohol is a bad idea. Stay strong. -Xen Traveler


Chapter 13: The truth


Mobius - Knothole - Rotor's workshop - 3239

Alyx looked the building over, it was a half cylinder with a sliding door at the front. They were standing on the concrete vertical launch pad out front and It clicked in her head. "So this pad is designed for an ornithopter?" She asked.

Tails nodded. "This one? Yeah, we found a really old one in there. It's still in there with the hull and wings shoved in the back." The vulpin got a conflicted look. "Rotor scrapped its engine to fix the well pump some years ago." His confliction grew to disappointment. "Shame we couldn't fix it, I'd have loved to learn to fly it…" He shifted, his expression kinda flat. "I found some history books on Ornithopters… The one we scrapped was a rare one, a war relic… a centuries old antique… seems kind of a shame..." He sighed. "But we need water." Tails motioned toward the back of the building. "Come on, back here!'' They followed a cable that was strung between trees to a pipe entering the building. "This way. Computer lab is in the back."

They made their way around the back of the building, there was a covered porch with some furniture, a few couches pointed at an old coffee table with board games and books underneath. There was an old monitor with a rabbit ear antenna on the side of the table and a pile of electronics and cartridges at its foot. There were two staircases, one going up to a loft and the other going to a basement. Xander pointed to the basement staircase. "That's the computer lab." Then he pointed to the staircase on top of it. "Rotor lives in the loft, but out here's kind of a general hang out for us."

Alyx grinned at the pieced together hangout. "Seems like a cozy hideaway!"

Xander led the group down the stairwell and entered the lab. "Brandon! You down here? I've brought the new recruit!" The young boy yelled into the dimly lit basement. The basement spanned maybe 1/2 the length of the shop, there were hanging amber lights and fans spinning above them, to one side there were some server racks and high powered workstations. Cables were strewn all over the place, carrying power and data to different machines. There were a few rows of desks in the center with different monitors and terminals stacked. To the other side there were some old heat exchangers working away, sucking the heat made by the machines out of the room to be spit out to the side of the building. In the far left corner there was an office next to a power panel, a bank of power cells and mini reactors were plugged into it.

In the far corner a white bat's head popped up from a terminal, his bangs bouncing as he smiled. The lanky boy stood and made his way over to the group. He was still wearing the red vest over white dress shirt. Alyx got a better look at his face, he seemed to have a fang poking over his lip as he smiled. He had short white bangs swept to the side drooping over an eye. "Xander! Excellent!" He smiled. " Although I was just about to join everyone else, we can talk shop for a bit–" He paused when he saw Tails walk in behind everyone else. "Though…" He forced a grin. "You brought the calvary!" He noticed Nicole as well, materializing her avatar once she entered and his eyes lit. "Ah! Nicole! Are you going to be joining our team as well?"

Nicole gave a lazy smile. "If Sally would like me to. I havn't really given it much thought. I'm usually where I'm needed."

"Maybe I'll ask Mrs. Acorn for your assistance if you wouldn't mind." The young bat nodded. He turned to Alyx. "Our guest of honor! Forgive me for not properly introducing myself the other day but I thought not to steal the show from my hosts." He gave a theatrical bow. "Brandon Starlight, at your service." Tails rolled his eyes at the theatrics, giving a silent sigh. The bat got up from his bow, clapping his hands. "Eager to get started?" He hesitated. "We'll probably do a deep dive into what we have and what you can offer tomorrow or whenever you officially join up." He gave a nervous grin. "Mother wants me to spend time with the family today, so I can't stay too much longer… But I appreciate the enthusiasm." Tails walked up to the shorter bat who's ears perked, eyes squinting, untrusting at the older teen.

Tails hesitated. "We're just doing a half general tour for Alyx today, Brandon." The fox forced a grin. "I… don't want to beat around the bush. I'm sorry for antagonizing you…" He put a fist out to the boy for him to bump. "Can we start over? I'd rather not bicker for however many weeks I'm here."

The bat eyed the fox's fist and slowly moved to bump it. "Yeah… we can do that…" He glared between the twin tailed Fox and Xander's hopeful gaze. "I'm sorry too… We're on the same team… We can act like it…" He grimaced, a wary expression on his face as he met Tails's eyes. He hesitated. "After Kitsunami left…" He sighed. "That's the third person we've lost on our team recently…" He grumbled. "They might not even consider us a unit anymore… we were already stretched thin…" He shifted uncomfortably as he stared down Tails. "I'm sorry for the things I've said in the past…" He blushed under his fur. "I… I really do hope you consider staying more than a few weeks…" He began fidgeting, gritting his teeth. "I need your help. Things worked better when you were here, the short time you were here…"

Tails slowly nodded. "Sure…" He hesitated. "We'll see how things go but I still plan on continuing towards field work right now…" He shifted his stance, uncomfortable. "I also plan on using some of this time to work on some of my other projects…" He hesitated, his tails started to twitch nervously as his ears wilted and he averted his gaze. "Can… Can I set up a parts workbench down here? Not to work at exclusively but…"

Brandon slowly nodded. "We can make a workbench… Mrs. Acorn stopped by this morning to inform me that Sir Charrels is going to be setting up shop here too…" He shifted. "Maybe you can help me set up his workstation for dispatch, that's going to be quite the renovation to the office..." The lanky boy grimaced. "I… I might need some help lifting stuff…"

Tails ears perked at the news. "Really?" His namesakes started slowly wagging. "It's been forever since Chuck's visited." His eyes lit. "Wait, like he's staying!?"

Xander ran over to his friend, excited. "UNCLE CHUCK IS COMING BACK!" The boy pumped a fist as he did a little dance of success. "DUDE, HE'LL TOTALLY HELP US! HE CAN SHOW US ALL THE NEW STUFF HE'S FOUND IN ROBOTROPOLIS'S NETWORK TOO!"

The bat grew excited. "We might have a proper unit again!" He glanced at Alyx, a sheepish expression on his face. "The electronic warfare team is considered a military unit, the only one without the newly imposed age restrictions." He got tense. "And… Now I'm the commander…" He gulped. "By… by the fact that I'm the only dedicated member left…" He shuttered, his voice started wavering. "I'm 14 cycles old… I need help…" He met the 19 cycle old vixen's gaze, a hopeful look starting to form. "Maybe… Maybe you can help me with some of the other duties that entails…" She gave him a sympathetic look as he chuckled nervously, his gaze dropping. "Mrs. Acorn gave me a pass this year, but usually all the unit captains are supposed to give speeches at the bonfire gatherings, this one's supposed to be big… I guess I will be making a small speech though, for recruitment…"

Tails fidgeted. "So I know the electronic warfare team was hurting for people but what happened? It's only been what, three months?"

The albino bat's red eyes glared at Tails. "People come and go, you being one of them." He shrugged, annoyed. "We just had another caravan leave to voyage across the western sea… This war has been going on for 15 years, with no end in sight." He hesitated. "Mrs. Acorn let's them go on the condition that they try to spread the word and ask for help…" He gave a huff. "That's helped us a few times… but not much… she doesn't want to cage people, so I guess that's the correct answer… not like there's a military force to enforce that people stay anyways… so much for the great military might of the house of Acorn…" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Then there's other cases like Kitsunami." He began growling. "He's now stuck taking care of his crippled girlfriend!" His growls turned to grumbles as the boy sighed. "It's probably her fault to begin with, probably trying to show up one of Sonic's feats infront of her stupid unit… Now Kits feels an obligation to someone who treats him like trash." He spat. "What a stupid…" He caught himself and straightened up, folding his arms behind his back, a frown on his face. "Apologies; Kitsunami still comes by, but…" He grumbled. "Another on the list of part timers… people check up but don't contribute a whole lot." He turned to Alyx. "You might meet him if you ever stick around for game night out back on the porch."

Xander stepped forward, a bit uncomfortable with a hand outstretched in a placating manor. "You know I'd join full time if I could, Brandon… but you know Mom." He hesitated. "I've got to…" He gave a wince as his gaze fell to the ground. "Ya know…" The tween began fidgeting, nervously pressing his fingers together. "P-prepare to replace her…" There was an awkward silence.

Nicole walked up to her nephew and knelt in front of him. "Don't think of it like that…" She smiled at the uncomfortable youth who met her eyes. "You're not going to replace your Mom for a very, VERY long time." The hologram patted the boy's shoulder. "She has a special inheritance, just for you. One that she herself is still preparing for." The holographic lynx gave the boy a warm smile. "She wants to make sure you're ready for the responsibility that comes with that inheritance. Please don't be burdened with this gift. She plans on passing you the torch when you're ready and when she herself has had enough, she doesn't plan on dying."

The youth's face scrunched, trying to smile. "Yeah…" his eyes fell to the side as he looked longingly at one of the terminals.

Brandon clapped, drawing everyone's attention. "So!" He began fidgeting with excitement, looking at Alyx. "I'll be honest, I've been EVER so excited to pick your brain!" He motioned them back to the corner he'd been sitting at. "Grab seats! I've been getting the Human Terminal ready."

Tails got a spiffy smile, crossing his arms as his tails swished too and fro. "So the transport team finally picked up that human terminal I got from the colledge?"

Brandon looked at him wide eyed. "You're the one that filled my request?!" He shook the shock from himself. "Umm… thank… you?" His voice drifted off as he turned his face from the vulpin that annoyed him. He cleared his throat. "Yes, thank you. Ehem. Moving on!" He gracefully motioned Alyx to sit at a terminal next to his. "This is the machine we have running that strange operating system from Robotnik's world, different processor too." He frowned. "It seems to be text based, I know there's a graphical interface but I don't know how to start it. I've just heard mentions from Chuck who's seen some of Robotnik's computers running it." He shrugged. "Not sure if this one has it installed though." The albino bat sat down in his padded office throne as the vixen sat in front of the keyboard. Xander pulled up a swivel stool while Tails leaned against the wall behind Alyx. Nicole parked her drone on the table, her hologram shrinking to sit criss-crossed, looking at the screen. Brandon examined the black and orange fox's face. "Do you recognize any of this?"

