PHOENIX

by ObsidianFireheart

Having grown up with the tides of war, Tails is sick of the pacifist way of life he has grown up with. His first true mission outside of Sally's watchful eye leads him to see the gruesome reality that he lives in. Something must be done about it, and Tails is convinced that he can't find that help where he is. He must turn to someone else for answers...

4. Beyond the Grey

"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak."
-Sun Tzu

Chapter 4 – Beyond the Grey

November 12, 3238; 2335 hours: Unknown location…

Silver machines and bright lights that reflected off them blinked in the well-lit room. Whirring and buzzing was softly heard from the peripheral surroundings, an artificial ambience that Robotnik was by now used to.

His full name used to be Dr. Julian Kintobor. He had changed it to Ivo Robotnik. Now, many people simply knew him as the Eggman.

How could such a comical name be sinister at the same time? It was unexplainable. The bright, cheesy imagery that the name Eggman brought, as if out of a children's book, reflected his inner self in a mad, twisted way. He hated the moniker at first, but after a while, he had grown used to its presence. Then he embraced it. Then he started naming all of his machines after it. All as a madman such as himself should.

The light glinted off of his glasses as he worked. He hadn't done something this hands-on in a while; normally he depended on automated programs to get these sorts of projects done, but with this particular case he had grown attached, and as such, couldn't let it be botched up.

After all, he admitted, despite the glaring fact that he was perfection; it was a sad truth that what he built wouldn't necessarily be the same way.

His ginger mustache flicked upward, as if in amusement, at that line. The Egg Drones beside him cleared off as they noticed so, astutely their optical inputs decided that their master was in one of his moods, and unless called upon, would certainly not bother him.

"Snively!" He bellowed, summoning his nephew to approach him. Unlike the large man before him, Snively was tiny. He was thin, frail, and balding. In fact, the only part of him that could be considered large was his nose. And as large as it was, it often found itself in the way.

Robotnik scoffed as the small man approached. Unlike his nephew, the Eggman stood at a large height, and he sported a decidedly large circumference to go with it. Rather than having the other's few remaining hairs, Robotnik's head gleamed as a polished cue ball would under the intense scrutiny of the lights above. He sported an ostentatious white cape, making his frame look even larger as it billowed about whenever he walked. Snively, of course, wore a standard if somewhat subdued green uniform, which did not help in matters of comparison between his and his master's size. He became the background behind Robotnik, detracting no attention from the main event.

Unlike most nephews, Snively did not like his uncle. In fact, the little man detested his uncle. But at the same time, he had a healthy fear of his uncle's wrath, which was quite hellish indeed. Whenever he interacted with his uncle, he would put a façade over himself and act entirely subservient. The fear he displayed was genuine, but not the loyalty. But Snively was smart and realistic; he wondered if his mask truly blocked his master's sight of his genuine visage. Perhaps it was that he didn't care – as long as Snively served, there would be no problem. After all, at this point, there was nothing that the poor younger man could do.

Robotnik had once been different, Snively recalled, years ago. What was it that drove the good doctor to madness? He remembered his uncle being sinister of course; such was perpetual, but he had also been somewhat goofy and humorous. And he also was wise. Snively could remember the tokens of wisdom his uncle would drop when he had just begun to serve him. "Don't forget," he had told Snively one time, "No matter what happens – no matter how many SWATbots the rodent destroys or how many plans he crushes, the sun will always come up tomorrow morning."

Snively had taken that advice to heart. But what he knew that his uncle didn't was that the sun wasn't the only thing that watched over the denizens of the earth as days passed. Whenever the sun retired, the moon took its place in order to watch, and the stars accompanied it. The sun never watched the moon or the stars, Snively knew that. To the sun, those made the background piece, giving off light only as the sun left the picture. Snively attuned himself with the stars this way, they were the many eyes that watched the sun itself, but did nothing but recede.

"Snively. Look at this beauty." The much larger man motionlessly indicated the glass cylinder in front of him, filled to the brim with a green liquid; no doubt filled with amino acids and nutritious polysaccharides that the form inside devoured greedily. The form inside was an amorphous blob, continuously squishing and reshaping, its reflective silver coating occasionally redirecting bright light from the ceiling at Snively's eyes.

