Chapter 17: Singed bark doesn't kill a tree


Mobius - Rope bridges above Knothole Manor - 178th day of the 3239th cycle

A scruffy wolf in a blue suit watched his secondary targets enter the manor. His piercing green eyes boring into the platypus. "Hmmm." He mumbled before walking to one of the end lookout platforms wrapped around the top of a tree. He looked out across the treetops, this was one of the highest points of the village. The scene around him seemed to de-saturate, things going black and white as they muffled. The world around him crawled to a stop as time stilled. A door opened beside him and the strange man stepped through. The wolf glanced up to his human counterpart. "A pivotal moment. There's an anomaly. It may make it harder to observe Knothole undetected in the future."

The human glanced down at the strange mobian wolf. "Oh? Willllllll this affect our plans?"

The wolf shook his head. "It shouldn't, but it looks like a lesser being was elevated, hissss sight is limited to the present, but it encompasses the entirety of this forest. Our estimation of the security system AI was incomplete."

The wolf motioned the man to follow as a door opened in front of him. "Apparently, the warp topaz is capable of holding a consciousness, just like the emeralds." The wolf monotoned as they stepped through the portal. They entered into the precursor chamber in the caves under Knothole. "He took it... but then changed his mind." The wolf tilted in question. "I think he feel's… guilt for creating his constructs... They resemble true beings. It's no surprise, having similar foundation to the Aperture constructs."

The man glanced at the black obsidian artifacts around them. "I take it, soon that he willllllll return the construct to guard the village."

"He is on schedule." The wolf replied. He continued walking as another portal opened in front of him. The Man followed the wolf as they entered into the northern mountains. In front of them on the road was a motorcycle with a side car. Two foxes were riding the contraption, the white one driving where the orange and white one seemed to be slumped in the side car. There was a trail of dust kicking up in the back of the vehicle. "Some new pieces are entering the board as well." He walked up to the frozen scene. "The godparents of Alyx Vance from this side. The parents of Mile's Powers." The wolf looked over at the human who was slowly circling the frozen motorcycle.

"Interesting." The man said. "I didn't think they'd be showing up but I haven't been here long enough to acclimate my sight." He glanced at the wolf. "Will they pose a problem or impede our pieces at all?"

The wolf shifted uncomfortably. "Nothing unmanageable." He cleared his throat, coughing. "The woman might pose a threat…" The wolf seemed to hesitate. "It really just depends on how forward she is with her motives…" He glanced west towards the Great forest. "She is also a potential threat to the royal family if she feels threatened enough…" He looked at the woman zonked out in the sidecar. "Do I have permission to step in if needed? That would cause quite the upset in our plans if something were to happen to the Princess."

The man seemed to glance into the distance. "I had a feeling." He slowly turned and walked over to the wolf, staring down at the being. "I haave consulted with our employers…" His green eyes bored into the wolfs unwavering gaze. "Nothing may be done to directly intervene…" His eyebrows raised, a strange elation etching his face. "But… you may plllace objects to…" He paused. "Nudge… the situation in the right direction..." The man turned to stare into the vixen's face, searching before smiling. "Only objects from this side though, no artifacts from Earth or any other Combine occupied world, you are to stay here." He gave a frown as he stared into the vixen's eyes. "I would recommend searching more possibilities with that one." He smirked. "I think you may have let her... toys... influence your judgment of her when you should be looking at the fact she doesn't actually know how to fight." The man turned to walk away. A portal doorway slid open in front of him, showing a white abyss. "Take another look, I see a potential to repair the damage done by the Roboticizer if she doesn't end it all from envy." He stepped forward, into the doorway. "Keep the watch."

The wolf slowly nodded, turning his gaze from the foxes. "I will. May the dreamer's visions guide you."

"They do." The man replied as the doorway of light slid shut behind him.

The wolf walked up to look at the vixen, her lifeless gaze staring through her riding goggles. He looked her up and down. "Sleep mode... an interesting adaptation for a synthetic..." He gave a sigh. "A child with a loaded gun is still dangerous. Weather it knows how to aim or not." He turned to fade into the scene, color returning to the world as the bike zoomed down the road.


? - Mobotropolis frozen river north of the college - 3216th cycle

Trisha walked along the river path, her arms hugged to herself in the bitter chill of the winter snowfall. She shivered as she could see her breath in puffs, steam billowing from her nostrils in front of her. She re-adjusted her hat, making sure her ears were comfortably tucked in the knitted cap. She sighed and came to a stop as she reached the boat launch. She turned to make her way to the wooden bench overlooking the frozen river at the top of the ramp. She noticed the road hadn't been scraped, guess that made sense, no reason to drive down to the launch at this time of the seasons. Just the riverside path had been scraped. She used her gloved hand to clear the snow from the bench before sitting. She could feel herself sink through the poof of her down jacket and pants, she looked down at herself... she looked like a cyan marshmallow. She gazed out across the waters and could see the midcast residential districts and highborn manors across the river. It had been a while since she'd ridden her moped back home, she'd opted to stay on the on campus housing to solidify her fresh start.

She gave another sigh as her eyes drifted to the frozen river to see some of her peers down the way, ice skating. She gave a small smile as she watched the Mobians below, sliding across the ice. She'd never been ice skating and in fact didn't like the cold that much. Lloyd seemed to be right at home in the cold. She smiled again, that would make sense considering how much of his mixed heritage was northern arctic fox. Her mind drifted to her new boyfriend, Lloyd should be here soon. She'd decided to come a bit early to think about things and enjoy the quiet, the common room was quite packed on their day off.

She pondered how things had changed in the last few months, from what was originally a plan to get to the robotics lab fabricator turned into a crush... and well... not a perfect plan... but it worked out. She straightened her posture as her confidence grew. Things were good and other than a few hiccups caused by her potions… He genuinely seemed to want to be around her… The thought made her smile. She was taking a break from testing on him though, today was going to be 100% genuine. Not that her pheromone experiments changed him too much, but today was going to be... pleasantly normal.

She heard some snow crunching behind her and turned. She smiled when she saw him. The arctic fox was holding a bag and was done up in a much thinner winter jacket than she was… in fact it didn't look like it was adequate, none of his attire seemed to be fully adequate for the current weather. "Lloyd!" She stood from her seat as she fully turned to him, smiling but a bit concerned. "Are you sure that's enough of an outer coat for the cold?"

He smiled as he came up to her. "Hey Trisha! What, this?" He waved her off. "It's fine, I've got a few good hours before it becomes a problem, plenty of time!" He gave a cheeky grin. "You forget!" He preened, his fists at his hips as he jutted his chest forward. "I'm 3/4th arctic fox! The rest of my mother's side was fennec... I think. " He got a sheepish look as he sank into his shoulders, starting to blush. "Umm, I've got a double coat right now… so that helps."

She looked a little shocked, she didn't know he was that much of an arctic mobian… Her mind drifted on how much of a pain that would be cleaning up after him come spring and she shut that thought down quickly. She gave him an unsure gaze. "You sure? We can go to the shopping district and I could pick you out a nice–"

He stiffened, his fur standing on end. "I appreciate it!" He cut her off, causing her to give a slight frown. "Thank you! But you don't need to buy me anything else right now!" He blurted, looking a bit uncomfortable. His stance sank a little again as his expression grew a bit nervous. "I thought today could be simple." He smiled as he walked over to her and sat next to her on the frosty park bench. He glanced at her as he reached into the bag and pulled out some metal blade contraptions and her eyes widened. He smiled. "I thought it would be nice to go ice skating!"

The vixen's hackels shot on end as she stared at the strap on skates, her ears flattening under her cap. "Th–that's why you said wear sturdy snow boots?" She mumbled, hesitation bleeding through her tone.

He shifted, his confidence starting to drop but he pushed forward. "If… if you don't want to–"

"It's not that I don't want to…" Her eyes darted to his for a second. "I... don't know how." She bit as she sat back in her seat, unconsciously trying to hide her face from him as she felt nervous.

She mumbled something that Lloyd couldn't hear as she crossed her arms over her chest. He turned to her, tilting his head in question. "I didn't catch that. If you want, I could teach you–"

"My balance isn't the best." She cut him off, her cheeks burning under her fur. "I…" She trailed off as she axed that thought… Wasn't a good idea to tell him that she'd only recently had a growth spurt, and a violent and painful one at that. She shifted uncomfortably. "I had some… medical stuff… that affected my sense of balance?" She blushed. "It's getting better but I still have some trouble running…" She brought her mittend hands up to her face in embarrassment. "I hate to think of how many times I'll fall on the ice…" She peered at him and her heart sank at his dejected look.

His ears drooped as he sat back and let out a breath. "Well, guess that's on me for not asking you beforehand…"

There was a pregnant pause. She gave a huff as she made up her mind, grabbing for the bag. "I assume you've gotten me a pair too?" She pulled the other pair of strap-on skates and turned them in her mittens, trying to figure out how to attach them to her snow boots.

His ears perked. "Well, yeah, I did?" He looked at her shocked. "I thought you didn't want to."

"It would be good to try something new. Besides, you're teaching me, right?" She glanced at him, her gaze wavering unsure. "This could help me learn to better balance."