Alyx nodded, a pensive look on her face. "Yeah, but the keyboard layout is different… it's the same characters but… This might be some getting used too…"

Brandon looked a bit shocked. "Oh… Well…" His gaze dropped to said keyboard, looking a little embarrassed. "I guess I could grab the one that came with it…" He met her gaze. "It seems like it was an inefficient layout though… like someone just hated the typist and wanted to slow them down?"

Alyx lit. "I know! Isn't that stupid they did that?! Yeah, could you grab that one!"

Tails gave her a pensive look. "I'm confused… if that one's stupid, why do you want it?"

She got a cheeky grin and shrugged. "Because it's the one I learned on. Once you learn to touch type it's so difficult to switch to another layout." She grabbed the keyboard being passed by the bat. "Yeah! That's the one! Perfect!" She smiled. "Dad said it's a carry over from old typewriters, the layout was designed to slow you down so you wouldn't jam the machine, that's like from over 100 years ago too."

Xander looked a bit confused as he spun circles in his computer chair. "Years? That's an old word. You mean season cycles?"

Alyx returned his confused look as she watched his head track her. "I guess?"

She swapped the keyboard and hit the space to wake the monitor. A login prompt came up and Brandon perked up, handing her a notepad with some info written on it. "Chuck guided me through the basic install this morning, we have an administrator account on the local machine and a list of remote machines we've been able to break into across Robotropolis's network." The boy gave a sly grin. "I've got a treat too." He reached to grab a drive on his own terminal's desk. "I've got a quantum drive, a few of them actually." He got a smug look. "I begged the last incursion salvage team that was hitting the Mall to grab me some from the electronics store if they had any." He gave a wry grin. "We won't be wanting for any storage, if we can manage to pull it locally to this machine, we can back it up to the drives."

Tails' ears dropped as his eyes grew wide. "There were quantum drives in the mall?" He bristled a bit. "You got how many quantum drives?! Those were tens of thousands of credits!"

The younger boy lifted his chin, a cheeky look on his face. "Want one Prower?" His eyes shrank to slits as he began waving the expensive and rare storage in front of the fox to tease him. Tails's expression dropped as he bit his tongue, beginning to glare at the boy. Brandon began cackling. "I've got 4 of them. Two are dedicated to this project and general archival, mirror backups of each other." He tilted his head up, a cocky smile forming. "This one is mine." He tilted his head to the other side, a canine poking over his lip. "Maybe you can find something to trade me Prower?" A look of mock shock spreading across the teens face. "But what could you offer that I'd want? Hmmm?" He got a devious smile as he drew out the question. "Maybe if you BEG me for it… Haha! Maybe we could work something out?"

"Brandon…" Xander growled. "You said you'd stop."

The white bat's cheeky grin dropped into a nervous frown, his eyes darting to his best friend's death glare. "Right…" He mumbled as he quickly darted his eyes away and began fidgeting. The young teen began grumbling as he scrunched his eyes shut, a frustration building on his face. "GRRRRRRRRR! SORRY!" He yelled. He gave a deep exhale, as if steam were blowing out of his nose and ears. The ticked bat sharply turned and marched over to his desk, yanking a drawer open and picking a package from the inside. The shorter teen marched over to Tails and shoved the package in his face.

Tails looked baffled. "What?"

The bat shoved the package in the Fox's face again. "A peace offering!" He bit, growling. "I'm serious about this, are you?" The younger teen sneered. "The final quantum drive… An exabyte of data!" He pulled back, dramatically pointing at the fox. "I'm ready to bury the hatchet if you are! So let's bury the hatchet!" He brushed his locks falling over his right eye away as he gave the older fox a sneer. "I can't promise we wont have a friendly rivalry, but if you are serious about helping us, then here's my peace offering! Don't waste it on something stupid!" He spat. "Are you going to take it Prower?!" He gave the older boy a mad grin. "Are you going to take this seriously! No more useless pursuits! No more screwing off to the Library to oogle Cream!"

"BRANDON!" Xander bit in.

Tails eyes were wide, an offended look on his blushing cheeks. "I do NOT OOGLE CREAM!" He snapped, taking a sharp step towards the bat who looked like he'd just messed up.

The bat's eyes darted to his friend, wincing. "But… he…"

Tails growled as he halted his advancement. he took a deep breath, closing his eyes and putting both hands out in front of himself as if to push something off. His eyes snapped open, the fox's blue piercing the bat's red gaze. "I do not oogle Cream!" He spat. "We're friends, and I just want it to stay us being friends. Nothing more, nothing less." He growled. "Where I spend my off time is my business, not yours…" He grumbled. "You're right though, I have spent too much time in the library and I plan on rectifying that." Tails snatched the drive from the shocked boys hand. "Accepted!" He grit, as he took another deep breath, calming down. He gave the bat a look of disdain that melted into disappointment. "If you honestly make an effort, I will. I'll help you set up Chuck's lab and help work while I'm obligated to be here. I'll do my fare share, that's my peace offering, hope it's enough." He snapped, his piercing blue eyes looking down on the now fidgeting teen. "What's your fixation with Cream anyways, do you have a crush on her?" He growled.

The bat got a flustered and confused look. "Wait, does that mean you're not dating her?" His cheeks grew bright red under his fur. "I thought you were dating her!"

The fox's eyes shot wide. "WHAT?! WHERE'D YOU HEAR THAT!?"

Brendon hesitated, getting quiet. "Well, the way she was talking… I thought…"

Tails expression broke, a dejected look on his face. "Oh… of corse she's been implying stuff like that…" He hesitated. "Cream's like a sister, I have no interest in dating her."

The bats eyes were wide, hackles risen as he turned to his computer chair, looking embarrassed. "Oh…" He snapped back down in his seat, leaning back as he kicked his feet up on the table. His face was still burning under his cheeks. "I…" He growled. "Sorry!" The flustered boy spat, his eyes locking on Alyx's computer screen. There was an awkward pause as Nicole, Alyx and Xander watched the two flustered males cool off.

Xander got up from his spinning chair and scooched past everyone to pull another stool from under the desk and take a seat next to Brandon. He leaned towards Brandon to whisper. "Told you you were being stupid, how many cycles have you been doing this?"

The albino pre-teen gave his friend a glare as he tried to melt deeper into the cushy office chair. "Not now…" He hissed, the blush still evident under his fur. The silence continued and the bat started to growl again. The group stared at him as his cheeks continued to grow hotter. "Thankyou Miles for getting the human terminal!" He snapped. "Alyx! Can you please just log into it already!" He yelled, his arms crossed over his chest in a pout.

Alyx blinked at the outburst and got an amused look. "Eye eye Commander Starlight!" She saluted, causing the young teen to awkwardly gawk at her. She bit her tongue playfully as she began logging in. She dramatically smacked the enter, causing a familiar welcome tone to play as the computer logged in, giving her a dollar sign prompt. She smiled. "Oh!" She did a user name command to get info on the computer, returning some unixlike variant. She lit up. "Nice, Yeah! I KNOW THIS!" She turned to look between all of them. "So, there's two major branches of operating systems for computers native and popular on Earth! Ones derived from something old called Control Program Monitor, which is like your DOS and Windows stuff." She turned back to the computer. "And this one!" She ran a list of the top level folder, looking for the variances as she squinted then smiled. "This one's the one designed by programmers and scientists for programmers and scientists!" She turned, wagging her eyebrows at Tails. "This one's cool because everything's supposed to be a file, makes it easy to mess with stuff."

Brandon, who had cooled off by now, got an intrigued look, leaning forward to examine what she had typed. "What do you mean everything's supposed to be a file?"

Alyx nodded. "SO! Simple explanation, files are lists of numbers, text or stuff like samples for music!" She pointed at the drive sitting in front of brandon. "That's a really long file that can hold a system that can represent smaller files." She pointed to some indicator lights molded into the monitor's plastic. "Those are files as well! Well the lights can be a one or a zero inside a file… Give me a moment!" She typed out a few more commands, listing different directories, looking for her destination. She smiled. "So imagine those rows of lights on the monitor represent doors, or anything in Robotropolis really; you said it was automated right?" She typed out a long command full of multiple words and smacked the enter key dramatically. "BAM! Now I control the doors! And I want them to slam over and over again!" She smirked as the lights started rapidly blinking. She turned to them. "If robotnik has things mapped on the network to these systems, it's trivial to make them do stuff! Its just a matter of getting access to the correct machines with the correct permissions." She glanced back to a dumbfounded looking Tails, a smile on her face. "Is that what you guys were wanting? This is just the simple stuff I could think of right now…" She got a cheeky blush and hit the cancel, causing the lights to stop blinking, then she shrugged. "Seeing stuff in real life, even if it's just lights is always more impressive." She smiled nervously, her head tilted forward.

The group looked wide eyed at the lights that had just been blinking. Xander leaned forward, gripping the table hard. "Please teach me how to use the computer like that…" He eeped. "That's like how Nicole uses the Mobian computers!" He glanced at his mother's best friend who was looking really interested at the screen.

The girl smiled at the youth bouncing on his stool. "Sure! maybe later though, there's so much to know with these things, I just know what my dad taught me." She gave a thoughtful look. "Let's see if this has the graphical interface…" She ran a command and the screen cut out, causing Brandon's attention to snap forward.

