Chapter 5: A Hint of Memory
Sonic idly chewed the bit of fruit he had found. The forest was full of various fruits, berries and edible roots for those who knew where to look. Sonic had lived on his own for so long he likely could have been a botanist if he had taken the time to hone his skill. It had been several days since he had bolted from the freedom fighters warehouse, having been trounced by Knuckles. He had considered going back and apologizing but his pride forbade it. Who was Knuckles to tell him what to do? "It's not my war. He was just using me." But no matter how much he tried to convince himself a small ache in his heart longed to return.
Thoroughly disgusted with himself he tossed the mostly eaten fruit away and decided he needed to go running to take his mind off things. The woods had proven to be a wonderful training ground. He hadn't been able to achieve full speed with so many obstacles coming at him, but finding new and interesting ways to avoid them had become a new favorite past time.
Sonic blasted off, leaving a small cloud of dust in his wake. Side stepping trees, leaping over bushes, sliding under fallen logs, it was almost to much to handle, but not quite. The foliage bowed as he passed, the leaves blown back by his wake soon after. No sonic booms rang through the forest, but Sonic still had a blast for a good while. Eventually he stopped by a wide stream for a drink of water, and perhaps a shallow dip to cool off. As he finished his second handful of water, he heard a slight whirring sound just above him.
Looking up quickly and immediately on guard he saw a small robot, about the size of a soccer ball, hovering just above the canopy. The center lens was clearly its optical receptor. It was approaching at a leisurely pace and staring directly at the blue hedgehog.
"Hope you got a good look, 'cause that's the last thing you're going to see." Said Sonic preparing to leap and smash
"Hold aggressive response. This unit is non-hostile and incapable of combat. End line."
Sonic hesitated. "You're just trying to trick me."
"Negative. This unit holds a message for 'Experiment 01'. Please allow time for play back. End line."
"Experiment 01?" said Sonic. "What are you babbling about little drone?"
"Clarification requested. Stand by." Replied the little bot. Sonic was quickly become irritated. He could barely understand the machine though its garbled mechanical voice emulator.
"Requested information found: Experiment 01 description: Erinaceus albiventris, abnormal azure coloration, emerald iris coloration, tan underbelly, often wears red and white sneakers, capable of immense speed…."
"Ok, ok I get it, I'm experiment 01." Interrupted Sonic. "What do you mean experiment? I'm no ones guinea pig, I'm a hedgehog for starters and I've…." Sonic stopped, sudden realization hitting him. "You mean Robotnik don't you? Robotnik's experiment."
"Affirmative. Experiment 01 is property of Master Rototnik. End Line"
"Hey! I'm no one's property!" shouted Sonic. The robot did not attempt to correct him, but simply floated in place. After a few moments, it spoke again.
"Your presence is requested at location undefined. To facilitate this request this unit is prepared to lead you to location undefined. End Line."
"And why on Mobius would I follow a self admitted Robo-slave?" said Sonic now looking rather bored with this whole situation.
"Query Response: As per Experiment 01's profile, it is believed it is unaware of its past and my suffer from acute amnesia. Location Undefined contains information regarding Experiment 01's past and prime directive. End Query Response."
Sonic considered his options. It was true he could not remember anything beyond about 3 years ago. He had never given it much thought, never needed to. It wasn't that it didn't strike him as strange, far from it. It was more like…whenever he thought about it his mind sort of wandered off somewhere else. Considering it now even that became apparently strange.
"Can…can this location tell me why I can't remember anything? Why I can't even think about remembering anything?"
"Query Response: Unknown, this unit does not contain that information. End Query Response."
Sonic sighed, becoming more frustrated. "Why would you do this? It's not like you feel bad for me."
"Query Response: This unit is under direct orders to extend this invitation and opportunity to Experiment 01. If Experiment 01 refuses no further action is to be taken. End Query Response."
"And if I come with you? What then?" said Sonic finding himself more and more curious.
"Query Response: This unit will then lead you to Location Undefined, where further queries can be presented by Experiment 01 to a more knowledgeable unit. End Query Response."
Like most things he did Sonic was quick to respond. "Fine lead the way, but no funny stuff or you're scrap."
"Confirmed." Replied the bot and zipped off.
Momentarily surprised by the bot's sudden departure he blasted off after it. He caught up with it easily. The little bot lead him through the woods. After several hours the woods yielded to grasslands. Sonic wanted to pour on the speed, but the little bot maintained a constant velocity.
"Hey trash can. Can't you go any faster? I'm getting bored down here."
"Query Response: This unit has attained maximum speed. End Query Response."