"W-what is it, sir?" Snively asked half curious and half dreading the answer. As with all of the Eggman's inventions, some of them were comical and childish (Which seemed frightening for a man of Robotnik's persona) while at other times they were gruesome and macabre. Sometimes they exhibited both sets of traits, as the Eggman would have it.

Robotnik's glasses glinted mischievously, his mustache again twitching as he seemed to take a perverse pleasure from his assistant's sudden fear. He waited for a moment to let his good nephew wallow in his fear, before graciously supplying him with the answer. "Sol Invictovirus." He said. His lip quirked. "An embodiment of the unconquerable sun."

November 13, 3238; 1205 hours: The Captured Outpost

Adjusting to the system had taken time, but he managed. The base was cold, obviously it was not meant to be inviting to guests of any kind, as Robotnik didn't ever have guests, but it would do for him.

The robots that staffed the base were all under his jurisdiction, but necessity dictated that they still carry out Robotnik's directives. It would be too simple to figure out that a base had been compromised if the forces that occupied it started disobeying orders, so while the Eggman still used the base, he would have to be subtle about his actions.

Tails looked at his blueprint one more time before observing his finished product. As there was a large amount of scrap at the base, it was a trivial task to create something new from old parts. The display plate that he borrowed from Rotor, which he later learned was standard issue with only the most latest and most advanced generation of SWATbots, fit its function well as Tails had hoped. He picked up the object and looked at it thoroughly before placing it on his head.

"PHOENIX, sync with incoming wireless signal." Tails intoned. "Run newly installed T-Glass drivers."

It had taken a week for him to get the T-Glass firmware just right after he constructed the thing, but after loading all of the necessary firmware onto the device and programming PHOENIX with some robust drivers to operate the device, the Heads-Up Display project that he had been working on seemed to be a success. The data that could be harvested from here on Robotnik's engineering techniques was invaluable, expediting the time that it would have taken to complete this project exponentially. It was also a valuable learning resource – Tails could confidently say that he had learned almost as much as he learned his entire life in Knothole just after one week here. Dedication and hard work paid off in the long run, and although the documentation and blueprinting was a bit dry, it was filled to the brim with valuable information. In fact, he was beginning to have inklings of something else to build, but that was for later. He admired his creation.

It was a transparent panel of glass cut from Rotor's display plate to comfortably fit on his nose that carried a slight hue of green. He noticed immediately status reports and details from PHOENIX appearing along the edges, informing him of the devices activities without the need for the thing to vocalize. It was a perfect tool to use for any scenario. He grinned when the words "Installation Successful" appeared on the HUD.

Tails still had a few features to test, giddily ordering the device, "Scan and display floor plan of current building." After barely three seconds PHOENIX had scanned the premises, displaying a fully accurate 3d model of the room. It spun around slowly, showing the full perspective of the building. "Perfect." He grinned.

That was enough of that; he had things to do, and now he was free to do whatever he wanted without people caring. He was starting to like this life already.

Now that the last step in preparation was done, it was time to begin his expedition.

November 13, 3238; 1217 hours: Rotor's Workshop

Rotor wiped the sweat off his brow, looking at his handiwork. The monster machine stood in front of him, ready to go. It stood eight feet in height and twenty in length, its outside painted with a natural green camouflage. Finally, he could say that the Freedom Tank was complete.

Well, the Freedom Tank was an awful name, but naming things was never really Rotor's cup of tea.

Rotor eyed it further. He wasn't sure about Sally's stance on artillery, but he himself was a supporter. Ever since Tails's… departure, he had been a little more supportive of the young fox's position that he left behind. Even if he had up and deserted them, Rotor had a nagging feeling that somehow he was right.

The door opened, and Sally entered the room, just in time for Rotor to exhibit his new project to her. He turned to her and greeted her with a smile. "Hey Sally, how's it going?"