He smiled at her. "O-okay!" His confidence bolstered. "It will be fun, trust me!" He showed her how to secure the skates to her sturdy boots. Getting up from the seat, she held his hand as they made their way down to the boat launch and carefully down the ramp.

She held to him as she wobbled, a pit of dread building at the sight of the slick ice. "We're not going to fall through, are we?"

"Of course not. This temperature and time of year? The ice is thick enough." He chirped as he stepped onto the ice, guiding her as she tiptoed along the canal wall. She looked really nervous as she tried to keep from sliding back, carefully trying to walk. "Okay, keep your legs about shoulders width apart." He solidified his stance. "At least shoulders apart. You want to point the blades outward." He pointed to his toe.

She glanced down and tried to follow his instructions, a pensive look crossing her face. "Like this?"

"Yeah, like that." He smiled, then motioned to his own feet. "Now, angle a foot in the back so the it will bite into the ice, then push to glide forward." He glanced at her. "I'm going to let go of you and I want you to watch my feet, okay? Think you can stand on your own?"

She hesitantly left his grip to try and lean on the wall. "I'm-OKAY!" She yipped as she slipped, landing on her butt.

He scrambled to her, checking to see if she was okay. "ARE YOU OKAY?!" He blurted as he squatted down to check on her.

She nodded as she struggled to figure out how to get up. "Nothing's hurt. Just have to figure…" Her face scrunched as she tried and failed to get her legs steady. She glanced over to see him plop down on the ice next to her.

"Here, we'll start with how to get up." He smiled as he put his legs forward. "So if I'm on my butt, first I want to swing my legs around and try to get on my knees." He moved his legs back, rotating to get on his knees. "Next I put both hands down in front of me to steady myself, then bring one leg up…" He moved to show her. "Then the other… then slowly push up!" Steadying himself, he moved to her side to guide her through.

She slowly mimicked him as she pushed herself up. "Thanks…" She gasped. She paused, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath to collect herself.

Things had gotten quiet, she couldn't hear the clinks of the nearby ice skaters. She opened her eyes and froze, her heart sinking. She wasn't on the frozen river anymore, it looked like a lake with trees in the distance. She looked up at the sky, snow was falling and a bitter chill cut through the gloom of the day, causing her to shiver. The wind picked up, sending a bitter chill down her spine and causing her to shiver. She looked around and saw Lloyd standing a distance away. She furrowed her brow, noticing he was glaring down at her with bitter eyes. "What?" She questioned, her voice squeaking. She froze, her voice was different... wait?! was he taller than her? like way taller. Her ears and tail fell flat as her gut twisted, as a dreadful and impossible thought hit her.

"Tche." The arctic fox sneered at the little girl in front of him, using a hand to block his nostrils. "You're foul concoctions reek!"

Her eyes widened as the pit of dread built, he knew? HOW DID HE KNOW?! She started panicking and then froze, now he knew her body was screwed up too! But she'd fixed it! Why was she in her stunted body again?!

The boy she loved shook his head, a look of disgust on his face and it broke her heart. He turned to glide away from her on the ice. "What a waste of time… I should have run the first time I saw you." He spun, glaring back at her. "You were waiting to pepper spray me in that elevator if your potion failed violently." His eyes narrowed. "I remember that, I may know more then you realize." The Arctic fox gave a venomous smirk as he turned to leave.

Her gut twisted even more, that hurt. She panicked as she tried to run to him. "WAIT! DON'T LEAVE ME! I CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING! YOU'RE REAL TO ME!" She scrambled forward, blades struggling for grip. Her legs slipped from under her, causing her to faceplant on the ice.

*SQUELCH*

Her nose busted and began bleeding. She began swearing in frustration as she curled up and clutched her muzzle, trying to stop the flow. Her gut twisted and her face felt hot, she began sniffling from the sting then began crying. Looking up to see he was nowhere to be seen. "RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed in frustration, slamming her fists down on the ice, over and over again as she had a temper tantrum. This was confusing! Why had this happened? What had happened? Why had he found out?! She'd been so careful?! Now it was all ruined! Her violent tantrum continued as she ignored a straining sound below her.

*CRACK*

She looked down to see the spot her snout had bloodied start to spiderweb. A cold dread gripped her heart as she scrambled to push herself away from the weak point, trying to bring herself to her feet.

*CRACK*

She got to her knees as a fissure opened behind her, tipping back and dumping her in the ice cold water. She screamed as the cold dark water engulfed her as she struggled to swim. She gasped for air only to feel the icy burning sensation entering her lungs and she thrashed, continuing to panic as she sank deeper.

The last of the air left her lungs and she heard a metallic muffled clink as she hit the bottom. She frantically tried to swim up only to quickly sink back down. She realized she wasn't breathing but things were unnaturally cold. She looked at her hands in the almost pitch black of the murky water to see metal and she realized she was a robian and it clicked, she was dreaming... She forced herself to blink, over and over again, trying to wake up... it wasn't working. She looked up above, seeing the dim light shining through the cracked hole in the ice then around her in the dark abyss that surrounded her. Her eyes widened as she saw a white silhouette, her husband frowning down at her before turning to leave her.

Her heart hurt at the gesture but she let out a reflexive breath, she had to remember this was a dream. Just her past trying to torture her. Her mind continued to clear as she stood in the murky depths of the lake. Her eyes cleared with realization, she couldn't wake up until the timer changed the chemicals in her brain or her husband got her up.

She sighed as she sat down in the bitter cold silt of the lake bottom to wait. A phantom feeling pricked at her eyes as the urge to cry from the stress and loneliness overwhelmed her. Her muffled sniffles permeated the murky lake bottom as she waited for herself to wake from this cold nightmare.


Mobius - Mountain roads north of Robotropolis - 178th day of the 3239th cycle

"GahHHA!?" Trisha gasped in confusion, letting out a little scream as her senses woke and normalized, thrashing in her seat. "HUH?!" Her little outcry startled her husband in the bike seat next to her sidecar and he swerved, skidding to a stop.

"What's wrong?!" He gasped as he looked down at her shivering form from, adjusting his riding goggles.

She gathered herself quickly, blinking up at him. Her artificial hackles rose, memories of his emotional betrayal in her nightmare lingering in her mind. She forced those thoughts down, the lake didn't happen! She had to remember what was real! She let out a breath as she beat down the disturbing thoughts by her grounding herself in reality. She took in her surroundings, she was still sitting in the sidecar of the motorcycle they'd hotwired. She slumped back in her seat, gasping. "It was just a bad dream, just a dream." She grumbled as she looked down to her datawatch. This was her model they'd scavenged from her old home. The thing was sleek and anodized cyan, it had a retractable comms cable. She pulled the thin tough wire from the device and brought the cable to the base of her collar bone to a port she'd hidden under her fur. Plugging it in, she returned her attention to her watch to read the chemical readouts and frowned. Typing away at the small screen, she ran a custom routine to mitigate her stress. A phantom shiver ran up her spine as she let out a reflexive breath, the calming chemicals edging the tension away. She continued to reflexively take deep breaths as she closed her eyes. She had to be careful with this, couldn't get addicted or burn her nerves. She ended the routine and her feelings normalized, her synthetic fur softening back to its normal state. She glanced out over the mountain range they were riding through. "So there's a town somewhere out here?"

Lloyd righted his steering and started putting forward with the powercell vehicle. "Dillan told me there's a few ruins in the northern caves that could be inhabited. He gave me a map and where he thinks the freedom fighter outpost might be."

She glanced at her husband. "Dillan?" Her face scrunched. "Who's that?"

His ears wilted as he glanced at her for a second before returning his gaze to the road. "The Lion who gave us the news about our Son!" He fidgeted in his seat as they putted. "I thought you said you'd remember his contribution or whatever." He looked a bit disappointed, hurt creeping across his face. "Some highborn oath or something?"

She nervously sank into her seat, the phantom warmth of her cheeks heating, stirring her in embarrassment. "I… I remember faces better than names… I didn't forget him…" She gave another reflexive sigh as she looked forward, past the little windshield of the sidecar. They were breaking into much higher elevation, it was getting colder and it made her mind drift to her tormenting dream. She looked back down at her expensive datawatch and navigated to her sense perception. She overrode her temperature sensors to register the warmth of sitting next to a cozy hearth. She smiled as she melted into her seat, the stress leaving her body as the warmth crept over her. She detached the com cable from her neck and it retracted back into her watch. That override would be in place for a few hours before the safety took it off, it may be summer but the mountains could get cold at this elevation. The two rode around the bend and she could start to feel tingles in her perception, a shiver ran along her spine. She glanced over to her husband to see a similar reaction as his hackles rose.

Lloyd shook himself in his seat, his fur flattening as he focused on calming himself. "So that's the field that screws with navcoms and hovercraft engines?"

His wife shuttered, the fur on her cheeks frizzing as she looked unsettled. "It must be." She shifted in her seat, hugging herself as she stared forward. "Let's figure out if he's here and if he is, get him and get out of this magnetic static."

They were coming up to one of the unpaved passes and Lloyd slowed, turning onto the canyon road. "That's if he wants to come with us." The white fox frowned. "We can put up with a few days of this to get to know him, you know. We don't have to put a demand on him."

She gave him an odd look. "What do you mean, if he wants to come with us?" Her expression dropped as she began growling. "Of course he'll want to come with us! He's our son!"