Sonic could almost sing along with its verbal mannerisms now. "Yeah, well this is going to be lame moving at this speed the whole way….End line." He muttered to himself.
They spend the day traveling. Once the sun began to set the bot stopped suddenly.
"Light sensors indicated inadequate amounts of ambient light for high speed ground travel. Travel will resume when ambient light is sufficient. End Line."
Sonic rolled his eyes. "You could just say it's getting late, let's take a break." When the bot did not respond, sonic made a mattress out of the long grass and laid down to sleep. Several minutes after sun rose the little bot spoke again.
"Light sensors indicate adequate ambient light levels for high speed ground travel. Travel will now resume. End Line."
Somewhat groggy Sonic leaped to his feet. Stretched his legs a bit and let the floating annoyance get some distance ahead of him. With a slight smirk he took off at top speed after the bot. He caught up much too fast and spend most of the rest of the day trying to find ways to pass the time other than run at what he considered a leisurely pace. He ran backwards, zig-zagged past the bot, ran circles around it, eventually even that lost its entertainment value and he found his mind wandering back to Heartwood.
He could not convince himself that he did not care, they were the only people he could remember ever being nice to him, welcoming him into their community. True it was because Knuckles wanted him for their little war, but not all of them knew that. Tails didn't know that, and he still liked and looked up to the blue hedgehog. It occurred to Sonic that he had never said good bye to the little two tailed fox. He must have felt betrayed and angry. Sonic frowned. Then there was Sally, he had come to terms with the fact that he was attracted to her and part of him wanted to know if he could get closer to her. It wasn't love, not really, just a curiosity for now, but perhaps it could be some day? Right?
Sonic shook his head. Romantic thoughts? From this speedy little terror? Yea right.
Soon the bot had stopped for the day and Sonic quickly gathered up some edible roots for a light diner and then sleep.
The third day brought them to a beach and the ocean. Sonic found himself having a bit of déjà vu. However before he could pin the feeling down, the bot turned 90 degrees and headed out over the waves. Sonic stopped hard, cutting two trenches in the sand with his feet.
"Hey! I can't swim! How do I follow you over the water? Hey! Heyyyyy!" but the bot continued on.
"Well that's a bummer." He said and sat down in the sand. He had hoped the little bot would have come back for him, but after an hour of drawing in the sand with his finger it was apparent it was not.
"Well that was a complete waste of time." He said, but as he got up he found himself thinking about running over the water, not just thinking…remembering. He stared over the glistening blue water. It couldn't be that simple could it? If he failed or faltered, he could find himself one permanently soggy hedgehog. Sonic was a notoriously bad swimmer and was known to have nightmares about drowning.
"Well its ether that…or never find out…" he said to himself.
Sonic gave himself a generous amount of land to build up some speed, stretched his legs and bounced on his feet quite a bit more than needed, and when he finally had build up enough nerve he closed his eyes and went for it, a sonic boom trailing behind him. He ran blind for a few moments, then peeked to find himself running across the water like it was solid ground. His eyes bolted open with excitement. Looking back he saw a massive plume of water trailing after him a huge wake behind that. With a whoop of pure joy he activated the rings on his wrists and really turned loose.
The cool spray of the ocean was wonderful, the salty air a welcome treat. Sonic ate up the distance and soon could see a small lad mass approaching and…something in the water? Sonic realized what is was just a hair to late, a mine. The explosion knocked him off his feet and sent him skipping across the water, had he not been going as fast as he was the explosion would have torn him in half.
Keeping his mind focused was an epic feat, but Sonic was just able to twist his body in such a way to get his feet back under him, stumble back into a rhythm and stay above the waves. Releasing his panic with his held breath, Sonic continued his race with physics.
As he got closer and closer to the island more and more mines appeared, just canceled by the waves. Suddenly Sonic found himself very grateful for all the tree dodging he had been doing the past few days. He found he was even able to set off the mines safely and for his amusement with the trailing water plume and wake.
Finally he got close enough to the island to be in the shallows, he slowed down and dipped down into the water to his waist and waded to the beach ware the tiny bot was waiting for him. Behind it was a low steel structure with an open door.
"They thanks for the help, and warning me about the explosive welcome mat, really appreciate it." Said Sonic, malice thick in his voice.
"Undefined Location reached. Please enter the facility at your leisure…"
"End Line." Sonic said with it unamused.
Sonic moved to the stout steel structure. It was unremarkable with a single open door way, he noticed two halves of what were once the door were splayed on the ground, torn open as if they had been made of tin.
