Author's Note. Still my favorite chapter of the entire story. I wrote this story precisely because I thought up this chapter. Without it, the story itself wouldn't exist.
I am leaving the story about it at the end because I naively thought people would want to interact about such things when I first started writing. Now I just talk about it to myself and let the reader decide if they care to read this trash.
Redid the entire chapter to fix it.
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 8. Rebirth
The world was silent save for the slight sounds of dripping water splashing onto a liquid surface.
The area was void of any sense of light, and the darkness was never-ending and absolute. Max lay chest down with the side of his face partially submerged in an elevated puddle of indistinguishable liquid that was almost high enough to reach his mouth.
He was coming out of a deeply unconscious state, but his sense of sight was lost on him even after he opened his eyes. It was so dark where he was.
Things started to enter his mind slowly, and he was greeted with an unstoppable agony that couldn't be described in words.
His body felt as if it had been trampled by a thousand SWOTBOTS and his arms were unmovable. His chest felt crushed, and even breathing caused him severe pain.
He tried to move his head, but it only resulted in more anxiety and panic.
What was going on? Where was he? Was he blind? So many questions begging for answers, but all that called out to him was the dribbling sound of water dripping into water.
Max lay still in the thick puddle, and half of his face fur was soaking up a foul-smelling liquid. He desired to get up, but it felt impossible right now.
His body was hurt so badly he wasn't sure he could find the energy to move it and continued to stay in place, trying to somehow put the pieces together, but he was in a blind daze.
"R-rr."
Max struggled as he attempted to move his arms and try as he might, his lower left arm would not obey his commands, but his right arm was able to move weakly in the way he desired.
Slowly and steadily, he placed his right hand into the liquid, and he started to lean his weight on it so that he could try to push himself upwards.
After he felt reasonably stable on his right arm, he then tried to haphazardly move his left arm to support more of his weight, as he was not sure his right one could do the entire job of lifting his hurt body on its own.
"Ah... ah… AHHHHHH!" He screeched out in torment the second he tried to put any weight on his left arm.
The sound of his agony echoed all throughout the darkness, and Max fell face down in the disgusting puddle. His chest hurt so severely from the sudden fall that he rolled onto his side, trying to get the throbbing to stop. His left arm was radiating with hurt, and he would dare not try that again.
"Oh god... it-it hurts." He cried out into the nothingness, his voice cracking. He was in such physical distress that he started to cry lightly.
"Ah... can't give… up." He said in between deep breaths, each breath causing more anguish to his chest region.
Again, he started to push himself up with his right arm and completely neglected the left. When he got far enough upwards, he pushed back so that he fell on his butt with a splash.
"Oof." He made a noise but was thankful to be in a sitting position at this point.
His pants were soaked through, but he could care less about the unidentified filth. He couldn't see anything at all, and judging from his pain, it was apparent to him that he was not ok.
Max started using his right hand to feel around his royal coat and then feel parts of his body.
He was hesitant to touch his left arm out of incredible fear for what he might discover. He looked around the darkness, and it was now hitting him that he had no idea what nightmarish hell this place even was. He was sure he was still living, but he was not sure if that was a good thing right now.
Max braced himself mentally and started feeling his left arm gently and carefully. He could feel the liquid from before, but he could also feel a lump on his arm that sent agony coursing through him.
"RRRahhh!" He cried out and removed his hand quickly. He had no way to see the injury, and he couldn't tell if it was dislocated or broken.
"Oh..." He said lightly under his breath, entering a realm of shock.
He was becoming more and more concerned with his defenselessness and started to move his head around rapidly. The sounds of leaking water and the occasional echo of scratching metal sent horrible feelings through his body.
He sat still, afraid to move and afraid to make a sound. The world around him was black, and he would give anything to have some semblance of nocturnal vision left in his eyes. His heart raced, but he felt more physical distress as the blood was pumping through his body.
Max was still coming down from the shock, but the unfortunate circumstances he now found himself in caused his body to enter fight or flight mode.
He was sweating, and his adrenalin was numbing some of the agonies he was in. He was fearful and starting to panic, but he could do little about it without the ability to see anything at all. He held onto his aching chest with his right hand and called out the only thing he could think of during the height of his emotions.
"NICOLE!" He yelled to the point of hurting his chest and let his voice carry out into the darkness, echoing back as it went.
As Max held his chest, he slowly rubbed it while trying to breathe, but he found it challenging. He wasn't sure what was around him, but whatever possibly lurked in this hellish abyss was most likely coming for him now.