The white fox shrugged as he weaved the motorcycle on the bumpy stone path. "I don't know... he's an adult at this point." His softly glowing blue eyes gave her a strange look. "Besides, where do we plan on going after this?" He glanced back to the primitive road. "Back to our little bunker under the college? You know the buildup of fumes means organics can't live down there all the time." He let out a sigh as he slowly weaved through the narrowing canyon. "Kinda strange to have two random Mobians show up out of nowhere ,claiming to be your parents when you're an adult." He wilted a bit. "What if he already has a family and doesn't want anything to do with us?"

She frowned as her breath hitched by reflex, she hadn't thought of anyone replacing her… She sank into her seat again to brood over the uncomfortable thoughts. Her hand snaked into one of her jacket pockets to feel a small device, a little radio transmitter, a remote with a small screen. She felt the device through her thin gloves, re-memorizing the placement of the buttons. "I don't think that will be an issue." She quietly bit as she held the remote tuned to the chip she'd installed in her son's neck all those years ago.

"Oh?" Lloyd asked as the motorbike started up an incline.

She hesitated then wilted. "Things are just going to work out…" She half whispered as her mind drifted to the difficult situation ahead of her. She shifted uncomfortably as she thought of the remote… Lloyd didn't know she'd chipped their boy and he definitely couldn't find out about her perfumes, she didn't even take any of those this time.

His ear flicked in curiosity at her silence. He gave a sigh as he shook his head, refocusing on his task of navigating through the mountain cliff valley. "I hope you're right..." He sighed as his mind drifted to his son. "I wonder what kind of Mobian you grew up to be?" He mumbled to himself.

Trish ignored him as her mind was engrossed in the last command she'd left for her son's chip. One of her ears flicked absentmindedly as her thoughts raced, the last order she'd given the chip was a learning enhancer… she was trying to get him excited to read so she'd been cycling it on and off… Her lips pursed as she tried to remember… she had probably left it on… The thought made her uncomfortable as she bit her lip, softly chewing on the synthetic material. Hopefully he'd not gotten addicted... no she'd been careful in her tuning, he should be okay… but who knows what he'd know if he didn't have any direction... She relaxed as her thoughts calmed, logic trying to sooth her. She could fix that once she saw him... her mind drifted to the image of him crumpled on the ground with lazbolt burns in his back and she stiffened again. She shook off the thought, he'd be fine and if he wasn't… she'd fix it; dread the thought but she'd fix this if it was the last thing she did.

Lloyd's expression perked as he saw a figure in front of them, walking along the path. The Mobian looked behind her shoulder curiously before pausing to put her hand on a laspistol on her hip. She fully turned to face the approaching vehicle. "Hey!" He greeted, not noticing the girl's tense posture. She was a gray lemur of different shades, her purple eyes looked concerned as she started to back up. She was wearing a puffy orange vest jacket ontop of other hiking mountain gear. She had a large leather backpack slung over her shoulder with a sleeping bag rolled up and sitting at the base of the bag.

Trisha noticed the girl in front of them, the girl's hip caulked to the side, brandishing the lazgun for them to see. "Lloyd, stop the bike." She Hissed, her icy glare darting to her husband. "Do you not see the laspistol on her hip?"

Lloyd's eyes dropped from the girl's face to her hip and he hit the break, bringing the small vehicle to a stop. He turned the bike off and nervously gave the girl a wave. "Hey! Sorry about that!" He nervously chuckled.

"Who are you two?" The girl stretched her neck a bit, trying to gage the pair in front of her from the distance. "Those're some fancy clothes, don't look like they'd do much for the cold at this altitude… Hmmmm…" She rose an eyebrow. "You foreigners? Whacha doin so far out in the northern mountains of Acorn?"

Lloyd gave a confident grin as his tail started to wag. "We're looking for the northern settlement, we're looking for our son." He chirped, causing the young woman in front of them to falter.

She eased her stance, squinting at the two mobians in front of her. "Umm…"

Trisha got up from her seat, hopping out of the sidecar and removing her helmet to smile at the girl. "You haven't seen any two tailed fox's around here have you?"

The girl's eyes widened a bit. "Tails?"

The silver fox removed his own helmet. "Yeah, he has two of them." He got a sheepish expression. "We recently found evidence our son may still be alive. Does that description ring any bells, Miss? Can't of seen too many two tailed Mobians around."

The lemur looked confused, then gave an untrusting squint towards the pair. "I cannot confirm or deny knowing any such Mobian…" She grunted as her nose wrinkled. She pulled the blaster and leveled it at the bright orange vixen with the ponytail.

The goggled vixen flinched and frowned at the display. "What's wrong with you, girl!?"

The lemur scoffed. "Something doesn't smell right, let's say I know this two tailed fox of yours… How come it's taken you so long to go lookin for him? Hmm?" She rose an eyebrow, her lip furling up and giving her a snide expression. "How do you guys look so young too!?" She gestured her lazgun at the vixen. "You look like you could be my age! And he and I are practically sibl…" She froze, biting her lip.

The vixen looked amused. "So you do know something." She smiled and removed her tinted riding goggles. "Alright girl, I'll play." The orange fox got out of the car, her coloring was extremely close to Tails. She unbuckled her helmet and pulled her goggles off, tossing them into the sidecar. The woman turned her gaze upon the lemur with a cold flat smirk.

Tangle got a tingle up her spine, her hackles raising for a second as something looked a little off, but she couldn't place it… It… It was something with her face… was it the fur? Was it her eyes? It was her eyes, they seemed a little glassy like a doll's eyes. "What's wrong with you?" the lemur growled. "What's wrong with your eyes?

The woman frowned then rolled said eyes. "Fine, we're roboticized." She scoffed. "Took us an age to break the mind control and then more to fashion proper bodies." She let her eye roll land on the lemur, flashing a blue glow that seemed to bring the life to her eyes.

Tangle flinched then perked. "OHHH!" She got excited as she holstered her pistol. "You're refugees?! You broke free from the mind slave thing?!" She got a hesitant grin as her eyes diverted from them. "I'm sorry bout holding you at laserpoint. Gotta be careful for…" She gave a shrug as her long tail swished behind her. "I don't know, cannibals and stuff. Got to be careful around bikers. You guys are dressed strange but not like the cannibals I guess."

The two fox's gave her an odd look at the remark. "Cannibals?" Lloyd asked. He shook his head, his mind getting back on task as he relaxed, the tension leaving his shoulders. He dismounted the bike and removed his goggles. "So, you know a two tailed fox?"

Tangle gave an enthusiastic nod and smile. "Yep yep! Tails is like a little brother." She gave a shrug. "We grew up as playmates I guess." She walked up, examining the male fox. "Fine craftsmanship, I've got a friend who'd love to trade notes or whatever." She faltered and squirmed a bit as she took a deep look into the fox's softly glowing eyes. He blinked at her dumbly. "Even with the light, it's still a little uncanny though. Hmm… Belle might still like a more realistic body though, maybe more than the puppet she made."

Lloyd nervously tried to step back from the young woman getting in his personal bubble and so close to his face. "Uhh."

The lemur's tail stiffened and she backed up, raising her hands in a placating manor. "Sorry." She glanced down at her watch and her eyes widened. "Oh dang. I gotta get going." She looked at the two foxes and gestured them to follow. "The outpost is this way." She hesitated. "The bike won't fit, the path gets too narrow." She looked around and pointed to an indent on the wall. "Store it there for now I guess." She motioned again for them to follow her. "I can at least introduce you to Arrie." She gave a cough as she covered her mouth with a hand. "I at least have enough authority to do that." The two foxes pushed their vehicle off to the side and under the short alcove before walking up behind the lemur. She smiled at them before turning forward to continue walking. "I'm Tangle, nice ta meecha!" She gave a sigh as she hefted her backpack and continued her stride through the narrowing canyon.

The two foxes were fidgeting as they followed the enthusiastic girl. The white fox cleared his throat to get the lemur's attention. "So, we saw a video of our son getting shot in the northern district of Robotropolis. It was recorded maybe a week ago–"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Pshhh!" She smiled. "Heeeeeee's fine."

Lloyd let out a held breath. "Oh thank the Maker!" He gave a choked laugh. "Losing him twice… I don't think I could really do that."

Tangle smiled at the relieved reaction on both parents' faces. "Aww." She snickered. "Oh, this is going to be interesting, Whisper better try and take some photos if I can't see this…" She whispered under her breath as her mind drifted to the hope and possibility of her aunt, uncle and cousin breaking the mind control.

The vixen looked relieved. "So he's okay? No complications from getting pelted in the back with a lazgun? No collapsed lung or…" She cringed at the destructive thoughts starting to gnaw at her.

The lemur reached into a pocket, pulling out a small vial that glowed irrily. "One of the new recruits used some strange medicine on him. Part of the reason I was sent out here, Commander Acorn forgot to send it with Arrie when he left and blah blah blah, Dr. Ox should have a new shipment of antibiotics I need to pickup for Knothole, yada yada yada." She yawned. "Anyways, gotta get this to him; He's one of the few full on biochem engineers we have left." She twirled the glowing vial between her fingers as her purple eyes tracked the little bubbles floating in the liquid. "Glows pretty, doesn't it?"