The bat didn't look happy at all. "Please don't tell me you just broke–"

A loading screen came up as a desktop formed on the black and amber cathode ray tube. Alyx stuck her tongue out at the boy blowing a cheeky raspberry. "Don't worry, it was just replacing the file that represented the image on the screen." She turned back to the desktop and started running more commands, more virtual terminals spawning as separate windows. "Now we can do multiple things on the computer!" Her face lit. "Oh! Let's see if it has Chess!" She typed another command and a board game window came up. She turned to Tails to see him staring at her, he looked a bit frazzled. The twin tailed fox's fur was standing a bit on end as he stared at her and she faltered, a little nervous. "Is something wrong?"

He roughly shook his head. "NO!" He snapped. There was an awkward pause. "You're fine. It's… neat to see people excited for things like this is all…" He mumbled, slowly starting to blush under his fur as he tried to sink into the shadow of the wall.

Her nervousness melted into a smile as she got up from the computer, stretching. "We can do more of this junk later, today's a festival right? You said that's like a party? What do people do?"

There was an awkward pause. "Socialize mainly…" Brandon chipped in, looking a bit annoyed. "The harvest festival is to celebrate the harvest… Hence the name." He got up from his chair, stretching himself. "Multiple villages come together in the capital and there's a huge social gathering. People catch up and there's a feast." He sighed as he turned to all them, a thoughtful look forming. "I heard Lupe and her wolf pack brought a massive kill, a horned grazer from their platues." He smiled. "Father said his tribe used to hunt those things, Mother said our country used to raise them on farms. It's smoked to preserve it, but meat is meat. I think they baked it into bread bowls." He smiled.

Xander gave him a grin. "I thought you hated food, or are you just picky with you're dad's crops?"

The bat waved him off. "Har har, you know my race is predisposed to mainly meat and fruit…" He hesitated. "I'm eating better and you know it, don't bring that up!" He looked between all the mobians there and gave a dramatic shrug. "We're all omnivores though." He snickered. "I can get excited for a treat." He glanced at his best friend. "You get you're favorite meal almost every day." He glanced to Tails, slowly giving him a sly grin. "You're excited about that too right? That's something we have in common, right?" Tails gave the boy a sheepish grin. "Probably, every canine's probably excited. Been a while since we had a regular source of meat."

Alyx gave him an odd expression. "Didn't we have meat the other day? Wasn't that meat in the stew?"

Tails shook his head. "That was mushroom stew, similar but no." He shrugged. "Close enough though. Sometimes we go hunting but the animals seem to stay clear of this area near Robotropolis, at least the ones we'd hunt. Too many toxins probably." He gave a sigh. "We try to stick north, as if you go too far south east past the Starline complex, there's some cannibals from an invading tribe." He cringed. " Partially made of some refugees, some old biker gangs I guess… We steer clear of them, they mainly stick to their own territory though, they'll have to be dealt with at some point though… we should flush out the deep deserts and concrete ruins when Robotnik's gone."

Alyx's expression fell. "C-cannibals?" Her face grew ill. "Like… they eat people?"

Xander made an ick face. "They eat anything they can find! They drive around in pillaged cars and bikes like a pack of whooping rabid animals!" The boy shivered. "Robotnik is a good deterrent for them I guess, guess he's good for at least that. The desert ruins west of Robotropolis are crawling with experimental swatbots and other badniks. They're in a constant war with the canibals." The young boy shifted. "Aunt Lupe and her wolf pack are a good deterrent north of them though." The boy softly smiled. "I'm glad she trusts the crown, she's really nice when she wants to be." The chipmunk shifted. "Grif and his freedom fighters also fight from the catacombs under the ruins shifting sands. They manage to keep the cannibals busy when they aren't raiding Robotropolis I guess." He smirked.

Brandon sighed, a hand on his hip as the other gently scratched his nose. "Continuing with the festival though; after the feast, there's like a ceremony of announcements." He shrugged. "Apparently it used to be a broadcast event, but Mrs. Acorn says she despised the old ceremonies in general when she was a kid, hours of posing and looking pretty for the cameras. Her Ceremony has a list of announcements and welcomes the newcomers." He glanced at Alyx. "Guess you'll get mentioned in that, that will be you're welcome to the villages."

A pang of anxiety hit Alyx and she shook it off. "Okay?" She shifted uncomfortably. "Like she's going to do what?"

Brandon shrugged noncommittally. "Usually it's just a." He spread his arms dramatically. "Welcome Alyx! to Knothole village! Keep up the good fight!" He did a dramatic wink and V for victory pose. "This is what our people and allies should know about you! What makes you special! Welcome to the family!"

Xander shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Don't try to sound like Mom, it's weird; stick to your own dramatics."

The bat scoffed, leaning to sit against the desk. "It's not too bad." He shrugged again, his eyes half lidded as they lazily looked to the side. "I hardly remember her welcoming my family. It padds the event before the best and final part." He smiled. "Story time." He hesitated, his expression dropping. "I've got permission to skip that this year…" He flustered. "What am I going to say? That in 3 months we lost the few in our unit left to people abandoning us, reassignment of duty and in home care?" He shuttered, blushing as he averted his gaze. "I'm going to make a plea for help, anyone who's technologically inclined to join the electronic warfare team." There was another awkward pause and the boy glanced down to his watch. "It's a bit after midday. The feast technically starts soon, but it's more like a walk around potluck, its going to stretch on for some time." He sighed. "A lot of people just make it a point to spend time with family, mine included."

Xander moved to try and tug Brandon's arm. "Come on! We should get you out of the dark for a day, you're pale enough! You want to go swimming in the ring pond?"

"Ring pond?" Alyx tilted her head. "What's a ring pond?"

Tails snickered. "One of Chuck's war time inventions against the Echidna." He pushed off the wall to stand beside the vixen. "So a Power Ring is like a condensed…" He got an odd expression, his face scrunching. "Like an energy boost unit for organic life?" He shook his head. "It has something to do with void technomancy like how Sonic is fast, something to do with how the void sustains you indefinitely? But basically there's a stone from the void that's slowly being converted into what he calls power rings. They fill you with energy when you hold or wear them. Eventually they shatter and fade though."

She frowned at him. "Fill you with energy?"

Tails nodded. "It's like a bangle wristband that keeps you alert and awake, you don't get tired or hungry as long as it doesn't shatter. We don't use them often as we'd like though, it takes a while for them to be generated." He grew sheepish. "We threw the unit into what later became a swimming hole. The unit was overheating and needs water cooling, otherwise it risks exploding." He laughed. "It became a swimming hole as that specific void crystal is… soothing to be around? The generated heat also warms the pool, good for tired muscles."

Alyx paused. "That's so strange…" She began shaking her head, a scrunched look on her face. "Some of you're guy's tech seems like magic."

Tails got an amused smirk. "Some of your tech seems highly dangerous and unconventional." He snickered. "I'd love to see it, but a spinning blade you can get sucked into that lifts an air vehicle?" He began chuckling, his eyes closed. "That sounds amazingly dangerous, but so cool! So different!"

She blushed. "Hey!" Her expression wavered. "It seems normal where I'm from! I'm still trying to figure out how you can vibrate the wings of one of those ornithopters fast enough without the joints exploding from the friction!"

Tails calmed his laughs as the girl sank back into her seat, silently blushing. She turned her eyes back to the keyboard, nervously tapping her fingers on the desk.

Brandon raised a brow at the nervous interaction he observed from the foxes. He got an inquisitive look that broke as Xander gently tugged his arm again, getting his attention. He turned to his younger friend. "Maybe we can swim another day, it's probably crowded enough at the ring pool." He shifted his stance, his mouth becoming a grim line. "You know I'm not comfortable in crowds…" He stressed. "Besides; Mother and Father usually don't care what I do, but today's the exception." He looked back down at his watch. "I've got to leave soon to go spend time with the family anyways."

"I knew I'd find you here." An older feminine voice broke through the basement. They all looked up to see a white bat in a more casual version of her adventure getup walking towards them, a picnic basket in one of her hands. "Brandon, I thought I told you not to spend the whole day down here! We've decided to have a picnic at the ring pond! You're father and sister are already there." She snipped as the boy's ears wilted a bit.

"Mother!" He stammered.

She gave an annoyed huff. "I know I taught you to be proper, but not that proper; call me Mom." She glared, squinting at her son, a fang poking from her lip. "Or are you trying to make me feel old…" Brandon shook his head nervously as he sank into his seat embarrassed.

Xander snickered as he gave an enthusiastic wave to his best friend's mom "Hi Aunt Rouge!"

The Woman smiled at the chipmunk. "Hello Xander." She got a thoughtful look as she noticed Tails leaning against the back wall with Alyx poking her head around the computer terminal. The woman grinned between Xander and Tails. "You two better go start looking for Sally, she's been dragging Sonic around looking for you two." The bat raised a brow playfully. "You might check by the war alcove and see who's seen them." She smirked. "Normally I'd not care if you two were skipping out to play hookey, but today's special, same reason I'm here." She glanced to her son who was fidgeting. "Come on, we're going to get dinner and spend some time by the ring pond. We can stop by the cabin if you want to grab your swim clothes. Ava's already there with your Dad." She huffed, an annoyed look on her face. "No doubt trying to start a water war with some of our neighbors or the visitors…"

Brandon hopped from his seat and reached under his desk, pulling a ornate red sun parasol from under it. "I think, I'll be fine to watch from the sidelines as I'm sure you are." He moved past his friend and the foxes to join beside his mother, who looked upon the theatrically inclined boy, amused. "Sorry if I gave the impression I was trying to skimp out on family time." He grumbled.

Rouge fixed her son's bangs with her hand and gave him a smirk. "It was nothing more then a hunch, you're not in trouble."

Nicole projected a full sized avatar in the walkway, startling Rouge in the process. Nicole spun on her heel, her hands clasped behind her back as she smiled to her nephews. "Should we go look for your Mom?"

