Chapter 50

Forgotten and Remembered

Discarded bullet casings rolled down the slanted floor. Sparks emitted from heaps of shattered metal robots. Several unconscious G.U.N soldiers lay spread eagle with their faces pressed down. The lights above flickered. One of the ceiling tiles had fallen, exposing the electrical wire. Dust and the smell of gunfire was heavy in the air.

Glass crunched beneath Shadow's feet as he shifted side to side. His fingers danced over the rows and rows of manilla folders. Several nearby file cabinets had their drawers pulled out and their contents spread all over the office. Shadow's agitation grew as he flicked through the files, rapidly checking their tabs for the name he was searching for.

Just when he was about to let loose a yell of frustration and knock the entire cabinet over, his heart skipped a beat. He squinted down at a red tab with a heavily faded label. Shadow could just make out the words, Doctor Miranda Gold. He quickly snatched the folder up and opened it. There were only a few pages in her file. None of them mentioned what kind of doctor Miranda was, nor what she did for the military fifty years ago. All that was preserved was a series of payments made to a bank account number. That was enough.

Shadow felt a rush of excitement mingled all too closely with dread. He was getting close. The truth, the real truth was almost in his grasp. I'll have to remember to thank Rouge. Shadow knew he had disappointed her by not rushing into her battle against G.U.N, but she had still helped him secure this vital piece of information.

And now to pull more tightly at the string. Shadow drew out the purple Chaos Emerald and after a flash of white light, vanished.

Sacred Heart Hospital and Assisted Living Center was located in a quiet stretch of suburb a dozen or so miles outside of Station Square. Though it was only a little past nine, there was no traffic on the streets nor anyone to be seen on the sidewalks. The entrance to the neighborhood directly across from the hospital greeted its visitors with a sign that read; National Night Out Neighborhood of the Year.

Shadow the Hedgehog stood beside the sign. Motionless and silent, he was completely invisible in the gloom of the street. He had been watching the hospital entrance for two hours. Blue vans painted with the symbol of the hospital had dropped off a few elderly patients and Shadow was waiting to see if anymore would arrive. By ten o'clock the lobby lights had turned off and Shadow crossed the street.

There were no security gates or robot sentinels to evade so Shadow walked easily into the grounds. Beyond the main hospital building there was a stretch of smaller condos. Shadow squinted in the darkness for building number two. When he found his target, Shadow ran up a tree and leapt from its upper branches onto the roof of the building. From there, it was easy to force open a vent and drop silently into a dark hallway. Shadow blinked twice and the vague outline of the hall slipped into focus. He crept forward silently until he could read the number of the room nearest to him. 404. That was not his destination.

He searched until he found a stairwell which he took to floor three. Shadow paused when he stood before room 316. His breath caught in his throat when he reached for the handle. Shadow paused and collected himself. He was so close…He chanced the handle and to his surprise, the door flung forward easily. A draft within almost slammed the door into the wall, but Shadow caught it before it could make a noise.

Shadow slipped inside the room and closed the door behind him gently. He exhaled and the sound magnified in the deadly quiet. Shadow tensed and peered behind him. He saw little but darkness and shadows. A thin sliver of blue light was emitting from the door separating the living room and the bedroom. Shadow snuck forward and paused before the final door. He pressed his ear against it and heard the gentle pulsing of a machine.

Closing his eyes, Shadow pushed and the second door opened as easily as the first. He found himself in a hospital room. Though one that was clearly designed for long term patients. An elderly woman lay in the bed. A mask was over her mouth and nose, connecting her to a breathing machine. The window was slightly open allowing a draft and moon light into the room. Shadow stood at the front of the bed and consulted the chart attached to it. The name read; Doctor Miranda Gold.

