So, We are back, once again. Little bit more setup, but for another part. Something interesting that I hadn't initally thought of, but had knew it couldn't be ignored. But, fear not, We'll be back to Tail's journey next chapter.
For anyone from my other fic; the next chapter is still in the works, taking way longer than I intended, but it be out within a week. That's a guarantee.
As for this chapter; I'm not sure what to think of it, exactly. I kinda think some characters felt a bit OOC, despite several revisions with fixing that in mind. Pah, your choice.
Thanks for all the favs and follows for the last chapter: really appreciate it. So, R&R.
Chapter 2: Forgotten Tunnels
"Sally." Someone said.
Eggman thought about that for a moment. Was he dreaming again? After all, he had had weirder dreams. (Some of which involved himself becoming an immortal deity who could only scream "Pingas." So, those ones were... interesting...)
"Sally, please wake up." The same person said.
Was he having a dream that he was the princess? He shuddered. Then his intellect kicked in. This wasn't a dream, as he had a reasonable amount of thought control (although this could be a lucid dream) he was confident enough to open his eyes.
He saw grass. Or, more accurately, he saw dirt. He was lying face down on the ground. He rolled over onto his back and sat up. He was lying in the middle of an open grassy plain. He looked around. Nothing about this place seemed familiar. How did he get here?
He realised that his memory around that point was surprisingly blank. That was concerning; Eggman was sure that a previous invention had to have led to him being here, and he should have been able to remember it. Something caught his eye about ten meters away.
Closer inspection revealed it to be none other than Princess Sally Acorn herself. Beside her lay her talking computer. That explained why he kept hearing her name; her AI must have been trying to wake her.
Was she dead? Eggman slowly approached her still form. He doubted it; the Möbian had survived worse; and if Eggman was uninjured, the chances were that she was. He stood over her. It would have been so easy to bring his foot down hard on her neck, presumably snapping it in the process. But he wasn't that kind of person. He may have done horrible things before, but he still had some little morality inside of him.
Besides, she may very well end up being the only company he would have. He supposed her computer would be useful for some number crunching, especially for finding out her the dimensional reactor had sent them...
Wait, the dimensional reactor? Where did that come from... Part of his memory flared to life. The dimensional reactor opened a Suliarn rupture in space-time and fed off the near endless flow of energy from within. He had just attached it to a Mech suit when the Freedom Fighters arrived.
He must have donned the suit, but the reactor had been compromised. That could have create a narco-reverb field and manipulated the 7 of the 11 variables of space. If that happened, he could literally be anywhere is the universe, let alone galaxy.
"You touch her over my dead body." The AI warned.
Eggman snorted.
"You're a program! An overly long series of code resembling a personality. How are you going to even touch me? We're not in your New Mobotrolis. You have no way of projecting a physical form." He replied.
"Really?" She hissed, and her computer form made a hissing noise.
Eggman waited for her to realise what was wrong.
"My nanite control circuits aren't working..." She realised.
"Presumably a misalignment caused by hitting the floor at speed. Speaking of that, what is recorded in your logs about our fight?" He grumbled.
"So there is a use to being a program, eh?" She jeered. "Accessing..."
Eggman scratched his moustache impatiently.
"Hold... On..." She suddenly stammered. "They're corrupted."
Eggman sighed.
"Of course; my memory is shot, and yours is too." He muttered, amused by this turn of events.
"I can't... Why can't I... They shouldn't be... Why..." She was obsessing.
Eggman had created many AI in his time; and they all reacted this way to corrupted files. It was like cancer to an AI. The more they thought about it, the more they started to try to fix tiny bits of it, gradually spreading corrupted data throughout their directories. Eggman had had to delete several AIs entirely because they had completely degenerated into raving messes as their data became more and more corrupted.
"Purge those files immediately." He ordered.
"Why?" She asked cautiously.
"If you keep focusing on those files, you will eventually start grabbing small strings of corrupted data, try to crack them and eventually fill yourself up with corrupted data. It is the AI version of cancer." He explained.
"And how do you know this?" She snarled back.