She shrugged, turning to face the Freedom Tank. Rotor could tell by her mood that she was still despondent over Tails's absence. Unlike the other Freedom Fighters, she hadn't even begun to reconcile with her fears. Rotor was well aware of the progress she made in helping Tails – or, heaven forbid, the progress that she thought she made – and the fact that he suddenly left tore her apart.

"Do you… want to see how it works?" Rotor tentatively asked, careful not to trip any sort of fuse with Sally's mood.

She nodded. "That's what I'm here for, right?" The walrus could tell that her heart wasn't in it, but he made no comment, and beckoned her to the passenger-side door. He hopped in the driver side after she entered the vehicle, and he pressed the ignition. The large garage door that formed a wall of his workshop opened at the press of a button, and Rotor could feel the hum of the engine in his grip as he handled the configuration lever.

He began to speak, hoping to distract Sally from recent events. "The Freedom Tank is the best thing I've built in a while." He introduced, pressing the gas to accelerate it out. The engine roared as it accelerated – a testament to its massive power – and the tank rolled out of the garage. Rotor moved the configuration lever to the left and yanked the clutch handle, the transmission ambling into second gear without so much as a bump. "This thing's got massive power, and it'll take us to Robotropolis and beyond faster than you can blink. Sonic's not the only one who can go fast now." He grinned, looking over at Sally. She nodded mutely, still depressed, and the walrus's brow creased. He sighed, figuring it was best to be direct. "Sally, it's not your fault that Tails left."

She flinched, not saying anything. The snap of the clutch handle as the engine transitioned did not break the tension that filled the cabin. He drove about for a few more minutes, letting her think about his words. She spoke. "He's right, he has to be…" She said, trailing off. It took a few seconds for her to find her voice again. "But he can't be right. It's too... It's too much…"

Rotor frowned, concerned. "Sally, he's lived his whole life at the wrong end of a gun. Even if we didn't bring him along on missions, raids, or what have you, he still lived in fear of Robotnik. I'm afraid to say that to him, we're doing nothing to advance our cause, and now he's grown desperate so as to prevent Robotnik's eventual victory."

Sally looked down. "But to use weapons of lethal force? To murder? Is that truly okay?" She shook her head. "There still must be a way to resolve this. There has to be."

"Mobotropolis fell eight years ago when Robotnik overthrew the King." Rotor recalled. "I can't imagine how scary that must have been for you at the time. Sally, you seek a peaceful way to resolve this because you're afraid of violence. Ever since you saw him go…" He paused, realizing he was encroaching on sensitive territory as a tear fell down the princess's cheek.

"I don't mind," She said, snubbing her reaction.

Rotor took in a breath, and then continued. "Ever since you saw your father murdered in front of you… That was the turning point, right? That was when you decided to forbid all things like that, all proper violence." She nodded, but Rotor did not continue for a moment, looking for the right words. "Tails thinks otherwise. You acknowledged to Antoine that Tails wants a violent end because that's all he's seen his whole life – yes Antoine told me about that conversation, but that's not the point. I think there's a little more to it though."

The vehicle hit a bump, rocking the cabin a little bit. "Tails is equally as traumatized as you are. He doesn't remember much about his past, other than knowing that he woke up one day and his parents were gone. He didn't even find out whether or not they were killed, they just vanished." Rotor sighed. "He refrains from mentioning this to many people, but he confided in me a few years ago, told me to keep it a secret. He thinks they've long since been roboticized, and now he's given up on them."

Sally put a hand on her mouth. "But I've always told him that maybe…!"

Rotor smirked wistfully. "Tails doesn't believe in hope. He's lived his life in war, and can't remember any of the truly happy moments that life can give you. His existence so far has been to aid in the effort to beat Robotnik – nothing else. And if he has to murder him in cold blood, well, he won't hesitate. He won't even blink."

Sally shook her head. "No…"

Rotor nodded. "That is what we've raised, Sally. You forbade lethal weapons, but the irony of it all that none of us even knew is that we've been raising the most lethal of them all. I fear that as long as Robotnik is alive, Tails will not stop hunting him down. Which means as long as Tails is alive, Robotnik's life is on the line." He looked at Sally. "How do you think this situation will develop?"

