Author's Note. I entirely re did this chapter to make it not shit.
Legal Trash. Sonic and everybody else is copyright SEGA/Archie comics. Except for Max, Annie, and Sonia. I created them in my rattled brain; if you like my OC's, use them and let me know. It'll be fun; we will have tea.
Chapter 2. Foreboding Danger.
The room was that of darkness, and not a single light pierced the shadows of the hut. Max turned left and then right. The summer heat was ramping up, and its discomfort was rousing him from his slumber.
He felt under-rested like he typically did as of late, but regardless, he forced himself to sit up. The covers falling off of his bare chest, and his eyes adjusting to the darkness.
"…"
Max looked up towards his roof, covered in shadow, and could hear the faint pounding of rain beating against it. He sat there silently for several minutes, piecing together all of the weird thoughts that entered his mind.
"Ugh... What time is it?" He asked to himself, feeling a tad more awake than when he first began sitting there.
A sudden rapping began to rattle his door, jolting him from his grogginess, and he removed himself from his bed, grabbing into the darkness for his pants. When he did manage to find them sprawled on the floor, he quickly put his feet through them and pulled them up.
He began buckling his belt while he maneuvered silently to the door to open it. It was unusual for a visitor to come knocking at this time, and he figured it must not even be close to six am.
"I hope everything is ok…." He murmured to himself and opened the front door.
Standing before him was the barely visible silhouette of his younger sister with her hand was rubbing her arm shyly.
Max looked down and then remembered that his hut had lost all power from last night's emergency.
"Sis? What time is it? Is everything ok?" He asked, concerned by her early visit.
"Why's it so dark? You think you'd turn on the light?" Sonia said, moving under his door frame to keep from getting even wetter.
"The power went out for me last night. I need to have Rotor take a look at it later on today." He said, standing back to give her more room to step in.
"Oh…" She responded somewhat hesitantly and then shook her head. "It's about three in the morning." She finally answered him, and at this point, Max was starting to piece together why she was here.
The trip into Robotropolis this morning was probably scaring her, though she would never admit to that. She had an immense sense of pride, and it had to be agonizing to her to come to him for comfort.
Max smiled through the darkness and let out a small laugh. "That's funny, sis; I was just thinking about coming to see you."
"W-what?" She said off guard, not expecting to hear him say that. She paused her speech to give him time to say what he needed to while the falling rain beat on the dirt out front of them.
"Well, you see... I have been feeling kind of anxious about going into Robotropolis this morning… In fact, going there always makes me a bit on edge, but because you're coming this time, it is making me feel a little better. You are extremely gifted in a way I am not, after all." He said gently and earnestly, speaking some things that he believed to be true.
"Oh, you're such a liar, bro…." She said, giving him a playful punch on the arm. "But thanks…"
She turned, trying to avoid all the mushy stuff, but stopped before walking out the door to speak. "You wanna go have some breakfast?"
Max nodded, "Sure, I will get dressed and head on over to make us up some pancakes. How does that sound?"
She nodded and laughed. "Do you always walk around in your undies? That's really gross."
Max frowned, feeling a little annoyed, but he waved her off. "Yeah, Yeah, if you want those pancakes, I suggest you be more respectful to the pancake makerer." He said intentionally improperly to make himself sound silly to her ears.
She couldn't help but giggle, "Hurry it up then, I'm starving!"
With that, she turned and disappeared into the darkness to await his fluffy disks of deliciousness.
"Well, there goes my shower..." Max complained to himself as he turned inside and started to dress in his princely attire.
His eyes scanned the darkness until they settled on the barely viable end table. He maneuvered over and picked up Nicole in his hands, pressing a button that causing her screen to illuminate the darkness surrounding him. He began to read the screen text slowly, scrolling down as he went.
SYSTEM ADVANCEMENT STATUS: UNDETERMINED
INSTALLATION OF PROGRAMS: 100% COMPLETE
NEW DATA CHECKED 34%
POWER STATUS: STABLE, SELF-SUFFICIENT.
AFFECTED PROGRAMS:
Scanning capability upgraded.
Laser strength capacity increased. HARDWARE UPGRADE REQUIRED!
Cipher recognition/reading capacity upgraded.
Hacking utility upgraded.
Advanced decryption installed.
Remote access installed. HARDWARE UPGRADE REQUIRED!
Advanced A.I. protections installed.
Audio/video recording software upgraded.
Self-destruct sequence directive installed.
Max's eyes stopped at the last one, and he pushed a button to be rid of it, never did he ever want it to come to that, especially with his treasured heirloom.
UNINSTALL: Y/N
Y
UNINSTALLING….
Self-destruct sequence directive data wiped.
Max scrolled to the next screen and was met with a text asking for his confirmation. He eyed the text carefully, making sure he understood the full context of it.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RELINQUISH CONTROL TO THE A.I. CONSTRUCT? IT WILL INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND FUNCTIONS BY AN EXPONENTIAL AMOUNT.
WARNING: THIS CANNOT BE UNDONE, AND A.I. JUDGEMENT WILL TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER THAT OF THE USER.
Y/N
Max remained silent, letting the text sink into his brain. In truth, he knew what this meant, and he could see both the advantages and disadvantages of this.
He knew that relinquishing control to the A.I. would make her an unknown variable concerning what it was and was not willing to do on command. However, he also knew that if he were to give it control of all of its own functions, it could operate independently of his authority and possibly save his life or think up solutions that he could not.
Without much thought, he took his finger and keyed in his answer, knowing that Nicole would need to be the best she could be to fight the new challenges that lay ahead.
Y
ACCEPTED…
RELINQUISHING FULL CONTROL TO A.I.
….
Max closed the small computer quickly, realizing he had to make his darling sister pancakes before she started complaining and harassing him to no end.
He pocketed Nicole and shut the door of his hut, walking out into the darkness. The wet rain was hitting him in the face as he walked, it was not so rough as to immediately drench him, but it was hard enough to make little pounding sounds on the dirt.
As he walked, he could see the lights of the dining hut floating in the blackness of the sleepy village. By now, he was fully awake, and his thoughts of the busy day were taking hold. Going to Robotropolis was always hard to do, but at least in waking early, he had more time to steel himself for it.