Tails turned to Alyx. "Want to tag along?"

The girl grew sheepish. "I don't want to intrude on you're family time, you say you've been gone for 3 months?" She gave a hesitant grin. "I can hang out here for a while then just hang out at the Alcove until the bonfire tonight."

Tails slightly frowned at her response. "No, it's ok, I'm sure it's fine if you were to tag along."

Rouge clicked her tongue in annoyance, her eyes darting from Nicole's projection to the girl huddled behind the computer screen. "Oh…" The Starlight matriarch frowned. "That's not acceptable, but it's commendable to allow Tails to catch up with his family uninterrupted." The woman glared at the twin tailed fox who was looking a bit sheepish now. "Sally's been really excited that you're home, she wants some quality family time." Rouge turned from the sheepish twin tailed fox to the wide eyed vixen. She smirked as she strode over to the older teen. "You can come spend time by the ring pool with us." She gestured to her son. "Most people seem to be converging there, it will be good for you." The woman shrugged. "Or you can hang out on the side lines with us." She rose an eyebrow, her smirk growing. "We can all be alone, but together." The older woman snickered. "Trust me, it will be fun. It will be quite the show my husband and daughter put on if they start a water fight with our neighbors." Rouge grabbed the vixen's hand and pulled her from her seat, starting to tug along. "Besides, I've been dying to hear news from anywhere other than here." She gave a sigh. "I miss traveling the world."

Brandon's eyes got wide as he watched his Mom pull the slightly nervous girl along. "Mom, you didn't even wait for her to answer…"

Alyx gave a nervous smile. "It's ok! I guess It would be good to meet more people!" She looked back to Tails who just looked dumbstruck and confused. "I'll see you later I guess?"

His tails got stiff as he gave an awkward smile. "Yeah! See you tonight!"

Brandon skipped to keep up with his mom who was dragging his new comrade out the computer lab and up the stairs. He nervously spun the umbrella perched on his shoulder as he stared the two down. "Mom, you can let go of her!" He glanced at Alyx. "I'm sorry for her dragging you…" He whispered.

Alyx looked a little annoyed at the woman's hand gripping hers, then smiled at the younger teen. "It's… not a huge deal..." She whispered back. She turned to Rouge as they were now standing under the covered porch of the nerd den.

Rouge let go of the girl's hand and turned, facing the vixen down, a hand on her hip as the other held her basket, a smirk on her face. "Thanks for giving them some breathing room, sorry for the tug." she sighed, her eyes lidding closed as a pensive look crossed her face. "Sally could use some quality time with her kids." She gave a sigh. " Tails and his unusual situation in their family dynamic... could use some good time spent with them." She frowned, looking distant. "Sometimes I'm not sure he really feels like he is a part of their family, Knuckles felt the same way when my parents saved him from wandering half dead in the desert. He ended up seeing my parents as his own, but we definitely weren't brother and sister." She glanced at Alyx. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to just be sitting alone on a day like this, thanks for joining us. Again, sorry for dragging you."

Alyx gave a laugh. "Alright, alright. Apology accepted." Her posture relaxed a bit as she followed them. "Next time you can just gesture though, I think I've had my fill of being dragged around."

Rouge nodded. "Noted." She looked sheepish. "Yeah, that was rather rude of me." She smirked. "So your name is Alyx Vance, Correct?"

Alyx nodded. "Yep, that's me!"

Rouge gave a smile. "I heard a little about you from Sir Charrels, I work with doing some of the intelligence work here in Knothole, that and anything else that's needed. You've been through quite a bit." The woman sighed. "I hope you find the same peace and acceptance that my family has in this village. It's been rather peaceful which has been nice."

Alyx tilted her head in question. "You guys don't do field missions for the war effort?"

Rouge looked sheepish. "We would, but the whole point of us moving into a village was to raise a family. Mother and Father died pretty abruptly, leaving Knuckles and I alone to wander the wastes without really having a plan..." She stepped over to her son, patting the squinting bat's shoulder. "We decided we needed a bit of stability, so we started to look for a village. Mother was from the west, so we decided to head that direction, had no idea what was going on here though." She shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "It's been nice being part of a community though. Once the kids are grown, we might set off for more adventures, or join field teams." She ruffled her son's hair as the boy rolled his squinted eyes.

Brandon closed his eyes and his face scrunched as if a headache was forming. He stepped away from his mom's attention and opened his red paper sun umbrella, his expression and eyes relaxing in the shade.

Rouge's expression lit like a bulb over her head, remembering something. "Oh! Brandon! I have something for you! I finally found them!"

The boy squinted at his Mom, an inquisitive look on his face. "Oh? What did you find?"

The woman pulled a pair of round red glasses from a pocket on her jacket. "I know your eyes have been getting worse, to the point of snow blindness. Your grandmother had sensitive eyes and apparently so did your great grandfather." She passed the little round clip on spectacles his way. "I finally found them! These were your great grandfathers, then your grandmothers." She shrugged. "My eyes adapted fine, probably from all the time I spent far east in the deserts past the great mountain ranges growing up." She gave her son an exasperated look. "I knew I should have forced you to play outside more when you were a pup… It may be too late now…"

The boy looked excited through his squint as he graciously accepted the glasses. "Mother–" He hesitated. "I mean Thanks Mom!" He plucked the specs from her outstretched hands and examined them, squinting. He flipped them around and clipped them to the bridge of his nose, blinking as his eyes adjusted. His face brightened as he smiled at his mom, closing the sun parasol and tucking it under his arm. "They fit perfectly! They were really grandfathers?"

She nodded, a serious look on her face. "I trust you're responsible enough now." She raised her pointer finger in a slightly chiding manor. "They're a family heirloom, remember that! Don't break them! And someday, you're to pass it to your own firstborn!"

The boy sharply nodded, his expression serious. "Of course!"

Alyx looked a bit curious. "Do sensitive eyes run in your family?"

The bat glanced at the fox. "Bat's have a natural sensitivity to light." She glanced at her son. "Brandon's probably developing a great case of night vision, unfortunately…" The older woman turned back to the fox. She shrugged and made a cheeky face, sticking her tounge out as she pulled one of her eyelids down and closed the other. "My eyes spent too much time getting blasted in the desert from a young age, same as dad's. My sight is that of an average Mobians, about no nocturnal left in me."

The three arrived at the war alcove kitchen, now packed with Mobians as people were grabbing food from different tables, making plates and moving to eat at different parts of the village. Rouge motioned for Alyx and Brandon to follow as they went through the lines, grabbing an assortment of foods; fruits, vegetables, and some breadbaskets full of meat. They put the food in Rouge's basket and grabbed some plates and utensils, then made their way towards the bridge and started following the river downstream, passing people as they went.

Alyx mulled over what the woman had told her about her and her son's eyes and the existence of natural night vision. She got a thoughtful look. "So, I think I've been hearing a theme. Do the different races have gifts?" She looked bewildered. "That's so strange! natural night vision!"

Rouge gave Alyx an odd look. "So I assume Humans don't have racial gifts? Not many Mobians to compare against in that world either, I take it?"

The girl hesitated, getting a strange look then shrugged. "Not like night vision or being able to track by scent of blood?" She questioned. "Is there anything else I should know about Mobians in general? I'd say something that's really out there, but to you its probably normal? Can you think of something extreme?"

Rouge hesitated. "Well, some races are more… sensitive to pheromones? But if anything, those only can swing your mood in a direction…" She shrugged, pensively. "That, or ward you away if someone is sick." She shook her head. "Good to know they exist though, so keep that in mind." She hesitated. "If you ever feel relaxed or agitated around someone, it might be their mood actually rubbing off on you; but that's rare, especially across races." The older woman hesitated. "I've heard legends from trade caravans from the far east, past the toxic forests that potions exist that can screw with your senses and perception; those are only legends though…" She shuttered. "Stories of witches and warlocks that could only find mates by ensnaring their victims senses." She made a disgusted face. "I hope those are just legends, terrifying to think a Mobians mind could be bent like that."

Brandon scoffed. "Even if it were true, it's mind over matter." He smirked. "Nothing to worry about."

Rouge choked back a laugh, looking amused at her son. "Don't let that ego rear up and nip you."

He rolled his eyes at his mom. "What, it's true. Aside from Tails, I got the village beat when it comes to mental skills!"

Rouge gave him a wry smile. "What about Chuck and Rotor? Or even Xander? Did you forget them?"

The boy's bravado broke as he blushed. "W-well… I've got them beat in some places… Tail's is more of a rival then them though… I don't want to compete against Xander, he's my friend…"

His mom raised an eyebrow. "Be careful how you phrase things dear, you don't want to sully our house's great name of Starlight by insulting our friends."

The boy smiled as he brushed his platinum bangs out of his eyes. "You know I wasn't trying to insult our allies! Besides!" He struck a dramatic pose, pointing up. "Our great house is going to reach for the stars!" The boy smirked, a dramatic flair in his voice. "Step one is to win favor with the house of Acorn by taking down Robotropolis from inside the network!" The smirk grew. "Step two is to set up the dominant technology company as they rebuild the kingdom!" He pushed the glasses up on his nose, re-positioning them. "Xander might night me someday too! If I prove useful enough!"

Rouge's smirk grew ear to ear as she gave a clap. "HA! My little noble in the making, good scheming!" She snickered. "Reach for the stars indeed, dad used to tease mom with that line, did you're father tell that to you? Just don't forget where we come from."

