Chapter 2

Nervous thoughts began to race through his mind, resembling a rodent infestation of his home. Too bad he couldn't just call the exterminator to solve this problem for him. Since he'd awoken, his thoughts had reproduced exponentially, coming to the point where he had to take hold of his wife's gloved hand for moral support. Sonic was about to be informed of the results from his final virtual reality test. He knew he didn't do well. Getting killed would never be considered doing something well.

Himself, Amy and Tails were all waiting at one end of a hallway, staring through a glass door at the few workers inside, whom all wore long, white lab coats. One of them should soon pull open the door and welcome their guests. But when the first minute dragged into the next, another feeling of awkwardness settled among the trio. Tails flicked his double tail, patiently waiting, while Amy tried to find her reflection in pane of glass on the door to fix her hair. But Sonic stood completely still, motionless and unwilling to speak. He he'd hardly spoken the entire morning since waking and now, four hours later, he still wasn't sharing his experiences in the virtual realm. Amy and Tails were feeling an ever-increasing concern for their friend.

"What's taking them so long?" Amy complained, tapping on the door a few times. Tails glanced over at her and laughed lightly to himself, shifting to get more comfortable as he leaned against the barren white wall.

A tall, lean fellow, the closest scientist to the door, looked up from his work, turning around and greeting the trio with a smile. Amy and Tails smiled back out of courtesy, but Sonic remained emotionless. What remained of the scientist's hair waved freely as he moved around his desk. As he came within reach of the door handle, the wrinkles upon his face became quite pronounced. Sonic and the others would soon discover that most employees here were of an older generation, with the exception of the cleaning staff. This American Research and Development facility only hired the most skilled and experienced of the scientific industry.

The man pulled the door open fully with one hand, then propped it open with one foot. "I'm very sorry for the wait. Professor Lombert was supposed to meet you here, but it seems there's been some trouble with the simulator. I doubt it's any reason to be concerned, though. It's the finest instrument in all of America!"

The scientist smiled and gave a laugh. He paused his speech, probably expecting to get one in return. Nobody even flinched.

"Well, I suppose I could lead you to the meeting room. I don't know all the details, but apparently they're going to say something big! At least, that's the buzz around the lab." The scientist offered. "Please, follow me."

Sonic, Amy and Tails were led through a maze of desks, each one outfitted with a high-end computer, stacks of documents, and several other things that varied from station to station. The strange thing was...most stations were empty.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking...Where is everybody?" Tails shouted to the front. The aisle between desks was so narrow that they could only travel single file, and Tails was trailing at the back.

"At the special request of the President, Sonic's testing was to be kept as secret as possible. So secretive that even we employees doing the testing only know fragments of the overall tests. Probably because we might come across some weakness that could be used against him. Only a select few of us were allowed to work on this 'project'." The scientist explained. "I'm Hans Weaver, and I was in charge of tracking Sonic's vitals every moment he was in the virtual realm. And I must say, it wasn't an easy job. Your heart rate is at least two to three times as quick as it would be for a human simply just when standing, Sonic. When you were, I guess, moving at supersonic speed...well, you can just imagine! My ears are still ringing!"

Just as the Hans was finished speaking, he opened another glass door, into a room just as white as everything else in the building. The walls weren't even decorated with any form of framed artwork. It looked more like a prison interrogation room than anything else. The only thing that stood out from all this whiteness was a single black pen laying across a long, rectangular table.

"May I offer some refreshments while you wait for Professor Lombert to arrive?" Hans offered while the others entered the room. "Perhaps a peppermint tea for the fine young lady?"

"That would be lovely!" Amy exclaimed, turning to the scientist to give him a smile. "Thank you."

Hans was about to pull the door open to leave, when Tails spoke up in a calm voice. "Could I get a glass of chocolate milk?"

Hans held the door open, and turned around, the metal frame hitting him on the hip. The door looked heavy, and the scientist's body weak, but he managed to stand unwaveringly. "I'll see what I can find. If not, I'll bring you a glass of regular milk, if you like?"

Tails nodded, and the scientist let the door close behind him with a 'thud'. The air between the group became uncomfortable, with gazes darting around the room at various focal points, aside from Sonic's which stared at his gloved hands. Both Tails and Amy wanted to try comforting Sonic, but they were afraid of upsetting him. So they remained silent, until the door opened once more.