Trish's ears perked at the name of the doctor. "Huh, so he's still alive…" She mumbled as she got closer, looking intently at the small cyan glowing vial. "What is it?" Her hackles rose a bit as she realized what the younger woman said. "So my son was injected with this stuff?" She tilted her head, squinting at the odd looking liquid. "What is it?"

The lemur gave the vial another twirl before slotting it back into her jacket pocket. "No clue! But it healed Tails's back up all nice and good!"

Trish's ears flattened as she stared, confused at the little glowing vial. "Oookay?"

The group followed the path around a corner until it broke into another canyon, a fissure ran in front of them with a path turning off to the left, getting narrower and narrower. Lloyd glanced down the crag only for his hackles to rise. "How deep is this hole?"

The lemur shrugged. "Ehh, Ida-know?" She shrugged noncommittally. "We're almost there though, come on!"

The path started to widen and descend, cutting deeper into the side of the mountain. As they continued the ceiling heightened and they turned around a bend to see a multitude of cubic buildings carved into the cold gray stone. Upon the ceiling there were mounted power crystals shining warm lights down on the small town. There was a chest high sandbag wall outfront with a campfire. In the flickering light of the campfire they saw a few stirring Mobians. The group looked up and a figure stood. "Who goes there!" The Mobian squinted as he hefted his bolt caster before relaxing. "Tangle? Is that you?"

"YO!" The lemur gave a short shout, putting a hand up to her ear in anticipation for the echo.

*yo!* The faint echo came back causing her to smile in the dim light.

The Mobian heading the group looked annoyed. "Keep it down Tangle, it's getting late and some people could be trying to sleep." He said as he stepped into the light, A young brown bull stood in front of them. He glanced over the two oddly dressed Mobians standing behind the Acorn Kingdom courier. "Who are they?"

Tangle smiled. "Hey Nathan! They're guests! Parents of a friend. Tails parents!"

The bull's eyes widened. "Is that a fact? Huh…" He glanced back to Tangle. "So what brings you here so soon after we just made the trip to Knothole?"

Tangle patted her pocket. "Got a delivery for your dad that Princess and Rosie forgot. Plus yer Pops should have the next batch of antibiotics ready, Rosie's running low."

"Tangle!" A booming voice cut in. The group turned to see a ram with black curly hair coming up. He looked annoyed at the girl now giving a sheepish smile. "Don't scream, you'll wake the few elders we have left."

She sank into her shoulders. "Hey Arrie." She turned, looking at the two foxes behind her. "Hey, meet…" She paused, not remembering the two's names. "Meet Tails parents!"

The middle aged ram looked at the oddly fancy dressed foxes and rose an eyebrow. "Tails?"

Tangle turned back to ram. "The kid Sally helped raise! You know! Miles? I guess his parent's finally came out of the woodwork to find him. They were wandering out on the path leading here."

The ram glanced at the foxes again. "You led strangers into the holdout?"

She rolled her eyes and waved a hand dismissively, the other on her cocked hip. "Pshh, they were already on the path that doesn't fork. They would have found this place." She sighed. "Better to introduce them then have them walk in and get pinned to the far wall by a trigger happy sniper." She glanced at a few of the snipers by the fire then back to Arrie. "Hey, I got to deliver some medicine for Dr. Ox to take a look at."

Trish stepped forward, causing the group to eye her. "I'd like to say hello to Dr. Ox if that's alright. He can vouch for me." She gave a slight smile. "I used to love his classes, I'm sure he'd love to see me."

The Bull rose an eyebrow. "You knew dad when he taught bioengineering at the college?" He looked her up and down, a bit confused. "You don't look that old? What are you in your 20s?"

She smiled, a half lidded gaze. "I'd say never ask a woman her age but I'm proud you think I look so young, I'm 43." She brought a hand up to examine her claws. "Although I'm roboticized, so I'm glad my craftsmanship is that convincing."

You could hear a pin drop in the cave. The bull stepped forward. "You're roboticized?!" He looked her up and down.

Arrie grunted. "Calm down Nathan. Sir Charrels is awake again, he's your dispatch when you're in Robotropolis." The Mobian paused for a second. "I think there's another one…"

Tangle perked up. "You're talking about Belle! She managed to break the mind control too!" The lemur plucked the glowing vial from her jacket. "Hey! I want to deliver my package then get some grub." She shifted. "You guys get anything good recently?"

One of the mobians by the camp fire perked up, a mole with squinty eyes. "Got some root soup, salt but no spices." The mobian's eyes widened in hope. "You manage to bring any savory root?"

Tangle nodded. "Sure did my dude. Finished drying and ground right before I set off." She pulled out a corked bottle and tossed it to the mole who scrambled to catch it.

The mole looked elated. "You're awesome! I'll get you a portion ready for when you get back!"

Tangle smiled, tilting her head. "Great, see you guys soon!" She turned to the vixen. "You said you wanted to say Hi to Dr. Ox?"

Arrie motioned for the bull to follow. "Nathan. Escort us and we'll see if your Dad can vouch for these two."

The bull nodded and hefted his boltcaster. "Sir."

The group made their way past the firepit and sandbag wall into the town. They passed carved buildings being dimly lit by torches and the distant overhead power crystal lamps. They turned towards the wall and made their way to the back. A door was carved into the back of an alcove with an elderly deer in a rocking chair. Her eyes were darting line by line in her book, a thick volume on archaeology. She looked up and smiled at the sight of the bull. "Nathan? You missed dinner about an hour ago if thats…" She noticed the rest of the Mobians in the group. "Sir Arrie?" Her head tilted in question. "What's the occasion?"

The ram nodded his greeting. "Hello Martha. Is Jack still awake?"

She slowly nodded as she set her book down on a coffee table in front of her rocker. "He should be. She got up and moved to her door. Opening the door she stuck her head in. "Jack. You're being summoned."

"Ehh?!" They heard shuffling towards the door. "Yeah, what is it now?"

The older doe moved from the door. Sitting back in her rocking chair while giving a sigh. "He's coming." She mumbled as she picked her book back up and turned to the lamp behind her, turning the light up a bit.

The door opened and a grizzled bull with a hunch and a cain stepped out in the doorway. "What?"

Tangle waved at the bull. "Hey Dr. Ox! I got something for you!" She walked up and held the small glowing vial out to him along with a rolled up letter as she saluted, fist over her heart. "Request from Princess Sally Alicia Acorn and letter from retired war surgeon Rosie Wudchuck–"

The old bull rolled his eyes. "Enough, I'm a scholar not a military officer." He pulled out some reading glasses with a flashlight clipped on from his shirt pocket and grabbed for the letter. "Gimme that." He mumbled as he ripped it open and started reading then frowned. "What?" His face scrunched.

"I know a little but they want to see if you can synthesize more of this and…" She looked sheepish. "We think it's safe but I guess get your opinion on it."

The Bull gave her an odd look then looked at the glowing vial. "Okay?" He hesitated. "Did you bring the mentioned samples from this Alyx and Miles Prower?"

Trish's eyes furreled at the butchered name. "Miles Prower?" She stepped forward into the light and the Dr. glanced towards her and froze.

The old bull's eyes widened at the fox in front of him. "Ms. Powers?" He whispered, looking like he'd seen a ghost.

She gave a smile and a little wave. "What? Can't an old student say hi to her favorite teacher as a peer?"

The the bull seemed to pull out of his shock and he gave a choked laugh. "You scoundrel!" he smiled as he shuffled over to her with his cane. "You haven't aged a day! How'd you do it? How'd you escape the coup?!"

Arrie tilted his head. "So you vouch for her? And her husband?"

The bull turned to the settlement leader. "Vouch for her? Of course I do! She was one of the best students I'v ever had! her father was one of my mentors!" He turned to Arrie. "He was retired at that point, but Maxwell was quite the visionary. Used to head the pharmaceutical sector for the Acorn Kingdom before those accusations ruined his reputation."

She flinched at that, plastering a fake smile. "Glad you remember my f-family!" She calmed down. "Do you remember my husband?" She asked, gesturing Lloyd to step forward into the light.

The Bull looked the white fox up and down then smiled, barking out another laugh. "I remember you! Ben was it?"

"Lloyd." The arctic fox corrected, a nervous grin on his face.

"Lloyd! Of coarse! It's only been about 20 cycles hasn't it?" He waved off the sentiment. "I'm not even sure at this point." He lit up. "How have you been my boy! Oh, probably dreadful like the rest of us." He turned to look at his old star student, examining her youthful figure in the dim light. The excitement built on his face. "How'd you do it? Is it purely cosmetic or did you really find a way to slow aging?!"

She gave a strained smile. "It's not biological…" She mumbled. "Its mechanical…"

There was a pregnant pause as the doctor's excitement fell. "Oh, does that mean–"

Trish lit her eyes, a cold blue as her smile grew pensive. "I didn't make it out, but i'm glad you did." She grabbed for her husband's arm as she brought him beside her. "This is based on his craftsmanship, not mine." She smirked. "Although, I did the fine details."

Tangle got a shocked look on her face. "Other samples! Don't forget other samples!" She pulled her bag off and reached in to pull out a thermos looking device. "DNA and blood samples from Miles Prower and Alyx Vance."