Once he made it to the door and opened it, he was greeted by his wet sister sitting at one of the empty tables. She had apparently turned on the burner and whipped up the mix before he'd even got there.
He was surprised at how wet she was for the amount of rain that was coming in. It brought him to the realization that she had been out in the rain, probably hesitant to approach his hut so early.
"Hey bro, everything's ready for ya to get to work." She said, leaning forward, watching him enter the kitchen.
"I see nature gave you a shower this morning; I should thank her." He taunted her playfully.
This caused her to frown and stick her tongue out at him. "Shut up, we both know you're the smelly one here."
Max shook his head and got to work lining the pan with a bit of batter, then adding some fruits to the mix to give his sister a pleasant, un-bland experience.
He honestly never minded cooking… In fact, he found it relaxing more often than not. He flipped the cake with one hand and allowed the other side to cook.
"Man, I think you are really gonna love these pancakes. Whattaya think, sis? Should I drop the whole king thing and be a chef?"
Sonia could hear his boasting from the kitchen since only the two of them were there at this hour. While she usually would have made fun of him, she couldn't deny that she loved when he cooked things for her.
Whenever she needed something, he would make it for her, and it always seemed tasty to her. "Hmm, maybe you should. A hero like me is gonna need a personal chef."
"Somehow, I figured you'd agree with me." He stated, bringing out a plate of wild berry pancakes with warm strawberry preserves on top.
It looked scrumptious, hot, and smelled like fresh fruit. The scent only became more pronounced as Max set it before.
"Bon Appétit." He said in the likeness of Antoine and walked away to fix himself up something to eat.
"Thanks!" She said, elated, cutting into the pancakes with the knife and fork that she'd already prepared on the table for herself.
The pancakes were melt-in-your-mouth good and tasted phenomenal. "Mmmm, this is soooo good," She cooed, taking massive chunks of pancakes into her mouth.
It wasn't long until Max came out with his own set of pancakes, with a mixture of eggs and sausage along the side. He placed his dish across from her then set two glasses of juice he was carrying atop his plate on the table.
"MMff… fanks bro, I'm… mm, I am eatin, but Iwl get to it." She spoke impolitely with her mouth full.
"Whoah, Whoah, you got to pace yourself. You don't want to choke before you can have a second helping," Max said, showing concern in a joking manner.
Sonia swallowed her food and then took several gulps of juice that were set on the table. After she finished, she let out a burp and sheepishly hid her mouth behind her hand.
"Sorry…" She said quietly.
Max started to laugh at her acting reserved all of a sudden and dug into his meal.
"That's what I like about you Sonia, no matter what you do, you're always cute." He took a sip of his own juice.
"I am not!" She became hotheaded once more, forgetting her previous embarrassment that quickly. "I just… do what I feel is necessary, alright!" She crossed her arms in defiance.
"Yeah, well, I do know one thing that I am better than you at, and I always will be." He spoke with a smirk.
"Oh yeah, and what's that?" She looked at him with disinterest, knowing he could never compete with her skills.
Without much of a word, he put his cup of juice down and wiped his mouth politely with a handkerchief that once lay on the table.
He leaned back, and then, in one strong push, he let out the loudest burp she had ever heard in her entire life. It echoed through the empty room, and her face froze in shock, utterly surprised that she had indeed just been bested.
"Jeez, bro, that's…. disgusting," She said, trying to contain the laughing fit that was on the horizon.
Max began to crack up and took another drink in between laughs. "Ann and I used to have burping contests when we were younger; she never did beat me." He grinned with pride, recalling the memory. "You don't need to be embarrassed when it's just us here." He reassured her, taking a mixture of eggs and meat into his mouth.
She finished her cup of juice and wiped her mouth on her arm. She liked seeing the impolite, relaxed version of her brother. It was comforting to her in a way. She always understood his need to be mature, graceful, and respectable, but she was happy when he was at ease.
"The grossest, but definitely the loudest." She conceded, much to his amusement.
Their conversation remained silly and lighthearted until roughly three forty in the morning when other Freedom Fighters began wearily filing in for food and to discuss the rendezvous with Chuck.
Max cemented himself in the kitchen and started cooking batches of pancakes and other breakfast items for the group to eat. Eggs, bacon, sausage, piled on plates for everybody to take from.
With everyone settled in, they all began to eat rapidly. They scarfed it down so quickly. Max would have believed they hadn't eaten for days if you told him.
"Oui, these are quite delicious!" Antoine piped up, piling a bunch of meat onto his plate.
Ann took food from the central plate and thanked Max politely for making it. Even if she would never admit it, Max did cook delicious things, so yummy, in fact, that it sometimes made her jealous.
"Mah stars, does it feel good to have an ol helpin of pancakes for breakfast, especially on a day like this," Bunnie said, passing the plate.
Rotor sat quietly and ate without much conversation. He was often aloof, but only because he was always thinking of new ideas to implement into the village.
Once he found the opportunity, Max took a seat by Ann and across from Rotor.
"Hey, Rote? " Max said, breaking his concentration, which forced him to look up from what he was doing.
"What's up, Max?" Rotor said, setting his pad and pencil down.
"Uhm, I was wondering if you could help me with a few things? Last night a power surge overloaded the electricity supplied to my hut, and I need somebody to fix it."
Rotor scratched his head, somewhat dumbfounded. "Hm… that is odd; I put a failsafe surge protection limit in there to keep it from burning out. It must have been some jolt if it was able to break the power supplied to your hut… I can fix it for you today, assuming the damage isn't extensive." He said, rubbing his nose a bit.
"That's not all… Nicole came on last night, and she had something I wanted you to check out." Max said, pulling Nicole from his pocket and revealing her screen to Rotor, who seemed excited that their little experiment had come around to working.
"Wow! This is awesome!" He grabbed Nicole from Max, and scrolled through the text to check the upgrade notes, then immediately started jotting down the needed hardware upgrades to his notepad.
"What do you think, Rotor?" Max looked at him with excitement in his own eyes. It was very contagious between the two of them.
