Reversion
by Asher Tye
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sonic, I own nothing of Tails, I own nothing typically recognized as belonging to Sega. I wish I did, but I don't… ::Sad Face::
Author's Note: Merlin's Disease is not a real disease, but I do feel I should give credit to my source anyway, Dan Simmons who wrote theHyperion Cantos series. I've changed the characteristics of the sickness somewhat, but as Hyperion is where I first encountered it, I don't want to step on any toes. I should also point out that this story jumps back and forth between the past and the present. I'll provide break-ups for it, but I hope it isn't too confusing.
I gotta say I'm impressed. This is actually the most reviews a story of mine has ever started out with. Sorry this took longer than the last chapter; of course this is also a longer chapter too, so I think it evens out. Also there has been some concern as to whether or not this story belongs in the angst section. While it may seem happiness is pervading throughout the pass sequences, I should point out that they are in the past, whereas the present is their conclusion. There will be angst in this story, but it's shaping up to be further along than I'd anticipated. In the meantime, enjoy Sonic getting used to his new life.
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Present
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"Miles Prower, the Doctor is ready to see you now," the nurse said as she opened the door leading back to the examination rooms. Quickly Sonic stood up, holding his lifelong friend by the hand as he guided the somewhat reluctant fox forward, Amy following behind. The pink hedgehog's eyes cast a glance all about them at the somewhat bewildered faces of the other patients in the waiting room, obviously just a little curious as to why what appeared to be a young fox boy has been taken to what is obviously not a pediatrician's office. As Amy entered the back area, an aged wolf wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope suddenly stepped before her, blocking her way.
"I'm sorry madam, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to wait in the waiting…" Before the wolf could finish, Sonic intervened.
"It's okay Dr. Labris," the hedgehog said. "She's a friend of ours." The wolf looked back and forth between the two hedgehogs for a moment before casting a wary, almost hesitant glance towards Tails. For a few moments both canidids looked at each other and Amy could almost swear Labris was looking towards the boy for approval. Before she could find out, however, the lupine doctor's attention was recaptured by Sonic. "Doc, you know me, I wouldn't just drag along a gawker."
"Very well Sonic," the doctor relented. "If you'll follow me this way, we'll be using examination room three today." So saying, the two hedgehogs and one fox followed Dr. Labris to the designated room, with the wolf doctor pulling forth a fairly thick looking manila folder, the name "Prower, Miles" on its tab. Sonic and Amy took a seat on the two chairs provided in the room as Tails stood at nearby. For a few minutes the wolf's attention was completely focused on the file he held, checking it for accuracy as he ticked off items. "Name; Miles Theodore Prower, age; eight years, species; red fox, sex; male…" Shortly gray eyes removed themselves from the paper to stare at the fox in question. "If you would please remove your garments and step on the scales, we can begin…" Obediently Tails complied, handing his winter gear with Sonic who quickly folded it up before moving over to the scale. Quickly Dr. Labris worked the small device, taking in both the fox's height and weight. "Forty pounds at two feet, three inches." Sonic winced at this revelation; Tails had lost a full four inches… and an additional pound for each one. Suddenly the larger Mobian lifted the young fox from the floor and gently placed him on the examination table. Carefully Labris worked, giving the young vulpine a thorough check up, examining his nose, his eyes, his ears, and his throat. Tails let loose a squeal when the doctor's cold stethoscope touched his bare chest, even with the wolf blowing a hot breath on the cold metal. Soon the fox boy found himself lying down on his back, Labris running a gentle hand over his chest and belly as he checked for any sort of anomalies.
"You've been bathing every day correct?" he asked of his youthful patient as he did a quick scan of the fur around Tails's ears and muzzle. "Keeping yourself free of fleas and mites, right?"
"Yes doctor, just like Sonic tells me to," Tails responded, growing more than a little bored with this whole exercise. For the briefest moment, Dr. Labris looked like he was unconvinced. If he had any reservations, however, he chose not to act on them, instead walking over to a small tray sitting on the sink nearby.
"Very well, then before we head downstairs for your MRI, I only need two more things, a blood and urine sample." At this Tails's head suddenly snapped towards the wolf's direction, his eyes widened at what he'd just heard.
"B…blood? You… want my blood?!" the kit gulped, his fertile mind already envisioning all sorts of ways a doctor could take such a sample from him. These visions were intensified as the doctor turned around holding an empty syringe in his hand. Immediately ever strand of fur on the kit's body stood rigid at once as he gave a short jump backwards. "Needle! No needle! NO NO NEEDLE!" the terrified boy exclaimed.
"Tails calm down," Sonic said as he went over to his young friend and placed a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder. "It's not going to hurt, you'll see."
"It's a needle and it's going to go in me, how is that not supposed to hurt?" Tails countered as he immediately skittered as far away from the wolf and his needle as the table would permit. Unfortunately, at least from the kit's position, this put him right into Sonic's arms and the hedgehog was quick to take full advantage, wrapping himself around his two-tailed companion's limbs to keep him from moving more.
"Kid, I know you don't like needles but… ah!" Sonic's words were cut off as Tails began to struggle and twist in his guardian's restraining embrace. Two limbs had a difficult time containing six, though Sonic did note that his best friend refrained from employing claws and fangs in order to get loose. Finally though, Sonic was able to hold him still long enough for Dr. Labris tie a rubber cord around his upper arm. At this time Tails began to bawl, whimper, and cry shrilly, attempting to force Sonic to release him so that he could escape and making Sonic wish he'd been born with an extra set of hands rather than blue quills so he could cover his ears. Amy watched the whole scene with a slight amusement of her own, quietly remembering some of her own check-ups with a doctor, and her brother's less than stoic behavior in the face of the dreaded needle.
So busily was Tails carrying on and struggling that he did not notice it as the ultra-sharp tip of the needle finally penetrated the skin of his wrist, Dr. Labris's aim proving true enough to easily puncture a sub-dermal blood vessel. Slowly the clear tubing of the syringe began to fill with a red, viscous liquid, the sight of which made Sonic feel just a little ill as he held his whimpering teammate. It took less than five seconds before the doctor had all the blood he needed and pulled the sharp point free from the child, though to Tails it no doubt felt like an eternity.
