He could make a friendly face and a smile under a white mustache. Shadow looked around this dream world he was thinking of. He was back on the ARK, and he could see the Earth far below him in his glorious blueness.
"You see Shadow, the world is not a simple place. I want you to understand that people are basically good, but sometimes they infect their goodness with pain or greed. To do right in such a world means to move beyond desires such as these. Every situation has context, and to respond best, you must know what the context is. If you act without knowing the context, you cannot prevail you can only punish," said the voice.
"Professor Gerald?" questioned Shadow.
"Punishment is a dangerous road that can lead places we did not intend," said the voice of Gerald Robotnik.
"So how do I find the context?" asked Shadow.
"Look at the evidence. ALL of the evidence. Don't get wrapped up in premade theories. The world behaves as it is, not like we wish it to be. Oddities may not be oddities. Accept all the information and you can move forward," said the voice Professor Gerald.
"All of the evidence…" murmured Shadow. The Ark and the Professor disappeared and Shadow was suddenly in a green field with pretty cherry blossoms blowing around. He ignored that part as he could see figures forming out of the blossoms. One was Bark, one was the GUN Commander, one was Tails, and another was Amy.
"You are a mercenary. The Doctor does not use mercenaries, he uses his own robots to achieve his ends," said Shadow to the form of Bark. "Also the Doctor has never captured Sonic the Hedgehog but once and he immediately tried to kill him that time. He would not hold Sonic captive."
"And you," said Shadow turning to the GUN Commander. "You said the President was not attacked, which means all the invaders wanted was the supercomputer. They used it to send robots to various points, but not all those points were locations of Sonic's friends. Nor did those robots make much effort to secure those areas once they were there."
"So that means they are looking for something," said Shadow as he turned toward Tails and Amy. "Except for that one guy who took the chaos emerald, none of the others showed any interest in Rouge's house when there was an emerald hidden there. They aren't looking for chaos emeralds, but they are looking for something related to Sonic's friends."
"I'm missing something, some piece of information I don't have yet," said Shadow, looking at Amy. "Only way to know for sure is to find the echidna."
"What?" asked Amy's voice.
Shadow began to regain consciousness. The drugs must be leaving his system. He felt himself moving. He was in a car. His eyes came full open. He was in a blanket laying over the knees of Vanilla, Cream, and Amy with his head in Amy's lap.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"You're in a car on the way to the GUN base," said Amy Rose. "It's good to see you awake."
"Hi Mr. Shadow, we were worried," said Cream.
"Where's Tails?" asked Shadow suddenly.
"He's driving the car," said Amy.
"Where did we get a car?" asked Shadow.
"Gemeril borrowed one. We weren't going to stay in my apartment forever," said Amy. "We have to find Sonic."
Shadow supposed it didn't matter if Gemeril had snuck out and stolen a car or if he, Tails, and Amy had fought their way out and gotten a car. They would get to GUN base quickly, and then Shadow could…could…but then he was out again succumbing to the warmness of the blanket.
He woke up for the second time in the medical ward. In the room with him was the GUN Commander sitting in the chair and Amy Rose sitting by the bed.
"I didn't know you cared," said Shadow.
"I don't. The two rabbits did not have much information that we could use. The fox is back at the computer to see if he can lick that virus and look for any enemy communications on Eggman's network. He's a determined kid, I'll give him that," said the GUN Commander. "So what have you got to report?"
"It's not the Doctor. The pattern is all wrong. Someone is controlling his robots, yes, but they are not after Sonic or his friends but something connected to them," said the black hedgehog.
"The chaos emeralds?" asked the GUN Commander.
"No, they did not target Rouge's house. I don't know what they are after, but I don't think they are a direct threat to GUN," said Shadow.
"What about the weasel guy?" asked Amy.
"Yeah, some purple weasel guy IS after chaos emeralds. He avoided the robots though, so he's not connected to that. He had a gun and a hat," said Shadow. "Shot me with some sort of tranquilizer dart."
"Fang the Sniper. Jewel thief and mercenary at times for the right price. We once considered making him an agent but we hired Rouge instead. Didn't like his connection to Eggman," said the GUN Commander.
"Why is he called the sniper if he carries a pistol?" asked Amy.
"Who knows, naming conventions for private operatives are like advertising. Now Shadow, just because you say GUN is not the target does not mean that I am going to reduce the defenses around the government center of the city. The president's life is more important than you being right or wrong right now," said the GUN Commander.
"Just be careful about declaring martial law," said Shadow.
"Martial law? Shadow the Hedgehog, you know I believe in civil command over the military," said the GUN Commander.
"Sometimes I wonder," answered Shadow.
"I don't have to listen to this. If you have some paranoid fantasies, fine. Just don't involve GUN in them," said the GUN Commander and he got up from his seat and walked out of the room leaving Shadow and Amy alone.
"That was harsh," said Amy.
"Perhaps, but if the Doctor is not calling the shots, then someone is. No one has better access than the GUN Commander to pull off something like this," noted Shadow.
"You don't really believe that," calmly answered Amy.
"Why not?" questioned Shadow.
"Because you would not have brought us here if you did," said Amy.
"Maybe you're right," said Shadow. He noted for the first time an IV bag hanging on a roller next to his bed. He could feel his alien blood stimulated and working to heal him. Only GUN had that drug, and if he was a threat, the Commander would not have given it to him.
"So what happens now?" asked Amy. "How do we find Sonic?"
"We need to talk to the echidna. There are Eggman robots on the island and we need to find out what they are doing," said Shadow, suddenly impatient.
"You're not in any shape to do that," noted Amy.
"I'm not dead. I'm getting better," said Shadow.
"Still, Tails and I should go. You need to continue to get rest. I will send Cream to watch over you," said Amy, getting up.
"That's really not necessary…" started Shadow, but Amy was gone. About two seconds later Shadow found a blue mass sitting on his chest and smiling at him. Cream and Cheese had come in. The little Chao smiled gleefully for moment and then snuggled on top of Shadow's blanket on top of Shadow's chest. Soon the cooing noises of a sleeping Chao could be heard. The hedgehog was too confined to resist and fell back asleep himself.
Shadow awoke when he felt the weight of the Chao gone from his chest. He looked at the little rabbit sitting on the chair rocking her legs under the chair. She was looking out the door as if something was happening.
"What is happening?" asked Shadow.
"Oh, Mr. Shadow, you're awake again. Mr. Tails and Mr. Commander are having an argument outside with Ms. Amy out there too," said Cream.
"What are they saying?" asked Shadow.
"Mr. Commander wanted to know why they had not brought back either Mr. Knuckles or the Master Emerald. Mr. Tails told him that the robots were more interested in the snow caves of Angel Island and Mr. Knuckles refused to come since they had made no attempt on the Master Emerald," said Cream. "It woke up Cheese."
Not going after the Emerald on Angel Island. That fit into Shadow's idea that it was not Eggman running this thing. So what was so special about the ice caves? The shrine and sanctuary were decorated in iconography, but not the caves. At least Professor Gerald had said that, some fifty years ago.
He yanked the blanket off his arm and it flew on top of Cheese, who was only hovering a few feet away. He got out of the bed, but remembered the IV. He grabbed the rolling rack with the bag on it and headed toward the door. Cream opened it for him even though there was fear in her eyes.
He ignored her and rolled down the hallway toward the main room. He got there and it seemed everyone was surprised to see him.