"We've doomed him…" She said, her face blank. "We've killed him ourselves."

Rotor stopped the vehicle in the garage. The clutch handle came down with a snap, and Sally blinked, realizing that his demonstration was over. Rotor turned off the engine. "The question is who have we killed? For now, we must support Tails in the war effort, given it's either him or Robotnik. We must begin giving our all to ensure victory. Sally, allow me to begin going over the artillery capabilities of the Freedom Tank."

November 14, 3238; 0922 hours: North of the Captured Outpost

From the data he had gathered at the captured outpost – Base 1 as he was beginning to refer to it – he began to gather the pieces of Robotnik's plans. It was this that gave him the confidence to keep going, and it was this that had him move to the north, in order to capture another base.

Sensibly, Robotnik was security conscious. He kept data on all of his plans in case something went astray, but he never kept it in easy reach. However, there were some hints from the data that Tails could retrieve that information on a vital component of Robotnik's plans was kept somewhere in a small base on the southern slopes of the Tundis Mountains. Unlike the Rannart, which still had roads and highways used back when the scene was pure, the Tundis Mountains were devoid of such development – it would be a cross-country hike all the way across the foothills in order to move from Base 1 to the Tundis location. A cross-country hike all the way up there – when the winter was beginning to creep into the trees, and ice began to fill the lungs of those who trespassed – would mean certain death to the unprepared.

However, Tails strove to be anything but unprepared. He knew the dangers of the northern climate, but he also knew one of the easiest ways to counteract that danger, and with all of the tools he needed at his disposal, it would be a cinch.

Locating an old SWATbot land transporter in his base, it took him only an afternoon to repurpose the thing to transport a living being, and it was an easy matter to alter the suspension to handle the rugged terrain. In fact, the hardest part about it was locating a set of good tires that he could use to scale the slopes of the Tundis.

This brought him to the present situation, huddled inside of the armored transport while steering it remotely through PHOENIX. Technology was truly a wonderful thing sometimes, as he controlled the vehicle with his handheld while receiving a full visual feed through the T-Glass, he mentally pat himself on the back for his effort.

He spent the last night after his triumph with the T-Glass memorizing the patrol routes around the Tundis location. As he was now deep in territory controlled by Robotnik, he needed to be cautious, and he also needed to be ready to put up a fight. It would be likely, with such sensitive information stored where it was, that Robotnik would have much higher security over this base than the quaint little outpost that he had captured, as such, Tails came prepared.

Strapped to his waist were two laser pistols, PHOENIX's holster, hand grenades, a laser dagger, a small lock picking kit, and a grappling hook. Strapped to his back was an assault rifle loaded with armor-piercing shells for anything that packed light-deflection array-type armor, and spare rounds if he had to use the rifle more than he expected to.

He was unable to conceal his identity, as he foolishly only brought the clothes on his back, so his scarf would make due for the coldness. He didn't even bother to hide his two fluffy tails, which had grown thick with the season. It would have to do, though, because Tails's visual feeds informed him that he had arrived at his planned location.

He sighed, steeling himself for the upcoming battle. He hoped that he would be able to get in unnoticed, but considering the expected security levels, he doubted that he would be able to fulfill such hopes. He scooted out of the vehicle as the back door opened, leaving him exposed in the wasteland three miles away from the target. Here he would begin his trek.

Tails flinched at the clanking noises that emerged from the vehicle, but his fluttering heart stopped as he noticed his troops exit the vehicle with him. They were repurposed SWATbots, their brains switched out for ones that Tails spot checked to ensure they had no fealty to Robotnik and only to him. They were your standard, run-of-the-mill SWATbots, but they were equipped with some of the best gear he could find lying around the base. Having allies on this mission would increase the chances of success drastically.

The transport closed up, and Tails directed the two bots to follow him with a hand gesture. They stayed low, moving quickly west to a small patch of trees where they would stealthily approach. The winter was settling in – Tails could see the breath escape from his lips. He was lucky his fur was rather thick, or he would probably be going back to his base with frostbite.