Alyx gave an odd expression and snickered at the eccentric mother and son. They entered a clearing with a pond that bifurcated from the main fork of the small river. There was a small pebble beach with a stone leaning off one end into what looked like a deep end. There were mobians of all different races swimming and hanging out on the beach. Rogue led their little group to what looked to be the shallow end. There were two large Echidna in drenched clothes, cackling as they hurled buckets worth of water and wet sponges at other Mobians. There seemed to be a war going on between a group of wolves in tribal clothing and some of the residents of Knothole. The smaller echidna glanced up and noticed them, she gave a big smile and called out, waving. "Mom! You found Brandon! Was he in the–"

*Smack*

A wet sponge smacked the back of her head, pushing her dreads with so much force they flopped forward, covering her face. "Aww! My hair!" She spun trying to shake her long hair out, getting the rest of her team wet and causing some of them to gripe. The girl turned and grabbed the sopping sponge she'd been hit with. "Excuse me sir but I was BUSY!" She yelled as she spiked it at one of the wolve's heads; it made contact, causing the teen to stumble back into the water.

The larger male Echidna bellowed with laughter. "That's my girl! Oh Ava, you'd of made an excellent huntress!"

The girl fidgeted, blushing as she winced. She straightened up and turned to her father. "Dad, Mom and Brandon are finally here." She pointed to the riverside entrance

Knuckles leaned to the side, squinting past his daughter for his wife and smiled when he saw her. "Guess it's dinner time." He turned to his team that was still hucking sponges at the cackling wolves. "Tag out time, you'll do fine without me brothers!"

"But Knukles!" A striped cat griped. "COME ON DUDE! WE NEED YOU! JUST LOOK AT THEM! DIDN'T YOU START THIS ANYWAYS?!"

Knuckles roughly patted the feline's back causing him to stumble forward and dodge another sponge. "You'll be fine, besides this is all just fun and games. Best wishes my comrades." He smirked and gave them a mock salute. "I have a date with my lovely wife."

The wolf tribe members started to whoop with laughter as they closed in on the Acorn kingdom members. The remaining mobians were frantically chucking sponges and lobbing buckets of water at the encroaching half circle of wolf tribe members.

The three made their way to a clear spot as the red echidna girl was bounding up.

Alyx gave a funny look. "Wow, she seemed quite quiet the other night when I met her."

Brandon snickered. "She is, unless father riles her up. She's an echidna at heart, no matter how much she wants to deny it."

Rouge sat down on a log and handed Brandon one of the meat bread bowls. "Don't tease your sister about that." The mother snipped. "The fall of your father's village drove him north east, he may have escaped the influence of the war, but that doesn't remove the fact that his people were a blight upon the Acorn kingdom for many years, the very Acorn kingdom you're sister wants to be a part of." Rouge gave her son a flat glare. "I don't need you making Ava depressed about her heritage today." Rogue began growling. "Today we are a happy family and we are going to make happy family memories!" Rouge's glare darkened. "Don't ruin this with dumb teasing over something so stupid."

The boy sharply nodded. "I wouldn't dream of it, not today." He watched his taller younger sister bound up to them, she was soaking wet and wearing a skirt and blouse this time around. Her thin glasses were absent and she started wringing out the water from her dreads. "Glad you could Make it, Brandon." She smirked. "Had enough time in the dungeon for one day?" She quipped which caused him to give her a flat look. The Echidna noticed the fox who was sitting on a log next to her brother. "Oh! You're Alyx from the other night! From Tangle's bonfire!" She smiled, closing her eyes and nodding to the older girl. "It's wonderful to see you! Are you joining us for dinner?"

Alyx smiled back. "I guess I am! I've been all over the place today it seems. Thank you all for your hospitality!" She smiled. "Everyone's been so welcoming!"

"Ava!" They heard a yell and they all turned to see a young tween coyote with aviator sunglasses rushing over, her sleeve covered arms outstretched. The Coyote paused when she saw her friend soaking wet. Ava giggled at her friend's pause. "What, hi five? no hug? Are you still that hydrophobic?"

The coyote stepped back, hesitating. "Whaaaat? Come on Ava! You're soaking!"

Brandon snickered deviously. "Good afternoon, D'coolette." He drawled. "Still afraid of water? Don't tell me you've stopped bathing again?"

Ava looked horrified. "BRANDON!"

The coyote flushed hard, rushing up to the now cackling boy to smack him. "I BATHE!" She screamed. "I DON'T LIKE WATER BUT I BATHE! DON'T TELL PEOPLE THAT!" The girl frantically seethed as she began flushing under her fur. "DON'T YOU DARE TELL XANDER I DON'T BATHE!" The tween girl shrieked as knuckles darted forward, plucking the flailing girl by the back of her shirt like a scruff and lifting her in the air.

Knuckles pinched the bridge of his nose. "Elly, Brandon… quit it, I don't need this today." He glared at his still snickering son. "Maybe I should let her slug you, maybe you'd stop antagonizing her." He growled. "Apologize to her, now." He ordered, managing to hold the now awkwardly blushing tween in front of his son."

Brandon rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'm sorry I insinuated you have sub par hygiene."

She snorted and spat a loogie at the boy, landing between his eyes. The boy screached as he pulled off his glasses, scrunching his eyes shut as he freaked out, trying to wipe the snot from his face while cringing at touching it. The girl growled. "Don't you dare insinu-whatever anything!" She was beet red under her fur. "I don't stink! I bathe now! If anything, the way you act stinks!"

Ava was doubled over, laughing in the background, pointing at her shorter but older brother who was loudly complaining and glaring at Elly.

Knuckles just looked amused at the interaction. "Elly, can I trust you enough to let you down without you slugging my son and teleporting both of you outside the forest?"

The coyote hesitated, looking over her shoulder. "Oh… yeah… Ummm… You can let me down…"

"Elly!" They heard the accented voice of a male yell out. "Why does she always run ahead!"

"Over here dad, she's over here!" Another voice yelled out.

"Yall can quiet down! We all know where we're goin! She's gonna be there!" Another voice chirped in.

The group turned to see the D'coolette family enter at the mouth of the pond.

Bunnie and Antoine were trailing behind their son Hunter. Antoine looked frazzled as he watched his daughter being dropped to her feet by an annoyed Knuckles. The coyote jogged up to the echidna. "I assume you stopped–"

"You assume correct." The red Echidna gave the blond and brown coyote a sigh then snickered. "Should have seen it." He gave his son a glare. "Your daughter spat in Brandon's face."

The bat began growling at the girl who was just crossing her arms and sticking her tongue out at him.

Antoine looked offended. "Did she now?!" He glared at his daughter. "That's not the kind of lady I raised you to– OOF"

Knuckles gave a laugh, roughly patting the coyote on the back, causing him to stumble. "It was glorious! I apologize there was bickering to begin with. Maybe this will deter my son from starting fights." he glared at his son again. "Behave."

The bat growled. "Yes father." he bit.

Bunny walked up holding another basket and grabbed her husbands ear with her flesh hand, pulling him down to her level as he squawked. "She can darn well be whatever kind of lady she wants. She isn't a lady of the northern kingdoms, just like you're not a gentleman of the northern kingdoms." She let go of her flustered husband as he gave her an annoyed look, rubbing his ear. Bunnie snickered. "Alright then." she glanced an inquisitive look at her daughter. "What did you do though?"

The girl gave a wry grin. "Spat a loogie between Brandon's eyes, my aim's improving!"

Bunnie's face dropped. "Oh… Well darlin, we didn't teach you to do that…" she grimaced as her glance shifted to Rouge who was ignoring them, reading a book, laying down on a grassy patch.

The starlight matriarch glanced at the D'coolette matriarch and smirked. "I don't see anything wrong." She glanced at her stewing son. "Maybe he'll learn not to play with fire." She smirked deviously, biting her tongue. She got up and walked over to a nervous Bunnie. "How are you Bunnie? How's the outside world?" The two women began catching up as Alyx turned to see what the rest of the group was doing. Knuckles and Antoine were chatting and Ava and Elly were now sitting to the side with some food of their own, catching up. Hunter had bolted off to join the water fight being lost by the Acorn residents.

Alyx sighed and grabbed one of the bread bowls full of meat and a spoon and decided to dig in. She looked at the now pouting bat beside her. Alyx couldn't help herself, she chortled, her mouth full of food. "You accused her of not bathing?"

The boy flustered, his arms crossed. "I don't want to talk about it." He grit as he pulled out his umbrella and sharply opened it. Setting it above him and trying to hide under it, red glasses occluding his eyes from the world.

Bunnie sat on the other side of Alyx and held a knuckled fist sideways towards her for her to bump. "Well! Good to see you out and about shug!" The rabbit smirked." How you likin Knothole?"

The Vixen turned to the rabbit and nodded, swallowing her food. "Great! Just about everyone's been so welcoming! I'm excited for everything that's happening!" She met the older woman's fist in greeting.

Bunnie smiled. "Glad you're feeling welcome shug!" She tilted her head and smiled. "I heard a rumor you'd be cooped up in the computer lab?" She gave an odd expression. "You sure you don't want to try joining a team?" The rabbit asked.

Alyx looked confused. "Oh, maybe at some point. I've been assigned to the electronic warfare department though."

Brandon snapped his umbrella closed frantically glancing to the two talking woman. "Alyx is going to be with our team for a bit! Your team is full! At least Mrs. Acorn's spot is reserved!" His pleading eyes looked at Alyx as if to ask for reassurance. "Please don't go yet…" He whispered. "I really do need help…"

She gave a sigh, a tired smile on her face. "I'm sticking in the lab for now, it's what Mrs. Acorn wants." She glanced at the now snickering rabbit. "Sorry, Bunnie was it?" She glanced back to the nervous teen bat. "I need to pass on my so-called expertise to this one and a few others."

The bat's hackles seemed to lower a bit as he relaxed. He brought his umbrella back up to cover himself as he scooched back, pressing against the log. "Thank you." He whispered as he went back to his self imposed isolation.