"There, all done," the lupine physician announced as he removed the actual needle from the syringe and capped the vial that now held the fox's blood. Carefully he placed the liquid onto a rack before tossing the needle into the hazardous waste disposal bag. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" The streaks of tears that still showed under the young Prower's eyes told the doctor that he wasn't about to sway the kid. Inwardly the wolf thanked his lucky stars that he had no other underage patients. Miles Prower was a special case and he was only willing to put up with the headache of treating him for that reason. Quickly Labris grabbed a specimen cup and held it up for the trio to see. "I assume you remember what you have to do with this?" More than a little embarrassed over the spectacle he'd made of himself, Tails disentangled himself from Sonic's now compliant arms and nodded, wiping his face clean as he did so. "Very well, there is a bathroom to your left three doors down the hall. Once you've finished simply come back here and give me the cup." The fox took said receptacle in his hand and somberly made his way out of the room, casting a single glance for reassurance back at Sonic.
"'T's okay, kiddo, we'll just be talking to the doc," Sonic said, smiling at the boy as he closed the door. Once Tails was safely gone, the smile dropped from Sonic's face as he turned towards the wolf. "I'm sorry about that, Doc, I didn't think he'd flip out that bad."
"He's just a child, Sonic, and I really don't expect a much different level of behavior where needles are concerned," Labris said calmly. "This is why I never got into pediatric medicine."
"So what's the verdict?" Sonic asked.
"He's gotten physically smaller and lighter since last time I've seen him. I can't say anything definite until I've run some tests on his samples, but he does seem perfectly healthy… for an eight year old fox." Again Sonic's face became downcast at Labris's words. "I'm sorry, but if you were expecting something different then I'm afraid you were doomed to failure." Amy placed a comforting arm on Sonic's shoulder, and for once the blue hedgehog did not recoil when she did.
"I'm guessing there's been no headway made, has there?"
"Miles's condition is a rarity. In all the world there have probably only been fewer than five hundred people who have ever contracted it in recorded history, and I don't know of any others still alive. We've gone as far as medical science can go to find the cure, at least as we currently know."
"So what, you're just going to stop looking?" Sonic asked, getting angry, though he worked to keep his voice from rising in volume. "Have I been wasting my money relying on you, trusting you for all these years?"
"Sonic…" Amy began.
"Stay out of this," Sonic commanded. "We've been paying you for years to help us find a cure, and now you say it's impossible." Labris looked at the hedgehog with the eyes of one who had expected this reaction, his body stiff and rigid as he took in Sonic's accusations.
"I never said a cure was impossible, simply that it wasn't probable at this time," the wolf defended.
"And when will it be probable? In a decade, maybe eight years and a day?" Sonic asked in a hiss. "Tails doesn't have that long."
"I know!" Labris barked. "I know. We are doing everything we can with what we have but technology goes only so far. I would suggest that whatever happens, you try to make the best of the time he does have left… especially before he can no longer enjoy it himself." Suddenly, a faint knocking was heard at the door as it slowly opened.
"I'm done," Tails said as he offered up the specimen cup. Gingerly the wolf took it and placed it on the tray next to the blood sample. "Why were you yelling? Did Sonic do something wrong?" the kit asked, proving that, if he hadn't been listening at the door, he'd at least heard Dr. Labris lose his temper. For the briefest moment the lupine doctor stared at the fox, almost convinced he saw some level of parental annoyance as he spoke.
"I was kinda bugging him, kiddo," Sonic finally said. "What do you say we head on down and finish this whole check up thing, huh, then you can get that hot chocolate?" Whatever parental look the fox's face had held was obliterated at the mention of sweets, much to Labris's disquiet.
"Very well," he said, his voice containing just a hint of dejection as he spoke, though it was apparent only to the two older Mobians. "If you will follow me, we can head downstairs." So saying the procession left examination room three.
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Past: 14 years ago
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"Whoa," Sonic said as he stepped out of the taxi cab and looked at the building that stood before him. Beside him the first of three black bags was placed gently on the ground by the driver as the pint sized hedgehog simply craned his neck upward to take in the majesty of what was the tallest building in all of Station Square City; the Sky Top Towers. "This is your house?" Sonic asked incredulously of his companion as the two tailed fox paid the driver before turning to the latest addition to his family.
"In a sense," Miles admitted. "I own the top floor, not the whole place. But this is where I live."
"And… And I get to live there too?" the hedgehog asked, turning his head back towards the fox as he picked up two of the bags.
"Well it is something of a tradition for children to live with their parents, kiddo, even adopted children," Miles said with a laugh as he walked forward, Sonic walking a little unsteadily behind him, clutching the smallest of his luggage. The vulpine had mentioned he was rich, but Sonic hadn't really anticipated just how rich. He'd gotten something of a hint when, after all the papers had been signed and the fees had been paid, his new father had taken him to the nearby airfield and, rather than purchase a ticket for a plane, had actually walked into the private hangars. The hedgehog could still remember the excitement he felt as he watched the workers pull out a brilliant red plane with the word "Tornado IV" written on it, proclaiming it to be fueled, checked, and ready to go. He'd been even more excited as he was helped into the passenger seat and watched as Miles got into the pilot's one.
As they approached the entry to the tower, a man wearing a red coat with large gold buttons suddenly appeared in their way, taking the handle and opening the door for them.
"Mr. Prower, it's good to see you've returned safely," he said in a polite tone, bowing slightly as the fox passed him. It was something of a surprise to Sonic to hear his new guardian being treated with such deference. As an adult, Miles was of course entitled to some degree of respect where others were concerned, especially when he was actively paying for a service, but this went beyond the call. Back at the hanger, the workers had actually spoken to the fox with a kind of reverence, as if he was someone special, at least in their minds, and now this gentleman held the same sort of veneration in his voice.
"Thank you George, it was an uneventful flight," the vulpine acknowledged back. "Oh yes, this is Sonic, my new son." The human's gaze cast downward to examine the much shorter hedgehog that stood before him, more than a little intimidated by this man's size.
"I see; then I suppose I shall have to begin referring to you as YOUNG Mr. Prower," George said with a smile, using his free hand to carefully pat the boy on the head in a friendly gesture.
"Sonic will do," the hedgehog said, getting back some of his old bravado. "You can call me Sonic mister."
"Mister is what they call my old man," George intoned. "I'll call you Sonic, and you just refer to me as George. It's a pleasure to meet you Sonic." So saying the human held out a hand to shake. Putting his luggage down, Sonic extended his own hand with a smile.
"Sonic, the elevator's here," Miles called as the aforementioned machine's doors opened beside the fox. Realizing he had to hurry up, Sonic nodded a good-bye to his new acquaintance, grabbed his bag, and zipped over to the elevator before it was fully opened. Quickly the two got themselves situated in the small space before Miles pressed the topmost button, causing it to light up. A few seconds later the doors began to close.