Trish's eyes bore holes into the thermos. "My son's dna?" She mumbled before her husband stepped forward, cutting her train of thought off.

"Vance?!" Lloyd could feel a few tremors run through him at the shock. His eyes widened as the memories of his friend's daughter came back with a vengeance, the memory of his failure to protect their legacy hitting him in the gut as he stumbled forward. "Did you just say Alyx Vance?!"

Tangle looked at him odd as she passed the vial to the deer who had come up to help hold some of the items for her husband. "Uhh, yeah?" She looked at him weird. "How do you know her? Like… I don't think anyone should know her?"

"She's my godchild!" He was starting to freak out at the possibility. His mind reeled back to the video of his son being shot up and the black and orange fox that had been firing at the swatbots by his side. He focused on the curious looking lemur. "She would be a fox, orange with black accents, possibly having eastern eyes."

Tangle slowly nodded. "Yeah, that's her… how do you know the realmwalker?"

The arctic fox's gut felt like it did a flip. "Realmwalker?!" He shrieked. "So the conspiracies were true!? She was taken!?" He clutched his head. "Why couldn't I have been quicker!?"

"LLOYD!" Trish's voice cut in, grabbing his attention. She smiled. "I know this may be distressing for you, but the important thing is that they're alive. We should be able to see them soon."

Tangle gave a yawn then smacked her lips, her long tail wilting to the ground. "I need some grub and a place to crash."

Nathan walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, you can have some of our stew, then you can spend a night in the common house."

The old bull turned to the two foxes. "You're welcome to stay with us, we've got a spare bed or there's the couches in the living room."

"Thank you sir." She gave a tired smile. "It will be nice to catch up after all these years."

Tangle turned to the foxes. "You're son's to the west, Knothole Village. If you get a letter of introduction from Dr. Ox here then I can bring you guys on my way back." She yawned as a finger went up to poke and clean one of her ears. "Gotta drop off something to the wolf packs out east before I head back." She flicked her finger to the side as she glanced to the doctor. "You'll have the antibiotics packed up in a few days?"

He gave her a slightly disgusted look at her lack of manors and self awareness. "I will..." He turned to the foxes. "I'd love to write a letter of introduction for you, I didn't know you'd had a son."

Trisha nodded. "It's a shock to me that he's alive." Her tail started to sway as she smiled. "I'm excited to meet him."


Mobius - Robotropolis control tower - 178th day of the 3239th cycle

*WHINE*

*WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP*

Robotnik blearily opened his eyes, his head felt fuzzy and his neck was numb. Everything seemed to hurt so much. The rotund man sat up from the operation table as his muffled hearing started to come back. "What? Operator, what's going on?" He looked around himself to see he was in an operating room with 3 cylindrical black droids surrounding the table he was on. Medical droids? Oh, that's right… He was getting a custom diagnostic port surgically attached to his spine. He blinked his mechanical eyes again as he looked at the droids around him, they were talking to him but he couldn't make the garble out. He sat there in the medical gown, focusing on regaining his senses. "Operator, why have I been woken so early? The medication hasn't stopped? What's happening?"

*WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP*

He jumped at the realization of the alarm. "What?!" He shouted as he moved to the side with his IV bag on the medical pole. He slid off the table onto the cold floor. His body was numb in certain spots, but otherwise seemed to ache all over. He could feel his synthetic joints in his knees strain as the artificial muscle additions kicked on to help support his weight.

"Good evening Sir!" The overhead intercom AI kicked on.

Robotnik ignored the intercom AI, glaring at one of the medical units. "Am I clear?"

The black cylinder extended a spidery arm holding a glass with some dissolving medication in it. "It is advised to return to bedrest and finish the IV bag. Antibiotics will be delivered periodically throughout the evening by medical units."

He snatched the glass of medication and chugged the bitter concoction, shuttering and gagging as he forced it down. "HACK!" He coughed as he shoved the glass back at the medical unit, dropping it before it could grab for it.

*CRASH*

The glass shattered on the ground as the large man stumbled half naked out of the surgery room, coughing. "Operator. Why's the alarm going off?" He strained as he made his way to the nearby terminal at the base of the control tower. "Also, turn on the bloody heat in this sector. Bring me a fresh change of clothes as well." He half slurred before thinking of the situation. He growled. "You better have a good reason for having them wake me so early from my procedure, I should have been waking up in my own bed! Not on the operation table!" He sat at the recliner, starting to log into the terminal.

"I do sir!" The cheery AI responded. "The Great Forest was successfully set on fire! There are some complications though."

He froze at that. "What do you mean?"

"The warpzone defense system had a hiccup!" It chirped. "For a good few minutes, no portals defended the forest! However, A new Mobian who seemed to have the ability to create his own portals, showed up and swept through your forces!"

A pit of dread formed in Robotnik's gut. "A wizard…" He mumbled, the stupid legends and naming of the beings roiling through his mind. He jolted back to reality, finishing his login. "Operator, did you manage to get any video of the rodent?"

"Negative, drones are too far out for video stream. Only still shots available." The AI replied.

"Run the still shots against the database, Mobian side. Cross reference myth archives." Robotnik barked as he brought up some of his AI think tank proposed projects. He squinted as his vision was still blurring in and out, he growled as the memories of his old eyesight grated on his nerves.

"One possible match found." The AI responded. "Warning, discrepancies are abundant. Nicholas Nemo, deceased cycle 3184. Corpse recovered and donated to *REDACTED* and *REDACTED* along with his sister Nicole Nemo for project NEURAL MAPPING, precursor to project ROBOTICIZER."

Robotnik froze. "Computer, reference the unsanitized archive I found. See if this matches Starline's archives."

"Match found. Nicholas Nemo, deceased cycle 3184. Corpse recovered and donated to Dr. Ivo Robotnik and apprentice Victor Starline along with his sister Nicole Nemo for project NEURAL MAPPING, precursor to project ROBOTICI–"

"I GET IT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO REPEAT THE WHOLE THING!" The rotund doctor snapped as a migraine started. He clutched his head, growling as he wiped the sweat from his scalp. His hand traveled to the back of his neck to pause at the new metal port. He pulled away from the port as he glanced around, sure enough, one of the medical droids had followed him. "You." He growled at the droid. "Give me something for this headache, now."

The droid rolled forward before a panel opened on it's side. Another spidery hand extending with a syringe, poking into the intake on his IV bag. "This should help sir." The cold feminine voice droned as he could feel a soothing warmth build in his head.

He sat back in the chair before looking back at the screen, remembering his think tanks AI and the grandfather he'd only heard legend of. He gave a sigh, deciding to read on his grandfather first. "Bring up the info on my Grandfather and the banished Starline fool."

"Working!" The AI chirped. "Dr. Ivo robotnik, realmwalker and minister of science to King Alexander Acorn from cycle 3182 to 3202. Unbeknownst to the good people of Mobotropolis as the cause for the tech boom said to have started 3184. Mobotorpolis became a major silicon chip fabricator for the world thanks in part to the abundant fresh water from the central river and northern glaciers, silica sand from the western deserts, and precious metals in the northern mines. The ancient city state, previously known for its imperial expansionism and military might became an economic powerhouse, selling chips all over Mobius through an exclusive deal with the Sea tribe confederacy–"

"Enough." Robotnik sighed. "I've heard this already. I remember the Starline character too, banished for trying to recycle dead soldiers into roboticized slave units. Tell me about Nicolis nemo."

"Working…" The AI droned. "Nicholis Nemo was a corpse that was dredged after drowning in the great bay. Of acorn kingdom and sea tribe ancestry–"

"How did he get the ability to manifest portals!" Robotnik shouted.

"Working…" The AI Continued.

There was a pregnant pause as Robotnik grew impatient. "Well?" He snided at the computer.

"Aperture style neural map file found in backup of Starline archive. Two of them to be exact, Nicolis and Nicole. Hypothesis, being could be an artificial construct."

He paused at that. "Those neural maps are the same style as aperture?"

"95% similarity, differences are negligible." Operator responded.

"Add them to the synthesizer for new AI units and test them to see if they are worthy to be in a think tank, see if anything useful can be gleaned from them." He grumbled. "Hmm." His mind bounced the idea around. "An artificial construct that has a physical body like that…" He grunted. "If we have the ability at some point, add him to the capture list. I want him studied to see what kind of body he has, especially if it's impervious to aging." He turned back to the terminal. "Which brings me to the next point." He scrolled through the myriad of projects his think tanks had created. "Ah." He grinned then frowned. "Right…" He grumbled as he read the details, he'd forgotten why he'd dismissed this project. A warpzone disruption field… it took so much power that he'd have to divert the entire city's grid to it... and it could only generate a field large enough to cover his tower… He gave a deep sigh as he started typing away. "Operator, get a fabrication plant started on this project." He grumbled.

"Of course sir! Will there be anything else?" The AI responded.

"Pre allocate a detail of worker bots to add the field generator to the tower and make the necessary reroutes cutovers to the cities power systems." He grumbled.

"Of course Sir! Will there be anything else?" It asked again.

He thought for a second before a wicked grin crossed his face. "Send the rest of the flame squads to the great forest. Send 10 more on top of that, let's see if we can tire this one out…"


Mobius - Great Forest, bunker under the manor - 178th day of the 3239th cycle

An older chipmunk placed his hand on the tool at the platypus's shoulder. "Okay, ready for the reattach?"

