Here we are, guys and gals. One more chapter, who knows how many to go. I'm having a lot of fun writing and coming up with ideas for the plot. I intend to keep writing during the holydays, and I will have more time for it than I do now.

Until next chapter!

CHAPTER V:

Abyssal Egg

TU-14 ran as fast as he could down the poorly lit corridor. It had been more than a day since the Doctor had arrived back to the base, with the Egg Carrier heavily damaged, and injured himself. But Doctor Eggman had locked himself up in his office, telling TU-14 to not bother him unless he called him. Which had happened just moments before, and of course TU-14 knew better than to keep the Doctor waiting. He was the Tactical Unit after all, designed personally by the Doctor himself to run things whenever he was busy with any of his endeavours, and to provide any aid he would require.

Now, he thought as he bolted through the deserted base, maybe he would find out what had happened at Lab 2, beneath Wave Ocean. The Doctor had been quite cryptic about what he expended to find there. All the robot knew was that the Chaos Emerald served a purpose there, but he wouldn't dream of asking the Doctor for more information than what he wanted to share. That had been TU-5's mistake.

TU-14 felt a shudder crossing his bipedal body. Always nice, he thought, being able to feel fear, or at least simulate something that resembled it. But if the Doctor had considered it necessary for his model, then it was not to be questioned, as wasn't anything else. TU-8, he remembered, had inquired about his programming one time too many. Shortly after, the new TU-9 had replaced it.

TU-14 had resolved not to let that happen to himself. But he wasn't the first TU to think that… and things had never been that uncertain before. Not since the guest had arrive at the base.

As he reached the door to the Doctor's office, the robot tried to put his doubts and tribulations aside. The Doctor wanted to see him, and that was all that mattered. He pressed the button of the comlink, and waited for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, and without a word coming out of the device, the heavy door opened with a loud, metallic noise to let him into the fortress inside the base that was the Doctor's office.

TU-14 crossed, and waited patiently for the retractable bridge to connect both extremes and allow him to cross the chasm that separated the office block from the rest of the facility. Then, he crossed the second pair of doors.

The office always seemed to him out of place in the cold, metallic and bare Abyssal Egg, with its hardwood floors, warm lighting and rows and rows of books, but the Doctor had acquired a flair for elegance in the last years, and had stated that a man of his importance was due a certain amount of comfort. Yet for all the rich materials and decoration, the massive supercomputer at the back of the room didn't fit at all, nor, to be honest, did the man sitting at it.

"Report, Tactical Unit," said the man sharply, turning on his chair. The infamous Doctor Eggman was in his undershirt, his left arm bandaged and with various bruises on his torso and face. TU-14 felt the impulse to ask the Doctor to allow him to treat the injuries. Remember TU-6? Said a little voice in his head. Orders come first.

"Yes, Sir," said TU-14, trying not to make eye contact. The Doctor couldn't stand it. "Repairs on the Egg Carrier are at a 35% completion. At the current pace it will be in perfect condition in seven days."

"Three days." The Doctor turned to the computer and went back to typing. "Base status."

"Within what we expected, Sir. The Abyssal Egg has held up adequately with auxiliary power, but I had to shut down some non-essential systems to maintain the vitals, including the guest's requirements". TU_14 hesitated, but added: "Without the Chaos Emerald the base is vulnerable. I must advise against taking it away again, Sir".

It was risky to imply that the Doctor had made a poor decision, but he was supposed to be helpful, and programming went before will. But it was true, a facility such as the Abyssal Egg needed a massive power source. Only a Chaos Emerald had that kind of energy, yet the Doctor didn't seem interested in securing another.

The Doctor gazed at him from behind his black lenses. His expression was inscrutable.

"The Emerald is none of your concern," he said finally. "It's back at the core now, so I want all systems operational." He stood up, with some difficulty. "But before that, our guest, any changes in its current state?"