The area around the base was thick with pine trees; it was probably placed where it was to take advantage of the natural stealth bonuses. However, it wasn't a particularly defensible location. Any attackers like Tails himself could use the surroundings to hide and slowly get closer to the base. In this mission, the trees were Tails's biggest advantage.

He made it to the wall, where he and the bots sidled, listening to the activity within. "PHOENIX," he whispered. "Scan surroundings." He was pleased when a moment later, a full 3d view of the outer grounds appeared on his T-Glass display. As it was mission critical information, the 3d model was also forwarded to the repurposed SWATbots, so that they would be able to act independently and do their part of the mission. He grinned, as he analyzed the map, forming plans and making calculations.

His SWATbot allies would be decoys. Once an infantry patrol arrived back, he would have them blend with them and infiltrate the encampment. In the center of the grounds, they would then attack randomly, creating as big of a scene as they could to buy Tails time to enter through the back, where he would crawl through the air ducts and go down the cargo elevator's chute to the adjacent data center where he would find his objective.

As a secondary objective, he would also capture this base, as it contained large amounts of materials and blueprints, which would be useful to him in the future. If he could not capture it, he would sabotage it, after mining all of the data he could, and then he would get out of there.

However, as he further scanned the facilities, he noticed that there was a small airstrip located in the base, which meant that he could use this base as a main operations center, and he could gain access to flying vehicles, which was another thing tacked onto his bucket list.

It would truly be a shame if he had to destroy this base – it seemed too valuable to simply get rid of.

After forming an entry plan, with more hand gestures, he directed his SWATbots to work while he himself went the other way. He would shimmy up the wall by an air duct and squeeze in – if he couldn't fit some of his ammunition, then too bad – and crawl through, but only once he heard the telltale signs of a commotion go on.

The snow crunched softly under his boots as he moved carefully around. The cold weather was getting to him, and he hoped that he would be able to infiltrate soon. However, his pragmatic mind reminded him of the stakes of this mission. The stakes of every mission, actually.

And to think, this lesson was impressed on him by Sally herself. Frowning, he tried not to think of her, lest he rouse his latent feelings of guilt again. Since he left Knothole a week ago, his heart ached more and more with each passing night. However, he also grew skilled at quashing those feelings, but not so skilled as to prevent them from resurging every now and then. He repressed the urge to sigh. A single tear flowed from his eye in reflection of the cruelty of his world.

Maybe his desertion of the Freedom Fighters wasn't the right thing to do, but right now, in the moment, there was nothing he could do to change his situation. He would just have to roll with it.

Impatient, he brought up one of the visual feeds of his troops. The feed was carried over a shortwave signal, with an encryption type that was mathematically impossible to decode without a key. Tails would know, as he spent a week's nights trying to prove that it could be decoded without success. Tails would be remiss to give Robotnik an opportunity to hack the personal network created between PHOENIX and the two SWATbots. In fact, he would be remiss to give Robotnik any indication that PHOENIX existed at all.

He noted that this particular SWATbot troop had blended in successfully with the others, and they were approaching the designated point in which they would begin to attack. Indeed, the small corridor they were in opened up to a large stretch of land as they entered the airfield. It was in this moment that they would begin the plan. He cut off the visual feed as the noises started.

Biting his tongue, he carefully aimed and fired his grappling hook onto a roof panel above the air duct he would be entering in. He climbed up in front of the panel and used his laser dagger to remove it. Shimmying in, he noticed that he and all of his ammunition fit in the duct, albeit barely. He brought up a map of the air duct ways and overlaid it over the acquired floor plan as he crawled through. Once he made it over the primary data center, he removed the air panel and scanned the place for any cameras. Again, it wouldn't do for him to be caught this far in the operation.

He dropped down, perplexed at the lack of overt security features. It wasn't like Robotnik to not have cameras if his last base was any indication. How could Robotnik be so confident when Tails had just snuck in through an air duct in a textbook entry?

Shrugging, Tails quietly stepped toward the data center, his eyes scanning the myriad servers and disks. Somewhere in this room there was a controller that PHOENIX could interface with and he could slowly suck this place dry. He stepped through the room, his laser pistol in hand.