The doctor glanced at his friend as he sweat on the medical table. He nodded, a wad of cotton in his mouth to protect his teeth.

The older chipmunk returned his attention to the locking tool. "Alright, three… Two… ONE!"

*CLICK*

"GAAAAAAARRRRRRRRKKKKK!" A muffled scream echoed from the basement lab above the precursor chamber. The gray and white platypus shook as he spat the cloth gag from his mouth, gritting his teeth as he growled. "I hate doing that without sedative!" He spat as he wrenched his new arm from the side of the table, testing his fingers and dexterity as he pushed Nigel aside. He swung his legs off the ledge as he hopped onto the ground, stumbling as the faint tremors shook him, nipping at his frayed nerves.

Tails's hackles were fully raised as he shuttered. The older teen was sitting on a lab stool, watching the impromptu operation with morbid fascination. "Why on Mobius did you do that without sedatives!?" He eeped. "Aunt Bunnie was knocked out for an entire day when her limbs were swapped to her adult set!"

The doctor looked haggard, the tremors still causing him to fidget as he clutched his head, as if battling his nerves. He let out a few deep breaths as he let go, looking to the fox. "The task ahead requires me to be fully awake and have full motor skill of two arms." The doctor grumbled as he examined his new arm. It had a frosted mat finish, burgundy anodization with a vine engraving of dark purple inlayed into the metal. The sleek roboticized limb clutched a fist as he glared at the stupefied boy.

Sally slowly edged towards the far wall, a platform with a large glass tube stood in front of her. "You really have a roboticizer down here…" She mumbled as she stared at the looming machine. "How could you afford to have your own personal roboticizer?" She hesitated. "Why would you want one?!" She questioned as she got closer to the machine that had caused so much pain to her people. Her mind thought back to the tenrec girl who's legs had been crushed under a crashing hovercraft. She turned to glare at the mobian who'd injured her adoptive son and tried to murder her sister, feeling conflicted. "You're trained in its operation, correct?"

The platypus scoffed. "Of course, I am!" He glared at her. "I'm the one who wrote the protocols."

Sally's hackles rose as you could hear a pin drop. "What?" She whispered.

He brushed his locks back, fixing his hair as he puffed his chest in pride. "Such a wonderful machine! giving our war torn veterans a second lease on life." He flexed his own prosthesis in front of his face. "You have no idea the full application of my work… The good it could have done to end the war." He drawled.

Nigel looked at the platypus, annoyed. "Don't bring that up." He snapped.

"Fine." He growled as he turned to walk towards a cabinet next to the elevator.

Sally watched him with a dawning horror as he started pulling a crutch from what looked to be a medical closet. Her eyebrows furrowed in doubt but she stepped forward. "Can you reverse roboticization?"

He gave her a strange look. "That question is…" His face scrunched. "You're asking if there is a cure to the cure. If there was a better cure than roboticization, then it wouldn't exist." The doctor grumbled to himself as he began mumbling. "Sure I could have cloned an arm, but trying to reattach something like that is a whole nuther deal and could take cycles upon cycles of therapy afterwards. That's a whole different problem that could take decades to solve and that's only if your genetic samples are taken and preserved at your prime. The fabricators cannot print celular detail, including the roboticizer.'' He glanced at the distressed chipmunk in confusion. "Why would you ask that question?"

Sally clutched her gut as it roiled, her face starting to bleed her manifesting distress. "There's no cure?" She mumbled.

Tails's ears were flat as he hopped off the stool and over to the doctor, grabbing for the crutch. He noticed the hopping boy and handed him the crutch. "What's wrong?" The doctor looked between the distressed chipmunk and uncomfortable looking teen.

The young fox looked pensive. "Have you been in Robotropolis?"

Nigel looked confused as he approached the fox. "Robotropolis? What's that?"

The twin tailed boy looked confused then it dawned on him. "Mobotropolis got renamed. Its now inhabited by roboticized slaves of its former inhabitants."

"What…" The older chipmunk uttered, a horrified look on his face. His head snapped to the speechless doctor. "Thought of everything did you?! EVERY CONTINGENCY!" He raged as he swiftly shoved the platypus.

The doctor shouted as he tumbled back into the medical closet, squawking as the supplies fell on him. He glared up at the king. "WHY?!" He yelled as he pulled himself up, glaring at his old friend, his fists clenching.

"ENOUGH!" Sally shouted over them as she stomped over. Snatching the warp topaz sat on the side table of the medical gurney on the way. She shoved the stone at the doctor who grabbed it from her. "You're going to fix our protection, then your going to help us. Let that be the beginning of your payment to the crown."

The posh noble looked indignant. "Payment?!" His face twisted in rage. "FOR MY OWN TECHNOLOGY BEING STOLEN AND MISUSED! YOU HAD ME TRAPPED FOR 37 CYCLES! 37 CYCLES OF MY LIFE! THOSE RELATIONSHIPS ARE GONE!" He scowled at her. "How dare you insinuate I owe you anything... If I do anything, let it be for my own sense of greater good!" He sneered at Nigel silently seething next to her. "I'm tired of your attitude too." His fist shook as he rose his other hand; an accusing finger, point up at the monarch. "You think I wanted to enslave my own nation? You think this is my fault?!"

Nigel could be foaming at the mouth with the look he was giving Starline. "THAT THING SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN MADE!" He shouted, pointing at the roboticizer.

The doctor looked fed up. "Tch!" He chided. "You'd lynch the smith who makes the sword? You're the one who gave the mad man the sword to begin with."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Sally shrieked, bringing the argument to a halt. "Turn the portals on, NOW!" She snapped as she grabbed his shoulder, dragging the platypus to the elevator as she started banging on the lift call.

He wrenched from her grip and grabbed her wrist with his roboticized hand, holding it firmly. "Stop banging on it like an unruly pup!" He snapped as she gave him a venomous glare. "You're going to break it if you continue, then we'll be stuck in the lab."

He let her wrist go and she pulled it to her chest, scowling at him. "You'll cooperate though?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes!" He snapped. "You're accompanying me as I fix my security system, or did you forget?" She glared at him as Tails limped up to her, looking concerned. She gave him a tired and pensive half smile before giving a concerned look to her father. The mobian had a foul look on his face as he glared daggers at the platypus.

The platypus glanced over to see the glaring daggers and rolled his eyes. "You can't be serious." He sighed as the lift door opened. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he strode in. "I need a shower after this, a half decent meal too... And to sleep in my own bed."

The rest of the group followed to join him but Nigel seemed frozen in his rage, hackles fully raised "This is your fault!" He bit.

Victor glared. "Grow up, I'll admit fault in this if you do the same." He grumbled. "You're right, I should have been more secure with my backups but I wasn't planning on not being able to audit things for the last 37 cycles as agin, you handed the mantle of war minister to a madman…" He growled. He peered at the chipmunk. "Are you coming or should we pick you up on the way back?"

The chipmunk's stance wilted as he cupped his face. "Fine, I SCREWED UP!"

"Are you coming?" the platypus dralled.

"YES!" The regal mobian in holiday dress yelled as he moved to join them in the elevator.

"Good." The doctor snipped, pressing a few buttons on the palm part of his thumb to send a signal to the elevator's radio receiver. The doors shut as the group as the elevator lowered.

The doors opened into a massive cave chamber, the black dais and throne in front of them. Tails's ears perked as he stumbled forward. "THERE WAS A PRECURSOR SITE AND WIZARD CRYSTAL HERE!" He shouted, his tails swaying in excitement as he looked to Sally who couldn't help but look stressed and gave a dry laugh at the boy's excitement.

She pressed her eyes shut at the memory of him getting lost in the forest when he was still a pup. She shoved the memories aside with the sheer absurdity of the situation in front of her.

Victor sharply made his way towards the dais and up the stairs to the crystal amplifier at the side of the throne. He placed the warp topaz on the hold and swung around back to the terminal.

Tails struggled to keep up as he began climbing the dais, looking like a kid in a candy store. "This is amazing! I can't believe this was down here the whole time!" He put a finger under his lip as a myriad of thoughts crossed his mind. "I should have tried harder to hack the lift panel." He mumbled.

"Nicolas would have stopped you." The platypus mumbled from behind the throne at the server rack. "Let's see, power cells still have enough energy from the throne's source… lets do a hard reset and boot…" He mumbled as the lights on the server rack kicked off then on, cooling equipment going into overdrive for the boot sequence. "There we go!" He scooched around the chair back to the front to start attaching the now rigid cable like things to the warp topaz. "Now to start calibrating." He mumbled as he started moving each mechanical tendril to what looked to be knots on the fluctuating crystal mass.

Tails got closer to look at the crystal and his eyes widened, like one of Aunt Bunnies shampoos she'd looted from one of the salons. He'd read about that mineral and how it could be suspended in water. "It looks like orange and yellow mica, swirling in water."

The doctor nodded. "I thought so too, it's not though. Those are optical phenomena caused by the crystal's resonance with another dimension." He moved the last probe in place. "Just line it up with the knots and then we go and finish the calibration on the computer."

Sally walked up to the security monitors, watching a breakdown of the entire village. "You've been spying on the entire village?" She frowned.

