Chapter 2: The Meteor

March 1st, AD 2153, 8:13 AM.

Location: Top Secret Research Facility, Robotnik Enterprises, Somewhere in North America.

Dr. Ivan awoke with a start to the sound of the buzzing intercom jarring his skull. He felt awful; his head felt like it was a balloon filled with too much air. Blinking owlishly, the Doctor fumbled for the light switch near his bedside. Some ill-conceived bastard must've thought it was funny to wake him up with a priority alert call.

He punched the intercom button. I will make sure that the son of a bitch who woke me up will be hanging from the top of a flag pole by his shoelaces. Damn, my head hurts. Damn that bastard to hell for waking me up. How am I supposed to run a revolution when I can't even receive a full night's sleep?

"What are you doing waking me up now?!" He thundered into intercom, "Don't you know that I do not wish to be disturbed at this hour?!" The headache definitely didn't help with his short temper. His face was beet red once again, and his flamboyant red mustache flared out from his intimidating face.

"Um… Sir?" The intercom clerk nervously spoke, "Mr. Smith sent you a high priority message to you over an hour ago. I didn't want to disturb you earlier, but he messaged me saying that it was urgent, so I rang the intercom now. Check your message box, sir."

With a bit of effort, the doctor slowly regained his composure, although his head was still throbbing. "Thank you, for alerting me to the fact. I will read it at once, since I have nothing better to do now."

Walking over to the nearest wall, he spoke again, this time addressing his stateroom computer. "Computer Activate. Name: Dr. Ivan O. Robachnovitch. Alias: Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Password: Delta Shade 6. Security Level: 10."

There was a brief burst of light as the computer acknowledged the commands, and then hundreds of tiny black specks swarmed out of a small tube implanted into the ceiling. They shimmered and shifted, until the Nano-bots had arranged themselves into the shape of touch screen. The black screen moved along the side of the wall until it was right in front of Dr. Ivan. Then the screen flashed white, and the OS was Booted. Five seconds later, the touch screen was active, and a clear robotic voice said in reply, "Activation successful. No problems detected. Welcome, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, access is granted to you. Accessing email… please wait…access successful. You have 1 new message, from Mr. Smith, Chairman of the Aviation and Aerospace Department." He opened the letter and began to read.

To all whom this may concern,

At exactly 0200 hours today, Central Daylight time, a large meteorite crashed near this installation. Many people did not hear the crash as this building is effective at blocking out most sound, but the tremors were felt by all those awake, including me. I immediately assembled a small platoon of scouts, and after careful consideration, I decided to accompany them to the crash site. I have a personal interest in these kinds of things.

What we found was a half mile wide crater of smoldering debris not even 100 miles away from this research facility. Although this base is underground, I am surprised that the crash didn't damage the facility in any significant way. This meteorite proved to be even more astounding when my team found that any meteor that can create a crater this small would've naturally burned up in the atmosphere, and that there was still some remains of the original meteor towards the center of the crater.

When we examined the material at the center of the blast radius, it appeared to be made of a diamond like substance, but glowed unnaturally. Every few minutes, the color of the crystal changed, and we all inexplicably felt the energy radiating from it. My weariness from lack of sleep immediately fell away, and it seemed, that I could do almost anything. It felt like that I was filled to the brim with energy. I wonder if this crystal could be used in the Chaos Reactor. Is this a sample of the Chaotic Crystalline substance that Professor Gerald wrote about in his journal?

I returned from the scouting trip at 0330 hours, and then ordered an immediate retrieval team to the site. I sent a request to the research department to perform some tests on the crystal samples so I can alter and adjust the designs for the Chaos Reactor as needed. Knowing that you wished to be informed immediately on any information concerning the Chaos Reactor, I sent this message to you as a high priority message. To the department heads, I sent it as a standard priority message. With your permission of course, I request a meeting of the General Council to be held as soon as possible.

Your trusted Lieutenant,

Jacob A. Smith

Doctor Ivan smiled. This was the kind of thing that could speed up his plans for Revolution drastically. It would take at least a year for the Chaos Reactor to be built, tested, and refined, but this was a start.

His headache didn't trouble him anymore, for his mind was on other matters now. He turned on the intercom and spoke. "Send a high priority alert to all members of the General Council. Tell them that I am calling an emergency meeting, and to assemble in the council room in thirty minutes. Like I've said many times before, before, it is 'time to kick it into overdrive!'"