The rest of the group sat down and began eating as the day stretched on, many mobians of all different varieties seemed to pass through the ring pond as the noon grew dimmer into evening. Alyx chatted with Bunnie and Rouge, learning about Bunnies limbs and some of the history of how they'd all gotten to Knothole. In turn, Alyx told the adults a bit about the home she had come from and some of the differences between Earth and Mobius, answering general questions. The shade of evening grew closer and soon the whole gang was walking back along the river, up to the alcove kitchen to drop off their utensils.

As they got to the Alcove, Alyx saw Tails talking to Whisper and Tangle. The vixen turned to the D'coolette and the Starlight family. "Thank you all for letting me hang out with you guys today!"

Rouge gave a half lidded smile. "Sure thing, you're going to be in the computer lab for a good chunk right? Make sure to tell me if Brandon does something stupid or offensive." She quipped.

Brandon glared. "Why? so you can hold it over me?"

"But of course?! Why else would I want to know? How do you think I keep everyone else in line?" She snickered. "I love you Brandon." Rouge cheekily smiled as her son rolled his eyes, exhaling.

The boy glanced at his mother, a cheeky grin slowly forming. "I love you too… Mother dearest." He chortled as she gave him a small frown at the overly formal title.

Alyx snickered as she turned and started heading for Tails. The twin tailed fox noticed her and his ears perked, his tails slowly began wagging. "Hey! How was you're time at the ring pool?" He asked.

Alyx continued snickering. "Eventful! Elly got ticked at Brandon and hocked a loogie in his face! Hit him right between the eyes" She chortled.

The yellow wolf gave a small snicker. "She's been practicing her aim." The wolf rasped.

Tangle gave the wolf a disbelieving wince, her hands on her cocked hips. "You've been teaching Elly to spit like... aiming like a hawk?" The lemur glanced at Alyx. "Sorry about leaving you hanging earlier." She blushed under her fur.

Alyx waved it off. "Nah, it's cool. I think it's cool with all the stuff that's gone on today, i'd probably want to host made up games too. I'm happy I got to see all that anyways, makes me imagine what id of been like given the opportunity growing up."

Whisper tapped the lemur's shoulder to get her attention. "Not to spit but to aim." The yellow wolf softly smiled. "She's going to make an excellent sniper one day, even with her lack of eye."

Tails smiled. "That's great!"

Whisper nodded. "We've been working on judging distance, she's been compensating by bobbing her head back and forth when she needs the help. She's also starting to gauge for drop and wind." Whisper looked smug. "I'm proud to teach her." She softly said.

Alyx turned to the happy twin tailed fox. "How was your family time?"

Tails smiled. "Good…" He nodded. "Yeah, good. It was good to catch up with everyone."

Tangle slung an arm around Tails shoulder as she dramatically started marching forward, the group starting to follow. "Awww, princess has been so worried about you, sure she was ecstatic to have her baby boy home from the scary Robotropolis!" The lemur teased as Tails gently pushed the cackling lemur away. "It was nice to catch up with Aunt Sally." He said with a matter of fact face. "And not have it just be a conversation about my safety." He smiled. "That was nice."

Alyx skipped forward to match the rest of the group's pace. "So I can join you guys right? Where are we heading?"

The lemur bounced with excitement. "Of course you can join us! Were off to get early seats at the amphitheater outside the manor! Got to get good seats!"

Alyx looked around. "Where's your drone?" She directed towards Tails.

"Grady's helping Nicole with the back end for the bonfire gathering." The boy shrugged. "He's on his best behavior around her tonight so It shouldn't be an issue." Tails sighed. "Two holo projecting drones should help, fireworks at this time of year is a bad idea…" He snickered. "And we don't have any more for that matter."

The group was now walking through the cabins and the shed with the well out front that Alyx and Tails had entered the village from.

Tails expression lit. "I just remembered!" He patted the regular sized messenger bag he was carrying again. "I'm sorry I haven't washed it but again, there's no blood stains on it! I want to give your jacket back after the bonfire tonight! Just so I don't forget. I can show you the washing station at the manor tomorrow if you'd like."

The girl nodded. "Thanks. Yeah, probably good if I do that, it might not be a bad idea to find some other clothes too."

They arrived at the multi-leveled amphitheater, a stone platform sitting behind a big fire pit. There were some wires going up to what looked like speaker stands. Two drones were whizzing around using their mag-strips to move cable ends. There were already some Mobians already claiming seats.

Tangle led them to the front row on the side and the four sat down, Tails, Alyx, Tangle then Whisper. Tangle turned to Alyx, leaning forward in her seat. "I just had a thought, you would need more clothes, wouldn't you?" Her eyes lit and she puffed out her chest, preening with her hand over her heart. "I've got a few more day's before I got to leave Knothole to resume my messenger duty." She opened an eye half way and smirked at the black and orange fox. "I can show you the clothes in the storage warehouse if you want." She elbowed the fox gently. "Probably good to get some pajamas too, you slept in your day clothes last night, yeah?"

Alyx nodded. "That would be amazing, yes." She sharply nodded. "I like my clothes but some variety would be much appreciated." She gave a small laugh. More Mobians were starting to file into the area as the day light was getting dimmer and dimmer.

Alyx looked up towards the sky. "The day's kinda short for summer?" Her ears twitched. "You said we were close to the equator?"

Whisper leaned forward. "Just north of it. There's kingdoms to the far north, and even further there's the arctic zones with seasons worth of day and night." She rasped.

Tails felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Cream smiling at him. He stiffened a bit then relaxed. "Hey Cream!"

She smiled at him and sat next to him, tilting her head. "Where were you today?"

She glanced at Alyx, then to Tangle who looked a little apprehensive, Whisper looked disinterested and was ignoring her.

Tails smiled. "Spent some time in the computer lab with Alyx then had the feast with Sally, Sonic, Xander and Nicole." The boy turned to look at the lemur and wolf. "Caught up with my honorary sisters." He turned to Cream. "I'm sorry I didn't see you Cream, you could have joined us, you're like a sister to me too."

A look of annoyance flashed on the rabbit's face for a fraction of a second. "Oh, sorry I was scarce." She sighed and seemed to ease up. "Mother had me run another load of laundry as you know, then it had to be put away." She looked around as if searching for someone. "I managed to catch Amy and Shadow for lunch, Shadow apparently won some strength contest."

Tails cackled. "Yeah, I saw."

Tangle had relaxed at this point and started softly chanting. "Two crates, two crates!" She snickered. "Don't know how that kid has that kind of strength and stamina for his size." She shrugged. "Kind of an oddball situation though, so who knows."

Alyx glanced to the Lemur. "What kind of oddball situation?"

"He fell from the sky." Whisper deadpan rasped, causing Alyx's eyes to furrow.

Alyx looked down at the ground confused, then back to the snickering lemur. "He fell from the sky?"

The lemur was hopping in her seat with excitement. "That's our grumpy space boy Shadow!"

"It was some sort of stasis pod." Tails shrugged. "We saw a light in the sky one night and it landed outside the forest, caused a fire in the fields, thankfully the portals were in range. They kicked in and put it out." He tilted his head back and forth. "Followed the wave of water being poured from the sky and there's a crater with a pod in the center, portal drained the pond it had made in the crater and plopped the pod next to us." The fox winced, a pensive look on his face. "He wasn't in his best state of mind, but calmed down after a few days." He looked thoughtful. "Rosie estimated he was probably 6 or 7 when we found him…" He shook his head. "Who knows with that kid though, he's hit his teen years but hasn't seemed to have grown much."

There was a growling behind Tails and he turned to see said black and red hedgehog being pulled to the seat behind him by Amy. The boy scoffed at Tails. "Why are you talking about me?" The boy was growling deeper as he gave a death glare to Tails. "What about my size?"

Tails nervously chuckled. "Sorry Shadow, just kinda came up."

The irritated small teen squinted disdainfully at the sheepish twin tailed fox. "Don't speak on my behalf, that's my information to give or trade." The boy frowned and glanced at Alyx. "If you want to talk about that stuff, I'll do a trade with you; tell me more about the human world and I'll tell you what I remember."

The group there looked a bit shocked at the announcement. Amy began poking Shadow in the cheek. "Does that mean you remember more?" She furrowed her brow. "You better not be holding out on me…" She grumbled as she continued poking the slowly seething boy's face as he tried to ignore her.

"Stop." The annoyed hedgehog ordered as his eyes locked with Amy's. "I'll tell you later…" He whispered. "Stop that though..." He whispered.

She gave him an unamused look. "Fine." She sat behind Cream and gave a huff of annoyance.

Shadow tapped Alyx on the shoulder, getting her attention. "I do want to talk to you later about the human world though." He whispered, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

A little shocked, she nodded and gave him a small tired smile. "We can do that." She yawned as she turned forward.

Tails looked at her concerned. "You going to fall asleep on us?"

She shook her head. "I didn't get too great of sleep last night, I think it's catching up with me now." She leaned against him then slumped a bit forward, holding her head in her hands propped against her knees. "Wake me if something important is going on." She mumbled causing tails to blush a bit.

The boy hesitantly nodded. "It's probably not going to be too much longer." He replied as Cream squinted at their interaction.

The group watched as more people gathered, the amphitheater was filling up. Sally got up front, directing different mobians as Nicole sat herself on a charging pad in front of the stone stage and started to project different test images and holograms. Sonic was starting a fire in the fire pit and the different captains were starting to drag over chairs, lining up in the back. Xander sat by the bonfire next to Nicole's charging pad, his arms crossed and resting his head on the platform, giving a thumbs up to his friend Brandon who was nervously dragging a chair behind the other field captains to set up his spot. Across from the captains, four more ornate, non folding chairs were set up. The first had a large male ram with black curly hair, he was dressed in a red tunic and black pants. The second chair had a skinny brown goat with short horns, he was in a tan robe or tunic? A utility belt holding the ensemble together. The third chair held a gray wolf with black hair done up in an ornamental braid, she was wearing blue tanned leathers and ornamental clothes with sharp angular designs painted in white, the same sharp designs were painted onto her face and fur with chalk paint. The final chair had what looked to be a dark green scaled mobian with wings, large ones that could likely hold her weight in the sky. She was wearing a simple tunic and robe and she had a goofy grin on her face.