"Wait, wait, hold the elevator please!" called a feminine voice, causing Miles to thrust an arm forward to halt the doors' closure. Inside stepped a large woman wearing a pink dress, a pink jacket, and a feather boa about her shoulders. On her head, atop her gray hair, was a large pink hat with a single faux peacock's feather sticking out of its top. "Oh thank you, thank you, dear boy, I was afraid I would miss this car and have to wait for the next one," she said as she panted from having to make her bulk move quickly enough to catch up, an arm held to her chest. Suddenly her blue eyes focused on who she was sharing the car with and her flushed face brightened up with delight. "Miles! Oh dear boy you've finally returned!" Her tired state, and the cramped quarters she'd found herself in, proved to be no deterrent for the woman wrap her massive arms around the cornered fox and give him a bone crunching hug.
"Mrs. Axelby," Miles managed to wheeze as the air was driven from his lungs. "When did you come back?" Sonic smiled as he watched the scene, as his new father's eyes bugged out of his head for a moment.
"Oh, only a few days ago, dearheart. I tell you it was the worst cruise I have ever been on," Mrs. Axelby said as she released the fox, and her arms went to feigning distress. "The food was repugnant, the entertainment dull and wearisome… I considered jumping ship when we reached port in Soleanna simply to have something exciting happe…" It was at this point that the theatrical lady noticed the elevator car's third occupant staring up at her. Reaching into her pocked she pulled out a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and delicately put them before her eyes. "And who might you be, darling?" she asked in a sweet voice as she bent over as much as she could to get a better look.
"This is my new son, Mrs. Axelby, Sonic," Miles explained, causing the woman to cast a quick glance at the fox in shock.
"Miles, my dear, I realize I have been away for a while but what have YOU been up to?" she asked with a voice indicative of someone who had been left out of what they were sure was an interesting story. "When I left you were only thinking about adopting a child, still looking into orphanages and whatnot. And now you've come home with a strapping young lad in tow?" Miles smiled as he gave the watered down version of what he'd been up too, Sonic quiet for the most part though feeling the need to explain some of his behavior when it came to him. So engrossed in the story were they that when the chime went off indicating they'd reached the floor Mrs. Axelby had wanted, she'd simply stuck a meaty leg out the door to keep it still. When the story was done, Mrs. Axelby clapped her hands. "Well then, you simply must let me throw you a welcome to be building party, eh, Sonic? Correct?" Sonic nodded, a motion the woman took to be assent for her party. "Oh simply marvelous. We will do the whole motif in blue in celebration of our newest tenant. Sam will be absolutely giddy to meet a naturally blue hedgehog.
"Who's he?" Sonic asked, not really interested in meeting someone who might decide to make sport of him for being different, particularly if he was going to be living here. The last thing he needed was a repeat of Green Hill.
"Sam is short for Samantha," Mrs. Axelby corrected with a short laugh. "She's my grandDAUGHTER you see, and she adores the color blue, keeps dying her hair that way. I'm sure she'll simply have a fit when she sees you. Toodles!" So saying the eccentric human took her leave and allowed the elevator to continue its ascent.
"Friend of yours?" Sonic asked in a semi-snide voice.
"Mrs. Axelby is the building's busybody and welcoming committee all rolled up into one person," Miles explained, "but she's good people, and I like her."
"So, 's she really gonna throw me a party?"
"Yes, which means we'll have to get you something to wear to fit the occasion," Miles said. A ding was heard. "Ah, we're here." The doors opened revealing another small corridor that ended in a wooden door. Carrying the bags over, Miles reached into the pouch at his side, pulling forth a set of keys. "I'll have to remember to get a set of these made for you so you can get in if I'm not around." With a turn of the knob, the door was opened and Sonic could see inside. Inside was a entryway leading to a living room decorated with two couches and an armchair all situated around a coffee table before which sat a fairly big television. Behind the largest couch sat a long desk on which say a phone. On a raised platform nearby sat a long skinny table on which sat a stereo system flanked by two CD cases, and all around the room were various plants, mostly ferns and other non-flowing forms of plant life. A glass dinning table stood near the kitchen, four chairs surrounding it and what looked like a large curtain covering the entire wall behind it. A small bar area sat next to the kitchen door, offering a view of the counters inside as well as the silvery refrigerator. Two hallways branched off from the living room in opposite direction, darkened thanks to the fact that no lights were on to illuminate their way. The walls were clean, save for the pictures of various airplanes and skyscapes that decorated them.
Very carefully Sonic stepped in, his head moving around from side to side as he took in the entirety of the apartment.
"Kinda small, isn't it?" he asked. For a guy rich enough to own and maintain his own plane, and to receive so much admiration from those around him, Sonic had half expected Miles's home to be something of a marble palace, like those he often saw the cartoon emperors living in in his favorite cartoons.
"Well, you have to remember this wasn't originally here when the building started out," Miles explained. "I had it built when I decided to live here." So saying the fox entered his home, a relieved smile escaping his lips as he took in the cool air.
"Why would you want to?" Sonic asked. He knew there were nicer apartments, there had to be ones in a building like this. In answer to his son's question, the fox walked over to the drawn curtain next to the dining table and pulled it back.
"Well for one, it makes for a fantastic view," he said. Behind the curtain was a massive window that took up most of the wall and even had a sliding glass door built into it. Outside, the view was indeed resplendent. The entire city of Station Square stood before them, or rather beneath them, the smaller buildings shining in the light of the setting sun and looking for all the world to be towers of black water spouting forth from the earth. The streets looked much as they would on a city map, a collection of grids, here decorated with tiny toy cars. The people were like especially swift bugs, their movements occasionally erratic as they interacted with each other but ultimately predictable given their somewhat limited options of mobility.
As Sonic gazed outward, he could see the forests of the Mystic Ruins, and even the White Jungle beyond that. His vision was only blocked by his own eyes inability to differentiate shapes after a certain distance, but he could still make out the distant mountains. It was as though the whole world lay open before him and, as someone who had long fantasized about using his fantastic speed to see it all, he could almost touch that long distant memory of unbridled freedom that was an integral part of all intelligent beings, an echo from a past before they were chained and stunted to impassable cities that stymied such freedom. Faced with this feeling, however fleeting it may have been tied to this the image given by this window; Sonic couldn't help but sum up his feelings as best he knew how.
"Wow."