A different man was at the door this time, though, struggling to push open the door and balance a round tray carrying their refreshments at the same time. Just from looking at the back of his head, the group could tell that he, too, was an older person. His hair was almost completely white, with a few brown strands to remain as a memory of his youth. However, he was a little stockier than the other scientist, especially in the upper body where a bit of a hunch was present.

Tails pushed back his chair and rushed to help him out. "Here, let me help you!" When the scientist managed to open the door enough to squeeze through, Tails offered to take the tray of refreshments, which was gladly given to him. He maneuvered his way back to his chair, at which point he would put the tray down on the table, then distributed the drinks. Tails noted that his was only white milk, and gave a bit of a sigh. At least it had come with a straw...

"Good evening," The man said as he seated himself at the head of the table, "I am Professor Lombert, the man in charge of this entire operation."

The Professor looked across the table looking uneasily at Sonic. To ease his nerves, Lombert took a mug from the tray and sipped his drink several times. It was obvious to everyone in the room that something unsettling was on his mind.

"I'll get straight to the point, Sonic. " Professor Lombert spoke casually. "You're reckless."

Sonic lifted his eyes to lock with the Professor's with a smirk on his face, "Reckless, huh? That's what you call heroism, is it?"

The Professor frowned, "No, Sonic. I call your recklessness stupidity. You run around battlefields with no thought towards strategy. You don't consider the dangers of the actions you do. Every time you fight, you're gambling with your life and the lives of others in the operation so that you can get all the glory.

"Based on your results today, that's why the American Government has decided that your services are no longer required. You are no longer allowed to fight for the military."

Enraged, Sonic slammed his fist on the tabletop. Too shocked to say anything, Amy and Tails watched their friend as he threw his chair back and stood in anger.

"What do you mean, 'no longer required'?" Sonic shouted. "You need my help! It's not like Eggman's just going to stop terrorizing the country simply because I'm not there. If anything, he'll work harder now that I'm out of the way."

Professor Lombert sighed uncomfortably, and scratched at the bald spot hidden behind his white curls. He took several more sips from his mug before continuing.

"Look, Sonic, the opinion of the Government is very clear. You're free to put your own life on the line whenever you feel like it. That's not what matters here. It's the fact that others will lose their lives because of your carelessness. You may be an asset to your country, but you've outlived your worth as a soldier for your lack of concern."

"You can't do this-" started the blue hedgehog, but was quickly interrupted.

"I have no choice! The Secretary of Defense himself asked me to relay the message. If you have a problem with it, find some way to take it up with him." exclaimed the Professor, pushing back the chair so he could stand. "Now if you don't mind, I have some business to attend to. There's still a pile of paperwork left to do regarding this whole situation. Good day to you all."

Before anyone could say anything more, the Professor had thrown open the door and had left, leaving the others to sort through their thoughts. The news had come as a complete surprise to the entire group. None of them could speak for moments to come as they tried to figure out if what they heard actually happened.

Amy was the first to snap out of the uneasy trance the bad news had caused, and the first to rush over to Sonic to try comforting him. She walked around the table towards him, stopping behind his chair so that she could reach forward and wrap her arms around his chest. She rested her chin upon the backrest so that she could whisper in Sonic's ear.

"Honey, everything will be alright. We can get along fine without you risking your life for them. We can finally settle down and live normal lives just like everyone else!" Amy whispered with a smile. "And besides, Tasha misses you when you're gone. You get to spend more time with her!"

Sonic sighed, leaning forward away from Amy and rested his head upon his crossed arms. "I don't know... Amy, saving the world isn't something you can just put to the side and expect someone else to pick it up. If I sit back, people's lives will be at stake. If I sit back...people are going to die."

Shrugging, Amy let go of Sonic, looking to Tails who sat on the other end of the table, sucking at the last of his milk through the straw.

"Wether you want to save people or not, there's nothing you can do about it." Tails spoke calmly. "You can't simply disregard them and not expect consequences."

"There you go! Now, let's get home. If it'll make you feel better, I'll put on a pot of hot water for coffee or something." Amy spoke with a half-hearted smile.

Feeling the need to get out as quickly as possible, Amy ran from Sonic's chair and to the door, struggling to pull it open. Tails pushed back his chair and headed through the door once Amy got it open. It was Sonic who lingered for a moment, with his thoughts gluing him to the chair. It took time, but he eventually pushed back the chair and slowly headed towards the door.

Just as he passed Amy, Sonic whispered cooly, "I'm not going to let anyone die."