Lupe drank deep, the iciness and heat flowing through her. The casino's bar was brightly lit with neon blue, red, purple and green, turning the shelves of bottles on the wall into a sparkling rainbow. The clamor of the gambling masses that crowded around the flashing slot machines and card tables was charged with every spectrum of emotion, from joy to outrage.
She came here almost every night, finding the chaos a sort of salve for her broken heart. At least it took her mind off things, sometimes. Tonight wasn't one of those times.
You creep, she thought, first you cost me my brother, now you pull a stunt like this. I wonder if you made it out, or is that jet your grave?
A wolf a few seats down kept looking at her, tongue lolling. She frowned at him and ordered another drink, pushing the empty glass away. For just an instant she thought her admirer was wearing an eye patch. She blinked and it was gone. He had two eyes, amber in color, not amethyst.
The portly otter tending the bar studied her closely, then nodded and set down the refill. She had been here awhile, far longer than usual.
It had been three months since Robotnik had been overthrown. She suspected that the otter had become a very good judge of when someone had sailed too far out into the proverbial sea.
The neon lines and signs around the bar began to blur. She hardly noticed. She forced herself to focus on the issues facing the city. Better to dwell on the future than the past.
Reconstruction would take years, even then Mobotropolis would never be the same. Skyscrapers and paved streets had replaced marble and cobble stones. Torches had been supplanted by an electrical grid that powered a million lights. All of it was the legacy of the city's industrialization, courtesy of the deposed dictator.
The casino itself hadn't existed before, but now it offered its vices to everyone. A hundred neighboring ones just like it comprised what had become known as the Casino Night District. Antoine's brilliant idea. Give the people a distraction, he said. Well now they've got one.
An evening never went by around here without some sort of trouble.
The city had ballooned in size under Robotnik, as well. To get from place to place people had started using hover cars, which were being mass produced by converted factories.
The tyrant had left his mark. In contrast King Acorn had resisted the effects of modernization vigorously, though the breakthroughs in robotics and other technologies could have easily brought about the transformation that had become a reality now.
She knew there had been reasoning behind that, not just empty aesthetics. Appointed the chief of the Mobotropolis police force, she understood the consequences more than anyone. The populace had been a tight knit community before. As they grew apart, disorder grew more commonplace. The fact that most of them had spent over a decade as robot slaves to a madman made things much worse than they might have been.
"I couldn't help but notice that you were drinking alone, beautiful." The words were slurred and about as unimaginative as she would expect. She glanced over at the wolf who had been watching her. He had seated himself next to her and she hadn't even noticed.
She looked down at her glass and realized she had already finished off the refill. Somehow she didn't think the otter would be impressed or receptive if she asked for another.
"I'm done and I don't like you, so get lost." she said, her voice a steely growl. She got up and removed her grey trench coat from the chair's back, shrugging into it. He took in the scar on her cheek and the look in her eyes, left without a word. The fear she had seen on his face made her feel guilty.
Has the war changed me that much? How did I get so angry over that? The room revolved around her for a moment before it slowed and finally stopped. The regret over how she had treated him lingered. He was young, he didn't deserve that.
She picked her way through the raucous crowds and headed for the exit.
Two police cruisers were parked outside the casino. At first she didn't understand why they were there, then she heard the grief filled rant.
"Where's my wife? Where? I went to the palace and they swear…they swear everyone they could find was de-roboticized…" The cheetah trailed off and began to sob. His jacket was horribly wrinkled and it reeked of gin.
Four officers surrounded him, looking disturbed and pained. Two were bears, one a pig. Their corporal was a slim, grey fox.
The corporal put a hand on the cheetah's shoulder. "Sir, I don't know where your wife is but…" He never got a chance to finish. The disheveled citizen's face twisted into an expression Lupe had seen before. He's snapped.
The cheetah's hand moved so quick she didn't even see him reach into his jacket. Suddenly he was holding a glock. His fangs were bared in rage.
The corporal was faster. He grabbed for the gun and forced the cheetah's aim upward. The glock went off with a sound like thunder. A bright neon sign across the street flickered and exploded in a nova of hot sparks. Bystanders ran, some of them screaming.
The cops wrestled the weapon from him. The dull buzz of the pig's stun gun put an end to it. Suddenly the cheetah was on the ground and losing consciousness, a thin rivulet of drool glistening at the corner of his mouth. "My wife…where…"
They picked him up and put him in the cage of one of the cruisers.
I want to go home, she thought tiredly. Damn Sonic and Sally both for asking me to stay in this soulless place.
She sighed heavily and stumbled over to the cops, reaching for her badge. A minute later the second cruiser was taking her to toward the palace. The sky above the plated towers reddened, dawn breaking. All she could think of was her bed. She hoped she would dream no dreams.