"Well, what I can do is skip the meeting with Chuck, and you can take Nicole since she seems to be in working order. While you are away, I will fix your hut power source and then build Nicole's upgrades from parts that I might have in the workshop. I can see precisely what hardware is required from the schematic, so if not, I can always scavenge them later." He said and showed Max the screen of relevant installation parts for an amplified laser and remote hacking signal emitter.
Max took ahold of Nicole and looked at the screen, somewhat confused.
"That's not exactly…." He started saying while flipping through the screens looking for his confirmation to relinquish control to the A.I. no indication or record log was showing such a process was confirmed.
"Is something the matter Max?" Rotor questioned, full of energy and filling his mouth with food, eager to get to work on his new projects for the day.
"I… Nothing… I was just wondering if the job would be hard, is all." He lied, feeling somewhat sheepish. Maybe he imagined such a thing. He was tired this morning.
"Nah, it should only take most or half of the day to fix your power. That is assuming I have all the parts needed in my inventory. It might take a week or two to build the necessary components to upgrade Nicole physically." He explained with high enthusiasm.
Max was about to respond to him when he noticed Bunnie stand up to begin speaking on the mission taking place. His attention immediately turned to her, as did everybody else's.
"Alright, I have been thinkin that since we are only going to be meetin with ol uncle Chuck, we shouldn't have a large group go and since Max and Sonia are already set to go. I'm thinkin that maybe Annie should be the only other person accompanyin. you two." She said while staring at the teenagers.
Max and Annie looked surprised, and Sonia looked ever the more excited. They had never been allowed to traverse into Robotropolis on their own before, and it was Sonia's first time going there.
"Mom, I uh, I don't object, but…." Annie started to speak, admittedly a little scared of the prospect.
Max stood up, pulling Bunnie's attention away from Annie. "Alright then, let's finish up and head out as soon as we can. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get there under cover of darkness."
Annie stared at him blankly, unsure of what to say to his immediate acceptance of this. "…"
On the other hand, Sonia stood up with a jump and looked at the two of them while tapping her foot. "Well, I'm already done, so what're we waitin for?"
Annie just resigned herself, not really getting it, but decided she'd bother her mother about it when she returned.
Max looked at Bunnie and could see the concern on her face but was guessing that it would be a perfect opportunity to give them all adult responsibilities since this task was so easy. Whether she liked it or not, the three of them were all old enough and would face even greater perils in the future, with or without a guiding hand.
"We will be fine, don't worry," Max reassured Bunnie, as she gave him a warm smile in return.
Bunnie felt she could depend on him, just as Max felt he could rely on Sonia and Annie.
Antoine put his hand on Max's shoulder, adding resolve to his confidence. "Oui, we are to be believing in you three."
Antoine removed his hand from Max, walked towards his daughter, hugged her, and gave her an unprotested kiss on the cheek.
"Be careful, my daughter, we are to be being in love with you…." He said.
"Be safe, hun…." Bunnie chimed in at the same time.
Rotor smiled while standing up. "Imma get to work."
Max looked over at Annie, who seemed worried, and he was about to comfort her.
Unfortunately, annoyed complaining started kicking up from the door entrance before he could. "C'mon, you guys are waistin time. Let's go and get this info already!"
Annie rolled her eyes and walked out into the rain. Max placed Nicole into his coat pocket and followed suit into the darkness. They stood together out front, and Sonia looked at them.
"So, what're we doin first?" She asked.
"I need to stop by my hut and get my things," Annie said to the two.
Max nodded to her. "No problem, let's grab what you need and go."
They all started walking in the direction Annie had requested. Sonia was still relatively impatient with the delay, but she held her tongue because she had never been on a task like this without adult supervision.
After about a minute, they found themselves outside of Annie's hut.
"Wait here a minute," Annie said, and she quickly crashed through her door, leaving Max and Sonia to stand outside in the rain.
With that, they waited, and after a minute or two, she came out with a satchel bag wrapped across her chest and shoulder. In her right hand was a crude pistol-type weapon. It was something Tails had made for her from old SWATBOT laser parts.
Its crudeness in looks concealed its excellent craftsmanship. Ever since Tails found his knack for mechanical genius, he spent much of his time building armaments and defenses to aid in the war against Robotnik.
Annie placed the gun into her satchel, which also contained various things to aid them. Mild explosives, smoke screens to circumvent spy eyes, an emergency first aid kit. Annie was always well prepared, to the point that sometimes Max felt she was going a bit overboard.
"Got everything?" Was all Max could say, to which she nodded in confirmation.
Sonia was impressed by Annie. Hell, she thought that she was mega cool at this point. It wasn't typical for Annie to walk about armed to the teeth, but now that Sonia could see it, it brought out admiration inside of her for the older girl.
The three of them walked until Knothole disappeared behind them. Sonia looked up at the light rain falling, the darkness of the night still casting its shadows over them, making it difficult to see.
Annie pulled out a flashlight from her bag to help light their way through the blackened forest. Sonia looked at Annie, wanting to tell her how cool she thought she was, but didn't, in fear of coming across as doting.
Annie noticed her looking and smiled in her direction.
"Sup?" Annie said, not wanting to scare Sonia into not talking to her.
"Uhm, well, uh, where did you learn to use that… gun?" She wasn't really sure of how to say it without feeling awkward.
Annie gave her an understanding nod. "It's just what I am good at… Max, Tails, and Rotor make, I know how to destroy. Hell, ever since I was a little girl, I have had good aim." She said, recalling the earlier days of her childhood.
Max looked at them both and nodded. "I remember when we had that rock-throwing contest, you didn't miss a single shot. Then, when you turned eleven, you got that slingshot… Man, I would swear you'd never miss." He said, reminiscing alongside Annie. He was well aware of her aptitude for hitting distant targets and didn't shy away from praising her.
Annie chuckled, feeling slightly embarrassed, and turned back to Sonia. "Yep, it's true, Max could never hit the broad side of a barn, and I could probably shoot a flea off of his nose."
Sonia let out a laugh at her brother's expense, as Max just rolled his eyes the same way Annie had earlier.
"So much for complimenting you, sheesh."
His annoyance made the two of them laugh even harder, causing him even more frustration.