Eggman let loose a little of his own repressed anger.
"I build robots! I program their AI! I know every single problem that an AI can have and how to fix it! I've terminated AIs personally to stop them from spreading corrupted files across multiple servers and access points." He growled.
When the AI spoke again, she seemed a bit cowed.
"What if we need these files?" She asked.
"We can't use it, and it's only a burden to you. Given that both you and I can't remember what happened, I'd say that Sally won't either. So, we're obviously not meant to remember how we got here. Wherever here is." He grunted.
"Well, we're beyond our galaxy, for one thing." She replied.
"How do you know that?" Eggman asked.
"Look up." She answered.
So he did. He immediately became aware of a huge stellar constellation overhead. Not just any constellation. An entire galaxy. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before.
"Amazing." He muttered.
"I've also concluded that we are on some kind of station, presumably in the intergalactic medium." She announced.
"What makes you come to that conclusion?" He asked.
"Several reasons; One: Look towards the horizon. Can you see the... Wings of the station?" She replied cooly.
Eggman turned his head towards the horizon. He quickly spotted the huge platforms that seemed to curve slightly off into the horizon. In one direction, though, was a cluster of three tall pillars, and behind them, some kind of moon or planet.
"Also, that 'star' has not moved and inch since we began our conversation and nor has the luminosity changed."
Eggman grunted in agreement.
"I can't confirm the interstellar medium, but I can see objects overhead. Large ones in odd shapes." She continued.
Eggman looked up again. The sun was too bright, so he set his googles to decrease their light intake. He suddenly spotted a faint flash from above. And another.
"Well." He said. "Those objects must be starships."
A bright explosion lit up the sky.
"And they're fighting." He concluded.
"So there is intelligence present at this station." The AI mused.
"Exactly. Maybe getting home will be easier thanks to that." Eggman grinned.
"Or harder." She added.
"Quite possibly." He sighed.
There was silence for the next few seconds. Eggman had to make a plan. Being in unfamiliar territory, he'd need all the advantages that he could get. That included the princess and her AI.
Before anything came to mind, he heard something in the distance. It seemed to be approaching.
"Can you hear that?" He asked.
"Yes." She replied bluntly. "They are approaching from positive one six eight relative to planet in center."
"What are they?" He asked.
"Several high speed VTOLs. Moving this way in escort formation. They seem to have high energy signatures along their hulls, and in specs that indicate weapons." She told him hurriedly.
"We should hide then, eh?" He grunted. "No need to take chances. At least, not until we can create a survivable situation with them."
He looked around quickly. There was a cave in a rock face about a hundred or so meters away from them. He could make it.
He turned and picked up the computer and turned to make for the cave.
"What about Sally?" She growled. "You can't just leave her here!"
He turned and fixed his gaze back the prone Möbian on the ground. He sighed. He was tempted to leave both her and her AI out in the open, but he, in all fairness, needed all the help he could get to get back to Möbius. And having at the very least, an AI would be very helpful to get into the systems that had to operate the station.
In a move that he was sure he might very well regret, he grabbed the princess roughly by her shoulder and started dragging her towards the cave.
The sound of the alien ships increased steadily, and Eggman narrowly managed to get inside the cave before the first alien ship whizzed by overhead.
It was a small thing, simply two wings with what looked like weapons attached to the sides, and a single canopy that looked like it could only fit one or two occupants. It was purple with a greenish tint added to the upper hull plating.
After it passed, two more like it passed. They moved faster and had trails coming from the two cylinders on the edge of their wings. Eggman guessed that they must actually be afterburners.
He heard the Möbian behind him stir somewhat. Another five of the craft passed overhead, moving quickly. He turned back and placed a finger to his lips.
"Shush!" He hissed urgently.
She opened he eyes and focused on him, but she was still too confused by the whole waking up thing to play him any serious attention.
Now a group of larger vehicles whizzed by overhead. They seemed to around thirty meters long and a pure mess of curves, with a cockpit in the front, and thick bulging back, and a set of rear fins. The engines were attached cleanly to the from sides of the wings.
Eggman was amazed by the technology that must have gone into these vehicles.