It took a little longer but soon everyone was seated and people started to quiet down. Tails nudged the tired vixen and she blinked, rubbing her eyes as she shook the sleepiness from her face.

Sally walked center stage and gave a confident smile, a microphone held to her lips. "It's a joyous day of celebration, another year we prosper in the face of adversity!" She smirked. "Thank you to all who have been able to make the great journey!" She outstretched an arm to sweep across the large crowd. "From our residents in Knothole village to hour honored guests, we thank those who have been able to make it from the northern mountains." She gestured to the ram who gave a confident nod and grin. "To the arid desert catacombs that border the forbidden wastes to the south east." She gestured to the goat who gave a soft smile and wave. "Our friends of the wolf packs to the eastern plateaus and beyond." She gestured to the ornate wolf who gave her a cheeky fang filled grin. "And we were even blessed this year to have a representative from the flying islands to the far south west." Sally smiled at the dragon-like mobian who excitedly smiled and waved back. "Thank you all for coming to aid in our fight for freedom against the war machine that threatens us all." She turned to smile at her honored guests on stage. "We seek to rebuild our kingdom and your contributions are immeasurable to us." The red headed chipmunk nodded thankfully and gave an Acorn kingdom salute, a fist held over her heart. "Thank you, and I'm glad you could join us for our harvest festival, let me know if there is any kindness I can grant you with the power I still hold in these trying times." The four nodded and she turned to face the crowd. "And to you! The people who have worked to keep this strong hold functional, I thank you for your sacrifice! We've made a lot of progress but have much more to do!" She gave a big smile and started clapping as the crowd gave a small round of applause. Sally nodded to Nicole who started projecting a map and Sally started to talk about the progress of the war effort.

Alyx tried to listen but the exhaustion of the day was still creeping up on her. She gave a small yawn again and nudged Tails. "What time is it?"

Tails looked at his data watch and turned back to her. "It's around 7:45 at night." He looked at the tired girl a bit concerned. "You gonna make it?" He whispered.

She gave a sharp nod and rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. "Yeah, I'll power through." She blearily watched the event go on, examining the map of Robotropolis and trying to listen to some of the input of the different captains. There were speeches by some of the visiting leaders and emissaries too. The girl smiled, the dragon-like mobian Dalcy was interesting, this all seemed like it was something from a fantasy novel. Alyx thought for a second, she'd have to ask Tails about the floating islands later, were they floating on water or… well that girl had wings, way bigger wings then Brandon… maybe she could fly?

Alyx rested her head on her cheek as the ceremony went on, half listening to things but more just using the time to reflect and internalize what all had happened to her. The last few days had been crazy, especially the shock of being dumped in a new body. Things were strange… but not too different, it was manageable. She spent the next chunk of time just focusing on her breathing and waiting for the stories, those would be nice, after that she'd probably turn in for the night early.

"I'd like to give a warm welcome to a special newcomer Alyx! Please take a stand!" Sally announced through her microphone, perking the girl's ears as Tangle gave her a soft elbow to get her attention. Alyx looked confused to the lemur then up on stage to see Sally eagerly motioning her to stand. She blinked, remembering what Brandon had said about her being announced to the village and she took a deep breath, nervously getting up and giving a smile. Sally smiled and motioned to the girl standing at the front of the amphitheater. "Alyx is a very special child of Mobius. A Realmwalker, a lost child returned home from an immeasurable distance!" Alyx's expression scrunched in slight confusion at the statement as people around her started to murmur. Sally motioned to Nicole's hologram field as a news article seemed to project in front of the congregation. "I want everyone to remember that no matter how impossible the situation, there is hope! for we have proof of a returning realmwalker! A child snatched from us is returned to our welcome arms!"

Alyx grew wide eyed at the slowly scrolling news article. There was a familiar but… remixed? family photo of two foxes holding a newborn fox at the top of the article, she'd seen that photo in her dad's wallet many times, the only surviving picture of her mother… but… what? She started reading the article, ignoring Sally's speech as her eyes looked on in stunned confusion.

Today is a tragic day to remember. During the anomaly in the centralized park in the metropolitan district, there was a tragic car accident that leaves more questions then answers. Two young Mobians with bright futures in technology have met a short end today, we will remember their contribution to our kingdom and grieve their loss. The Vance family was T-boned at the northern intersection by a distracted driver during the still classified incident we are inquiring about. We still wait for the Acorn estate to release details on the suspected realmwalker event. Eli Vance died on impact while crews managed to pull Azian and Alyx from the wreckage. Unfortunately Azian succumbed to internal bleeding on the way to the emergency room, however their daughter is fortunate to have only suffered minor bruising. She was rushed to the pediatric wing of Mobotropolis General to await emergency guardianship by her father's good friend Lloyd Powers. We warn some readers that the next portion could be considered disturbing. Before the Vance's family friend could arrive to take emergency guardianship of Alyx, there was another anomaly. Alyx Vance was Kidnapped from Mobotropolis General Pediatrics by a wolf not registered in the database. The disturbing part is only one recording of the incident exists from the hospital CCTV. No record of the Mobian exists entering or exiting the building. This was reported to staff and media and has bypassed royal regulation to the annoyance of the state. Speculators suspect the wolf to be a realm walker, maybe related to the still classified event earlier that day. Interviews with experts suspect the girl was taken out of sympathy or to be used as a tool as her parents were wiped from mobius due to effects set in motion by the anomaly. The crown has refused to comment on allegations of possible realmwalker activities but rumors persist. Wherever you are Alyx Vance, be safe and be strong. We hope to have you return to us, we're sorry we couldn't protect you.

Alyx froze as her eyes landed on the next picture, it was a CCTV picture of a familiar wolf in a suit… The same wolf she had seen watching her from the tunnel entrance to Knothole. He had the same blank look as he strode down the hospital corridor with a bundle tucked in his arms. A thought started clawing at her mind, the strange alien man who had dumped her in this new body and the wolf… The proportions were different but the expression, the suit… she could just imagine the two faces overlaid on each other… She started to feel cold, a memory of her father's story of him escaping with her from black mesa, the hallucinations he had with his concussion of a wolf in a suit handing him a little fox... Her hearing started to muffle and ring, her mind racing and dreading the possibilities. She flinched as she felt a hand on her shoulder and her gaze snapped clear to Sally who was now in front of her, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"

The girl realized everyone was staring at her, mixes of concern, wonder and shock filling most mobians faces. Her heart skipped a beat and she started to shake. Her gut started to churn again as her eyes snapped to the now flickering out hologram of the article then back to the now wincing Chipmunk in front of her. "I… I'm sorry if I should have–"

Alyx bolted, ripping out of the Chipmunks grasp and stumbling past a shocked Tails and squawking Cream. She needed to get away! She ran into the dark, hearing yells behind her. Her heart was pounding as she panicked. Was that true? What would that mean?! She stiffened at the continued yelling behind her and she darted into the darkened areas between the cabins, stumbling onto the ground and yelping. She quickly got up and sprinted forward, running in circles until she saw the hanger below her tree house. She bolted for the ramp and up the walkways, sprinting to her house she wrenched her door open and turned to slam it closed. She frantically turned the lights on to their dimmest setting, the harsh light too much for her right now. She paced in her new home, lights low, clutching her head as the mild panic continued to wash over her. Was she human? Was she ever human? She froze, was Dad really her Dad? She sank down to the ground and sniffled, she didn't like that thought… no, dad was still her dad, but… a bitterness started at the thought of being taken from this… okay the world wasn't great but so far things had been so much better then earth… besides if this was all Julian's fault… What if this was all his fault? But Dad?! She crumpled into a ball on the ground. She remembered his account that she had managed to get out of him, details she had slowly pulled over the years... sensitive like teeth, but curiosity getting the better of her. His escape from the facility, his quest to find Mom, the blood in their apartment and her crib... too many details didn't make sense… She froze, a thought dawning on her… This was a parallel world right? Did that mean she was… or not her, but the real her on the other side, the one she thought she was... was dead?! She shuddered at the thought. A nagging thing started pestering her mind and she tried to force it off. Did dad make a deal with that alien guy to kidnap her? She tried to remember her father's spotty account and… his mind had been fuzzy, he had a concussion, he didn't know… She thought about it and scrunched her face, it didn't matter, she was glad who raised her! This didn't change anything! She choked a sob as her heart still hurt though. She shot forward at another memory, Russle said the vodka helped numb mental pain! She scrambled to her bag with her remaining equipment, ripping the bag open and grabbing one of the bottles and tearing the seal with a crack.

Immediately the scent was overpowering and she gagged, almost dropping the bottle as her eyes winced and nose furled at the strong scent. It smelled similar to the the cleaning chemicals in Uncle Kleiner's lab, the ones that were labeled mineral spirits. She hesitated, bringing the so-called edible poison to her lips and then pulled it back, grimacing. Was this stuff really safe? Or safe enough? Russel was adamant for her to grab him some, it's not like it would have been hard for him to get other chemicals… She shifted uncomfortably as her mind wouldn't stop with the nagging thoughts no matter how much she forced them off. She couldn't take it anymore! She managed to chug a mouth full before the burning taste caused her to gag and cough, spraying the liquid from her mouth and pouring some of it on the floor. Her gut felt warm and her head was starting to feel a bit fuzzy. She capped the bottle and sat there, breathing as her mind continued to fog. She wasn't sure if she liked this, hopefully she didn't have too much…

"Alyx!" A familiar voice yelled from outside her door.