There it is. Talking about the guest always made TU-14 uneasy. He couldn't point his finger on it, but that thing, whatever it was, felt wrong, even to a machine like him. But the Doctor had plans for it…

"Contained, and it has… settled, Sir," said TU-14. "Definitively, it appears. It asked to have a meeting with you at your earliest convenience, Sir."

The Doctor let out a cold chuckle.

"Did it, now? Good." He put on his red coat, not without difficulty due to his injured arm. "I expect it might be willing to share more knowledge with me now. Come," he said, looking at the robot. TU-14 saluted, and followed behind the Doctor into the backroom, where they entered the turbo-lift that descended into the Vault.

Due to the systems being at minimum capacity, the lift moved only at half its optimal speed, but the Doctor, usually impatient about those things, didn't seem to care. He appeared to be lost in thought, his arms folded behind his back, musing to himself.

"How can this be…" TU-14 heard the Doctor murmur under his breath. "How can it be gone?" TU-14 stayed silent, but worried. The effect the guest, well, the prisoner, had on the Doctor was worrying. Since its capture, the Doctor had been more reclusive than ever, lost amidst piles of dusty books, and sending the Stealth Units to gather intel and ancient artefacts. And most unsettling, he had been having long chats with the prisoner, after which the Doctor, despite appearing extenuated, always put renewed efforts on his investigation. This was the first time TU-14 had been allowed to accompany the Doctor in one of these conversations, why, he didn't know, but he wouldn't complain. He wanted to believe that after the thirteen previous failures, he had finally earned the Doctor's trust, but he wasn't optimistic about it.

The turbo-lift reached the bottom of the shaft. Doctor Eggman went first to the gates, which opened after the retinal and palm scan, and entering the code. Inside, there was the Vault Lab, a pristine white room full of state-of-the-art equipment and instruments, and in the middle of it, the containment cell, a foot-thick, airtight, glass cylinder inside of which laid what seemed like a man, reclined in a metal chair, reading, surrounded by piles and piles of books.

"Containment field status?" asked the Doctor, pointing at a monitor. TU-14 activated it.

"A hundred percent efficiency, Sir."

"Good."

As they walked towards the cell, all of TU-14's scanners went haywire, overloading him with data. The first time he had went down there, it had been overwhelming, and now, although expected, was still uncomfortable. At least his biometric sensor was consistent; whatever that thing was, it wasn't human. Nor technically alive, strictly speaking. The guest.

The being put down the book, and stood up elegantly. It was only slightly shorter than Doctor Eggman, who was almost seven foot tall himself. The first image that came to mind was that of a very tall scarecrow, in an immaculate white robe. The shape of the skull was clearly apparent under the pale skin, with sunken eyes of an impossible shade of clear green, strong cheekbones and chin, and thin lips almost as pale as tis skin. Its limbs were long and impossibly slender, with hands and fingers that made the image of a large, albino spiders come to mind.

"Doctor Eggman, it is good to see you again," said the being, without using the cell's comlink. Not that he needed to; his voice wasn't heard, as much as felt inside the brain, be it organic or positronic. It was a weak, high voice, devoid of warmth, that had shaken TU-14 to his core the first time the thing communicated to him.

"I think I am going to settle with this appearance," added the being, rather nonchalantly. "What is your opinion?"

"An adequate body shape," responded Eggman. "Any reason behind your choice?"

"it is… useful. Contained and useful, and rid of any superfluities. Meaning no offense."

TU-14 remembered when the being had first been contained in the depths of the Abyssal Egg, months ago. It didn't have a shape back then, nor any apparent consciousness. The Doctor expended hours a day studying what at that point could only be defined as a phenomenon, until one day TU-14 went down to the vault to perform some routine checks, and found that the phenomenon had taken the Doctor's shape. He had been dumbfounded, as the being changed into his own robotic shape before his eyes, and then back into Eggman's. Not long after, it started communicating in that horrifying telepathic voice of its. But, confusingly enough, it had chosen a rather pleasant language for a prisoner, expressing just a desire for information. That's when the Doctor had started conversations with the being. Books were provided for the being, on every subject, that the thing devoured avidly. After reading some treatises on human anatomy, it also started trying new shapes, but always defaulted to that of the Doctor, the first it had taken, until some days before that moment.