He looked around at the endless darkness and braced himself for the slaughter, then shut his eyes for a minute and tried to get his breathing corrected so that it would be less intrusive and painful.
He knew he was freaking out, but unquestionably, if something lived down here in the depths, it would have come for him while he was unconscious.
Trying to reason with himself was difficult, and even if fear was winning, it brought him to a point where he could again open his eyes and try to think of a way out of this mess.
"Hm?" Max could now see a faint white light illumining the endless sea of shadows.
"N-Nicole." He had never been happier to see her screen in his life.
Max pushed himself up, his adrenalin carrying him through the suffering. He held his chest while using caution to navigating the area, as he could only make out Nicole's location, not the things possibly around himself.
Limping slowly forward, he made sure that his legs could support him and navigated the narrow path stacked to the brim with obstructing metal piles.
He was still fearful for his life, even though the computer illuminated such a small part in the short distance. He still feared an entity of unimaginable brutality would swoop in a rend the flesh from his bones.
He tried to move slightly quicker but found it impossible to go even remotely fast. He could see the screen approaching as he staggered, and it was starting to make him feel just a tiny bit safer.
"Almost… there..." He said to himself, struggling to move his injured body.
Once he was up close enough, he could see that Nicole was severely damaged and partly submerged into a blackish-brown puddle that flooded the floor.
He wasn't sure what it was, but it disgusted him to think he had his face in it. His eyes scanned the small area of light surrounding her, and all he could hope was that she still worked.
Max removed his hand from his chest and tried to bend over to reach her, but the pain proved too severe, and he let out a groan of pain.
"Ahhh… rr." Putting pressure on his chest was a terrible idea, and he now had to preoccupy his thoughts with a way to just pick up Nicole.
He thought for a second and kept his eyes on the light, which was his only relief from his fear at the moment. He could see his boots in the nasty liquid and decided that reaching Nicole had to be done even if it caused him discomfort.
Slowly, he bent downwards, keeping his upper half steady, and quickly slid downwards, flopping to his knees with a splash. "Ahh!"
While on his knees, he picked up Nicole in his right hand and wiped some of the muck off her display and outer casing. He could see many cracks in her screen, and her protective layer was blackened with severe burning.
"Nicole! Speak to me!" He cried, trying to shake the machine to get it to respond.
The screen went off, and then it flashed back on, and text started to scroll up along the cracked screen.
SCANNING SYSTEM FUNCTIONS…
MOST PHYSICAL COMPONENTS ARE BADLY DAMAGED…
SYSTEM OPERATING AT 27% CAPACITY…
SCANNING SYSTEM A.I.
SYSTEM A.I. AT 100% FUNCTIONALITY. TO ACCESS THE A.I. CONSTRUCT, MAX MUST REQUEST FOR NICOLE PERSONALLY….
Max's eyes lit up, and he started to speak to the machine. "Nicole. It's me, Max. E-everything is ok. Please, I need your help."
The screen of the computer flashed, and he could see his image on the small screen. He could tell that Nicole was viewing him.
"Nicole, are you ok?' Max said, forgetting about his pain for a brief moment now that Nicole was with him again.
"Max…" The machine said. It could see his dirty, cut-up, and frightened expression.
"I am fine for the most part... My A.I. is at 100 percent functionality, but my physical system is severely damaged."
Max pulled his right arm in and pressed the broken computer against his chest. Nicole was surprised, but she understood the gesture as a hug.
"I-I don't know what happened." He said to her, moving her away from his chest.
Of all the agony and fear he was in, he felt so elated to at least have Nicole with him right now.
Nicole studied Max's face and his body and could tell that things were terribly wrong with him. She honestly had no idea what happened either, but she decided to explain what she did know.
"When I overloaded the reactor of the power facility, I was intercepted by ORACLE. She tried to force her way into my A.I. chip and assimilate with me, so instead of fighting with her, I blocked off all access to myself. ORACLE, not willing to let me get away with such a tactic, instead sought to destroy me by overloading my system with electricity." Nicole explained.
"I just remember you exploding," Max said to her, keeping her balanced in his right hand.
"Yes, it was a desperate move. Surging my system, while effective, is a dangerous thing for an A.I. to do. It requires the A.I. to take on way more electrical energy than it is capable of, and as a repercussion, it causes system damage to itself." Nicole said.
"Give me a minute Nicole," Max said after she was finished speaking.
