Hi ive been in the ER a few times and got in a car accident
yes im fine - no i was not injured - thank you for asking i appreciate how much you care
anyways have chapter
The real question with what Shadow had offered, was what exactly to ask for. Silver scratched at his head. A whole library of information was suddenly open to him - choosing which book to read was a daunting task.
Clambering over another log, Silver began to think. What had Fliss already told him? Well, for one, A lot of stories about Sonic. The strongest hero of the past that could defeat any enemy that came across his path. Silver loved stories about Sonic - always full of excitement and action. Stories passed down through generations, capturing the hearts of many.
Shadow had shown his face. Despite being described as a being beyond anything reachable, the hedgehog had been… normal. Strange, in Silver's mind, that it was disappointing. Despite expecting perfect fur and a heroic face - Sonic had been… a teenager. Eyes worn and stance aged beyond his years. Perhaps Sonic would be a topic for another time.
Fliss had talked about something called "Tekologee" though. Being able to communicate with someone on the other side of the globe was an insane thought. What even were the reaches of such powerful objects?
"Did you want to hear about Sonic, or no?" Shadow groaned, turning to look at the hoglet.
"I… actually…" Silver stammered, feeling flustered and on the spot.
"I actually wanted to know about Tekologee…"
"Technology?" Shadow asked, face contorting into a look of surprise. "You… you want to know about technology?"
"Fliss talked about bricks that could talk to people on other sides of the world…." Silver mumbled, feeling embarrassed and ashamed for asking. "I don't know if it was true or not…"
Shadow sighed. Red eyes darted across the landscape, searching for unknown things as Silver sighed. Unexpectedly, the adult began to swipe his shoes on the ground; arcing his feet along at each step. Confused, Silver watched on. What in the world was he doing?
Eventually, the ranger dropped to his knees, feeling with his hands along the stone floor. Crawling along, the leather gloves probed the landscape fingers dancing amongst the pebbles until…
"Ah." Shadow grunted, hand thumping on the ground. "A basement."
Silver watched in baffled amusement as the adult kicked on the spot - a loud drumming noise echoing through a space underneath. Harder and harder the boots dropped, forming cracks on the ground until finally - a hole broke loose. With another grunt, the adult pulled his leg out of the hole - kicking away at the sides until the gap was wide enough to jump through.
"How did you know that was there?" Silver gasped, surprised and amazed by the seemingly random cave.
"There used to be a city here." Shadow responded, jumping down into the cave. "Just trust the grids, and you'll find something."
The echoing voice of the ranger seemed louder in the hole than it was above it. With morbid curiosity, Silver poked his head inside - trying and failing to see anything in the darkness.
"What does any of this have to do with tek-nolo gee?" Silver asked, wincing slightly as his own voice echoed back at him loudly.
"You'll see." Shadow responded, voice echoing from deeper in the cave than before. "If I get lucky, there might be a computer down here."
What in the world was a computer? Silver didn't know. There were lots of new words to learn, but no one had ever said anything about something called a "computer." What did it even do? It sounded like it did a lot of computing - whatever that word meant.
Eventually, the adult clambered out of the hole, two objects in hand. Crossing his legs, he sat down in front of the hoglet and laid them out, side by side. Intrigued, Silver also sat down.
"This here is an old cell phone." Shadow explained, pointing to a metallic rectangle. "It was a communications device used for lots of things; ranging from time management to recreation."
Golden eyes dilated. Was this the brick that Fliss had talked about? With fascination, the hoglet picked it up, holding it in his tiny paws with wonder lacing his facial features. How did it work?
Silver picked the phone up, holding it in his hand. Swiping the dust off brought another level of wonder as it was extraordinarily shiny for something so old. With wide eyes, Silver stared at his reflection. It was like a mirror - but dark.
"And this is a flashlight." Shadow explained - lifting up a tube shaped object and turning it around.
Putting the phone down, Silver took it in his paws. Curiosity overwhelmed him as he found a round shaped rock built into the structure. With curiosity, he rubbed his finger over it - finding that it was loose. Was it a button? Silver pushed.
A click sounded through the air as light blasted out one end of the tube. With a yelp, Silver dropped it - fully expecting the light to burn anything it touched. The flashlight clattered away, light gleaming at his eyes as it rolled. Silver hid his face with a squeak. Was it dangerous?
"Oh." Shadow stated, half surprised and half unamused. "It still works."