Fifty years ago, Miranda had been tall and blonde. Age had diminished her and turned her blonde hair an icy white. She groaned slightly as she slept. Her hands were curled and shook feebly. Shadow swallowed down his revulsion. What had he expected? Miranda had to be almost eighty years old. The stark reminder of how much time had passed, hit Shadow like a physical blow. What was he doing here? What did he expect to learn from this woman?

Shadow closed his eyes and, in the darkness, his mind brought forth the image of Gerald staring at the camera. I have to know. Even if that meant forcing the answers out of a dying old woman. She was a part of the military, she was just as complacent in Maria's death as all the others. With his anger serving as fuel, Shadow prepared to wake Miranda up.

"Are you here to kill her?" A small voice asked.

Shadow cursed and spun around. A woman sat on a couch in the back corner of the room. She was so thin and unmoving that Shadow had not noticed her. She had a simple round face and flimsy straw colored hair. Shadow thought her skin had a greenish hue to it and wondered if the woman was sick. She did not move but simply stared at Shadow with piercing green eyes. "I know who you are," She whispered. "Are you here to kill my mother?" She indicated Doctor Gold, who was still sleeping in the bed.

"Why would I do that?"

The woman turned her head in confusion. "For Maria? My mother always said that you would come back one day, that it was foolish of the military to keep you alive. She said you would return and avenge yourself on all of them."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Grace. Grace Gold."

Shadow frowned. "I'm not here to kill anyone. I need answers, answers only your mother can give me."

"She can't," Grace insisted. Her mouth thinned into a grim line.

"I don't care who she thinks she is protecting," Shadow snarled. "I want the truth."

"She can't tell you." Grace repeated. "My mother…she doesn't remember anything. Most days…she doesn't even know who I am."

Shadow felt his excitement deflate while his horror rose. "No…"

"I'm sorry."

Shadow did not answer. Why should he care if the woman was sorry? He racked his brain for some way forward but could not think of anything. "Did your mother ever mention Professor Gerald Robotnik?" He said at last.

"I know she worked with him on Project Shadow."

"You know about that?"

"Just what my mother would tell me, which wasn't much. I was only a child when my mother started consulting with the military. She seemed really excited at first." The woman made a face as if she were eating something sour. "But then she stopped coming home as much. They had her working every hour of the day. The project was putting a strain on everyone, and my mother had to be there to make sure nobody snapped. But who is there for the doctor's themselves?" Grace pulled at her thin hair and Shadow cringed when he saw a handful pull easily from the scalp.

"My mother was not told exactly what was happening but she knew enough. She treated the other scientists and they all told her of the dreams they were having…of the nightmares. The pressure wore on her and my father could not handle her constant absence from the house. One day he just got up and left. My mother didn't even notice until a week later." Grace was not crying. Her expression was blank. Only the darkness in her eyes displayed her grief.

"We've met before you know?" Grace whispered faintly.

"We have?"

"Yes. While my mother was working with the military she came home one day and told me that we would be going on a great adventure. The military was paying for her to go up to the Space Colony Ark to have check in meetings with the scientists there and make sure they were okay. We stayed there for a month. I met Maria in the school room. She was so kind and had the most infectious laugh. We instantly became best friends. Not that she had many other options. We were the only children our age. The day we met, I remember Maria telling me how lonely she was sometimes, and that she had rarely gotten to spend time with other children. She had been sick her whole life and now that she was better, she was stuck up on that Ark like a prison. Later that day, I watched her somber mood fade away when she saw you."

Grace trembled slightly as she stared at Shadow. "I thought it extremely strange that a girl as kind and wholesome as her should be forced to have you as her only friend. You were dark and glowering with not a hint of childish fun. The next day, I asked Maria why she was forced to stay on the Ark. If she wanted, she should come back to earth with me. I was just as lonely as she was, and I did not want to leave her up in space with only you to keep her company. I…" Grace's voice broke. "I remember Maria's smile as she held my hands and promised to meet me on earth one day. The day my mother and I left the Ark, I looked back and saw Maria waving back at me. She wasn't smiling anymore. Less than a month later my mother told me there had been a terrible accident. Everyone on the Ark, including my friend Maria, had been killed. You were the only survivor."