The platypus scoffed as he worked. "Dear; when I left it was a few cabins around my manor." He absent mindedly started counting on his fingers. "A hanger, warehouse, few cabins, the lift for the mines, my manor and the outdoor meeting area around the great tree."

Nigel looked around him. "You had not only artifacts, but an entire precursor site?"

He rolled his eyes as he moved back to the terminal to finish the calibrations. "Oh please. I earned this, putting my life on the line to map this place." He scoffed. "Looks like if I didn't then you wouldn't have your little safe haven. Aaaaand there we go!"

The air around the warp topaz seemed to pulse as the doctor made his way around to the front of the throne. "Nicholas, can you hear me?" Silence greeted him, causing the doctor to frown.

A pin prick of light formed on the throne that grew, warbling in and out of focus causing the group to reflexively backup. The form sharpened into that of a mobian sitting on the throne before color flooded the hard light construct. The male lynx sat on the throne, giving a pensive look to the doctor. "Hello father."

Sally gasped at the sight of the hard light lynx. "You look like–"

He nodded to the princess. "Say hello to my sister for me, It's been such a long time…" He paused. "Although…" He got a curious look before standing up and waving his hand. A warpzone opened in front of him, showing the front of the manor and he smiled. "Maybe I can leave this place now…" He waved his hand again as more portals opened, causing him to laugh in glee. "I can open more than one again!" He closed his eyes as he lifted his head, eyes seeming to dart from under his eyelids. "I can see the far reaches too!" He choked back a laugh as he grinned. "Oh, looks like Robotnik sent the rest of his reserves dedicated to torching the forest." He waved his hands, closing the portals as he began laughing. "The fool!" The lynx sneered as he sat back down in the throne, leaning on a fist as he held the other hand forward, claws facing up. "I'm not in the mood today." He frowned as he clenched his fist and opened his eyes, looking at his creator. "You decided to trust me, or you're going to try and lobotomize me and my sister?"

"WHAT?!" Sally shrieked as she ran to the stairway of the dais.

"I…" He hesitated, looking to the side. "Have changed my mind." The lynx looked at him in shock before closing his eyes again, a look of content on his face. Sally slowed her assault, slowly ascending to the black obsidian throne. The lynx snapped his fingers then smiled a wicked smile. "The swatbot problem is dealt with. He got back up and clapped his hands, opening portals in front of each of them. "Let's get out of this dreadful place, I want to live with the people I protect. I'm tired of this stuffy cave."

Sally looked at him nervously, glancing at her father who just looked at the AI construct in shock. She looked to the doctor who looked like he was nervous but trying to put on an air of confidence.

Tails looked super excited at the lynx in front of him. "You look like Nicole, are you based on the same template?"

The lynx gave the older teen a smirk. "She's my sister. Now seriously, let's get out of here." He stepped through his portal as it closed behind him. The rest of the adults blinked, looking between themselves before hesitantly stepping through the portals onto the lawn of the manor.

Sally cupped her forehead as a headache started. "The portals are back, good. I need to de-escalate the situation." She glanced at her father. "There should be a few spare rooms in the manor. Stay there tonight and we can figure out permanent residence for everyone tomorrow." She pulled out her radio and activated it. "Sonic? You there? Over."

*KRCH*

"Yo, Sal!" The hedgehog's voice crackled over the radio. "What's the news? Oh, Over."

She sighed. "Situation returned to normal. Tell any parents that they can pickup their kids from the manor. The warpzones are back up and active." She glanced at the male lynx looking at her. "I have someone for everyone to meet I guess." She hesitated. "We may be able to…" She got a hopeful look. "Change some of the portal rules?" She questioned as the lynx seemed to think for a second, then slowly nod in approval. She smiled. "Over."

"Sweet, new people. I'll see you at home Sal. Over and out."

Nick strode to be at Sally's side. "I want to talk to my sister if she'll wake up."

Sally slowly nodded at the hard light construct. "Sure… Nicholas is it?"

"Nick is fine." He smiled.

Starline's eyes lit. "Oh, Nicholas! Are you still protecting my personal quarters?"

"Yes. No kids will get into that deathtrap." The hard light construct dismissively waved off the doctor as he turned, rolling his eyes. "Not a good idea to let the kids on that floor, you're horrendous at childproofing things."

Starline faltered at the comment, looking flabbergasted. "Child Proof?"

Tails's ears perked at that. "Oh yeah. The manor is our orphanage, kind of a tradition at this point."

Starline gaped at the fox in shock. "WHAT?!" He stammered as Nigel passed by him, shoulder checking him and causing him to stumble forward, squawking.

"You have an entire floor to yourself, quit whining." He growled as he turned, eyes like daggers boring into him. "You and I aren't done either. There's a mess of work to do."

Starline returned the glare, his eyes squinting. "You're kidding me?…" He scoffed. "Sure, whatever." He huffed as he started stomping towards the door to his manor, metal fist clenching audibly. "I'm done for tonight though. It's been a nightmare of a week." He pushed past Nigel, ignoring the chipmunk as he was fed up with the emotional gymnastics and stomped up the stairs of his house.

He entered, slamming the door behind him, taking a deep breath. A few heads popped out of the doorway to his library, young eyes curiously looking at him. He gave a sigh as he started to make his way to the staircase to his private quarters. He looked through the doorway into the library, he could see all the way to the reading bench that was recessed into the wall, soft amber lighting emanating from the library. There was a woman in worn archivist dress, sitting in the cozy cubby, reading to the kids sitting around her; it was the Rabbit from before. She paused, her eyes catching him, her gaze lifted from the novel. She looked at him curiously, turning the heads of some more of the kids in his direction. He let out a sigh as he turned his flat gaze from her, starting his trudge up the stairs.

There was an anger simmering in him, this would be something to get used to… He grumbled as his true feelings started to seethe under his skin, he didn't like the idea of children making a mess of his things… As he reached the second floor he turned to head towards the second flight of stairs only to pause as the manor door burst open. He paused to look, seeing Nigel and his daughter enter.

The princess B-lined it to the library, stepping over kids to make her way to the Rabbit. He turned to see his honorary brother glaring up the stairwell at him. The monarch did not look happy at all, his frustrated glare breaking into a depressed frown. "You're not going to cause trouble or throw in the towel and run off, are you?"

Starline scoffed. "Run off? Why and where on Mobius would I run off too?" He glared down at the middle aged chipmunk. "You're not going to put me on trial are you?" His glare became venomous. "If I messed up, so did you. I'm not going to run off, I'm going to fix this. No one abuses the work of me or my mentor."

The chipmunk met the glare, squaring his shoulders. "Good, we can make this right together."

The platypus looked miffed. "What's your problem?!" He rose an eyebrow, scoffing. "Do I need to fix you some medication for emotional regulation?"

The chipmunk looked offended then glared. "I've been on edge!"

"Is that an excuse?" The doctor rolled his eyes, shaking his head in frustration. "I need a holiday, a proper one."

The chipmunk bit his lip then gave another sigh. "You're right–"

"About the meds?" The doctor quipped, causing a momentary flash of rage to cross the chipmunk's visage as his hackles rose.

Nigel closed his eyes as he visually struggled to quash his anger, taking deep strained breaths as his hackles fell. "I shouldn't have given that mad man that much power… I should have acted sooner." He opened his eyes, glaring back at the platypus on the flight of stairs in front of him. "You shouldn't have made the Roboticizer."

The platypus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he held onto the banister. "I… concede the full body roboticizer wasn't a good idea…" His glare sharpened. "I will not concede that I shouldn't have been able to fix my arm." His eyes diverted. "But you're right, that might be the worst decision I've ever made…" He glanced back at his honorary brother. "I still stand by the fact that my technology is being grievously misused… It sounds like that level of roboticization hasn't helped anyone. It looks like it's hurt more than anything… so you're right…" He turned to continue to the other staircase.

"You're going to fix this." The chipmunk made a statement. "We're going to fix this, save as many people as we can. You're going to figure something out." The chipmunk stepped forward.

The platypus met the eyes of his king looking up at him, then nodded, closing his eyes. "Goodnight, Sir." He said, leaving the chipmunk at the entrance as he rounded the corner to make his way up the stairwell to the third floor.

As he started to ascend the stairs he started to hear voices, perking his interest. the stairwell went up to a landing that turned left. As he turned the corner he froze. A group of kids and teens were gathered, chatting as they sat at the threshold of his personal quarters. They paused their chat, looking at him. There was a young coyote with bangs covering half her face, the chipmunk who looked so much like Nigel and– and the last two… His eyes widened. A young echidna girl with mousy glasses dressed in apprentice scholar dress? He didn't know they could civilize and clean up so much… and the bat that was the spitting image of his father, down to the swept bangs and flamboyant red vest. They all froze, blinking confused at each other.

The red echidna blinked at him through her glasses. "Who are you?" She shifted, uncomfortably. "What are you doing here?"

The doctor blinked at the group of youngsters. "I… should be asking you that? what are you doing here?" He frowned. "This place is off limits."

The coyote girl narrowed her eyes. "Says who? we can hang out wherever we want in the manor."

"Elaine." The bat quipped, glaring at her. The coyote returned his glare. "This guy can summon the portals to do his bidding."