In any case, the Doctor didn't say anything about the comment, so the being went on. "straight to business, then. I suspect you would want to discuss your latest mission. Any successes on that?"

"None at all," said Eggman, with a gelid smile. "But you knew it would turn out this way, did you not? You tried to tell me back then."

The being sat back down. The Doctor followed suit.

"I did," said the being. "As I said, Solaris is gone from this plane of existence. I can't explain it, but it's something I'm certain of."

"Something happened, years ago," mused Eggman, "that erased Solaris completely. When I found out about the Duke's project... Oh, it was brilliant. Harnessing the raw power of a god. Imagine the possibilities…Yet, despite all evidence to the contrary, the good just doesn't exist? Impossible. Project Solaris and all the research behind it prove that, at the very least, it had been real until some point before the Duke had initiated his work."

Project Solaris? Untold power? Erasure from existence? TU-14 couldn't comprehend what was going on.

"That's my impression as well," said the being. It sighed. "Whatever happened that excised Solaris from this reality means a substantial change in the timeline must have taken place. I would advise against trying to reverse it, Doctor; I'm sure you realize the risks that would involve."

Eggman exhaled, tiredly. "Thank you for your input. Solaris, the Red Harbinger, is gone, so that leaves just one other of your kind in this world, does it not? The Dark Harbinger is gone as well, destroyed by its own creation. That leaves only the Pale and the Yellow."

The being gave Eggman a strange, almost incredulous look, and spoke. "So you still intend to go down that path? Need I remind you what happened when I was awoken?"

"What did happen?" retorted Eggman. "A minor inconvenience of no consequence to me, that ended with you imprisoned." Eggman fell silent, as the being's mask of politeness had faded for a moment, betraying an inner rage that made TU-14 want to run away from that place as fast as possible. The room seemed to had gone dark. If the Doctor felt as uneasy as his assistant did, he didn't show any sign of it.

The being quickly composed itself, but a touch of anger still lingered in its voice. "You toy with powers you do not understand. I suspect you do this often. I will tell you this." It stood up in all its height, which appeared to be greater than before, and walked onto the glass. "I will not use my power unless I see fit to do so. Whatever you try to do to harness me, it will fail." Its voice fell into a cold whisper. "I will not be your prisoner for long."

The doctor stood up, seemingly unimpressed. "If you think I won't be able to use your power, then you underestimate my abilities. But we shall see; perhaps the other will prove more reasonable."

He turned back to leave. TU-14 followed him, feeling those unnatural eyes piercing the back of his head.

The ride up on the elevator felt endless. The Doctor was again lost in his own mind, frowning the whole way. TU-14 was still shaken by the encounter; a foot of airtight, bullet proof glass, plus the most advanced containment field known to science no longer seemed safe enough. And, if what he had gathered was correct, the Doctor was planning to capture another thing like that? A fleeting idea crossed his mechanical mind. Run away. But he scolded himself immediately for it. TU-4. There was that voice again. Brought back in box of pieces.

The sound of the Doctor's voice took him out of those thoughts.

"I expect to be very busy the next days" he said. "You shall be given access to all files on the guest, Project Solaris, and Project Harbinger. Your priority will be to study the guest for any vulnerabilities you can find. A power such as that must be under my control. I will make it my weapon yet." He stared into infinity. "When I started working on you, I thought you were my finest creation of all, but this is going to be greater than all that came before, greater than that remarkable core of yours."

The TU line was the most advanced robot ever build by the Doctor. Its mysterious core was unique, and the reason only one unit could exist at once. Not even TU-14 himself knew what that core was, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

The Doctor went on. "You know very well how your predecessors disappointed me, Tactical Unit."