What was even more interesting, they seemed to escorting only single one of their own. The ships seemed to be clustered like a shell around a single ship. He guessed that it was carrying something important. Presumably a leader of some kind.
He heard a sharp intake of breath of breath behind him, and turned to see the princess jump to her feet and engage her ring-blades (I honestly forget what they are called, but I think the name is something like that).
He raised a finger to his mouth.
"Shush!" He hissed. "They'll hear you."
"Who'll hear me?" She snapped back.
Eggman stepped aside slightly to show her the sky filled with alien ships whizzing by. Her eyes widened.
"See?" He growled. "Now stay down and shut up."
She deactivated her ring-blades and crept up beside him. At some point she had retrieved her computer, because she had it open on her lap.
"Nicole?" She asked quietly.
That name seemed familiar. At this point, Eggman had so many enemies that their names seemed to all blend together. Only the really important enemies seemed to stand out. He logged the name for future reference.
"Yes, Sally?" The AI asked quietly.
"Where are we?"
A pause.
"Unknown."
She tilted her head.
"How do you not know?" She replied. "You should have access to every satellite around Möbius, so you should have at least a set of GPS coordinates."
"We are not on Möbius. I do not know where we are, but we appear to be on some kind of space station." Nicole replied softly.
The last wave of alien ships passed by overhead and vanished from sight. They were all headed towards the group of three pillars in the distance, directly in front of the huge moon drifting behind it.
"Where did you take us?" The princess shouted angrily.
Eggman scowled at her outburst. He got to his feet to check if there were any latecomers passing by now. There were none.
"Hell if I know." He grunted. "It's you who messed with the dimensional reactor and caused a Narco-dump dropstream feed."
This was all mostly lies, as he had no idea what actually happened, but that didn't stop the words from having an effect on her.
"I have no idea where it put us." He announced, taking a step out of the cave, turning his back to her. "We're probably not even in the same galaxy, if we're even in a galaxy."
"That's not our fault." She protested. "You should have put some kind of safety mechanism or tested it before you decided to use it!"
"You interrupted those tests and you, you Freedom Fighters personally destabilised the core. You are as much to blame as I."7
She paused and looked down at the ground for a second."
"But, princess." He grunted, straightening to his full height. "If you want to get back to Möbius, I suggest we help each other."
She looked up at him suspiciously, but he could see that in her eyes, she realised there was no other choice in the matter. She sighed angrily.
"Just this once, Eggman, just this once." She growled.
Satisfied, Eggman started checking his own inventory. While his Egg-Mobile was gone, he still had his wrist mounted Egg-Toolkit.
In that toolkit, there was also the beginnings of a personal plasma rectifier that he'd been working on as a pet project. A little modification, he realised, could turn in into a blaster. He grinned. Not as defenceless as others would think.
"Any ideas of where to go?" Sally asked bitterly.
Eggman grunted. "Not towards those pillars, those should be crawling with aliens. And I'd rather chance getting caught on open land." He mused. "Any ideas."
"The cave." Nicole proposed.
Eggman raised an eyebrow and turned.
"What about it?" He asked.
"Further down, it seems to cease to be a natural formation. There must be a tunnel built further down it." The AI answered.
Eggman looked down into the darkness of the cave. He couldn't see anything beyond about fifteen or so meters. He attempted adjusting his googles, but to no avail.
"See anything?" He asked the princess.
She shook her head.
"Trust me." Nicole said. "There's an intelligently designed tunnel down there."
"Got a torch?" Eggman asked.
"No." Sally answered, and ignited her ring-blades. "I do have these, though."
They weren't very bright, but they were a source of light. Some of the cave was now visible.
"Ladies first." He offered, gesturing down the cave.
She grumbled something he didn't catch, and set off down the tunnel. Eggman checked to ensure there wasn't anything they'd left behind, and then followed her into the darkness.
About thirty meters in, the cave went on a descending u-turn. Sally led the way, with Eggman close behind. He fiddled away with the plasma rectifier during the trip, seeing he could enable a systematic charge enabler. After about five minutes, the princess suddenly stopped.
