2.i. The Living Gem

Once back in his Central City College laboratory, Gerald began experimenting with the "Chaos Emerald" he had taken from Angel Island. He had decided that even though it was NOT actually an emerald, neither being green nor containing the mineral beryl, he would use the term provided by the living member of the Knuckles tribe, rather than the possibly incorrectly translated "stone", or even the more accurate "gem" or "crystal". After a rather complicated, and indeed incomplete, list of component chemicals (several were unidentifiable by any means), he noted down the following : "fist-sized, transparent, crystal in the shape of a faceted sphere, purple color, varying at times from indigo to violet, also varying in intensity of shade. Produces a steady, generally non-illuminating glow with a faint pulsing quality followed by much numeric detail as to spectral wavelengths and lumen range No detectable radiation beyond the electromagnetic spectrum, no evidence of detrimental effects on live forms kept in the vicinity; actually appears to improve health and growth of animal and plant specimens kept within 2 feet compared to those kept 10 feet away or controls kept in adjacent room. Disruptive effects on certain types of machinery within 20 feet. Hardness greater than that of diamond."

Gerald was convinced by the effects on machinery and living organisms that the Chaos Emerald did, in fact give off some form of radiation. During his attempts to develop a detector that would actually read such info, he discovered that hooking the Emerald to a machine allowed the machine to draw energy from the emerald as if it were a battery. Unfortunately, the energy invariably overloaded the device and caused it to malfunction or explode. It appeared that the energy was somehow, incredibly, self-replicating - the machine pulled a given amount, as it would from a battery, but the amount of energy increased once in the machines circuits. Chaotic energy, indeed. Gerald was fascinated as this appeared to contradict the known laws of physics. It also hinted at possibilities for indefinitely sustainable power - if you could control the increase to match what the device was actually using... His head spun with plans and possibilities. One of the problems with bioelectronics was getting power sources that were small, lightweight, safe, and either long-life or easily rechargeable. There was not a lot of room in an artificial hand, and if it was actually connected to the nerves it was all the more critical to have a safe power source. His TA's pried him out of his lab with difficulty and he taught the mandatory classes on autopilot.

While he was trying to figure out how to harness the Chaos energy, the military took an interest in his research. GUN (Guardian Unit of the Nation) offered him his own lab with access to better equipment and resources than he could achieve on his own; for although his family was one of the richest in the country, certain items were restricted and he refused to obtain them illegally. (His absconding with the chaos emerald was the only questionable thing he had ever done, and he had convinced himself that once he knew its secrets and could replicate them, he would return it to the shrine; after all it wasn't as if it had been being USED for anything. He refused to acknowledge, even to himself, the feeling that he had been MADE to take the emerald.) To be legitimately offered the scope to pursue his research on a higher level was a chance he jumped at, and he eagerly accepted. Besides, it would free him from having to interrupt his important research to give lectures. Soon he transferred to the relative isolation of the Alternate Research base on the island of Kauai, typically referred to as the ARK. While research into known technologies was done in mainland centers, most new experimental and prototype research was done at the ARK. This was both to limit stealing of research and to limit possible damage if one of the new technologies did not go as planned.

Gerald reported to the main office after disembarking from the governmental jet that transported him to Kauai. The head researcher, Dr. Harold Green greeted him briefly. "I think you'll enjoy it here. The director says he wants you to concentrate on developing this discovery of yours into a self-sustaining battery for our vehicles and robots. To that end," he interrupted himself to tap twice on an intercom on the desk, "I'd like you to meet Dr. Mary Bronston. Dr. Bronston," he continued to the woman who'd just entered behind Gerald, "this is Dr. Gerald Robotnik. Since you design a lot of the robots we use, and he's being assigned to develop a new power source for same, I'd like you to show him around. He's been assigned to labs 12 and 14 in G unit. Have a good day Dr. Robotnik, and keep me informed of your progress."

Gerald found himself suddenly in the hall outside the office looking blankly at the door. "Dr. Bronston..." he started.

"Mary, please," she said. "That's Dr. Green, all right. Just send him an illegible scrawl every couple of weeks and he'll be satisfied. He doesn't really care what you're doing as long as he thinks you're keeping him up to date. Twelve- and Fourteen-G are adjacent labs across from mine; I'm in Eleven and Fifteen - yes, even in the brain-pool we're a bit superstitious - and G unit is out this way." She ushered him out a side door and across a large compound, pointing out various buildings as they went. "The dorms - you should have a room assignment and key card in your box... post office, I'll show you your box after we see the labs...that's the main supply stores all the little sheds in back are where possibly useful "junk" is kept; you don't have to requisition the "junk" but you have to be signed and sealed to get anything from main stores so we do a lot of scavenging here...B unit...laundry...ah, here we are, G." She led him up the steps into a solid-looking concrete building. The inside was pleasantly cool, but austere - simply a long hallway with numbered doors at intervals along it. Fluorescent strip lights were mounted along the ceiling, but currently the light was all coming through skylights. Gerald followed Mary down the hall, even-numbered doors on the left, odd numbers on the right. As she had implied, there was no lab Thirteen, Eleven and Fifteen were adjacent, opposite his assigned pair of doors. Mary pushed the door to Twelve open. "Once you've got your key card, you can lock the door, you can also designate other people who can access the lab if you like." She gestured vaguely around. "So, plenty of space, water and gas access, standard lab bench...anything else you either requisition or scavenge. Dr. Green said you're working on a self-sustaining battery?"

"Yes,"replied Gerald, suddenly eager to explain his research. " I located a very...unusual sort of gemstone that produces a self-replicating energy - I know it sounds impossible," he interrupted himself as he caught her skeptical look, "but I'll be glad to show you the results I've gotten so far. The stone also has some sort of enhancing effects on plants and animals in its vicinity. The problem I'm having so far is that the usual sort of electric circuits are designed for energy that diminishes, or at best stays level. This actually increases until the machines overload." He found himself searching for something else to say; he didn't want to go off into a totally technical monologue, but he didn't want her to leave just yet either. "Erm, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you show me where my quarters are? And then how to go about requisitioning equipment? I'm not a fan of cluttered labs but this is a little TOO sparse." To his delight, that won a smile from Mary, who graciously agreed to continue as his tour guide. He wondered a little at himself as he followed her back up the hall; what was so inherently thrilling about having someone show him a dormitory?

Over the next few weeks Gerald tried to concentrate on setting up his lab and getting all the equipment he needed. For the first time in his life however, he found his focus on mechanisms biologic and metallic being interrupted with stray thoughts of blond hair and grey eyes. Luckily, this was not a major problem as Mary's presence eliminated the need to think about her; and she was frequently present. The two set up lab 12 as a control lab, with a set of plants and lab animals, while in 14 an identical collection of plants and critters were grouped around the chaos emerald. Several monitors were arranged to collect vital signs; Mary had borrowed those from a fellow researcher who had developed them for wireless detection. The various animals had free range of their cages while the machines collected an amazing amount of detail. Both plants and animals flourished in the vicinity of the emerald , as they had in the college labs. His actual assignment was not progressing, though.

Gerald could pull energy from the emerald, but could NOT manage to compensate for the subsequent increase. Circuits shorted out, batteries and capacitors overloaded, and in one case actually exploded - the fire response was very good, he discovered, although fortunately there was no damage except to the tabletop. Mary tried offering several materials she had developed for the robots she designed, and even tried to develop a robot that burned as much energy as possible - that one actually ran for about ten minutes before overloading. She obtained permission to work jointly with Gerald, which pleased him greatly; more time with Mary was to be desired, but what was really needed was a breakthrough.