"It was long my dream to live amongst the clouds, far away from the ground I've never been truly comfortable with," Miles said as he gazed at his new charge. "When I found this place I knew I had to make it mine. I'm almost positive I would have made a new apartment above this one just to be able to go even higher, but I'm fairly positive that would have just led to a never ending cycle." Suddenly the fox once more closed the curtain, as if unwilling to allow himself to be mesmerized by the treasure he'd prized so much. "Well, I'm sure you're tired after such an eventful day. What say I show you where you can put your things and we take some time to relax before dinner?"
"Sure," the hedgehog responded as he was suddenly led down one of the hallways, a turned on light serving to dispel the darkness. Two doors stood to the sides of the corridor, with a third standing at its end. Of these, the middle one was closed and Sonic was told that this was merely a closet used to hold clean bed linens. The door at the end of the hallway turned out to be Miles's room, an expansive thing equipped with its own attached full bathroom. Sonic was quite surprised he was allowed to enter this chamber, in his experience most adults were not overly thrilled with having children in what they considered their private living space, though those same adults had little problem barging in on the children's. The room was dominated by a massive king sized bed behind which was another window, though this one smaller than the one that dominated the living room and possessing blinds instead of curtains. Two nightstands flanked the bed, one of which held a digital alarm clock while the other had a coaster, obviously for a midnight drink. A dresser could be seen on which sat a picture of a trio of foxes, one young and the other two older, obviously Miles and his parents. A second picture depicted a somewhat younger looking Miles in his cap and gown, clutching to his chest a rolled up piece of paper as he smiled at the camera. It was to the first room, however, that Sonic was eventually led, as this was to serve as his bedroom. Compared to the other chambers the hedgehog had seen, this one seemed severely under-decorated, possessing only a twin sized bed and a dresser, with no ornamentation whatsoever.
"I wasn't entirely sure where your tastes in décor lay, so I left this room blank when I remodeled in preparation for your arrival," Miles explained, catching the somewhat disappointed look that crossed his son's face. "Tomorrow we can go get you some stuff to make this homier."
"Cool," Sonic stated as he tossed his bag to the floor near the bed, an action Miles followed with the remaining luggage, albeit much gentler. "So... I don't suppose dinner's good to go, huh?"
"Well that depends, do you want to go out to eat or see what I can scrounge up here?" The blue hedgehog thought about the question for a few minutes before deciding he'd had enough travel for one day. If he was home, he might as well stay for a while and get used to it. Heading back into the living room, Sonic plopped down on the couch as Miles's two bushy tails disappeared into the kitchen. Almost without missing a beat the vulpine shouted, "Shoes off the couch please." Somewhat startled that he'd been made so fast, especially since he had not seen the fox's eyes catch a glimpse of him, Sonic only semi-sullenly pulled his special shoes from his feet, depositing them on the floor.
"Mind if I turn on the television?" he asked as he spotted the remote sitting on the coffee table, a slender little thing with more buttons on it than the hedgehog could reasonably count.
"All right by me," Miles answered. "What do you want for dinner?"
"What do you have?" Sonic replied back as he started at channel two and began to work his way up.
"Let's see… cereal, sandwich meat, pickles, hotdogs, green onions, fruit, chips… that Lo Mein from two weeks ago… chili, eggs, sou…" The fox never got to finish his list as he suddenly felt a presence standing right next to him. Sonic had dropped the remote and leapt to his feet, covering the distance between the couch and his father in less than the space of a heartbeat.
"Dude, somewhere in there I heard chili and hotdogs, right?"
"Uh, yeah I think so…" At this Sonic got a gleeful look in his large eyes as he clasped his hands before him and licked his lips.
"You wouldn't happen to have any hotdog buns in this kitchen, would ya?" Hope almost cascaded from the six year old as he spoke, and Heaven itself might have found it difficult to deny the blue boy's desire for a yes. Fortunately Heaven didn't need to concern itself this time as Miles pulled forth a full package of hotdog buns from the pantry. A squeal of purest delight escaped the hedgehog's lips as he almost seemed to bounce around in one place at this revelation.
"I take it you've decided on something you want?" Miles asked, fully knowing the answer. Still it seemed like his new son would burst if he weren't allowed to speak his mind.
"Chilidogs, chilidogs, mounds and mounds of CHILIDOGS!"
"Okay, okay, just calm down," Miles said with a smile. "You keep jumping around like that this high up and you're liable to end up in orbit. You don't mind the chili's from a can do you?" Sonic shook his head.
"At this point I wouldn't mind if the buns were green or the hotdogs gray!" he exclaimed happily, to which his foxy father stuck out a tongue in distaste.
"You might not but I would," he remarked as he opened the can of chili and poured its chunky contents into a pot, placing said pot on the oven's burner. "So how many can you eat?"
"Ten… twenty… thirty… a million!" Sonic responded, once more dancing on his toes. Once more Miles gave the odd little hedgehog a look that remarked how crazy he looked.
"I think we'll start out with three for you and see if you can handle that," he finally said, drawing out five of the cylinders of meat. "And even then I think we may be pushing it. Chilidogs aren't exactly the most nutritious of food." At Miles's words, Sonic immediately looked heartbroken.
"But… but they're so good, so wonderful," he began to argue. "Each bite full of spicy delicious goodness, each touch so packed with gooey sweetness…"
"This is more than a favorite food to you, isn't it?"
"Are you kidding? Have you never had chilidogs Tails?" Sonic asked disbelieving. "They're practically love made real…" As he spoke, the blue hedgehog hugged himself, his body almost seeming to float off the ground a few centimeters.
"You need to meet the Great Dane I know; you and he would hit it off like nobody's business." So saying, Miles returned to cooking the chili, stirring the meaty concoction with a wooden spoon as he added a few spices to it. Satisfied that his dinner was going to be taken care of, Sonic retired from the kitchen, returning to the couch to resume flipping through the channels on the fox's television. When nothing presented itself immediately, the blue boy's easily distracted mind began to wander, as did his eyes, eventually landing on the phone that rested above him. A red blinking light on the plastic device indicated its answering machine function had recently been put to use.
"Hey Tails," Sonic called. "You've got some messages on your machine."
"I'll take care of them later."
"Why not now? Is there something on here you don't want me to listen too?" Sonic asked cheekily. A foxy face appeared over the bar next to the kitchen, staring at the hedgehog.
"Not that I know of," Miles said after a moment's consideration. "Hit the blue button." Quickly Sonic did as he was instructed.
"Message One:" spoke a monotonous and mechanical voice.
"Yo, Miles, it's Rob Labris. Wanted to let you know Lisa and I just got back into town," said a gruff male voice.
"Hi Miles," cried a feminine voice.