Entering the doorway revealed a long semi-lit tunnel that ended in an elevator shaft. Sonic leaped to the opposite wall, then to the other, and back again, keeping his decent slowed and under control. At the bottom of the shaft were the remains of what may have once been a platform elevator, but were now just bits of jagged metal. A painted label on the wall indicated this was sub level 1. Continuing his search revealed very little. Most of the other rooms he encountered were ether robot workshops or various maintenance access ports. Sonic felt as if he were being lead by some invisible force, almost like he knew where he was going, retracing the steps of some long forgotten dream.
After descending a few more levels Sonic found himself on sub level 5 and wandered into a circular room with various tubes, large enough to hold a full grown Mobian, lining the walls. Next to them were several steel tanks with peeling labels that Sonic could not decipher. A computer monitoring station squatted on one wall, with complex looking controls and multiple screens, all of which were turned off now. An ominous steel table sat in the center of the room, bolted to metal grating. Arrays of horrible metal tools were poised over the table attached to robotic arms that were in turn bolted a central hub on the ceiling.
"It's like coming home isn't it hedgehog?" said a voice behind Sonic that made him jump.
Through the same door Sonic had entered came a portly man, dressed in a red, black and yellow suit with spiked shoulder guards. The bottom portion being black, the top portion being red along with the shoulder guards. Where the man's belly protruded most the yellow formed a circle with the center cut out to show black, connected to yellow lines running up to the man's neck, down the opposite direction past his waste, as well as another line that wrapped around him like a belt, all this forming a sort of plus sign. On his back was a yellow cape that trailed dramatically behind him. His boots looked remarkably heavy, likely full of tech, and made from some high strength alloy. Simple black gloves covered his hands and a huge orange mustache sprouted from just under his nose reaching past his cheeks and standing at attention as though it was afraid to droop, fairing at the ends like old broom bristles. The man's bald head shone with a slight glare in the dim light. Despite all of this flamboyant garb, the thing that drew Sonic's attention most here the eyes, those terrible, red, glowing pupils set against malicious black. These were not the eyes of an organic being, but they eyes of a robot, set into the sockets of a terrible man. A man bent on domination, a man who delighted in pain, a man called Dr. Robotnik.
"Home? Not me. I don't have a home, I just go where the wind takes me." Replied Sonic.
Behind Dr. Robotnic entered seven of the humanoid robots with domed heads and red slits for eyes, already they had weapons drawn. Sonic scowled.
"Oh, my dear boy, don't be put off by these old things, they are just some protection for a feeble, paranoid old man." Looking almost hurt that Sonic would think he was up to no good.
"What do you want Robotnik? I know it was your bot that lead me here, but I expected a computer bank or something, not the head honcho himself." Said Sonic, lowering his guard just a bit.
"That is true," said Robotnik, "I instructed the little sky spy to lead you here, but no data bank here holds the information you seek. Only I; Dr. Ivo Robotnik posses the knowledge that you seek." As he spoke Robotnik paced around the room moving closer to the blue hedgehog, Sonic unconsciously circling with him as if in a showdown.
"I went to a lot of trouble to get you here, reactivating and repairing the power conduits that lead to this submarine facility, resupplying it with air. I'm afraid the repairs are not quite complete, I had hoped to have this facility back to 100% operating efficiency before you arrived but alas you arrived a few days earlier that I had anticipated. Quite impressive I might add, but now I'm rambling. This meeting is about you, not me. So ask, ask me your questions and will answer you to the best of my ability." Said Robotnik
Sonic thought for a few moments, he knew what he wanted to know, but he felt silly. What was he doing here? Was he really talking with Dr. Robotnik?
"I want to know…who I am." Said Sonic almost to himself.
"Who you are my dear boy? Well that is a philosophical question for the ages I'm afraid, who are any of us? More accurately I believe you are asking me, where did you come from. Am I correct? Or perhaps, what is your purpose?"
Sonic was rather put off by Robotnik's condescending tone, this man acted like he was talking to a child, or a particularly dull student.
"Yeah, that's right." Said Sonic, not thinking of anything clever to say.
"The short answer is that you came from here, this room in fact. I made you, just as I make all my other robots. I fabricated the parts, I assimilated them into a single functioning body, I programmed your mind to control those parts."
Sonic was speechless, and could only stammer incomprehensibly.
"Your purpose, at first, was to explore the path of organic robotics. After all, what are beings like myself or Mobians but robots comprised of flesh and bone instead of steel and silicone? In theory if I could create the parts, keep them in working order and assemble them correctly, why couldn't I create an organic android?"
Sonic felt a heavy stone forming in his gut.
