Chapter 8: Encounter with a stranger
Happy for his permission to explore the strange place, z-12 went right ahead to check everything that caught his attention, but with some calm, because he was still in pain due to the strange chemical the robot had inyected in him.
30 minutes later he had found and re-activated most of the space colony, and not only that, he also managed to upgrade every single part of it and link it to the mini-computer on his wrist
While he was still checking the deepest areas of the ARK, he came across a hidden room, this one was strange and seemed more abandoned than the rest of the places he had checked
z-12: what's could be in here?
Since he was a "super intelligent hedgehog", he managed to hack into the security and get full access to the room, once inside he had troubles seeing anything, so he had to use his "cloned emerald" to light his way, after a few seconds of walk, he reached some strange place, it looked like a hospital room with beds and everything, the mere sight of it brought a chill down the hedgehog's spine
z-12: brr... i suddenly feel at home...
Next to the beds, he saw a computer and a small space, big enough to fit a chaos emerald in there, out of curiosity, z-12 put his emerald in there, suddenly, light covered the entire room, the door to the room sealed tight and some strange interference prevented any outside device from working, that included z-12's devices, so z-12 was now locked, and whatever thing this room was keeping, z-12 was going to be the only witness of it
A holographic screen appeared, a man appeared in it, his mustache, his glasses and his nose, z-12 thought it was dr eggman for amoment, however, it was actually dr. Gerald Robotnik, dr. Eggman's grandfather and the responsible of project shadow
z-12: who... who's that?
robotnik: to the person that had found this place...
i'm the professor Gerald Robotnik, some time ago i was in charge of this space colony with the goal to create the ultimate life form, due to some unfortunate events... the goverment decided to close this space colony an in the process i lost not only big part of my research... but also what i love the most in this world... maria...
-the floor under the screen opened and showed a cryogenic capsule with a human girl in it-
z-12: ... you must be maria...
Robotnik: in a desperate attempt to save her, and before the soldiers could take me i did the nescessary arrangements to put her in here with the hope that one day... someone could find her and give her what i could never give... a happy peaceful life... if you're a black and red hedgehog... then, please forgive me... i knew i should've told you i had this backup plan, so i could avoid causing any suffering to you because of...
-whoever you are, fate must have brought you here to find her, so... now that you are here... please, wake my granddaughter, and give her that peaceful life i never could ...
End of the message...
z-12: -looking at maria- ... looks like you and i have something in common... with or without message, no one deserves to be in your situation... so, i hope you're prepared, because i will release you -grin- they still havent created a machine that i can't handle
after 3 long hours of codebreaking, hacking, and medical procedures (eggman gave z-12 the knowledge to treat any wound and medical state so he could heal himself in battle) finally... z-12 had achieved something no one could do on their own... he had brought someone back to life
The capsule opened, and before she could collapse on the floor, z-12 caught her, looking at her with curiosity.
z-12: well... -checks on her pulse- you seem to be stable now, but it seems you're not fully recovered, you better recover your strength... i know what it feels to come to life in such a rushed way
He carefully placed her in one of the beds and put a small device to let him know when she had awakened
once out of the room, z-12 started feeling a deep pain inside his body, to the point of making him collapse on the ground for a bit, it wasnt strange, it was just the virus slowly and painfully travelling trough z-12's body
Meanwhile at dr. Eggman's base...
Eggman: everything is set... its time to sta... -his comunicator activates- ...yes?
z-12: its me...
Eggman: are you ready?
z-12: i am dr... but... i have a question
Eggman: tell me
z-12: are you sure this substance will be able to heal me...?
Eggman: don't worry, you will feel weird at first, but you will get used to it, i'm on my way to the space colony, while i arrive, you should recieve a small "upgrade"
z-12: understood...
Eggman: go to the cargo zone, what i sent you should be arriving there soon, and once the arrangements are finished, i'll join you at the space colony to complete the plan
z-12: copy that... -his ears lowered-
a few moments later, eggman's "upgrade" arrived, it was some kind of armor...
z-12: what's this?
he got a bit close to it when all of a sudden the virus started hurting him again, right after that, the armor started acting on its own and attached to z-12's body in a rough way, he tried to take it off by mere insctinct but he couldnt, after a few seconds it finally fit to his body
z-12: ... my body... feels heavy with this... what is this armor for anyway? -sigh- i better not question dr. eggman's orders, otherwise he will electrocute me again... -his deviced activated, maria had awakened-
with some struggle, z-12 made his way to the secret room, once inside he found the place as he left it, except for one thing, maria wasnt on her bed... she was looking at the computer, it was showing a beautiful image of earth
z-12: so you woke up at last
Maria: ...shadow? ... is that you?
z-12: i'm sorry, i'm not that "shadow" you mention, let me introduce myself, i'm the prototype number 12 of the clone hedgehog Z series, but... you can just call me z-12
Maria: -with a smile on her face- allright, my name is Maria, Maria robotnik, tell me something... what happened here? why are we in the medical wing?
z-12: i found you here, you were in some hibernation state
Maria: and... where's my grandfather?
z-12: i dont know... i just arrived to this place, and... i just found you, you were in a pretty bad shaped so, i... healed you
Maria: i see... -sad look on her eyes- i remember now... i was trying to save my friend shadow, then, i felt something going through my body, hurting me... i cant remember anything else... i must have passed out...
z-12: it seems so... by the look of things, you've been in this place for decades, so... maybe your grandfather... isnt here anymore
Maria: ...
z-12: what does it feel like?
Maria: excuse me?
z-12: what does it feel to have a family?
Maria: you dont have one?
z-12: no...
Maria: well... it feels like...
And so, the prototype number 12 started doing something he never did in his life, something that not even rouge the bat managed to do... engage in a deep heartwarming conversation, with another living being, he was finally expressing himself, something he never had done in his entire life
sadly, that conversation was short lived, z-12's comunicator activated, dr. eggman was calling
z-12: oh no! its dr. eggman...
Maria: is something wrong?
z-12: dont worry... its... nothing, i have to go take care of something, it will be dangerous so please, i'm gonna have to ask you to stay here... it wont take long
Maria just nodded and smiled at him as z-12 rushed out of the secret room and made his way to the place where eggman would arrive, his 3 robots were with him
z-12: everything's ready dr...
Eggman: they better be, for your own sake
z-12: where's... Clonix?
Eggman: your useless machine? he refused to come, it seems it learned to disobey from you!
z-12 stepped back a little scared
Eggman: oh dont worry, it was something good after all
z-12: g-good?
Eggman: we gonna have a guest with us, we gonna need someone to witness the greatness of what we're about to do! so you better use your comunicator and call your little toy and tell him to get this person -he got really close to him to whisper who they would be snatching- ...am i clear?
z-12: yes dr...
on earth, things happened too fast, amy and cream were on their way to the hospital with amy holding a huge load of presents for sonic, when all of a sudden, clonix f-15 appeared in front of them, and with no warning, grabbed amy (not without having to go through an immense struggle first) and locked her inside his cockpit, with no other word, he went straight to the sky, leaving a frightened cream to rush to the hospital and tell everyone what had happened...
it was only the beginning... things were just about to get worse... a lot worse..
to be continued...