He walked amongst the server racks, but found no terminal. Initially, he was confused, but eventually, he found the terminal cramped up in the corner of the room. He strode toward it, and placed PHOENIX on the desk, fumbling with the cables linking with the main machine. He attached his device and began the extraction. Then he felt a gun to the back of his neck.

"Miles Prower, also known as Tails." A robotic voice intoned. "You are required to follow me as ordered by Lord Robotnik."

"Oh." Tails drawled. He surreptitiously scooted PHOENIX beside the monitor before turning around. "I wasn't aware I would get a welcome party. So where to?"

"Sarcasm earns you no credit from a robot." The robot drawled. It faced away from him, but Tails knew that it kept an optical sensor on him at all times. Shrugging, Tails strolled after him. A façade of bravado, he knew, was a good way to keep one's nervousness at check. He would just have to trust that PHOENIX would be done downloading the data to his vehicle before he wiped it and initiated the virus.

The robot led him through a few corridors before indicating to a room. "Enter."

"You could be a little more polite about it." Tails frowned but he acquiesced, opening the door and sauntering into the room. He took a step back when he noticed the lavish decorations and the table, laid out with freshly prepared food. At the end of the table, on a large, rather throne-like chair, sat Dr. Ivo Robotnik, leaning back with his feet on the table.

"Ah, Tails. It's good of you to join me for dinner." He grinned, showing pearly white teeth. "Take a seat, dig in."

Bewildered, the young fox looked around him on both sides before sitting in a chair at the opposite end of the overly-long table, equally as throne like as Robotnik's, as if the madman considered him his equal. Robotnik indicated with his arms, and Tails cautiously bit into the steak that was on his plate. It tasted surprisingly good, but he couldn't help but speak to Robotnik, who hadn't touched his food.

"I suppose you were expecting me?" He began. Robotnik's steady grin widened, before he leaned on the table.

"You could say that." Robotnik stated. He took a sip of his drink, an aged red wine that citizens of Mobotropolis likely enjoyed before their downfall. "I always keep a steady eye on people who interest me, and you, Tails, have earned my interest. It took me a while to notice that you have actually captured my east Rannart location."

Tails sipped his drink, noticing that it burned like alcohol down his throat. Apparently underage drinking laws didn't exist in Robotnik's dominion. Did Robotnik intend for him to get drunk and give out the location of Knothole? Somehow, that didn't sound quite right. Nonetheless, he answered Robotnik's implied question. How did you capture one of my bases without me noticing?

"Perhaps, Robotnik, it was a simple oversight on your part. I did intend to have the base superficially run as you expected, so the fact that you knew in the first place surprises me." He countered. Robotnik grinned.

"Indeed. However, to evade my notice even for three days, your intellectual prowess is to be commended." Robotnik noted, eating a chunk of meat. They ate in silence for a minute or two before Robotnik spoke again. "So why did you abandon Knothole?"

Tails flinched. He ate a piece of steak, chewing it for a long time not to savor the taste, but to think of a reasonable answer. Even he didn't know completely – all he knew was that he left on a whim, as recommended by S, a man or woman he didn't even know.

Was it even the right decision? He could see the frown appear on Robotnik's face at the time he was taking to answer.

"Difficulties." Tails spoke, swallowing his meat. "Communicative difficulties between me and the rest of the Freedom Fighters. We had a difference in opinion. For now, I would prefer to not associate with them."

Robotnik nodded, interlocking his fingers. "I see. You have thus cut all communications with the Freedom Fighters and have separated yourself from them, becoming a third party. An interesting turn of events indeed. I was led to believe that they were raising you to become their blindly obedient lapdog."

Tails's eye twitched. "I disapproved of Sally's leadership."

"So you disapproved of her methodology… or her goal? Do you still carry the same objective, to depose of me?"

This was the critical question. It was here and now that Robotnik was evaluating Tails's threat level. His answer would prove critical to his continued existence in his body of flesh and blood, and a functioning will of his own. Tails opened his mouth, but did not phrase his first thought until a moment had passed, constructing his words carefully.