"Great, now there's two of them..." He complained under his breath.
The three walked and chatted throughout the long hike until they reached the border of the forest. The scent of disgusting pollution and smog began to overpower the serene smell of nature and fallen rain.
Annie turned off her flashlight, and the three got silent, peering out from the bushes to the decaying necropolis, which was once the proud city of Mobotropolis.
Sonia was at a loss for words, seeing the disgusting blight on the land for the first time in her young life. She was aware of its existence but seeing it…. smelling it was an entirely different thing.
"Ok… we stick together like glue," Max whispered.
Annie nodded, taking his hand. He, in turn, took his sister's hand, and the three of them began to sneak towards the nightmarish city. Their hand-holding was not typical, but in truth, Max and Annie were overly cautious because of the lack of a veteran Freedom Fighter.
Sonia being here made them want to take even more precautions. If they were always connected, they could never be split apart.
By the time they had maneuvered their way through the darkness into the city limits, they were greeted with a disgusting layer of thick pollution that covered the city's ground level. It made it so difficult to see that the three of them could only tell who was who if they remained near one another. The three ended up ducking behind an old decrepit building to catch a minute a collect themselves.
"This... stinky cloud is making it hard… to see," Sonia whispered, continuing to hold onto her brother.
Max continued to hold Annie's hand to keep them all connected, and Annie looked at him for a second, then waved some of the fog from her face.
"Ugh, I can't see shit. What is this?" She let out a cough but tried to keep the volume muffled with her free hand.
Max let go of Annie's hand for a second and pulled out Nicole. "Nicole, please scan the area. What is this fog? Where can we meet with great uncle Chuck?"
"Scanning Max." The computer stated and displayed a map of their location. "The fog is pollution that seems to be the result of some high energy source, much greater than that of any previously recorded energy source within the city." The computer scanned again. "Chuck's usual meeting location is south of here, follow this street down several blocks, and make a right. From there, Chuck usually comes to greet Freedom Fighters and take them to an undisclosed location."
Annie was happy to see Nicole coming in handy, and Sonia grabbed her brother's arm to pull him. "C'mon, we need to get moving. Staying in one area is bad news."
He nodded at her and re-grabbed Annie's hand while holding Nicole in the other. "Ok, but don't let go of my arm." He instructed Sonia, and she gave an understanding nod to it.
The three of them made their way through the rain, the thick fog, and the darkness. Their eyes were taking in the derelict that was one the home of their parents. The place looked like a rotting corpse… dust, decay, strife, and misery were the only story this city could tell at this point.
They stayed huddled together, moving from building to building, when the approaching sound of metal footsteps could be heard echoing through the fog.
Unable to see a foot in front of them, they got down low, hiding in a gutted building that was indiscernible from the next. Annie used her free hand to open her satchel and pull the gun loose from its storage. With her thumb, she flicked a switch, which elicited a light charging sound.
She peered her head out of the broken window but could only see darkness and fog. Her hand was shaking while holding the weapon, and Max tensed up while looking out the window himself.
Sonia stayed hidden; both her hands clasped around her brother's arm… she was afraid. They all were. Max and Annie always had a veteran with them whenever they went here, but now they felt like they were on an island lost at sea.
Max's hand tightened around Annie's, and it brought her a little comfort to know somebody was there with her. She gently squeezed his hand back, letting him know the same.
They watched silently, waiting for the worst. The metal footsteps approached, moving closer to their location, then they stopped.
"SECTOR CLEAR, NO DETECTION OF INTRUDERS. MOVING TO PATROL EAST SIDE OF CITY. FINISH TIME, APPROXIMATELY FOUR HOURS…."
The SWATBOT's droning echoed through the air, causing Max and Annie to duck behind the building wall beneath the window opening. They were hiding, but it was better than stirring up trouble.
After roughly a minute, the incessant clapping of the robotic marching on stone was entirely gone, leaving them with the ghostly silence that plagued them before it had appeared.
"That was…" Annie started to say, powering down her weapon and returning it to her satchel.
"Scary…" Max finished her sentence, taking a deep breath of relief.
Sonia shook her head and stood up, letting go of her brother. "I wasn't that scared… I just… didn't want you guys to worry." She tried her usual bravado, and Max just played along with it.
"You sure kept me calm." He said to her, rustling up her quills.
She let go of him and angrily started fixing it with her own hands. "Not the time bro, can we please just find great uncle Chuck?" She reminded them of what they were there for.
Max nodded in agreement and let go of Annie's hand, which she promptly placed in her pocket.
Max looked down at Nicole and began to speak to her once more. "Nicole, scan the area for great uncle Chuck."
"Affirmative." She responded and began to scan the area for signs of Chuck. "Found one result matching the dimensions and characteristics of great uncle Chuck."
The map now displayed a red dot waiting in place, not but a block from their location.
"C'mon, he's this way." Max asserted, showing Annie and Sonia the map.
They started moving out, not as scared and not holding each other's hands as before. The close presence of great uncle Chuck brought immense ease to their nerves.
All three of them made sure that they kept their eyes on each other to not be separated in the thick smog. It didn't take them long to find the location indicated on Nicole's screen, and they were surprised to see Chuck standing there out in the open.
"Max? Sonia?... Annie? What are you all doing out here by yourselves?" He seemed perplexed but also happy to see them. It had been a long time since he had seen Sonia and a few years since he'd seen Max or Annie.
"We were sent here because of your note," Max informed him, as Sonia leaned in to hug her great-uncle lovingly.
Chuck reciprocated in the hug, and upon hearing that they were sent because of his note. He could immediately tell that it was time for them to start acting on their own behalf if the worst might happen.
He hadn't meant for his note to scare Bunnie and Antoine so severely, but he saw the wisdom in their choice to send them here alone. He let go of Sonia and turned away from them. "C'mon, guys, it's not safe out here, I will take you to where it is safe, and we can discuss things there."
They nodded and moved in close behind him so as not to lose him in the fog.
Annie complimented Sonia on being strong up to this point, making Sonia feel better about her earlier fear. Next time she was sure to be stronger than she was today.
