"Do you ever feel like there's something big that we're missing?"
Shadow glanced over at Rouge, who was lounging upside down on the armchair, with her legs hanging over the back. She was staring with glazed over eyes at the magenta symbols on the wall as though they were the only thing in the world.
"You've been spending too much time around that orange conspiracy theorist."
"No it's like..." She grunted, letting an arm fall forward to point at the wall. "These markings, what do you think they mean?"
"Who cares?" Shadow scoffed. "Whoever made them died ages ago."
"But what if it's part of something big?" Rouge insisted. "Like what if there's some huge ancient secret that's just waiting to be found? Or even ancient treasure to uncover!" Her face was flushed, either from excitement at the prospect of finding treasures, or because all the blood was going directly to her head from being upside down.
"Then go to one of those old ruins and stop bothering me about it," Shadow grumbled.
Rouge's ears perked and she rolled over to sit upright. "Ruins, you say?"
Her curiosity was met with unsurprising callousness. "Yes. Those old crumbling places in the jungle outside of my cave."
"Aww, you don't want to be my exploration buddy?" Rouge pouted, her ears drooping and her eyes growing large and filled with tears.
"I'd rather jump off a cliff."
Rouge dropped her pleading face and rolled her eyes. "Killjoy."
"Your joy isn't the only thing I'll-"
"Okay buddy, let's keep this G-rated if you don't mind. Now..." Rouge tapped at her chin. "Where can I find an exploration buddy with a general knowledge of ancient temples?"
"RESPONSE: AMY ROSE WOULD KNOW THE MOST ABOUT THE SUBJECT," Omega supplied helpfully from the other side of the grotto, where he was inexplicably juggling oranges.
"Yeah?" Rouge decided not to ask about the robot's newly acquired pastime. "What makes you say that."
"SHE IS THE ONLY ONE WITH A LIBRARY CARD IN HER WALLET."
Rouge shook her head with a smile. "I'm so proud of you, Omega."
"REDUNDANT. EVERYONE SHOULD BE PROUD TO KNOW ME."
Rouge looked over to the mouth of the cave, where sunlight was filtering in. "Amy Rose, huh... Let's see if we can figure something out."