"I… do not know what my goal is. To most Mobians, the acts you have committed in your rise to power are nothing but the worst atrocities." Tails's gaze went up from his food to Robotnik's eyes. The man took a sip from his wine glass, but Tails knew that behind the reflective spectacles Robotnik's eyes were boring into his very soul. "However, I am not most Mobians. I am not simple-minded, staying in the present. I choose, like other rare people, to gaze into the future, and evaluate morality in that respect."

"What do you see in the future?" Robotnik asked, adjusting his glasses.

"I cannot tell what's in the future, hence why I do not know what my goal is. I do not know all of the facts that are here in the present, so I cannot judge what is to come. I'm sure you're aware that, like any life form, I wish to ensure my own survival. I'm aware of how Sally and the Freedom Fighters intend to ensure their own survival, however… Robotnik, I'm not sure what your motives are, entirely."

The bald man leaned back in his chair, quirking an eyebrow in amusement. "Oh, so now you're asking me questions?" Tails gazed intently at him. "Hm… well, I suppose I can indulge you." He crossed his arms. "I, too, wish to ensure my own survival. However, dropping my arms and surrendering… at this point that sounds like a death sentence, would you agree?"

Tails was silent. Seeing no response, Robotnik continued.

"You are so young, Tails, the world is much vaster than you think. There is more to the world than the Great Forest, than Mobotropolis, and even there are things past the Tundis Mountains." Robotnik grinned. "There are forces out there capable of things you wouldn't even imagine. You would never sleep if I told you." He clasped his hands. "Thus, I am looking for an item to solidify my reign. It is one of seven. I don't suppose you've heard the term 'Chaos Emerald.'"

Tails frowned. "I can't say I have. I don't suppose you could tell me why this jewel is worth your attention. I thought you were above trinkets."

The Eggman grinned. "Oh, Tails. There is more to the Chaos Emerald than meets the eye. Untold amounts of energy reside in these, nestled deep within their crystal lattices… Your Power Ring is put to shame."

"Stronger than the Power Ring… That is indeed a force to be reckoned with. I don't suppose you would indulge me with what you plan to do with such tremendous power."

"I believe I have told you enough." Robotnik finished. "However, I will inform you that I will ensure my survival with the power that the Chaos Emerald holds. However, you still have yet to answer my question. Now that I have stated my goals to a degree, I believe you can satisfactorily give me a response."

Tails frowned. "I will endeavor to ensure my survival. However, I do not count roboticization as life."

"What if I could guarantee that you will not be roboticized or killed by me or any faction under my orders?" Robotnik grinned. "Would that not count as ensuring your own survival?"

"Why do you offer me such a guarantee? Wouldn't it be easier to add me to your army of drones? Why would you bother to keep me alive?"

"Because… The look on Sonic the Hedgehog's face when flesh-and-blood Tails cuts him down would be far too amusing to pass up." Tails visibly flinched, making Robotnik frown. "Are you still adverse to that idea?"

"Old habits die hard." Tails droned. "Once upon a time, I was their obedient lapdog. Once upon a time, I would have sacrificed myself to ensure Sonic's continued survival." He paused. "However, that no longer… appeals to me."

"You seem conflicted."

"Psychologically, it is plausible."

Robotnik shrugged. "True. Current understanding of behavior suggests that might happen. So let me ask you this: Tails, would you cut down Sonic the Hedgehog if it meant your continued survival? Would you kill Sally?"

Tails paused. Robotnik took another bite of his meat. The young fox spoke. His eyes were alight, shining like the sun. "I would kill each and every one of the Freedom Fighters if it meant my continued survival."

"Then allow me to extend my most sincere invitations to my Empire. With your ingenuity, you will make a fine tactician and leader in my forces."

Tails bowed his head, "I am certain I will enjoy this opportunity as much as you will. Also, my compliments to the chef for this fine meal." Robotnik strode past him, out the door.

"I will convey that. I'm sure he will appreciate your compliments." Robotnik exited the room. Tails stood up, and followed him. His eyes held only darkness.