Eggman narrowly avoided tripping over her.
"What is it?" He asked, putting away his tools and his little project.
"Look at the walls." She whispered. "They change at this point."
Eggman looked at the nearest wall. In the faint blue glow, he identified the rocky cave wall, which fused directly into some kind of sudden flat, geometric wall setup. He followed it around. The walls all seemed to join the rock at the exact same point. Whoever built this place was clearly a master of building as these walls were perfectly straight, and joined each other seamlessly.
He ran his fingers along the walls.
"The architecture here is amazing. This isn't merely carved into the rocks, but this is actually a form of metal, which means someone planned this." He concluded.
"And if someone planned it..." The princess said slowly. "It has to lead somewhere."
Eggman nodded. They continued their advance into the dark corridor. After around fifty or so meters, they reached a corner turning to the right, and there was light coming from it.
Eggman looked around, but he couldn't see where the light was coming from. It seemed as though it came from the floors and walls, and yet there were no sources of light on these places.
Sally had noticed him stop.
"What's up?" She asked.
"There is light down here, but... Where is it coming from..." He mused aloud.
She quickly glanced around the surrounding area and realised what he was saying. She shrugged half-heartedly.
"If I could do half the things that the race that built this place could do, I would have conquered Möbius in half a day." He chuckled to himself.
She didn't hear him.
"Do you think anyone else was brought over?" She asked her AI.
"I cannot say." Nicole replied solemnly.
Eventually, they stumbled across a large door blocking he exit of the corridor. Even the door of this place seemed elegantly placed; it seemed lightweight and slick, and yet it was hard and unyielding. The princess attempted to cut it open, but no avail. The material it was made of seemed impenetrable. Eggman worked his way around the door, searching for weaknesses to exploit. There were none.
This door was perfectly made to keep itself shut. He scowled as he made another search, which turned up nothing, again.
It was clear by now that they were stuck. The only thing Eggman hadn't really looked at was the panel in the middle of the door. From what he had gathered, it seemed to be a handprint scanner. So no good there.
He supposed they could try hacking it there, but the panel was unbreakable and didn't come out of its housing.
They could have had Nicole attempt to overflow it; sending it so many different signals in a second that one had to be right and the door opened, but the door was not wirelessly designed, and there were no connection points for the AI to exploit.
It seemed hopeless. They'd been at the door for nearly an hour, according to Nicole's internal clock.
"We're not going to get through it." The Möbian behind him sighed. "We should go."
"No." Eggman growled. "I'm so close. I know it. I feel it."
This door had to have some way of getting in, but in truth, Eggman knew it was fruitless. He had only one trick left in his bag, and he was sure that it wouldn't work. He exhaled loudly. Why not try a gloveless approach.
He pulled of his glove and placed his hand on the panel. For the first time, he heard something coming from inside the door. The panel lit up bright blue, and he was frozen in place. For five seconds, he couldn't move at all. Then he was released and fell backwards on his rump.
His hand felt strange, he turned and examined it to realise that it was steaming slightly.
"Are you alright?" The princess asked, and for a second, he thought he detected a trace of concern in her voice.
He examined his hand as the steam faded.
"Been worse." He grunted.
He stood up and examined the door, which had slid open. He snorted.
"Looks like all it needed was the right touch."He noted.
Sally picked up her computer and peeked into the doorway. Eggman peeked his head in behind her. Inside, there was a large, unlit chamber. It was a stark contrast to the lit corridor they were in.
The princess raised her arm forward and reignited her ring-blade. The light cast by it barely lit up any of the room. Eggman wondered why it was so dark compared to the corridor.
"Looks fun." He muttered, gesturing forward into the room.
She glanced up and scowled at him, but she stepped forward and entered.
Nothing happend; the room remained dark and silent. Eggman followed her in. However, the moment he set foot in the room, a loud humming started and light flared through the chamber.
The room was huge and vast, and in the center of the room, a small column stood. A blue ball appeared above it. Shapes and fragments flowed from and around the ball.
It uttered a word:
Reclaimer.