The vixen's head spun and so did her vision as she nearly tipped on her side, she squawked and started crawling towards the cubby under her new desk, pulling the chair away and huddling under. She turned to look back and she winced, she had forgotten to turn the lights off.

"Come on dude, I saw her come up here, in retrospect this should have been the first place you looked. Gotta work on your detective skills man." A familiar voice chirped.

"Yeah okay Grady, Just scan the area! I can't believe Sally put her on the spot like that!" Another familiar voice fumed. "Alyx! I see the light on under the door! Are you okay?"

Alyx's mind was swimming pretty hard right now… that was probably Tails. She choked a laugh, did he really care that much? She hesitated, that wasn't fair but she didn't really want to talk to him right now.

"Alyx? I need to make sure you're okay!" He jingled the door handle and it opened. She grimaced, she'd forgotten to lock it. She pulled her knees to her chest and huddled in her poor hiding spot as she was now feeling even more light headed, the vodka probably wasn't the best idea.

The boy poked his head into the tree house and furrowed his brow in concern. He winced as a powerful chemical smell hit him. "What is that smell?!"

"What smell?" Grady hovered over the boy's head and into the tree house. "Ohhhh that smell. That smells like engine degreaser or fuel additives."

Tails gave him an odd look. "What? Why would there be fuel additives in her house!"

The drone seemed to shrug. "I don't know, you seem to know her best, you tell me."

Tails shook his head, annoyed as he opened the door and entered into the dimly lit room. The boy held his hand to his burning nose as he noticed the bottle and stain of liquid on the ground. He hesitantly picked it up, seeing the cracked seal and portion of liquid missing from the top. "What on Mobius is this?" He opened it and took a sniff only to reel back and start coughing, capping the substance as he tumbled back onto her bed.

Alyx snickered at the display and started laughing at his overblown reaction.

The drone zoomed down to eye her. "Found her boss."

The boy's coughing subsided as his head snapped to the sound. Alyx continued to snicker and giggle at the mystified expression on his face. Tails tried to blink away tears but his eyes were still watering from the burning scent he had just inhaled. He looked concerned and confused at the cackling girl, now tipping forward from her hiding spot and laughing at him. She started to hiccup as the laughter slowly turned to crying and he set the now capped strange fluid down. The boy got up hesitantly and moved over to her. "Alyx!? What happened?! Are you okay?" He stammered, pausing as she wasn't really reacting to him right, his brow furrowed at the strange behavior as she continued to hiccup and cry on the ground. "I get you're upset but… what's wrong with you?" He gently tried to roll her off of her face and sit her up but it was like her motor function was shot, causing a knot to start twisting in his gut. Her breath smelled of that strange liquid that caused his worry to increase even further.

She cried and laughed at him. "I drank poison." She spat and his eyes bugged out as his head darted to the bottle on the ground. "YOU DID WHAT!?" He shrieked as he spun to Grady. "GET ROSIE! NOW!"

"This late?" The drone questioned.

"NOW! GET HER NOW! GET HER NOW!" The boy frantically pointed to the door as he got up. The drone zoomed off in compliance and the boy turned to his new friend, a mixed expression of hurt, rage and confusion on his face. "Why would you drink poison!?" His voice sounded broken, wavering as he tried to pick up the wobbling girl and move her to her bed.

She tried to climb out of his bridal style carry, pushing his face and stumbling to her feet. "I'm can walk by myself fime!" She stumbled and crumpled to the ground, starting to cry again. He darted to her, frantically trying to figure out what to do. He pulled her up and dragged her to her bed, setting her on top to sit.

He grimaced. "Why would you drink poison?!" He kept repeating, looking more and more hurt. "And I thought things were going fine?!" He choked out his own sob.

"Because it hurts." She spat as she curled onto her bed, her head swimming. "I won'd do its next time, this is numbving like hes sed but isss tooo much." She slurred.

The fox looked confused at the girl, hesitantly looking at the door and back to the fox who was now eyeing him, a glassy look in her eyes as she was curled on the bed. "I'm a human." she slurred causing him to pause and look at her in bewildered confusion.

He shook his head, grimacing, confusion building at what he'd just heard. "What on mobius?"

"I'M A HUMAN!" She spat. "MY MEMORIES ARE OF A HUMAN'S! BEFORE I CAME HERE MY BODY WAS THAT OF A HUMAN'S BODY!" She started crying again. "I DON'T KNOW HOW IT CHANGED TO OR BACK BUT…" She got quiet. "Now you're going to kill me!" She started bawling uncontrollably and Tails didn't know what to do or think, stunned and not knowing how to proceed with the strange situation at all.

"I'm not going to k-kill you?" The boy stammered. "Why do you think I'd kill you?!" He frantically got down next to her and tried to pat her shoulder in re-assurance."

"DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?!" She bit. "YOU HATE HUMANS OR MOST OF YOU DO!" She continued sobbing. "I WAS RAISED AS A HUMAN BY HUMANS AND NOW THERE'S EVIDENCE THAT I WAS NEVER HUMAN TO BEGIN WITH!"

The confusing words started sinking in and Tails froze at the implication. "What?" His mind raced and he made a decision. "You're a mobian! Don't tell others you're a human!" He pleaded with the sobbing girl. "You're memories might just be confused by the poison right now! Please hold on! Rosie's going to figure out how to cure the poison…" He said a wavering worry in his voice. "Everything's going to be fine…" He was the one shaking now.

He sat knelt on the ground consoling the sobbing girl as he waited for Grady to bring Rosie.

It felt long but his wait was probably less then 10 minutes as Rosie burst through the door with Grady tailing her. "Where is she?!" The woman barked as she stepped in, pausing to take a sniff of the air. "Wait…" Her eyes darted to the worried looking Tails and she noticed a bottle on the ground. The woodchuck set her doctor's bag next to the bed and bent to grab the bottle. "Is this what she drank?" The woodchuck asked as she turned the frosted glass bottle in her hand.

Tails nodded frantically. "Yes! She said it was poison!"

The woodchuck turned the bottle and noticed the label on it and she gave an odd expression. "Did she drink all this or…" She noticed the remains of a spit take and some spills on the ground.

Tails was starting to get irritated. "Why haven't you gotten the stomach pump yet!" He bit. "Why are you treating this like this is nothing!" His eyes bugged as Rosie uncapped the bottle and took a whiff, then proceeded to pour a bit in the bottle's cap as a measure and slammed it back. The woodchuck swished it in her mouth, paused, then swallowed. "WHY!" The boy shrieked. "BUT–"

"Calm down Miles." The older woman deadpanned. "It's just alcohol." She quipped as she walked over to the softly crying girl on the bed.

The boy looked confused as he got up to let the doctor start examining the softly sobbing girl. "But that's not alcohol?! That's nothing like what Knuckles brews!"

"Knuckles doesn't distill his brews." She quipped. "It's like condensing it, how she got that strong of stuff I don't know. If she just got a mouthful and didn't chug that quarter of the bottle then she'll be fine, might have a headache if this is her first time come tomorrow though."

The boy looked baffled at his doctor and grandmother figure. "How are you so nonchalant about this?!"

She smirked. "Charles used to distill his own drinks, he used to share with me." She gave a wry chuckle. "The minister of health back then kept flip flopping on banning and unbanning the sale of hard liquor…" The woman shrugged, a reminiscent look on her face. "It was a hotly contested subject of the populous. Those were the days, I miss spending time with Charles. I wish I would have dragged his body from that arcade." She sighed as a haze formed in her own head.

Tails looked bewildered at the retired war surgeon. "So, she's going to be–"

"Fine." The woodchuck said getting up, gently rubbing the quietly sobbing girl's shoulder. "I didn't feel any abnormal heart rhythm so she should be fine. Based on what's on the floor, that wasn't that much alcohol." The woodchuck sighed and rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Emotionally though… Alcohol isn't a good coping mechanism for pain and this isn't going to be allowed to continue." The older woman moved to grab the frosted bottle and noticed another one in the girl's bag, she snatched that one as well. "If she really wants these back…" The woodchuck hesitated. "Sally and I are actually going to have to have a chat about that one…" The older woman chuckled at the fox's baffled and worried look. "Oh don't look like that, this will make a funny story someday." She snickered. "If it makes you feel better we can have her recover in the patient bed if you don't mind carrying her, there's a good chance she's going to be out of it tomorrow."

The boy looked concerned at his new friend who was now just breathing, a dazed look in her eyes as she slowly blinked, ignoring them.

He stood and gently picked her up to follow the woodchuck. "Okay…" He sighed. "Thanks Rosie…"


Chapter 13 end.


Authors Notes: This chapter was an interesting interconnect, this story is about nerds and drama they go through. Normally I say no reviews necessary but… this time I think I need some feedback on the computer lab scene. this was a taste of some of the tech drama talk, I again do NOT plan on just doing huge info dumps but hopefully this is kind of a look at when tech stuff comes up what they do. I'm being very careful to be generic with concepts and show what it is and why it's interesting or useful instead of command, this happens, command, that happens… etc… I also want to make it clear with some of these things… I built up a lot towards this festival only to realize… oh yeah, lol if i was at a festival like that, id probably be on the sidelines or just spending the day with friends and then the obligation stuff with family. Again, this is a story about nerds but they can be interesting too. The alcohol stuff was interesting to write too as I used to be a heavy drinker, kind of went over that in the above note but yeah. Drinking to get drunk to numb stuff is not good, it only makes things worse. Thanks all for getting this far, it means a lot. - Xen Traveler