"Will it hurt me?" Silver squeaked, huddling into a small ball.
"No." Shadow sighed.
Standing up, the adult stepped his way over to the flashlight. With indistinguishable muttering, he bent down; picking it up and turning it off with a sigh. The hooded head turned back to Silver with an incredulous look.
"You should hold onto this." Shadow stated, walking over and handing it to the child. "It's good for dark places you can't see."
Silver stood up. With caution in his bones, he reached out and took the light - snatching it out of the gloved hands. Carefully the child inspected the tube again, investigating its deep blue exterior with fascination. Silver had never seen a color that vibrant other than the sky. Even its materials were something the child had never seen - the shell being sturdy yet bendy under pressure. Clicking the button called forth the light beam once again - leaving Silver wondering how such an artificial thing could do such an amazing feat.
"Don't waste the battery." Shadow grumbled, startling the child. "I don't know how much it has left, so it's best saved for emergencies."
Begrudgingly, Silver clicked the button again. Watching the light flash off, he handed it back to the adult; having no way to carry it himself.
"We are going to have to get you a belt." Shadow mumbled, threading some string from his pouch through a small hole in the hard exterior. "I'll have to remember to do that when I go to Crescent City again."
With a tilt of the head, the adult fastened the flashlight to his belt. With a satisfied nod, he picked up the rectangular device. Huffing, Shadow fiddled with the cell phone; clicking buttons and holding them down. After each try gave no result, the adult shoved it into his pouch, muttering something about 50 coins or whatever.
"Lets go." He stated, gesturing with a wave. "We'll need to meet my hideout by nightfall."
"Why nightfall?" Silver asked, jogging to catch up to the already moving adult.
"The gravity fields are extremely dangerous."
Without a word, Silver grabbed onto the adult's hand. Shadow flinched under the touch, visibly surprised by the gesture. Large golden eyes stared quizzically up at the ranger as Shadow stared back, eyes wide and unblinking as calculations ran though his hooded head.
"Why are you holding my hand?" Shadow managed to mumble out.
"Fliss used to hold my hand whenever we went through dangerous areas…" Silver quietly responded, feeling embarrassed.
Without responding, Shadow looked away, hand twisting loose of the young hedgehog. Silver felt a twinge of sadness rush through his system. In the split second that he had -
Oh.
Within that split second of twisting loose, Shadow had adjusted his hand and grabbed onto the scruff of the young child. Before Silver could think any further, he had been hoisted off the ground and latched back onto the adults shoulders. Instinctually, the hoglet grabbed on, not even realizing he had done so until Shadow had hiked him up to a comfortable position.
"I need both my hands." Shadow deadpanned.
Silver let out a huff. He had gotten worried the adult had rejected him. To be honest, he didn't know why it was his first thought. Shadow had been rough around the edges, hardened by life and quite cold in manner. However, he had not been one to withhold affection. Whenever Shadow felt the need to do so, he had attempted to display care. It was exceptionally obvious that he did not exactly know how to display love and kindness, but it was extremely touching that the adult was even trying in the first place.
Silver leaned his head on the strong shoulders, looking at the environment go by. Shadow's heavy boots crunched against the hard ground methodically, the up and down bouncing lulling the hoglet to a daze.
"You asked about technology, so I will explain to you what a phone does." Shadow spoke, startling the hoglet out of his daze.
"A phone, as I said, was mainly used for communication; but it did a lot more than that."
Silver looked at the back of the adult's hood. Interest sparked in his eyes as he settled in to listen.
"Phones did more than that." Shadow continued, ducking under a dead branch. "They could also connect to devices and control things with a signal."
"How did they do that?" Silver asked, quite intrigued.
"Using a radio transmitter called a Bluetooth, the two devices use a special language to talk to each other and influence what the other does." Shadow responded. "It gets a lot more technical than that, but I don't think you'll find much interest in circuits and transmitters."
The hoglet nodded, laying his tired head back on the ranger's shoulders.
"How much further to the hideout?" Silver asked, yawning widely.
"A few hours at best." Shadow responded, vaulting over a large gap in the earth. "We will stay there until you get to a better stage in your training."
Wheezing, Silver regained his breath from the hard jump. Shadow sure knew how to land hard. With a sigh, he settled his head back down. He could wait a few more hours. It seemed like they were going to Shadow's home. And if Shadow had made it his home…
It must be one of the safest places in the world.