TU-14 did. The memories of all thirteen previous Tactical Units were ingrained in his brain. Up until they had been disposed of. The pain was vivid in his mind.

"So," continued the Doctor, a quaint smile on his face, "I trust you will not fail me, for your own sake." The turbo-lift reached its destination. "Dismissed."

"Yes, Doctor."

Rouge the Bat rubbed her eyes together tiredly, and looked at her watch. Twenty-two hundred already? she thought.That meant she had spent the last two hours trying to make sense out of the reports on the advance of the Paleblight that last week. And the only valuable conclusion she had reached was that her talents were thoroughly wasted in that investigation. All throughout that morning she had been interviewing the scientists and looking at growth after growth of fungal culture, and pretending to understand what they told her.

Goddamn Cyrus, she thought. The pompous ass would rather have her contributing nothing than risk being overshadowed, and why? Because he found her untrustworthy? So did everyone else who knew her! And it's not like you didn't give him reason, she reminded herself. But, well, sometimes you can't just be lawful, else the job would never get done, right? Rouge had always thought that way, and wasn't about to change her mind. But not being trusted was one thing, there were also the new assignments to take into account. A number of her subordinates and friends within GUN had been given new posts outside of Central, some of them with promotions to boot, as If not to look like what they were. Proscriptions. Most would be leaving before the end of the week. She smiled bitterly. A major hindrance, yes, but she had ways of circumventing it, as long as her contacts outside of GUN would remain on her side. She had still many of those, even without counting Cullen, or dear old Knuckles and his team.

She reclined herself, placing her feet on the desk. She missed the old days, before she settled at GUN, when she was free to roam wherever she desired, and to 'borrow' a few trinkets here and there. She thought of Omega, who had been helping Knuckles and the guys, and of Shadow. Which made her think about the bottle of gin she kept in the desk's secret drawer, just in case. She let out a sad laugh. All those times she had scolded Ash for getting too acquainted with liquor…

She remembered like it was yesterday, when she first met him and Moon. The fire, the drive, and the future ahead of them, as well as the dubious morality of training a fifteen and an eleven-year-old for espionage and covert operations. But they had insisted, and GUN wasn't above, well, practically anything. But things didn't work out, and the kids had left. Rouge had never forgiven herself for that.

That was the state of mind she was in when she heard the knocking at her door. Almost thankful for the interruption, Rouge put her feet back on the floor.

"Come in," she said, closing her laptop. She wondered who could it be that late. It turned out it was Penny the Skunk, who came through the door and saluted. This better not be about our last conversation, thought Rouge, who certainly not in the mood for an argument. I think I made my point clear yesterday.

"At ease, Lieutenant. What is it?"

"Sorry to bother you at this hour, Ma'am," she said. Penny appeared strangely serious. "I came to say farewell." Rouge had to resist the urge of smirking. Here we go. Cyrus, you son of a bitch…

"I have been reassigned," explained Penny. "I thought you had been informed, Ma'am."

"I have not," said Rouge. That wasn't surprising. Rouge and Penny's closeness was well known around headquarters. She had been the one to mentor the young girl, after all. It only made sense for Cyrus to take her away as well. "And where have you been assigned?"

"Jungle Zone, in South Island. There's a scientific expedition headed for the ruins, deep into the jungle. They have requested our support."

"Why?" asked Rouge. There had been no indication of any activity in that area that would justify GUN's presence.

"The briefing wasn't clear about that," said Penny. Her tail twitched slightly. "There have been rumours of partisan activity and talk of smugglers using the ruins as their base, Ma'am. But there is no solid evidence. Just rumours." Her tail kept twitching. Rouge knew the skunk too well to overlook that; whenever Penny was nervous, her tail showed it. She was trying so hard to play the part of Astra, GUN officer, that it was almost sad.

"Are you questioning the point of this assignment, Lieutenant?" asked the bat. Partisans and smugglers… None of that is true, and you know it, don't you, Penny? Thought Rouge. That's why you're here.

