Sonic grumbled as woke up. He was torn between not moving to avoid aggravating the headache he had, or trying to find a place to dry off and get the taste of seawater and sand out of his mouth. With an even louder grumble, Sonic managed to roll himself over onto his back. He quickly regretted the move since the sun seemed determined to blind him. Despite the soreness in his body, he sat up to try to figure out where he was. It was a typical beach with the ocean in front of him and a jungle behind him. His pants were tore up, but still wearable. His sneakers and gloves did not look any worse than usual. Other than being extremely sore and a headache, he seemed all right from the crash.

"Got to find the others." Sonic stood up and took a few quick breaths. His body vibrated at high speeds for a second. All the water clinging to his fur and quills flew off him. He spotted a piece of metal that came from one of the wings of his plane. "Nicole!" Sonic ran to the ocean and tried to spot more wreckage from his plane. He could see bits of metal along the shore and a few pieces under the water. "So much for drying off."

Sonic took a deep breath and dove into the water. Not letting his inability to swim deter him. He grabbed onto rocks and plant life to pull himself along the bottom. He remembered holding on to the plane tightly as he hit the water and hoped it wasn't too far from the shore. His eyesight had been improved from years of withstanding the forces he kicked up when running. Luck appeared to be with him as he saw what was left of the main body of the plane; sadly, it was several feet away from him and considerably deeper. He wasn't going to be able to hold his breath long enough to reach it, let alone see if Nicole's systems were still intact. Sonic pulled himself back to the shore. He sat down and stared at the water. He owed Nicole a rescue, but needed to figure out a way to do it and not drown. If the small storage compartment was still intact, he could find a small self-inflating water ring. He just needed to make it down there and still have air left. Granted if the water ring was gone, he would not be able to make it back to land in time.

"What is life without a few risks?"

Sonic jumped to his feet and ran to the jungle. It didn't take him long to find a piece of wood that would float with him holding on to it. He kicked himself so that he floated over the spot where the plane rested. After taking several breaths, he took one deep one and let go of the wood. He curled into a ball and sank into the water. He dropped quickly and reached the plane in only a few seconds. The damage was considerably worse than he originally saw. The tail of the plane was completely gone and the wings were in several pieces. He pulled himself to the storage compartment and struggled to get it open. He felt a pressure on his chest as his vision began to blur. The door finally opened and a large bubble of air escaped from it. Acting quickly, he expelled the used air from his lungs and shoved his mouth into the bubble. Inhaling quickly, he managed to fill his lungs before the bubble popped. He grabbed the survival bag from the compartment. Sonic moved to the plane's controls. The light that flashed when Nicole spoke was dark. Remembering what his uncle had told him, Sonic removed the fist-sized black box that housed Nicole and the sealed bag that held the portable computer he could download her to. He removed the water ring from the survival bad and flung the bag over his shoulder. Gripping the black box, he pulled the cord on the ring and it quickly inflated. Sonic felt like his lungs were about to explode when the ring pulled him up and his head cleared the water.

"Well that was fun."

Sonic let the waves push him back to shore so he could catch his breath. When he got back to the beach, he walked to the edge of the jungle and dropped the survival bag. He sat down and checked the black box. He had no idea exactly how Nicole worked, but when he opened the sealed top of the box, he could see some lights from working components that gave him hope. The portable computer flipped open to a size roughly twice the size of his hand. A screen dominated the top half and the bottom had touch sensitive buttons. Sonic switch the computer on and thankfully, it appeared to be undamaged and had a full charge.

"Here goes nothing."

He pulled out the cord that would transfer Nicole from the black box and connected it to the computer. He set it down and did the only thing he could do now, wait to see if Nicole was all right after the transfer.