"You hear that, Milesy, the new Mrs. Labris says 'hi.' Better watch yourself Foxboy or I might get jealous. Wanted to thank you for the honeymoon as soon as we could, excellent wedding gift my friend, just excellent. Call me when you can, we got a lot to tell you about. Ciao!"
"Milesy? Foxboy?" Sonic inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Robert's an old friend, I was the best man at his wedding a few weeks ago," Miles explained. "And he is the only one who ever calls me 'Milesy.'" This last part was seemed more a commandment than a simple statement of fact where the fox was concerned. Given that his own name was Olgilvie, Sonic supposed he could respect his guardian's distaste for this new nickname.
"Message Two:"
"Mr. Prower it's Dr. Barrows. I have the test results you requested and you were right, the third power coupling is inadequate and when the fourth engages to compensate, it overheats and malfunctions from the strain. Remind me never to doubt your ears again. I'll have the full report ready for you on Monday, as well as viable alternatives for three's replacement."
"Huh?"
"Business. Do you like onions in your chili?"
"What kind?"
"Green."
"'Kay."
"Message Three:"
"You stinkin' runty little runty fox freak! If you think I'm gonna let you get away with stealing that contract, you're in for the fight of your life. I don't know what kind of cheap trick you pulled to show off to those pinheads at G.U.N. but mark my words this isn't over!"
"Always nice to hear from Jonathan," Miles said in a somewhat flat voice that denoted exactly what he felt for the person who'd left that call.
"Message four:"
"Miiiiles," as seductively sultry voice cooed as it issued forth from the machine. Immediately it had Sonic's full attention, even as the fox being beckoned stuck his head out from the kitchen, a look in his eyes reminiscent of a feral deer caught in an automobile's headlights. "You've been a very bad boy, Miles, not calling me for almost a month, and after we had such a good time at Twinkle Park too. A girl could almost think you're avoiding… beep "
The message never got to finish as Miles practically pounced on the delete button.
"Who was that?" Sonic asked innocently. Miles favored the hedgehog with an annoyed expression as he grinned widely up at the fox.
"Never you mind…" he said as he returned to the kitchen, already wondering whether or not he should change his phone number.
"Message five:"
"Mr. Prower, this is Michael Cervid calling with regards to today's activities since you apparently did not see fit to leave a flight itinerary handy." At the sound of the voice, Miles gave a pained expression to the sky and Sonic could almost swear the vulpine had sworn softly under his breath, thus leading his son to conclude that this speaker was someone fairly important, a boss maybe. "I really cannot tell you adequately how troublesome it is to be unable to reach you when I need to. While I understand you were doing something you felt to be extremely important, I would like to point out that you do have responsibilities that must be fulfilled. Fortunately today held no urgent surprises and I choose to take the path of 'no harm, no foul…' for now. I shall see you tomorrow, good night."
"Well that's gonna be a lecture," Miles said dejectedly as he brought in a large plate with the five chilidogs on them.
"Does this mean we're not gonna be able to hang out tomorrow?" Sonic asked as he grabbed a dog and began to eat. He was not looking forward to spending the day all by himself in a strange city, no matter how cool the view was.
"Of course not," Miles responded. "I cleared the whole week to make sure you got settled in properly. It's just Michael's job to be an anchor around my neck when I'm having too much fun."
"What happens in a week?" the hedgehog asked as he reached for his second helping. "I mean, I got nothing planned." Miles chuckled a little.
"Oh dear Sonic," he started. "You may not have had anything planned, but I'm afraid the government has something planned for you."
"Really?"
"Yes. You see, I have to prove I'm a responsible guardian for you, and to do that I have to make sure you're where all children need to be in a week."
"Where?" Sonic asked, already envisioning top secret military installations, covert assignments, and other things the government of Station Square might need him for.
"School."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
The sun shined through the cracks in the blinds that covered the window that overlooked Sonic's sleeping head. For a few minutes, the hedgehog grunted, disliking the intense light striking his closed eyelids. Even as he started to rouse from sleep, he could tell something was up. The alarm clock had not rung, no doubt turned off during the night by Taylor so the young mink could get his "beauty sleep" as he often liked to put it. Ms. Price would most likely scold them both for being so late to get up, a scenario Sonic really didn't appreciate. Grumpily Sonic tore his pillow out from under his head and threw it backwards, into the space he knew Taylor's bed, and thus his body to be. The satisfying sounds of a distressed mink failed to come to pointed hedgehog ears, however, and Sonic's eyes cracked open slightly as he turned to investigate.
Taylor was gone. Not just him, but his bed, his nightstand, and even his annoying little radio he always had tuned to a country music station. Sonic was thoroughly alone as in a room that, to his sleepy eyes, looked nothing like the room he'd occupied for so long at Green Hill Orphanage. Confusion reigned in the hedgehog's mind as he shook his head wildly, hoping to banish that last vestiges of sleep from his groggy brain and get the chemical juices flowing again. This proved to do the trick as memories of what he'd been through the past few days returned to him. Images of Miles formally adopting him, legally becoming his father, the tearful goodbye he'd given to his armadillo friend as he'd collected his possessions from the orphanage, the scowl Ms. Price's disapproving look as Miles led him to a taxi cab… And the excitement he'd felt as he'd been flown all the way to the city where he was to live.
"So I guess this really happened," Sonic said to himself. After dinner the night before, Miles had given him a final tour of the apartment and then they'd both settled down with some popcorn in front of the television. His father had been able to find some old war movie about a squadron of pilots fighting to liberate an island all done in black and white. Though Sonic had only been mildly interested, the fox had paid rapt attention to the film, particularly the aerial battles, on which he commented to his new son about everything, from the way the planes flew to what tricks they were attempting to pull off. Unfortunately the hedgehog's young age, combined with the eventfulness of the day and his full belly, forced Sonic into slumber before the movie reached its inevitable conclusion, and thus had he lost the chance to see what the city looked like from this height at night. Hazy memories of gentle hands carefully removing his socks and glove and helping him into the red pajamas he currently wore returned to him, as did the notion that he'd immediately fallen asleep once his head had been allowed to hit his pillow again.