Grace paused and looked at him. "Even as a child, I struggled to believe the story. I knew my mother was hiding something. She was never the same after that. My mother had always been confident and sure of herself, but she became frightful and skittish. For years, I wondered what had really happened. So one day, while she was at work, I broke into her study. I found her private diary and read it. We had not gone to the Ark to check on the welfare of the scientists we had gone to make a list. My mother chose the scientists she thought were more loyal to the military than to professor Gerald. Three days after our visit, those chosen scientists were brought safely back to the surface. Not long after, the military launched their attack. Project Shadow was scrapped and anyone who had any relationship to the project was killed, including my friend Maira."

"My mother never recovered from what she had done. She had forgotten the names and faces of the scientists she had saved, but she never forgot the ones she had damned. But guilt wasn't the only thing she felt." Grace shifted in her seat. "One name kept coming up in all my mother's entries; Shadow the Hedgehog. You had not perished at the Ark, as I had once believed. You were alive and the military was keeping you imprisoned. My mother dreaded what would happen if you were awoken. She knew you would come for her, and for everyone else who had killed Gerald and Maria."

Grace's story was interrupted by Miranda. The old woman gasped and lurched as she fought to catch her breath. She had somehow slipped out of her mask while they had been talking. Grace hurried to her mother's side and placed the oxygen mask back over her nose and mouth.

"I'm not here for revenge," Shadow made himself say. Internally, his blood was boiling over with rage, but Shadow made himself stay calm. "I need to know what your mother knew about professor Gerald. I knew she had to see him as a patient before the military would take him onto the project. I've seen some of the interview tapes, but I know there is more."

Grace stroked her mother's head. Her expression was pained. "I'm sorry, that's all I know. When I found out about my mother's role in Maria's death I stopped talking to her. I had not seen her in years before I got the call that she had been checked in here." Tears splashed down onto the bed. "I was angry. Angry that my father had left, that my friend had died. I needed someone to blame so I put it all on her. I was glad that she felt guilty, glad that she slunk away from every dark corner because she was afraid that you would come out and give her the retribution she thought she deserved."

Grace wept openly and clutched her mother's unresponsive hand. "I'm sorry I could not help you. Please…just leave us alone."

Shadow did not move. "Your mother pressed Gerald for the truth. She wanted to know why he had changed the design of the Ultimate Life Form to a hedgehog, why he had named me Shadow. Did she ever-"

"No…" Grace sobbed. "What does it matter? It's in the past, it's over now. Can't…can't you see what happens when you don't move on?" Grace clung to her mother and continued to cry.

"It's not about not moving on," Shadow growled. "I need answers, I have to know the truth."

"Truth?" Grace laughed. "There is no truth, only our perception. My father saw my mother's absence as his chance to leave and he took it. I was too young to understand. I thought my mother had driven him away. What is true at one time, is a lie at another time. You have to move on. You won't find your answers here, they exist in the past, and you can never go back…you can never…" Her voice trailed off. She buried her face into her mother's arm and fell silent.

Shadow clenched his teeth. Disappointment, rage and sadness were waging a war for control of his emotions. The resulting mixture left him feeling drained and exhausted. He had come all this way for nothing. He had no more leads. The truth was too firmly buried for Shadow to unearth it. His answers existed in the past and he could not go…His heart fluttered so violently in his chest, Shadow nearly fell over.

That was it! Shadow's fatigue dissipated instantly. If the answers were in the past, then that is where Shadow would go. Shadow took out the Chaos Emerald and held it firmly in his hand. Could he go back? Would Chaos Control work if he didn't know where the planet was anymore? Shadow was too filled with reckless courage to care. He would try it anyway. Closing his eyes, Shadow focused all his thoughts on one location; Little Planet. "Chaos Control!"