PART 2 - The black desert
CHAPTER 8 - Computer Games
Tails winced as a brilliant flash of light exploded through his head, as if stepping from a dark basement into the blinding glare of the midday sun. A numb, tingling sensation like pins and needles shot down his arms and legs and a high pitched ringing filled his ears. The sound stopped suddenly, almost as suddenly as it had come, the painful sensory onslaught dissolved and his surroundings came swimming back into focus. He gasped in surprise, the wasteland was gone, the blackened room no-more. In shock Tails survey his surroundings, he stood at the edge of a lush green grassy clearing, a warm yellow sun gleamed down on his face from a crystal clear blue sky.
It took the fox a moment to realise where he was. One side the clearing was surrounded by a semicircle of trees, the edge of a dense pine forest, on the other, a limestone cliff facade. Into the the base of the cliff was set a heavy wooden door, a single stump sitting conspicuously nearby removed any doubt from his mind. He gazed at the flag flying overhead. But this is… The old Freedom Fighters HQ! "Woah" he gasped audibly, still slightly off-balance from his jolting transition, It's just like it used to be. With an outstretched hand Tails felt the air around him, taking one tentative step forward and then another, each time bracing slightly as if expected to hit the wall of the dark room; it never came. His leg had stopped hurting and a strange feeling of nakedness had crept over him; looking down at his body he realised his heavy raincoat was gone and the brown belt that he rarely removed no longer hung around his waist. Stranger still, Instead of his regular boots he was now wearing special trainers, red and white and built for speed, the same kind he had once worn many years ago, long since worn out. okay this is getting weird.
The Freedom fighters old base was two stories high, built into the rock of some cliffs in the forest. The heavy bunker door yielded surprisingly easily as Tails crossed its familiar threshold, pausing momentarily to touch the wall; solid, cool and rough like sand. Is this real? It feels real... The top floor was mostly a hallway, at one end a big metal door lead further into the hillside, the control centre of the HQ, to the left a stone archway carved into the rock marked the start of a flight of stairs that spiraled downwards to the living quarters below. Picking a direction, Tails tentatively moved forward towards the stairway and was just about to walk down the first step when he froze. Was that a voice? The faint sounds of laughter echoed up the long stone passageway, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
With a growing sense of unease Tails glanced behind him then bit his lip and crept quietly down the long curved staircase. He could make out voices now and they grew louder as he approached the bottom. There was something odd about the voices... something familiar. Can it be? but how?! He could now just see into the cavernous but homely living area. There was a kitchen in the far corner, bedrooms to the side, and a cozy entertainment area in the middle complete with couches and a television, just how he remembered it. Feelings of nostalgia and warm comfort filled his heart, a strange compliment to the eerie disquiet that was filling his stomach. One by one Tails carefully descended the final steps to the ground, his eyes fixed upon the couches, his usually stoic face now wide eyed in disbelief. There before him surrounded by Antoine, Bunnie, Vector and Espio sat none-other than Sonic the Hedgehog.
The colourful flashing images on the big widescreen television set lit up the faces of a happy group. Antoine and Bunnie were sharing an armchair, and in their hands a video game controller, they both stared straight ahead with looks of intense concentration on their faces, apparently locked in a fierce battle. Vector shifted animatedly on the edge of his seat as his body subconsciously mimicked his actions on screen and Sonic too was playing, he appeared to be winning, slouched back on the couch with a confident smirk on his face. Espio sat next to Vector, reading a magazine quietly. Tails lingered in the doorway and quietly watched the little group enjoying themselves, too dumbstruck to move.
There was a sound of fanfare from the TV and suddenly sonic jumped up and pumped his fist in the air. "Ha ha Yes! eat that guys! Winner again! What's that now? Fifth time 'just lucky' eh?".
"Yeah yeah, alright but that's only because ya got to choose the level again" Bunnie retorted, clearly miffed.
"Hey Tails what are you doing over there?" Sonic called out and beckoned with his free hand "Come join us for the next game. Would be nice to have some real competition for a change"
Tails froze, he was spotted, and yet It was almost as if Sonic had barely acknowledged him. Nothing but a quick hello and a casual wave? Sonic's blasé demeanor caught him off guard, his cover blown he approached cautiously, amazed by the lack of reaction to his presence. Nobody watched him and nobody spoke, even Sonic had quickly turned his attention back to mocking Vector who was desperately trying to avoid last place.