Quietly did the hedgehog remove the covers that sat upon him, crawling from his bed and getting to the floor in a tiptoe fashion, hoping not to alert anyone to the fact that he was indeed awake. Carefully he opened his bedroom door and looked to the left down the hallway. The door was closed and the lights were not on, a good indicator that the fox was still asleep. Quietly the young mammal tiptoed over to the door and put his ear to it, just barely able to make out the sound of light snoring. A mischievous smile came to the speedster's face as he cast a glance back down the hallway, into the living room, and down the second hallway. After dinner Miles had given him the rest of the tour of his apartment, showing him the second bathroom which was to be his as well as a storage room. He'd also shown the youth a third room, this one sitting at the far end much as the fox's own bedroom did down this corridor. Miles had proclaimed this room his study, a private area that Sonic was not permitted to be in unless emergency required it, ostensibly because this was where the vulpine pilot had sequestered his more breakable possessions, as well as items he was not particularly interested in Sonic seeing just yet. Always a despiser of secrets, though mostly just those he wasn't in the loop about, the blue hedgehog fully planned to at least take a peek into the mysterious study that was apparently forbidden territory while its owner was still in La-La land. Once more tiptoeing, a difficulty for someone who would've much preferred to go much faster, Sonic made his way back to the living room, where his plans of subterfuge were promptly derailed by the new person sitting at the dining table and reading the day's newspaper.
At first Sonic considered this might be Miles. He'd seen a small CD player sitting in the bedroom, and the hedgehog supposed it was not impossible for someone to have a recording of snores to help them go to sleep. This notion was dispelled, however, as he caught a glimpse of the giant antlers sticking out from either side of the erect paper. Even more alarming was the thick, muscular arm and hand that reached out from behind the paper to take the handle of a steaming cup of coffee. The soft sound of slurping could be heard for a few seconds before the cup was returned, and a deep sounding "hrmph" signaled the clearing of a throat.
For the briefest of moments, as he stared at this stranger in his new home, Sonic considered going into Miles's room and waking the fox to deal with the intruder. Childish pride got the better of him, however, as he slowly inched his way forward into the living room, working up the nerve to confront this person in place of his father. He was no more than three feet away from the table when he suddenly froze, his eyes finally registering the somewhat comical size difference between himself and the stranger. Though his feet were indeed fast, his mind didn't change gears so well when it was forced to reconsider the actions it had previously decided on. As he tried to plan out what his next action was going to be, the blue hedgehog suddenly found the decision taken out of his hands.
"Well," a deep voice emanated from behind the paper, though it still somehow managed to remain fairly quiet, "are you going to sit down or simply continue staring at me with your mouth hanging open like a fish that has been caught out of water?" If his stomach were empty, Sonic might have felt the butterflies fluttering through his stomach as he realized the stranger was addressing him. Licking his suddenly dry lips, the hedgehog willed himself to be brave.
"You… You don't belong here," he said in his most defiant voice, the one he often used with other children who had displeased him in some way. "You're… you're trespassing."
"Is that so?" the voice once again asked, never even bothering to lower the paper to look at its accuser.
"Yes…" Sonic said, more than a little irked that he was being written off as nothing of concern by this interloper. "And if you don't get out of here I'll… I'll…" Sonic thought for a moment, trying to come up with something sufficiently impressive enough to move this mountainous creature. "I'll bounce your butt off the roof, got it."
"I see," the thoroughly unimpressed voice responded. Without the slightest ruffling of the paper, the newspaper was closed, folded, and placed neatly down on the table right by the cup of coffee. The voice, as it turned out, belonged to a male deer with a huge rack of antlers on his head, so big Sonic was somewhat mystified as to how this Mobian had managed to get into the apartment without damaging the doorframe. Massive broad shoulders and a barrel chest were covered by a gray suit that looked impeccable, much as the rest of the deer was. Not a hair, not a strand of fur, not even so much as a speck of dust was out of place on the fellow as he stared impassively at Sonic who suddenly felt so much smaller than he was. Gently the deer took hold of the coffee cup between a thumb and finger, taking another sip from it as he regarded the hedgehog for a moment before speaking. "At this juncture in our 'blossoming' relationship, I do feel it is imperative that I make a few points."
"Huh?" Sonic asked, none too sure what this intruder was talking about, especially since he didn't know what the words "juncture" and "imperative" meant. The deer stood from his seat, rising to his full height and Sonic realized that this Mobian was easily five times his size. The deer gazed down at the frightened hedgehog, ignoring his comment but making no more overly aggressive moves towards him, and continued in his deep but neutral voice.
"Point One: I am not an intruder, as I possess a key to this domicile, given to me by Mr. Prower himself in order to facilitate our relationship. To you I am merely a stranger, and I should point out that it is not often wise for children to speak to strangers without a familiar adult present. Point Two: it is also most unwise to make vulgar threats to someone else, particularly if you aren't familiar with that someone else and they may take it as incentive to visit your suggestion upon your own person." At this Sonic backed a step away, unwilling to allow the deer the chance to grab him now. Once more his movement was ignored. "Point Three: I doubt very much, Olgilvie, that Mr. Prower would approve of whatever devilment you were planning that required you check his door the way you did to make sure he was safely asleep." The hedgehog blinked, unsure of how this deer had learned his real name. Having made his point, the hoofed Mobian once more sat down.
"Who are you?" Sonic asked.
"Ah, the crux of the matter," the deer said as he place both giant hands on the table in front of him. "My name is Michael Cervid, an associate of your adoptive father's. You may refer to me as Mr. Cervid." This last part was said in no uncertain terms, but it lacked the contemptuous venom most adults tended to use with children when they insisted on the use of their title. Sonic remembered this name from the previous night, and now he could place the deep voice as it rose from the answering machine.
"You're the guy who called here yesterday…"
"It heartens me to know that Mr. Prower did receive my message, though I have to wonder why he deigned not call me back as I requested."
"Are… are you going to fire him?" Sonic asked; a question that finally succeeded in eliciting a reaction from his stony faced companion, though Sonic was somewhat surprised to see the reaction was confusion.
"Excuse me?" the deer asked.
"You're his boss, aren't you? Isn't that what bosses do when you don't do what they say?" At this the deer suddenly smiled and let out a short chortle, though he quickly regained control of himself.
"I am afraid you are laboring under a misconception, my good sir," he explained. "I am not Miles Prower's employer, HE is mine."
"What?"
"Dear boy, I am curious, are you perhaps ignorant of how your esteemed father makes his living in the world?"
"He's a pilot, isn't he?" Sonic asked. "I mean he owns a plane and flies…"
"Ah assumption, where would flights of fancy be without it," Mr. Cervid stated more than asked. "Miles Prower is the founder, owner, and Chief Executive Officer of the research and development company Prower Aerodynamic, the premier firm on the planet in the field of Aeronautics." Again Sonic didn't follow some of the bigger words the deer used, but he knew enough to know you didn't get your last name on a company unless you were a real big shot yourself. Consciously he cast a glance back at the door leading to Miles's bedroom, more than a little bewildered that the fox had not deemed it important to mention this little fact. If Sonic had a company named after him, he would have crowed it loudly every day for the rest of his life. Suddenly a new question popped into the hedgehog's mind, and he turned back towards the deer.