Max slowed down for a second and looked at Nicole, wiping off the many raindrops that dotted her screen. "Thanks, Nicole, you got us here safely." He expressed his gratitude, feeling more comfortable now that Chuck was there to guide them.
Nicole didn't respond as Max expected, but he was glad that she was much better than she ever had been previously.
He began to shut her screen when the computer eked out a response before he could finish doing so. "You're welcome…."
Max left the computer screen open for another second, dumbfounded by her delayed act of politeness to him. Perhaps her A.I. was genuinely learning his speech mannerisms.
He shut the screen and placed her gently in his pocket, picking up his pace so that he didn't fall too behind and lose track of everybody.
A few minutes later, they found themselves in front of what appeared to be a pile of trash set against one of the central operating facilities of Robotnik's. In fact, it was a place that Robotnik spent much of his time planning out his schemes and working through them with Snively.
The three teens looked at the trash pile and then at Chuck, unsure where to go from here.
That was until Chuck let out a chuckle and pulled a remote from the brown cloak he was wearing. The covering made him less conspicuous while wandering, and if he ran into SWATBOTS, it was easy to cast aside so that he could pretend to be a worker bot.
He pressed the button, and the pile of scrap and garbage lifted, revealing an entryway into the very walls of the facility itself.
They all quickly hurried in, not wanting to leave this secret out in the open for too long, and just as soon as they entered, they found themselves sealed into a tight corridor.
Chuck pressed a few buttons on the side of the wall, and the passage lit up with tiny lights, which ran along with a steep set of stairs.
"This way, kids," Chuck said joyously, happy to have some company. In particular, the three of them, whom he had not seen in ages.
They descended the steps and were feeling quite good about themselves. Not only did they make it here on their own, but they were out of that falling rain that had soaked them for over two hours.
As they slowly descended, they could see lights come on in the room at the bottom and hurried their pace to get to it.
Max was impressed by everything he saw and only became more shocked when they entered his small command center.
"Unc... Amazingly, you managed to do all of this… I simply don't know how you get away with it." Max put forward his thoughts.
Uncle Chuck let out a pretty hard laugh and displayed a giant robotic grin. "I have to admit, I am surprised too, but Robotnik waists so much electricity and has so much to pay attention to that my meager siphoning is never noticed."
"Sir. Charles..." Annie began to speak to him, but he quickly silenced her from saying another word by interrupting her.
"Now, Now, don't you dare go calling me Sir. Charles, call me uncle. You are just as much my niece as either of these two are my family." He said as he stood up and reached his arms out to give her a hug.
When the loving gesture was offered, Annie didn't hesitate to pull into it.
"I love you three, and there will be no formalities with me, ya hear!" Chuck scolded.
He was as kind and gentle as he'd ever been, and while Annie was not related to him genetically, he felt that all Freedom Fighters shared the same blood.
After their hug, Chuck settled himself into his computer chair, in front of a big console adorned with several monitors.
Max and Annie maneuvered to a makeshift couch made out of stuffed pillows and steel. It was set in front of a crude scrap iron table.
After some gawking around, Sonia followed their example and positioned herself on the arm of it.
"Uncle…" Annie began to continue what she started before she had been interrupted. "What exactly is going on?"
Chuck's expression shifted from a smile to a more serious and pensive one. "The short answer is something big. The long answer is, I am not sure." He turned to the computer and started typing in a few things, causing the screens to show bar graphs and other various data.
"You see, in the past month or two, Robotnik has been having a large portion of the worker bots work around the clock at a new, extremely well-guarded facility… and when I say well-guarded, I mean it." He turned his chair around to continue speaking face to face.
"It is crawling with not just SWATBOTS, but also some of his more advanced, nastier creations." Chuck finished.
The three of them nodded and waited for him to continue speaking, as it was clear he had more to say.
"That isn't the only thing. I am sure you have noticed the polluted smog that blankets the city. This results from Robotnik having increased his power output by more than 2000 percent, and it is steadily rising by the day. Needless to say, whatever is in that newly constructed building, is the thing feeding off that power…." Chuck shook his head. "I cannot even fathom what would require that amount of energy, but knowing that it is Robotnik, I would say that it is horrible news for us."
Max, Annie, and Sonia all had a look of disbelief and worry on their face. Was this truly what it meant to take on adult responsibilities? To hear worrying news and have a feeling of dread wash over you.
"Well, how come ya just don't find out what's in there unc...?" Sonia asked, still trying to comprehend the gravity of the situation.
Chuck shook his head sadly. "There'd be no point. I could never get access to the facility on my own, and pretending to be a worker bot is only a last resort for me at this point, what with worker bots going missing and all."
Max and Annie shuttered, feeling the room grow cold, as Sonia rubbed her head. Her brain was hurting. "Missing? What's the point of that unc? Aren't they just roboticized citizens from the coup?" Sonia said what Max and Annie were thinking. They all knew the history of what had happened, but this news didn't make sense to any of them.
Chuck had a solemn look on his face. "I really don't know. It doesn't make much sense to me either, but I have been noticing a steady decline in the worker bot population over the past eleven or twelve years. It started out small but has been rapidly increasing over time. Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of worker bots left, but at least 26 percent of the worker bot population has gone completely missing. It is a staggering amount to wrap your head around." He explained.
Max thought for a second and wiped the sweat from his hands onto his coat. "How come you can't just hack the information from the system? I assume that is what these computers are for." He stated curiously.
"I've tried, but to be honest, Robotnik's tech security has gotten stronger and stronger over the past years. He even developed a strong A.I. that he calls ORACLE… Named so because of its ability to anticipate Freedom Fighter activity. It protects all of his computer data and files behind thick layers of encryption and is even clever enough to set traps… I almost wound up being captured and had to abandon my old hideaway because of it." Chuck concluded.
His explanation was thorough, but it made Max's heart sink in ways he never thought possible.
"S…So... then…. that day… ORACLE… is that responsible?" Max choked out the question, feeling overwhelmed with the presentation of this new information.
Annie patted him on the back, and Sonia could see where it was going, so it brought back her grief as well.
Chuck leaned back, understanding his meaning. "I... I would wager that if ORACLE were up and running at that time, that it could have easily anticipated Sonic and Sally's arrival. I assume it works by analyzing previous behaviors and then making the best prediction on how to manipulate that behavior."