When Tails reached the couches he was first acknowledged by Espio who looked up and gave a friendly smile and a nod before returning to his book.
"Hey Tails" grumbled Vector quickly under his breath as he stared at the screen, still battling a virtual opponent to escape the ultimate shame.
"Alo Tails" said Antoine cheerfully.
"Hi shugah wanna play?" Chimed Bunnie.
"Ah oui please Tails, we are needing your flying skills, Sonic keeps winning at ze racing and we need to take him down."
"Hey, what can I say? when it comes to speed, I'm a natural." Said sonic cockily and put his hands behind his head, relaxing a bit too deliberately back into the couch.
Tails didn't reply. How could he? What do you say to a room full of ghosts? Had the last seven years even happened to these people? It felt like a dream and yet everyone seemed so real, all he could do was stare at their faces.
"Here ya go hun" said Bunnie as she thrust a free controller into Tails' open hand. He stood for a moment not knowing what else to do, then, sensing the curious looks from his onlookers, he hesitantly surrendered, slumping down onto the couch next to Sonic, still staring in wide eyed bemusement at his old friends.
Antoine picked a level, 'the asteroid belt' and Sonic started a new game. Tails halfheartedly moved his rocket ship through the course, too stricken by the strangeness of his situation to really pay attention.
"Hey guys I'm beating Tails, I'm Beating Tails!" Vector exclaimed excitedly as he blasted past with a endless boost and flew straight into a well-placed mine "Aww who left that there!" he cried, spaceship exploding ingloriously for a tenth time.
Out of the corner of his eye Tails caught a glimpse of movement from the stairway and watched as Nicole and Sally entered the room chatting with each other. The girls waved offhandedly at the group as they walked past on their way to the kitchen where Nicole sat on the bench and watched Sally dig through the refrigerator.
A minute later and the race was over, Tails had come in fifth of eight and once again Sonic was chuckling at Vector's incompetence. Tails watched Sonic spellbound, seven years and he hadn't aged a day.
"Sonic" said Tails quietly, tapping his gloating friend on the shoulder "can I ask you something..."
The blue hedgehog turned around and, noticing Tails serious expression, lowered his voice "Sure Tails, what's up? Is something wrong?"
"I don't know…" Tails said hesitantly "If I were to ask you where we were right now what would you say?"
Sonic laughed reflexively, "Heh, asking the tough ones today little buddy, we're at FFHQ, is this a trick question?"
"When I came in before nobody really noticed... weren't you surprised to see me?"
Sonic looked puzzled "Well sure I guess, a little, you're usually out working in your workshop at this time of day, kind of cool to see you turn up so early in the afternoon..." Sonic paused and looked at Tails with concern "What's the matter Tails? are you feeling alright?"
Tails glanced down at his hands, young hands, much younger than they should be. This must be a dream... but it feels so real. He looked back up at Sonic, did I die from that electric shock? Maybe this is heaven?
"Hey Tails, Sonic, are you two finished yapping? I'm choosing the level this time and you guys are going down" Vector said over-confidently.
Espio grinned and shook his head, not even bothering to look up.
Sonic gave Tails a concerned look with a raised eyebrow, "You look okay to me buddy. Maybe you just need to kick back and relax for a bit, let's have another race eh? See how you feel."
"uh, sure..." Tails pickup up his controls and looked back at the screen. I guess I might as well...
Choose a character, choose a craft, line up at the start, 3,2... "Shoot him Tails, shoot him!" Bunnie shouted and Tails was back in the game. A frantic battle unfolded with rockets and boosts and crashes galore and as Tails crossed the line in first, blasting past Sonic with a well-timed boost, a loud cheer went up from the couches accompanied by a cry of disappointment from Sonic, Tails felt his whole body relax. This must be a dream, it has to be, I never could beat Sonic at this! He sat back in the couch and smiled, looking around at his beloved companions, their carefree smiling faces and happy voices echoing around the cozy lounge room. Not just any dream... this is the best dream I've ever had!