"So what do you do for the company?" A single eyebrow raised on Mr. Cervid's face as he considered the forwardness of this question.
"My role is that of Personal Assistant to Mr. Prower. It is my task to ensure that all the mundane events of his life have been taken care of to the point that he may focus on more important problems such as making sure his company remains at the forefront of his chosen field."
"So you like his momma, only for business?" Sonic asked, and thus did he receive the second reaction from Mr. Cervid, one that effectively told Sonic he had now been labeled "weird" in the mind of the great deer.
"A crude simile, I suppose, but a sufficient one for the terms of this conversation." Once more the paper was lifted and unfolding, again silently and without so much as a ruffle of flittering paper. "Now than, I propose we behave like good little children and behave ourselves until the master of the house has awakened." So saying, Michael Cervid began to read the paper once more, as he did every day as he waited patiently for his employer to wake up and greet the day. The soothing silence of this morning, however, lasted not but a minute before its untimely demise.
"I'm hungry," Sonic stated, as though it was the most important fact ever uttered by the hedgehog and one absolutely everyone should know. From behind the paper, Mr. Cervid answered.
"I sympathize, and suggest you get something to eat." Sonic looked at the paper that obscured his view of the deer, curious to know if this was said in jest or in seriousness. When no chortle came, the hedgehog decided that if he was going to get fed, he needed to act.
"Couldn't you…?"
"Couldn't I what?" the deer responded, again never putting down his paper.
"Well, you're supposed to be Tails's assistant… and I bet it would 'assist' him big time if he didn't have to feed me." This time a chortle came.
"I'm afraid that once more you have suffered under a misconception, Olgilvie." Sonic rankled at the use of his real name. "I am a personal assistant, not a butler, and am only expected to perform tasks as they relate to the company. While I have no doubt it would indeed be an assistance to feed you since Mr. Prower is asleep, I'm afraid it does not fall under my responsibility." Once more the six-year old had difficulty following the deer's speech, but he could still tell a "no" when he heard one. Anxiously he looked back at this father's door. There was no telling when the fox usually awoke and Sonic getting up this early was an aberration in itself; and while he could go into the master bedroom and not allow sleeping dogs to lie, it rankled his ego that he would appear, at the age of six, to be incapable of handling so simple a task as feeding himself. Independence was something he preferred to showcase, but the sad truth was that he hadn't watched his newfound father as he'd pulled down dishes for last night's repast and thus knew not in which cupboards he would find dishware or anything for that matter. Finally Sonic decided it was time to pull out all the weapons at his disposal and hopefully get this stony faced cervidae to "assist" him.
"Look, I don't know where anything is…" he said. "And do you really want me climbing all over the counters in there, slamming cupboards while Tails is trying to sleep?" At this the stiff paper suddenly seemed to lose some of its starch, its corners folding down slightly as the grip on it slackened just a little. "Please won't you make me some breakfast?" Sonic again asked, using his most pathetic and innocent sounding voice, the very voice that sometimes worked on Ms. Price when he'd tried to convince her to give him extra dessert. For a few brief moments he wondered if Cervid had heard him, only to watch as the paper was once again silently closed and folded and placed next to the coffee cup.
"Very well, I believe I can make an exception this once," the deer said as he got up and strode purposefully back to the kitchen. Convinced he was going to get fed now, Sonic scooted himself into the chair opposite the one Cervid had occupied. The light click of a door being opened came to hedgehog ears as the deer opened the pantry and looked inside, grabbing two boxes of cereal as he did so. "Fruited Loopies and Chocolate Ricer," he read from the fronts, rolling his eyes in disgust as he did so. "Ah for the days when breakfast entailed more than a trip to the candy store. Is there a preference here?"
"Never had 'em," Sonic answered, squinting to read the boxes. "What do you think of them?
"I think they are merely a few chemicals away from losing the consideration of being edible."
"Well, I guess I'll take the Chocolate Ricer then."
"Marvelous," Cervid droned as he went to a cabinet and pulled forth a bowl. Very shortly a bowl of cereal, whose white milk was rapidly turning a dark shade of brown, plus a glass of cranberry juice were set before Sonic for his consumption. Having filled the six-year-old's request, Cervid once more sat in his chair and propped up the paper he'd been perusing. This time the silence, minus the contented munching of the hedgehog across from him, lasted about ten minutes before a sudden thud was heard. Sonic looked behind him while his horned companion simply folded the paper once again and placed it on the table, this time placing his hands over it as he waited.
The door to Miles Prower's bedroom opened and the fox exited, clad in a light blue bathrobe and nothing else. Two years ago Sonic had disobeyed Ms. Price's orders to go to bed and snuck downstairs to watch the older kids as they watched a zombie movie marathon. It had been his luck to catch sight of the television just as the movie had displayed a close up of a particularly decayed and hideous zombie as it gave a roar. Remembering that image, Sonic decided that Miles could have given the zombie pointers on how to look ugly.
His fur was disheveled from sleep, the three bangs that normally protruded from his head now scattered in three different directions. His cheek fur dropped as his eyes squinted in annoyance at the lights that shone in his face. Even one of his pointed ears was folded backwards, obviously from having been slept on wrong all night. His tails, though they did not drag the ground, certainly did not seem willing to rise higher than his hips as he walked by without even saying "hello" or "good morning," instead making a beeline for the coffee maker his assistant had already had percolating.
"Good morning Mr. Prower," Mr. Cervid said as the fox shuffled past him. The only response this got the deer was a glare that told the world exactly what Miles thought of people who were altogether too cheerful in the morning.
"He doesn't seem too happy," Sonic observed, wondering how lucky he was it had been Mr. Cervid who had caught him trying to sneak into the study and not his father.
"Though quite capable of arising with the morning sun, even after spending all night working on one or more of his inventions, I'm afraid the term 'bright eyed and bushy tailed' have not accurately depicted his morning state without the aid of coffee since his youth," the deer explained.
"I can hear you," Miles called as he began gulping down a cup of coffee with astonishing speed. Sonic, who had not seen the amount of cold cream and sugar that had gone into the drink, wondered how the fox's throat did not develop holes from the burning liquid. Once his cup was emptied, the still sleepy vulpine poured another, this time hesitating in drinking it long enough to run a clawed hand over his head and face, fixing the problem with his ear and simultaneously bringing his unruly bangs back into something resembling normalcy, at least for him. Thus settled, Miles grabbed the cup of coffee, and a granola breakfast bar that had magically appeared next to his hand courtesy of Mr. Cervid, and came to the table to sit down. Now he looked a little less like he had just been drug free from his grave, though even in Sonic's opinion he would do well to groom himself before going further.