"As I closed in on the actual construction phase, it occurred to me that, like other robots I had created, I could make an organic robot that specialized in one field, in your case; speed. A bit overzealous I admit, after all, all my theories and methods were only on paper, but I'm not where I am now because of poor decision making and overestimating my abilities."
Sonic shook his head in disbelief.
"Oh yes, you were the culmination of all these theories. After several failed attempts and construction, I was finally able to build an organic robot that survived, you. Unfortunately my theories on organic programming proved to be… lacking, to say the least. Upon activation, you panicked, destroyed your handlers, stole technology that was being studied in another part of the lab," Robotnik motioned to the rings on Sonic's wrists. "and fled the facility before reinforcements could be called."
"I…I…" Sonic was dumb founded but suddenly found his voice. "I AM NOT A ROBOT!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, his cry echoing far into the facility.
"Not in the traditional sense I suppose." Replied the portly man, unmoved by the burst of emotion. "But not much different than others I have created."
"No, no! you can't… you…you're lying!" yelled Sonic.
"You came here to learn the truth; I arranged this meeting so that you could do just that. I didn't have to. I could have simply had you killed, which I would have done if you were simply some freedom fighter, but I'm more interested in continuing my research in the field of organic robotics. Come with me hedgehog, come with me and we can find a purpose for you, a place in my mechanical army. Learn your true potential together."
Sonic shook his head in disbelief. Robotnik moved to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly fire burned in the green eyes of the hedgehog.
"My name is Sonic, and I'll find my OWN purpose!" with astonishing speed Sonic ducked out from Robotnik's grasp, spun on the floor, kicking over one of the large metal tanks behind them, and dashed through the entourage of guards with a blue energy field summoned by the rings and was in the hall before the huge metal tank had hit the floor, but before it hit the floor it hit something else.
Sonic heard Robotnik cry out in agony as the tank crushed the arm that had been holding his shoulder.
"Get him! GET HIM YOU FOOLS! Don't let him escape!"
Suddenly the corridor was full of the humanoid robots, before they could register the threat, most of them were blasted apart by the blue missile racing down the path they had stepped into. Not remembering the path he had gone to get there, and unable to read the labels at the speed he was going, Sonic soon found himself quite lost, and then cornered.
He stopped dead in what appeared to be some kind of traffic control station, with massive glass windows looking off into the endless ocean depths. Within moments the room was filled with the robot guards. The room was too small to build up much momentum, and Sonic was sure they would blast him before he could take out very many of them. He picked up a large wrench that happened to be sitting on one of the panels. If robots could laugh, Sonic knew they would be doing so.
"Any last words hedgehog?" asked the lead bot as they raised there weapons.
"Yea," said Sonic with a smirk. "Surf's up."
And with that he hurled the heavy wrench at the glass, shattering it. Hundreds of gallons of water erupted into the room in seconds. Sonic was rolled, tossed and twisted in the turbulent water loosing any sense of up or down, left and right. When he finally stopped spinning he found himself out in the open water. He stifled his panic, and began to swim towards what he hoped was dry land. The sea floor soon came up to meet him. Covered in various strange looking plants and multicolored coral. It was beautiful, but went unappreciated by the slowly suffocating hedgehog.
He bolted for the surface, lungs burning for precious air, but has he came close to the surface he noticed various flying machines combing the water. With no other option but to drown, Sonic broke the surface, force the stagnant air out, and gulped a mouthful of fresh air into his lungs before immediately diving back under the surface followed closely by several laser bolts. Luckily, such bolts lose most of their energy only several feet under water as the refraction scattered the light.
Sonic swam frantically, not knowing exactly where he was going. The measly gulp of air he had swallowed was running out rapidly, but he knew the war bots above would be tracing him now, and would not miss the next time he came up. Starting to panic he suddenly noticed a stream of bubbles from the ocean floor. Sonic dove, and his efforts were rewarded. A huge pipe was laying on the ocean floor, a label marked O2 showed him it was exactly what he wanted.
Holding his nose, sonic sealed his mouth around the source of the bubbles and drank in the sweet air. Now of a sounder mind, Sonic looked around and saw the pipe leading off toward what he hoped was the shore. The pipe was in bad shape and was leaking air all along its path. Sonic smiled to himself and began moving slowly (for him) along the bottom of the ocean, stopping at his leisure to breathe some air. Looking up, the light was fading, meaning the sun was starting to go down. Perhaps, if he could find shore, he could lose the war bots in the night, and if the pained ranting of Dr. Robotnik later in his fortress was any indication, he did just that.