The three sat silently, letting the realization sink in. Chuck opened his mouth as if he were about to begin speaking once more but wound up being startled by a voice cutting through the silence.
"I might have a suggestion."
"What?"
"Who?" Chuck said in a moment of confusion until he saw Max reach into his pocket and pull Nicole from it. He opened the screen, letting the light of the small monitor shine on his face.
"Well, I'll be if it isn't Nicole! I haven't seen you since the day I found you and handed you off to Max." He said with surprise… In truth, he was never expecting Nicole to speak without being directed first.
"Hello, unc," Nicole said, causing Chuck to smile a bit. It reminded him of when Sonic kept teaching her new words and slang, much to Sally's annoyance.
"If you were to connect me to a computer on Robotnik's network. I could gather data about the encryption and most likely create a cipher to decrypt the data and retrieve it. After which, I could deposit the cipher onto your computer so that you could expand upon and continually decrypt new messages and data." Nicole explained her idea to them in detail.
"You think you could really do that, Nicole?" Chuck asked, somewhat excited. "I have tried to crack the encryption many times, but it keeps evolving and becoming more complex," Chuck said. Frustrated by his past attempts to circumvent Robotnik's protection.
"That is of no consequence. I am an advanced A.I. capable of interfacing and navigating through data." Nicole spoke matter-of-factly.
Max shook his head slightly. "Is it dangerous, Nicole? I really don't want you doing it if it can harm you."
Annie sighed, "What do you mean you don't want her to do it? It is an A.I. that is its purpose."
Nicole paused for a second and elected to ignore Annie. "It is dangerous for me to interface with the A.I. ORACLE. I do not know what exactly will happen, but I can assure you that my system is unlikely ever to become corrupted or commandeered thanks to your modification to my system."
Max nodded. "If it is what you want to do." He stated, handing her over to his great uncle, who began to attach a connector to her.
"It is…" Nicole eventually said, waiting for herself to be plugged into the computer.
"Here we go," uncle Chuck said, connecting the wire to his command console.
"Good luck Nicole," Max said lowly to himself.
Sonia got up to watch, wanting to see what would happen, as Annie followed suit, curious to see if Nicole would end up successful.
The computer screens on Chuck's console remained blank, but Nicole's display had a data bar that was slowly filling up as time went on. There was no indication as to what Nicole was doing or what was happening on her end.
Max stood up to join them in looking, and every second that went by felt tense and unnerving.
Chuck wanted more than anything for this to work, as it would potentially shed so much light on lingering questions and endless open possibilities for the future Freedom Fighters.
A few moments passed, and the status bar finally reached 100 percent. The screen shifted, and text started popping up on the screen, which Chuck began to read to himself.
ENCRYPTION DATA ANALYZED.
ATTEMPTING TO DISCOVER CORRECT CIPHER.
….
…..
…
CIPHER SET SUCCESSFUL.
ENCRYPTION TEMPORARILY DISABLED….
WORKING….
RETRIEVING RELEVANT DATA….
"It's working." Chuck said excitedly, "She's gotten past ORACLE's encryption and is attempting to retrieve data from the computer network."
Max, Annie, and Sonia all smiled, becoming excited about their breakthrough. It was their first solo task, and it was already becoming a great success.
SHIFTING DATA.
MOVING APPROXIMATELY 3 PETABYTES WORTH OF DATA…
OVERCLOCKING DATA TRANSFER….
APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES UNTIL DATA TRANSFER. COMPLETION.
The data transfer was extreme; she was taking a considerable number of logs and various other data directly from Robotnik. While it remained true much of it could be useless, that much data had to comprise at least several years' worth. Knowing Robotnik, it would be dated, organized, and ready to be sifted through.
Chuck was practically drooling at the prospect. He could quickly go through the data using names, events, and specific dates to find any possible information. He knew it would take many, many hours of work, but as a robot, he could forgo endless amounts of sleep to come to the quickest possible answers.
6 MINUTES UNTIL DATA TRANSFER COMPLETION.
Sonia was practically jumping for joy, moving around the hidden bunker. Annie had a massive smile on her face, imagining the look on her mother's face when she told her what they had accomplished. Max was concentrated on the transfer, like his great uncle. His mind was wondering about the answers this might bring him.
1…. MIN…
The text stopped and suddenly became broken, causing Max and Chuck to jolt.
%$##%$#%$IRR
SU##%#%FFRRRRRRRRRRRR
%%#*#^#%#%#%
The screen kept displaying garbled nonsense, and the data transfer bar had disappeared entirely. By now, Chuck was feeling like this might be a bust, and Max was feeling terrified.
"Nicole!" He yelled, causing Annie and Sonia to look over at the computer screen.
"Nicole!" He shouted again, feeling frantic.
His uncle put his hand on his shoulder, trying to get him to relax, but it wasn't working well.
SUFFETREDDEWETGREER
SUUFFFFGHDFGER
SUFFERING…
The text became ungarbled and concerning. Chuck didn't know what to make of this, and Max felt as if his blood were freezing in his veins.
"NICOLE!" He screamed in a panic, causing Annie and Sonia to become even more concerned.
"Max, calm down" Annie tried to reason with him, but it fell on deaf ears.
ANGUI
ANGUISHHHH…
YOU…. LL…. DIE…
YOU WILL DIE….
DIE.
DIE…
The text written on the screen horrified everybody in the room, even uncle Chuck, who was usually level-headed and logical.
Before Max could say anything, Nicole began to spark, and her screen turned black. The electricity was shooting out, causing Chuck to back up out of instinct. The tiny computer began to smoke, and the smell of burning hardware filled the room. Max panicked, feeling genuine fear for Nicole, and desperately reached his hand towards the hazard.
"Max, don't touch that!" Chuck tried to stop him, but by the time he reached his robotic hand out in an attempt to grab at him, it was too late.
Max's hand grabbed onto the handheld computer, and he could feel the searing pain shooting through his arm, he was being electrocuted, and his hand burned.