"Good morning Tails," Sonic said. The blue hedgehog did not know why, but for some reason he was hesitant to refer to the fox that had adopted him as "Dad" over the nickname he'd given the fox when they'd met. If the fox minded, he didn't bother correcting his son these slips of the tongue as it were, but still Sonic was curious.
"It is never a good morning until I've had my coffee," Miles replied, sipping the cup. Immediately a "garumph" came from Mr. Cervid who was casting a somewhat displeased look at his vulpine employer. Like clockwork Miles caught the look, though his sleep addled mind had trouble discerning what he had done to receive such a reprimand.
"I'm sure what your father means to say, Olgilvie, is 'Good morning son. Did you sleep well in your new bed last night?'" the deer commented, favoring the hedgehog with his version of a caring look, though he still seemed fairly stone faced in Sonic's opinion.
"Sorry," Miles finally said as he got the gist of what had been said, looking apologetically at Sonic. "I'm not used to there being anyone else here but me and Michael in the mornings."
"'Sallright," Sonic replied. "I probably wouldn't even be up now either if I didn't go to bed so early."
"Seven is early for you?" Miles asked.
"Yeah, usually I'm up til nine or ten."
"Given that he will be attending school at a fairly early hour next week, I would suggest you impose some sort of bed time that will allow him to awaken on time for the event," spoke Cervid.
"Pshh, it's nothing big," Sonic assured the two adults. "If I need to I can catch some extra winks in school."
"Nnnn… I don't think so kid," the fox in charge said. "I don't like parent-teacher conferences that contain the phrase 'Why is your son bringing a pillow to my class?' You get a bed time for school nights; seven sharp."
"Ah man," the hedgehog called. A part of him had secretly hoped his new life here in Station Square would be free of such annoyances as rules and restrictions, and silently he made childish curses at Mr. Cervid for starting this conversation.
"In any even, how did you sleep? Any problems with the new mattress?"
"No, it was all right," Sonic commented as he took a less enthusiastic bite of his cereal. "Softer than the one back in Green Hill."
"Sir, if I may suggest we now move on to business affairs," said the deer assistant. At his words Sonic's eyes widened and his ears perked up.
"I thought you were taking the day off today," he objected, "so we could hang out."
"I am," the fox responded.
"He is," Cervid agreed. "But at the same time he cannot simply cut himself loose for a week. The company would fall into disarray."
"I think that might be going a little overboard, Michael, I'm not that indispensable," Miles said. "At best I just wouldn't know what had been going on."
"And as the head of the company that is not a good thing, particularly given how close we are to having to showcase the Gravity Drive for G.U.N."
"Gravity Drive?" Sonic asked, and was quickly looked at by Cervid.
"Not something you need to know about… or repeat actually. It would probably be a good idea to simply ignore our conversation for the time being."
"Again a little overboard, don't you think?" Miles commented as he sipped his coffee. "Kid doesn't even know what a GD is, much less how it works."
"That would not stop a rival like Jonathon Scrift from attempting to pull the information from him given the chance. The less your son learns about this the better. I'm already somewhat apprehensive about letting him keep that sample of the anti-friction polymer you gave him."
"My toys, my say," the fox commented. "Besides, that's old stuff, everybody and their mother knows what it is now."
"Anti-friction poly-what?"
"The reason your shoes don't wear out when you run fast," Miles answered, causing the hedgehog to look at him funny. "What? You didn't think they were normal shoes did you? It's an ultra-light material I developed to construct planes with. The Tornadoes practically built from the ground up from it. When you told me about your problems with normal shoes, I figured it would help."
"So, my shoes are made of the same stuff as your plane?"
"Well more a composite since they had to be soft enough not to rub your feet raw," Miles admitted. "And don't look at me like that Cervid, I told you there were other applications for that polymer than just aircraft."
"It is that kind of disregard for secrets that your competitors are likely to exploit in order to outmaneuver you. If that happened where the Gravity Drive was concerned, especially given all the money we've invested in it, we'd be ruined."
"Like I said, the polymer stopped being a secret once everyone could replicate it and all someone had to do for that was to go collect scrap metal. Now the GD on the other hand," at this point Miles gave a predatory smile that showed off all his teeth, "it's a revolution in propulsion technology. There's no way anyone could develop anything close to it before we went to market without stopping us first."
"Very well sir, but still, you need to think about the presentation. G.U.N. will want to see what this machine can do and if we fail to suitably impress them, it won't matter if the GD works of not, they will not buy."
"I'm way ahead of you on that. I talked to some of our government and military contacts and guess what they've agreed to loan us at a remarkably small fee."
"I shudder to guess, sir."
"A Bigfoot." The deer's eyebrows rose as he looked at the fox.
"A Bigfoot?"
"It's old, scheduled to be decommissioned in a few months, and needs some modification before we can use it," Miles admitted as he steepled his hands on the table before him, smiling wider, "but if my feelings are correct, when we show off the GD with that hunk of hardware, it'll be the biggest 'Dog' in G.U.N.'s whole arsenal." Mr. Cervid, for all the good news Miles seemed to be giving him, barely twitched a muscle.
"Very well, I am glad that you were on top of this," he said as he rose from his seat. "I will make sure our receiving bays are equipped to deal with a Bigfoot and that it is brought up to standard when it arrives."
"Good man," the fox said as he also stood, shaking his assistant's hand as he did so. "Don't worry so much, Michael. The Gravity Drive is a shoe-in to impress G.U.N.'s big brass, and we'll be able to set our own price no matter how high. Have I ever failed to impress?"
"No sir, which means the statistical odds are not in your favor."
"Beating the odds is what I do for a living," Miles said. "You have my number if you need to get a hold of me."
"Yes but that does little good if you leave your cell phone behind," the deer reminded his employer.
"Right, right, I'll keep it on my like glue," the fox promised. Walking his assistant to the door, Miles bade him a good-bye, and then turned his attention back to Sonic. "You still up for some shopping today, kiddo?"
"Yes," Sonic replied, already envisioning this to be like Christmas, only with all the presents coming to him instead of being divided amongst all the children.
"Then finish breakfast and get dressed, and we'll get going." Never before had a bowl of cereal been eaten quite so fast.
to be Continued…