"No, Ma'am!" replied a flustered Penny. They were alone, but she looked around before continuing, nonetheless. "I will follow my orders, it's just… permission to speak frankly?"

"Granted." Rouge smiled.

"I don't know what's going on, Rouge!" said Penny, the real Penny now. "First, they get rid of you, and then they send half of Central's forces, including me, to pointless missions all over the world, while Eggman's back in action. What's the Commander thinking?"

Where do I start? "What do we all have in common, Penny? Meaning all the people Cyrus is currently displacing."

"What do you mean?" Penny looked puzzled. "Well, most of them are veterans within the organization."

"Yes, but what about the rest?"

"There's me, and…" Penny stopped on her tracks. Rouge could see the realization in her eyes. "And some of the younger officers that you trained yourself."

Rouge's smile widened. "Veterans unhappy with his way of running things, the previous Commander's old guard, so to speak; and those he feels would we more loyal to me than him. In short, he's disposing of those he doesn't trust."

Penny gasped, incredulously.

"That can't be it. It can't," she said shaking her head. "Why would he do such a thing?"

"I very much doubt he's not taking action against Eggman," said Rouge, "I'd say he wants this to be his great triumph, and no one else's. The man's a politician, Penny. He only thinks of his career, and his myopic aspirations and pride lead him to mistrust his most valuable resource. Me. Because if he resorts to use my help, well, it's no longer his victory, is it?"

"It can't be that petty!" scoffed Penny, although as she said it, her tail twitched once more. "I refuse to believe that." She turned to the door, angrily. The smile faded from Rouge's face.

"Lieutenant!" she called, sternly. Penny froze in her way to the exit.

"Yes, Ma'am?" Penny's tone had gotten all professional again. All Astra.

"I haven't given you permission to leave." She reclined herself, and continued. "Believe me, or don't. It's your choice. But I know him, and I know you. And I understand that your career is the most important thing for you, and I respect that. But you're too clever not to see what's going on." Wake up, girl, come on. "The Commander considers me a threat, and by extension, you as well. This is why you need to be alert and not trust anyone."

Penny tried to look composed, but the doubt was there, in her beautiful hazel eyes. Rouge went on.

"I don't doubt you can take care of yourself; I taught you to be resourceful and strong, and you've yet to disappoint me. But if you find yourself in need of help, whatever the reason, I ask you to contact me first." Rouge took a long gaze at her former pupil. There was no change in Penny's expression. Rouge sighed. "You may leave".

Penny saluted, and left in silence. When the door close, Rouge sunk on her seat, and stared at the ceiling in silence for a moment. She had hoped Penny would see things her way, that she would open her eyes, but no. Now the girl was going to the other side of the world, refusing to believe she could be in danger from GUN. And even the resourceful Bat Burglar didn't have contacts in every place.

Jungle Zone… she thought. So, was there actually something to that besides keeping Penny away from her side or worse? Rouge had visited the most remote parts of the world in search of treasure and adventure, but she had never been to South Island. There was no indication that anything there was worth the voyage. Yet one could never be sure with Colonel Cyrus…

She yawned. It was getting late, after all. She took a look at the screen of her computer, where the data on the Palebligh patiently waited for her. Screw it. Rouge saved the little progress she had made, and shut it down. The she turned off the lights, locked the door, and left.

Rouge's quarters weren't that far from her office, yet the walk there seemed to take hours this time. I could kill for some daylight… GUN Headquarters appeared deserted that late at night, a dark vault under yards of concrete. No wonder so many soldiers ended up requesting relocation; claustrophobia sooner or later kicked in.

When she got to her door, Rouge could only think of getting some sleep. It had been a very crappy day, and it wasn't over yet. She was going to make sure that Penny was safe during her assignment, whether she liked it or not. And she knew just the guy for the task. After locking the door, and keeping the lights off, she went to her secret compartment behind the wall, and took a small device. She pressed a button on it, and its small screen lightened up, revealing a symbol.

A red, spikey spiral.