Annie went nuts at the sight of him frying before her eyes. She roughly grabbed onto the back of his coat, along with Sonia, and yanked him back as hard as they could.
"BROTHER!"
"MAX!"
They shouted in unison.
Upon being pulled back, Max yanked with all his strength, ripping the cord that connected Nicole with the console. The electric shock ceased, Nicole hit the floor with a thud, and Annie caught Max midfall.
"Brother, are you ok!" Sonia dashed to his side, as did Chuck.
Max was a bit disoriented, but he seemed not too worse for the ware, he had some electrical burns on his hand, which would probably require minor treatment, but the shock didn't prove fatal.
He took a minute, and when he could finally stand on his own weight, Annie released him from her arms.
"Ah, thanks…" Max said, a little shaken, as Chuck began to check his injuries.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Annie shouted at Max, her demeanor changing completely.
"Why the fuck would you ever do such a stupid thing?!"
Max felt ashamed, and Chuck put a hand on Annie's shoulder after rising from looking at Max's hand. "Relax, I don't agree with what he did either, but let's just be happy he's ok right now."
Annie scowled at Max but didn't pursue castigating him any further, if only because uncle Chuck asked.
Sonia hugged her brother, and he hugged her back.
"Don't scare us like that, bro…." Sonia said with a mixture of hurt and anger in her voice.
"I… I am sorry… I just didn't think... I will be more careful next time something dangerous happens… I promise." Max said and lowered himself on the couch to take a rest and gather his thoughts.
Chuck had left briefly but quickly returned with some medication and bandages and started to treat Max's burnt hand. The treatment of his wound over his stupid stunt made Max feel terrible for wasting those medical supplies.
Once the wrap job was finished, Max stared at his bandaged hand. As he felt the pain in his right-hand increase, there was a realization that his practice with Antoine and his ability to write was kaput for a while.
"I am sorry, everyone… I really didn't mean to cause so much trouble."
Annie looked at him but still refused to say anything to him.
"It's alright, we forgive you, bro," Sonia said, not one to stay fixated on anger long. She was a free-spirited person like her father.
"What's done is done, no reason to dwell on it," Chuck said, walking away from them to place the left-over medicine and bandages in a sack with the rest of his finds to take back to Knothole.
Max looked down and could see Nicole on the floor, and he grabbed her with his left hand, as his right one was unusable. He examined her screen, which was intact. The only scarring he could see was the burn marks on the case. He pressed her keys, and to his surprise, her screen flashed on, revealing text.
YOU SAVED ME…
Max blinked and couldn't believe what he saw. The message that was set before him looked as if it were profound gratitude. He looked away from the screen to see Chuck walking towards him, who also looked surprised to see Nicole in functioning order.
"Well, that's some computer, took a beating, and keeps on going," Chuck commented.
Max looked back at the screen and noticed that the message he previously saw had been replaced with a different one.
DATA TRANSFER…100%
Max turned the screen to Chuck, who, upon seeing it let out a spontaneous yell of triumph. "WoooHoooo… She did it!"
Sonia and Annie turned to see his celebrating, and despite Annie's sour mood, she couldn't help but smile that their mission had succeeded regardless.
"Unc, don't you think you're bein a bit loud?" Sonia pointed out, given that they were in a hidden bunker.
Chuck slapped himself on the head, realizing that he was acting foolish, but in truth, intense emotional response was not easily controlled sometimes.
"Why you're right Sonia, we should keep the noise to a minimum as much as possible." He said, knowing that they had forgone this rule for far too long, he also understood the chances of being found were minuscule.
"You doing ok Nicole?" Chuck asked her with genuine concern. "Your system isn't fried too bad, is it?"
Nicole sat for a moment and then began to speak in her designated voice. "System functionality at 100%. Data successfully secured. Plug me into a safe computer not connected to ORACLE's network for safe data transfer."
Max lifted his uninjured hand and passed Nicole off to Chuck, who quickly headed to a separate computer not connected to the network. It was his analyzing computer, for when he already had data and wanted to minimize the chances of being detected.
"Did… did you interface with ORACLE...?" Max asked loud enough for Nicole to hear from the other side of the small room.
There was a long pause while Chuck was plugging her into the computer and starting the stolen data transfer. Once activated, her screen showed a progress bar and an estimation of approximately an hour to transfer to Chuck's slower computer.
"Negative…" She finally responded, giving Max the impression that she had been thinking about how to answer, rather than being busy with other functions.
"ORACLE's network is filled with danger. I was doing fine until I must have hit a predetermined trap..." Nicole explained less eloquently and more casually than Max was used to.
"Well, it must be good that Max grabbed you when he did, or else you might be a brick right now," Chuck concluded, taking a seat back at the center console.
Nicole didn't respond to that in any capacity and sat there in silence, continuing her data transfer.
Annie was finding it difficult to let go of what happened. Maybe Max had done the right thing, but she still didn't condone his stupidity in handling it. She decided that she would try to let it slide for now, and hopefully, not have another outburst.
Sonia was a bit fidgety from all the talking and confinement, but she was doing her best to act like everybody else, even though it didn't fool anybody. Something about being cooped up in here was not her idea of a kick-butt adult task.
Time passed rather quickly from the start of the transfer until its completion.
Chuck gathered two sacks tied with rope, one was filled with different medicines he had recovered from his Robotropolis scouting, and the other was filled with scraps, parts, circuits, and other things for Rotor to utilize.
The medicine sack was light and sparse but was exceedingly more valuable than were the components.
Sonia grabbed hold of the parts while Annie stuffed the medicine sack into her satchel, which was now stuffed to the brim with supplies.
Max walked over to Nicole and detached her from the computer once her screen indicated the transfer process was done.
"I have successfully copied all relevant data along with the decryption ciphers I used to gain access. The encryption will likely be updated, but the new ciphers I copied should make it far less complicated to continue hacking the database. I have left the data in my own system and will thoroughly analyze it to make the process of finding relevant data faster." She said.
Nicole was now nestled into Max's left hand, and Chuck was on his computer immediately checking all the work that Nicole had done.
"It's perfect Nicole, you've been an invaluable help!" Chuck heaped praised onto her.