Her glare faltered as her eyes widened, looking at the strange adult on the landing below. "You can tell the warp zones what to do?"

The platypus smirked, examining his claws absentmindedly. "I very well can." He frowned as he motioned for them to move with the other hand. "If you excuse me, I'd like to turn in for the night." He looked up, gaze scanning across their faces, avoiding the bat's red eyes. "I'd also like to mention to you that the crisis is averted. The warp zones are working. Get out of my house, go home." He moved to walk past them. They watched the platypus walk down the hall.

Brandon smirked as he watched the doctor disappear around a corner. "Well, we had our chance to explore." He glanced at the other teens. "Anyone find anything good?"

Elly frowned as Ava cupped her face. The mousy looking echidna groaned. "Did we really just steel from that guy?"

The bat frowned. "What, the warpzones turn off and it's not the end of the world. We're all here because you didn't want to listen to Vinalla's story time with the other sheep." He smirked. "You guys seriously just wanted to snoop and not take souvenirs?"

Elly glared. "The third floor was supposed to be abandoned. Same rules as Robotropolis."

Ava deflated. "Not the same rules as Robotropolis, the rules are you can take essentials but you got to write down where luxurys come from if they aren't yours... you know, just in case they ever de-roboticize people..." She squirmed. "He just came home!"

Xander got an uncomfortable look. "I didn't know this stuff belonged to him. I thought that knotholes owner died cycles ago with no heir! that's why it was transferred to Acorn hands!" The boy started gnawing nervously at his lip. "Do you think mom knows he's up here?" He shifted uncomfortably, getting up and looking down the stairwell. "Do you think I should tell Mom he's here? He hurt Tails…"

Brandon snickered at that, pulling a glowing fractured gemstone from his pocket, tossing it in the air. "Oh that was priceleee…" He trailed off as Xander glared at him, causing him to stiffen. "Ehem. Dreadful, just absolutely dreadful. I hope his ankle heals up without complications." The albino bat gave a nervous chuckle as his younger friend grumbled. The bat sighed as he examined his prize, watching the shifting lights and colors in the curious gem.

Elly glared at the bat. "Thief."

The bat got a miffed look, turning to the accusing coyote. "And you're no better, don't think I didn't see you stuff one of those military commander uniforms from the closet into that bag of yours." He bit back, rolling his eyes as her cheeks flushed, clutching the bag at her side.

The young coyote huffed. "I'll ask him if I can have it." She replied hotily in a matter of fact tone. "It's not like I knew anyone was coming home. Besides, clothes are considered essentials. If he really wants this guard uniform back, then he can have it." She gave a huff. "I think I'd grow into it. I think he'll let me keep it." She glared at the bat. "I'm not the one who plundered gemstones." She sneered. "Avatious fool." She bit, causing the boy to look perplexed, glancing at Xander friend who just shrugged.

Ava perked. "Avaricious not avatious." She paused before her shoulder sank. "I found a journal…" Her expression fell. "I've… already read more than I think is appropriate if the owner is alive…" She hugged her knees. "I don't know how to return it… there were a lot of roboticized parts and… were those power cell reactors? They were torn apart in the workshop area. And that was a lot of blasters…" She looked at her brother. "Some of the journal matches mom's stories about grandma and great grandpa."

The bat's ear twitched before he looked at the fractured swirling gemstone. He sighed. "I'll give it back tomorrow."

He held out a hand. "If you want, I can give the journal back for you."

She shook her head, looking dreadfully uncomfortable. "I've got questions for him. And I want to apologize…"

A head poked from the bottom of the landing. Shadow's distinct red on black softly glowed in the amber light. "Hey, so you guys actually decided to snoop?" He stepped forward. "Second all clear was given. The portals are back up. You guys can go home again."

Amy poked her head around the corner. "Did you guys find anything good?!" She looked excited, Shadow glaring disapproving at her. She looked at Xander. "What ya find Xander?"

He shook his head. "I didn't grab anything…" He looked up the rest of the dark staircase. "There's a lot of blasters and strange gadgets up there though…"

"That there is." A stern voice cut in, catching all their attention. A warpzone silently closed at the top of the staircase. A Lynx holding a metal ball, dressed in what looked to be red and black baggy cloth pants and an open vest stood at the top of the stairs. He gazed down at them with a smile. He seemed to emanate a faint light, no light from the nearby wall lamp cast any shadow across his face. His smirk grew toothy. "Nice to meet you, future of Knothole Village." He gave a respectful bow. "My name is Nick. I feel like I've known you all your entire lives, but this is the first time we've properly met."

Elly puffed up. "Listen to you, who do you think you are?! You sound like a creep!"

The blunt comment caused the glowing Mobian to falter and almost drop the ball he was clutching. "Well, that's not nice or accurate! I'm the security system for Knothole, an AI construct–"

Xander bolted to his feet. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH NICOLE!?" He shrieked as he ran to try and grab said drone from the glowing lynx's arms.

"ACK!" The lynx held the purple eye spy out of reach from the chipmunk. "Young prince! I assure you, your aunt is in good hands! I will not let any harm come to my sister!"

The young chipmunk faltered, looking concerned between the lynx and the rest of the group. He then realized he'd ran up the rest of the staircase into the warp zone area. He hesitated. "You wont hurt her? She's your sister?" He looked nervous, not wanting to back down. "If you're the security system... You dropped Tails, didn't you? That's why his leg is hurt, right?"

The lynx gave a slight frown. "Not my best moment." The hard light hologram seemed to chew his lip as he tucked Nicole's drone under his arm. "I was compelled to obey but there were workarounds… Tails was dropped outside the forest then immediately back where he belongs… that was a few meters more than is normally acceptable…" He glanced at the chipmunk. "I need to talk to your aunt in the presence of our father." He smirked. "I'll bring her home right after I'm done." He motioned for the chipmunk to head back down the stairs. "I must warn you all…" He glanced between them. "Upstairs is off limits." Then he smirked. "I gathered you all helped yourself to the temptation of the unknown already though."

There were uncomfortable looks all around as Amy pointed and laughed. "HA! You guys are in trouble!" She swept her accusing finger over her friends. "Glad I skipped out on this one… wait…" She looked at the lynx. "You can hear this stuff without the portals?"

He leaned up against the wall. "You're secrets are safe with me, although… don't plan on killing anyone. I'll step in for that." He looked at Brandon, walking up to the boy. He held out his hand. "Give me that unstable warp topaz shard." He frowned. "Now."

The boy hesitantly held the clutched prize over the lynx's hand, dropping the swirling crystal shard into the lynx's palm. "Fine…" His eyes widened as he realized what the lynx had said. "Wait, warp topaz?"

The lynx smirked, dropping the shard through a small warp zone before reaching in and pulling out two cyan colored crystals. "Here, give one to Tails. They might help him with his project in your computer lab."

The bat furrowed his brows before taking a look at the small crystals. They looked like little cut diamonds. "What are these?"

"Void crystals that were foolishly cut for jewelry. From the doctor's trash bin." The lynx smirked. "There, that's a good souvenir. Less dangerous in your hands too."

He looked at the echidna girl who sheepishly held out the journal. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

The construct took the book. Turning to drop it through a portal onto a desk.

"It's not like any of you could have known." He turned to Elly whose ears were flat, disappointment seeping from her expression as she looked down, she turned to open her bag and start pulling out the uniform. "Yeah, yeah…"

The lynx smirked. "Thankyou Elaine." He paused after grabbing the uniform. "There's a fabricator downstairs that can print more clothes..." He smirked. "You might just ask him to fabricate you a squire outfit that will actually fit you. He might oblige your request, Ms. D'coolette."

Her eye lit at the prospect before nodding to the lynx. "Thanks."

He nodded to them. "It was an honor meeting the next generation." He smiled. "As long as you are in this forest, if you need help. Call out for me. I'll hear." He waved his hand, a portal opening as he stepped through. It collapsed, leaving them staring blankly at the spot he'd been at.

Elly frowned. "It's kind of creepy if he's just watching and listening…" She looked at the others, hesitating. "I mean… that was my understanding, he can hear everything in the forest?"

Xander shifted. "I don't know… he's a construct, like Nicole? I mean Nicole's like a mobian but… also not? she's like a mobian in a good way though? She's gotten better but sometimes I can still tell she's a computer... and she won't go against her core values and code." The young chipmunk shook his head. "Mom said she cant. If he's the security system, then it sounds like his main thing is to protect us in the forest? also kinda sounded like he wanted to stay out of our personal business unless it would harm others..." The chipmunk sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his face. "I'm going home. Today's been a long day."


Chapter 17 end.


Author's notes: The initial oomph for this story has not gone but might need some stoking. Also, other things are going on in life, poking away at it though so that's good. For those who don't know, I update my profile with progress on each chapter. When I remember… I had a thought, Nicholas and Nicole's names are similar but that might not be that uncommon, my sister and I have names that translate to basically the same meaning. I am aware that there are probably some plot holes, it's been extremely difficult to write this complicated story, especially the first time. I can only move forward with what I got and try to make it convincing. As always, reviews are not necessary but are eagerly welcomed, also if you see something that can be improved, please let me know. Thanks all for reading this far. Story without the authors notes is now over 200,000 words. SHOCK AND AWE wow. thought this would take years. - Xen Traveler