Once he was sure she had said everything she intended to him, he closed her and slid her into his coat pocket. He slowly started to push himself up with his right arm and grabbed onto the invisible metal pile with his hand to help stabilize himself. Once he was on his feet, he grabbed and re-opened Nicole so that the light returned to his face.
Nicole was unsure why he needed to close her to stand up, but given his movements and expression from earlier, she was gathering he was severely hurt.
"What..." Nicole started to speak and then stopped as if she were hesitant.
"What is it, Nicole?" He said, trying to keep his mind off the pain from standing.
"What happened to you, Max?" She asked, and though she had the same monotonous voice, Max understood the concern behind the question.
"I was trapped in the room where you exploded, and I was about to be blown to smithereens myself. When one of the walls opened randomly, revealing a drop chute, I grabbed you and decided jumping was better than being obliterated. I slid downwards for god knows how long and got banged up pretty bad, but I survived somehow." He explained his half of what happened to her.
"Drop chute?" Nicole stated as if it were an oddity.
"I have no idea where I am or what to do." He admitted to her.
Nicole took a second, and then a map started displaying on her cracked screen. After a few moments, a shiny dot appeared.
"After reviewing the map of the power facility and going by the old maps of the city. I estimate we are likely located in one of the old sewage plant storage facilities. If a chute were built, the nearest underground area would likely be storage facility C. It is a place that was built to store supplies for the underground sewage treatment plant."
She showed the underground map to him, and it made sense that if Robotnik built a chute, it would most likely lead to this area.
"Is there a way out? Can you light the area so we can see?" Max asked, feeling a sense of hope well up within him.
"My flashlight, laser, rear camera, and input functionalities are all destroyed. If we are going to get out of here safely. It might be wise to try and activate the emergency power switch to the east. I might not be able to light the way, but I can use the map to guide you. Then if we can get power working, we can probably see the exit points." Nicole said to him.
Max nodded and started to limp forward. He could only see using the map Nicole displayed as a guide, even though every step caused his chest and body pain. He was unwilling to take any breaks. The sooner he could get some kind of light, the safer he would feel.
"Left," Nicole instructed him.
Max pressed past some lumps of metal in the dark.
"Straight ahead." She said. He kept going, accidentally kicking some metal as it splashed in the water.
Ding!
Max stopped when he heard the sound and started looking down towards the metal he just kicked. He raised his boot slightly, and the metal came rising out of the water. He couldn't see it but turned Nicole around to illuminate his boot with her screen. It was the hilt of his blade resting on it.
"I need to get this, Nicole!" He said to her excitedly, not wanting to be completely defenseless down here, though it was more for his comfort than for combat.
He placed her in his pocket, removing his only light, and stood there with the blade resting against his foot.
"What luck." Max thought to himself, raising his boot as far as possible without the sword falling off and the pain being negotiable.
Max knew he had to do this and quickly forced himself to bend towards the raised hilt, grabbing it with his right hand.
"Ahh, Oww!" He cried out in pain, but his fingers latched onto the handle until it was firmly held.
He took in deep gasps of swallowed air, as it was the easiest way for him to breathe without pain. He placed it in its sheath at his left side and slowly removed Nicole from his pocket.
Once she was opened again, and the light was comfortably shining on his face, he felt relieved.
"I-I got it." He said through painful gasps.
Nicole said nothing to his celebration, but even as a machine, his behavior and injury elicited strange new sensations within her.
"We should continue on." She eventually said to him, and he nodded in agreement. He had caught enough of his breath that he felt he could move again.
"Right." She navigated him once more.
"Continue right." She said.
"Straight ahead."
Max kept walking in the darkness, his attention focused primarily on the map.
"Stop," Nicole said, and Max stopped to a complete halt.
Not wasting a second, he turned Nicole around and used her screen to reveal what was directly in front of him. He could see a massive grimy stone wall, and attached to it was a rusted red box with a giant switch.
"This has to be it," Max said, putting Nicole into his pocket once again.
He put his right hand on the switch and tugged at it. It wouldn't budge, so Max put even more weight on it. It slowly started to squeak and scrape downward, causing him some discomfort the more he pushed.
SLAM!
The switch came all the way down, and sparks started to fly in a multitude of directions scaring Max. He stammered back and moved away from it out of instinctual fear, and the sound of humming could now be heard echoing through the room.
CRACK!
SPARK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
The lights that should have come on started to break and spark. It went down the line of the wall until the third to the last one actually lit. The room was barely revealed as the one light was not enough to encompass or brighten the entire room. However, it was powerful enough to illuminate a good chunk of it, leaving the rest dim or marred in shadow.