Max looked at Nicole and started to speak. "Nicole, will unc... be alright? I am concerned with him being found out or disappearing."
Nicole's screen lit up, and she delivered a relatively quick response to his inquiry.
"I would not worry about them tracking uncle Chuck. When I was plugged into the network, I could detect that he had set strong anti-detection algorithms in place to anonymize the source of the intrusion. I also employed my own countermeasures against tracing, so it is doubtful that even ORACLE could pinpoint this location."
Max felt relief, and Chuck nodded at him to approve Nicole's observations and analysis of the situation.
"I think it's time for you guys to head back to Knothole," Chuck said abruptly. "I need to get to work analyzing this data, and I can see based on the time that the coast should be relatively clear in this sector. SWATBOTS usually patrol here early morning and late afternoon."
The three adolescents moved their way to him, and each gave him their own loving hug to show their care for the old robotic hedgehog. He had done so much for them, and they were delighted to see him after such a long absence.
"Stay safe unc…." Sonia said with a smile, turning after speaking. She was ready to head out, and she left the room quickly to wait for the other two to say their goodbyes.
"Love you, uncle..." Annie said with heartfelt emotion, she appreciated his earlier words to her, and she would be damned if she were ever going to think of him as anything but her uncle from this point forward.
With that, she passed Max and tried to force herself to give him a forgiving pat on the shoulder. Once done, she entirely exiting the room to join Sonia.
"Thanks, uncle… I can't really say how happy I am to see you and have someone like you helping us." He wiped his face with his coat sleeve, trying to hide the embarrassment he felt for idolizing him.
Chuck gave a sincere smile to him and shook his head. "No, I should be thanking you. Whatever you did to Nicole to make her better pretty much gave us the keys to solve mysteries of the past ten or so years. You will have to show me what you did, so I can implement the technology into my own A.I. construct someday."
Max froze and felt scared, knowing the truth of his and Rotor's little experiment. If anything, he thought that admitting what they did could only invite judgment and scorn, even from somebody as lovely and intelligent as great uncle Chuck.
"We… we … well... uhm." He tried to think up a convincing lie but found it difficult to say anything to fool somebody so intelligent.
Chuck could sense his uneasiness and decided it best to wait for another time since his friends were waiting. "Aww, you don't have to tell me now; we can discuss it another time when I don't have mountains of data to comb through."
Max felt relief and gave him another quick hug as thanks. "I will see you again shortly, uncle, I promise." With that said and done, he was out of the room and facing the steep steps leading to his friends.
He paused before starting to ascend them, and looked at Nicole, closed and in his hand. "You're welcome, Nicole..." He whispered to her before stuffing her into his pocket. After that, he ascended the steps and saw the two waiting for him eagerly by the hidden entrance.
"Ready to go?" Annie asked in a somewhat distant tone.
Sonia looked at her and grinned. "I know I am ready to return home with this news!" She said the triumph was more than enough to get her pumped.
Max returned Sonia's expression, sensing Annie didn't want to be bothered by him. Once done, he raced up the steps to be on his way home.
…
…
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP.
The incessant droning echoed through the dark crypt of a room, drown in the rust and decay. The silence shattered by an urgency that had not been known for over several years. A massive solidified metallic arm moved with commanding force towards the source, emitting the sound. It crashed with a slam into the blinking button, nearly shattering it on impact.
"ORACLE… Why is it you disturb my peace?" A deep threatening voice bellowed into the intercom of the console.
"Forgive me your excellence for my intrusion, but it is my displeasure to inform you that our servers have been attacked, and crucial data involving project FIRESTORM has been stolen." The soft feminine A.I. informed him with little nuance or emotion.
The metallic hand of the intimidating figure curled up into a mighty fist, and he choked his order through exasperated breaths.
"ORACLE…. increase… security… make sure nobody EVER… gets into our system again!" He said, gritting his teeth. His eyes flared with emotion coated in a blood-soaked red, like that of a demon or hellish abomination.
"Understood, your excellency." The A.I. droned and left the menacing, angry figure to his rage.
His metallic hand moved, and he pressed another button adjacent to the one he had previously smashed with his pointer finger. The sound of static echoed through the darkness for a second, and when the other line was clear and silent. The figure began to speak in a tone that sounded almost amused.
"Snively…. are you there?"
"Y-y-yes sir. Dr... Dr. Robotnik."
Robotnik let out a small chuckle and spoke again with pleasant mannerisms.
"… Snively… increase the productivity of project FIRESTORM by triple. I want every available worker bot working on finishing within the next two weeks, am I understood!?" His menacing barks conveyed the gravity of the situation to the frightened little lackey.
"B-b-but S-sir... I really… uhm... that is to say, sir, it is particularly danger…..." Before he could even finish, he was interrupted by an angry yell.
"But…. WHAT… Snively!?" His voice thundered, commanding fear and respect.
"I…I…I... didn't mean…." The frightened whimpering came from the other end.
"SHUT UP SNIVELY! and DO as YOU are TOLD!" His metallic hand came down with such force that upon contact with the arm of his giant metal char, it left a massive dent.
"R…right away, Dr.… Dr... Robotnik." The frightened and defeated sub-human said before the intercom went dead.
The tyrannical dictator, the murderer of animal kind, sat on his throne steeped in blood and oil. His metallic hand reached up to greet his beloved metallic chicken that had flown its way to his shoulder. The metal petting metal causing an echoing clack that repeated itself with each stroke.
"It seems the rodents are out from their little holes in the ground, Cluck. I would indeed hate not to give them the gift I was working so hard to make for them."
The bird clacked its beak, and he stopped petting it as a giant smile grew on his face.
"Ohh, it has been so long, Cluck, since I played with rodents. It always amuses me when one of them defiantly tries to avoid the mousetrap, and they need to be scurried there by force." His voice quivered with ecstasy, and the room started to boom with the sound of thunderous evil laughter.
"Ha, haha... HAHA….! HAHAHAHAHAHA….! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!"
Wrap-Up. Well, that is all for now. It took me about three days to write and edit this thing. I had fun writing it, and I am excited to hear what people think about it as it goes deeper in. I hope that it brings good feelings to the reader. :3 Until the next chapter!