Part 5
Broken Souls

It was later that evening. The Freedom Fighters were enjoying some time out under a tall tree by a river, deep within the Great Forest. Tails and Sonic had been pushing and shoving each other playfully, and it wasn't before long that they both had fallen in. They splashed around for a while as Sally and Bunnie sat beneath the leafy tree and talked.
"Those boys. I sometimes think they'll never grow up."
"That's not a bad thing Princess," said Bunnie softly. "Some people grow up up all too quickly. In this world of ours, Ah think we need to hold onto our childhood while we can."
"Sometimes I wonder what's left of our childhood. I can't really remember the last time Sonic and I were able to do something fun, without the constant fear of being caught or robotic…" she paused and bit her lip. "I'm sorry Bunnie."
"No, it's ok. No point hiding from it. Ah'm just happy Ah'm still here to talk to you about it. It could have been a lot worse."
Sally smiled. Optimistic as always. There was a shout from the river. "Hey Sal! Come on in! The water's fine!"
"I don't think so Sonic Hedgehog!"
"I don't think you've got much of a choice Sal!"
"Oh? And why's that?" She shrieked as a wave of water flew through the air and drenched her. "Oh is that how it is, is it? Fine!" She threw her jacket to the floor, removed her boots and ran to the waters edge, where she dived gracefully in. She immediately started pummeling Sonic in the face with her fists.
Bunnie watched silently from where she sat. The night was cool on her face and her chest. But her robotic limbs felt nothing. She could feel a certain weight to them, and they were built with touch senses that could, in a way, deliver a sensation to her organic body. But it wasn't the same as feeling the air gently brush its invisible fingers through her fur, gliding across the surface and lifting up the tuffs. Grief began to overwhelm her, and her eyes watered as she burst into tears. Her head on her knees, she sniffled into her organic arm. She lifted her head up and looked at the cybernetic limb wrapped around her legs, and a cold feeling of spite and distaste ran through her. In a sudden act of anger she pounded her fist into the ground. It was a sudden, violent act, quite unusual of her character that it startled her. But it had felt good. She could only wish that it had done more damage. Not to the floor but the arm itself. She hated it with every inch of her being, loathed it and despised it. Worst of all she hated the being that created it. The being that had found beauty in mutilating her natural form and altering her life forever. She wished for death for that person, a thought that had never before passed through her mind in regards to anyone. She stood up, feeling too angry to sit and wallow in misery. All she could think about was the monster that had built the machine, that had thrown her inside and destroyed her spirit and broke her down into a screaming mass of misery. Without thinking she turned around and slammed her fist into the tree, punching a hole all the way through the surface and burying deep inside. Her fist was stuck, and she tugged hard to remove it but it wouldn't budge. Fury built up inside her, and she screamed at the tree to release her. When it didn't she kicked the tree hard with her foot. The tree roots erupted from the ground beneath her as the tree was forced away from her, and her hand became dislodged. She kicked the tree again, punching it and breaking away massive chunks of bark and thick branches. She was acting violently and impulsively and she froze, her fist halfway to delivering another blow.
Oh my God…she thought. What the heck was she doing? This was a tree, it had done nothing to her… Oh God, what if it had been a person? She turned around slowly, her hand held out before her as she stared at it in fear. Terror returned to her as it creeped up her spine and took hold of her brain, and she clutched at her robotic hand with her real one, tugging at it, hitting it. She reached up, started slapping at her arm, hitting it, pounding it with her fist. Then she reached up and grabbed the rim of her arm where the elbow was and yanked hard, pulling at it violently and trying to rip it clean from her body. She screamed in pain as the sensors reacted, intensified and sent shock ripples throughout her. She screamed, and screamed, and screamed, violently pulling at her arm, her feet moving back and forth quickly, not knowing where to step and she continued to pull hard.
There was the sound of movement and a loud cry, and Sonic's body came hurtling from the direction of the river. He grabbed Bunnie from the front, gripping both arms and trying to pry them apart. Sally was next, grabbing her robotic arm with her own and pulling it away. Both of them were wet, however, and it was hard to maintain a grip on the shiny surface. Bunnie lifted an arm and Sally was sent flying through the air. She hit the ground hard but got straight back up and rushed towards the rabbit, grabbing her and helping Sonic pin her against another tree. There they managed to hold her until her petrified anger slowly diminished into distraught wails, and her body let go of its tension and she slumped to the floor sobbing.
Sally knelt next to the grieving rabbit and rested a hand on her back. "Easy girl. Easy."
Tails came running up the bank, stopping a short distance away. "Is she OK Aunt Sally?"
"She's Okay Tails. She just needed to let a few things out. Come on. Help me get her back to Knothole."
The three carefully helped the rabbit up, Sonic and Sally each taking a side. Bunnie looked at Sally sadly. "Ah'm so sorry."
Sally shook her head and smiled. "Don't be."
They walked back in silence.