The smell of cooking fish awoke Sally from her sleep. Her head throbbed as she tried to remember what had happened. She remembered hitting the water, but not much after that. Opening her eyes, Sally was surprised to see a wooden roof over her head. She was laying on what felt like canvas and as far as she could tell, she was dry. Sally sat up and found she was in a hut that had been constructed of tree trunks and bits of scrap metal. Her boots and jacket sat on a chair that looked like it was made of cast off vehicle parts. She was still wearing her khaki shorts and tee shirt. Feeling relatively all right, Sally slipped her boots on and headed for the exit. No door, just an opening led the chipmunk to a large wooden deck. She was shocked to find that the hut sat in the middle of a large junk yard. Much of it she recognized as scrap from vehicles and other devices that mobians on the main island used, also various other bits she didn't recognize. Near the edge of the deck, a cooking pit made of stone had been set up. A fire was roaring in the pit, underneath a metal grill that had a few fishes cooking on it. A purple walrus was sitting next to the fire. He was dressed in a yellow jumpsuit and a yellow cap sat backwards on his head. Sally was surprised to see one here considering that mobian walruses herds chose to live outside of the mobian area, near the southern poll of the planet.

"Hello?"

The walrus seemed startled by her voice and nearly fell over. "Oh, you're awake." His voice was a lot softer than his large frame would have suggested.

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me."

"No problem. I was out gathering fish when I spotted you floating near the island. You were clinging to a piece of an airplane's wing."

"You didn't happen to find anyone else."

"No, just you. I looked for any other wreckage, but didn't find any. You must have floated away from the crash site. Count yourself lucky you weren't dragged out into the ocean. Were there others with you?"

"Yes. A coyote and a hedgehog. We were attacked while traveling to Mobotropolis."

"Wow! Any idea who attacked you?"

"Not a clue." Sally sat down on the deck near the walrus. "Sorry, you rescued me and I didn't even ask you your name."

"My name is Rotor." He flipped the fish over. "Your probably wondering why I am here."

"Kind of."

"I wound up here kind of like you did. My herd was attacked and I was separated from my family. I drifted for some time before finding this place. I wanted to build a boat using some of this scrap, but don't have the proper tools to make one that could last until I reached the arctic."

"Sorry to hear about that." Sally looked around at the scrapyard. "Where did all this stuff come from?"

Rotor shrugged. "A large automated hover barge dumps this stuff every few days. After that a few strange robots appear, pull several pieces out of what was dumped, and carry it off."

"Strange robots?"

"They were large robotic crabs with a few robotic wasps flying around them. I try to give them a wide birth."

"We were attacked by a swarm of robotic wasps. Can you show me where they come from?"

"I never followed them, but we are do for another barge soon."

"Thanks. I have got to find out where those things came from."

Antoine had woken up on a beach, with a piece of wing still clutched in his hands. After wandering around the beach until the sun got unbearable, he started to walk through the jungle. All the while calling out for Sally. He tripped over a fallen tree and fell down a small hill. He mumbled some curses as he got back to his feet. He nearly fell back down. A metal crab that was taller than him was glaring at him with cold robotic eyes.

"He….l…lo. So…sssssorry. I w…illlll just be on mmmmy way."

The crab's claws opened and began to move towards him. Antoine took off in a panic run while screaming. He ran until he stepped into a snare and it quickly pulled him off his feet and he dangled a few feet above the ground. The crab tore through the jungle and stopped in front of the coyote. Before Antoine could begin to beg, he was suddenly spun around so he faced a human woman dressed head to toe in red armor.

"Oh please miss, I am so sorry I have trespassed. Please don't let the metal crab eat me."

"Shut up."

"Oh, yes shutting up."

The woman shoved the barrel of her rifle into Antoine's gut. "Your just lucky live bait works better than dead."

Antoine gulped and started to hiccup.

Sonic ignored the rumble in his stomach as he waited for the transfer to be finished. He was unsure why it was taking so long, but refused to move until it was finished. The portable computer beeped as the lights inside the black box went dark. The screen on the computer glowed a soft blue.

"Nicole?"

"I am here Sonic. Sorry about the wait, but I never had to completely download myself into the portable unit before. I had to compact several of my memory files to insure I had enough memory to function at full capacity. I suggest you keep the computer in low power mode until you secure a place to recharge."

"Sure." Sonic closed the computer and clipped it to his belt. "Now we have to figure out if the others are here as well." His stomach growled. "And find something to eat."

"If you managed to salvage the survival pack from the plane, it contains some water purification tablets and powdered meals. Not the most tasteful of meals, but it should keep you going for a few days."

"Joy." Sonic flung the pack over his shoulder. "I'll find us a place to rest for the night and we can go looking for the others tomorrow. I just hope they are alright."