It was the next evening. Bunnie had refused to come out of her hut, shutting herself away from the eyes of the rest of the village. Sally was sitting with Sonic in her hut, trying to ponder what to do with her.
"Sonic, I'm worried about Bunnie."
"We all are Sal."
"I don't know how she's going to cope like this. She's a strong girl. Stronger than all of us I think. But even so, I'm worried she's not going to handle it…"
Sonic stood and rested his hands on Sally's arms. "It's going to take a little time Sal. You know that."
Sally slipped her arms around Sonic and shook her head. "Time never has been very friendly to us. Robotnik's been silent lately, aside from his portable roboticiser… I mean, who knows what he's been planning? There must be more of them out there. What if he's planted them already? The city must be swarming with them. What if we can't keep continue our raids? What if…"
Sonic pushed Sally back at arms' length, staring her in the eyes. "You gotta stop thinking like that Sal. We'll find them. We'll destroy them. That's what the raids are all about. Sure, it'll be a little more dangerous now but at least we know they're out there. We know what they look like. We can avoid them."
Sally sniffed a little, then nodded. "Your right." She walked over to a cupboard and pulled a tray out. Inside was a map to Robotropolis. She took it out and laid it on the table. "I need to think for a bit Sonic. Go ask Rotor if he can bring me his label-ma-what-sit. You know, that thing he uses to pinpoint objects of specific interest…"
"Oh. You mean the Geographical Hexadecimal Subjective Localizing Spectrometer."
Sally stared at Sonic for a moment. "Sonic, what's that thing you use to erase pencil markings?"
"Er…that little gray rubber thing?"
"Yes."
"Oh. A little gray rubber thing."
"Never mind. Just go fetch me the Localizer will you?"
"Already gone."
Sally watched him leave, then sat down at her table. She placed Nicole on the top, and opened her up.
"You know," said Nicole. "Sometimes I feel like a big metal clam."
"Clams have pearls inside them Nicole. You have wires."
"If I had feelings, I'd be hurt right now."
"I'm just kidding Nicole."
"So am I Sally girl."
"I know."

Rotor was emphatically beating a chunk of metal with a hammer when Sonic arrived at his hut. "Yo Rote. What's goin' on?"
"I'm just trying to triangulate the relevant area of geometry I need to replace the broken section on this infernal machine here."
"The what on the what now?"
"I'm fixing my toaster."
"Oh. You know, there are ways of fixing things without smashing them."
"This piece of advice is coming from you of all people?"
"Your right. It's absurd. Don't listen to me."
Rotor turned his attention back to his work, picking up a soldering iron and igniting it. "So what's on your mind Sonic?"
Sonic ran his hand along one of the many benches in Rotors work area, flicking sawdust off the shelf and picking up a weird looking helmet with a tube sticking out of it. "Actually, I'm more interested in what's on your mind big guy."
"What do you mean?"
"You've been quiet lately…"
Rotor chuckled. "I'm always quiet Sonic. You know me. Mr. Anti-social."
"Yeah, but this is different."
"I'm not sure I follow you."
"Well, it seems to me…" Sonic was peering at a weird looking metal bird that was sitting on a large, rusty hinge. He tapped it with it's finger and it tilted forward, startling him. He reached up quickly and straightened it. "It seems to me," he continued. "That you've been avoiding everyone because you feel guilty."
"Guilty? About what?"
"About Bunnie."
Rotor stopped wielding.
"Look, you did your best with the deroboticizer. You did more than anyone else could have."
"It's not about that Sonic."
Sonic looked hard into the Walrus's eyes. They were bloodshot, and weary. He clearly hadn't been sleeping. He shouldn't even be working in a hazardous environment in his state. "You wanna level with me big guy?"
Rotor sighed. "I can't help it Sonic. I was there."
"Where?"
"In the machine. I saw her inside the machine. While you were shutting it down I was inside, staring at her while her body writhed and twisted… I saw her flesh burn… I saw her fur fall away…" Rotor's hands were shaking. His soldering iron dropped to the floor and he staggered back, sitting hard on an overturned bucket. Sonic was instantly by his side. "Take it easy Rote."
"Hey eyes Sonic… Did you see them? They were everywhere. They were looking at me… pleading for me to stop the machine. Or to stop her…"
"Stop her? From what?"
Rotor looked up at Sonic, a look of agony on his face. "Living."
Sonic's stomach turned. "I know Rotor."
"You saw?"
"I didn't have to. It was in her screams. And I think it's safe to say anyone would have felt the same way. You need to realize it aint your fault."
"I could have done something."
"That's bullshit and you know it. You couldn't do jack because you had a gun to your head."
"If I'd been a real man I'd have…"
"You'd have what? Gotten a hole in your head for moving? You had no choice in the matter Rotor."
"I put my life before hers."
"It's no different to how anyone would have been."
"And if it were Sally?"
Sonic froze. "What?"
"What if it were Sally in there? And you had the gun to your head?"
Sonic stared at Rotor long and hard for while. Eventually he got up, walked to a rack which had numerous instruments hanging from it, took what he needed and headed to the door. He looked at Rotor one last time before he left. "Pull yourself together Rotor. We need you. See you at Sally's."
He left.