Max's eyes took in everything that he could see, and what he could see caused an intense fear within him.
The shadows were hiding a grimmer and more sinister truth. He could see thousands of broken, discarded machines piled on top of each other like a garbage heap. Their staring black soulless eyes and twisted mechanical grimace revealed to him a world of forgotten torment.
Max was shaken and was coming to the realization that these were workerbots. The very people they were trying to free. He had fallen into the depths of a mass graveyard, and it made little difference to him that these corpses were made of metal.
All of those discarded and thrown away souls of roboticized citizens lie forgotten here. It was almost too much for Max to bear witness to.
"The missing workerbots..." He said out loud to himself.
"This is where they all went to, but why?" His mind couldn't even dream of coming up with an answer so quickly.
He started to gaze up from the piles of workerbots and could see the destroyed and melted chute he had likely flown out of, along with several other chutes that probably lead to other facilities in Robotropolis.
The sturdy stone ceiling was also severely cracked, and Max realized that there was the possibility this place would cave in and crush him to death.
He had so many things to worry about, he decided to just be thankful for having the ability to see again.
Now that Max had light, he was able to tend to everything that he needed to. It may not be a lot, but it was enough to check himself and vast portions of the room out.
He stopped looking towards the ceiling and turned his attention to his left arm, then nervously looked over at it now that it had his attention and could see it was bent in an awkward position.
"Damn!" He shouted in a panic as he tried to hastily unbutton his royal coat with one arm.
Max knew this was bad, but he genuinely didn't know how bad it was. He struggled to pull the coat off, but when he couldn't stand the pain, he stopped. He started to swallow deep gasps of air to help himself calm down with less pain.
"It's ok. It's not so bad..." He reasoned with himself, but as time passed, he got more frightened.
He was well aware of his own denial and knew that he needed to see what was wrong with his arm.
"My sword..." He said as he started to unsheathe it with his right hand.
He knew this would come in handy at some point and was happy he had expanded the effort to get it earlier.
Using his working arm, he then gently placed the blade into the bottom half of his left coat sleeve. Piercing the fabric with its razor sharpness, he pulled as softly as possible so that the steel would cut effortlessly through his sleeve without irritating the injury.
Once the sword cut the bottom loose, he re-sheathed it back to his left side.
"Ah." He made a sound as he was apprehensive about looking, but he had to know because it was necessary.
Max started to peel up the loose sleeve revealing the beginning of his wrist and arm. The further he moved up, the more bruised and bloodier it became, and his heart raced with every inch exposed.
He took in a gulp of painful air when he finally reached the bump. He hesitated for over a minute out of pure nervousness.
Eventually, he got brave enough, and he pulled up gently to reveal the lump. Now that he could see the bump was a piece of snapped bone that was sticking out through his skin.
He immediately freaked out and dropped the sleeve back over the injury while letting out a terrified yell.
"Oh god!" He cried out, his mind going blank from the shock.
He was utterly mortified by what he saw, and it didn't take a genius to figure out how serious this actually was. His poor arm was in agonizing pain, and who knew how long it had stewed in that disgusting filth on the ground.
Max just stood there staring blankly at his boots soaking in the dirty water. He was afraid of imagined threats before, but now he had something tangible to be terrified about and knew he needed to get out of here and get help extremely fast.
He moved his hand into his coat and pulled out Nicole, snapping her open with his thumb like he did so many times before. She could see him via her front camera, and when he turned her around, she could see the mass graveyard of workerbots.
"I don't know what is going on here, Nicole, but we need- we need to get out." He said, and his voice sounded desperate.
Nicole was processing the visual information, and when she was turned back around to face him, she could see Max's fatigued expression.
She analyzed most of his upper body and used the visual information to try and determine how bad off he was. She was well versed in the anatomy of animals thanks to the data Rotor had given her, and she even knew proper treatments for ailments despite the fact she could not administer them.
After a short while, she concluded that his arm was severely broken, and his expression kept shifting between discomfort and fear.
"I think it is the correct course of action to exit this place. It would be unwise to dwell here for too long." She gave her opinion but omitted that her central concern was for him.
Max looked around the giant underground room. Most of it was dumped workerbots, but there were also massive steel drums and other trash left over from when this was a simple storage area. He was looking for any signs of an exit, but he could not find anything at all.
"How do we get out?" He asked Nicole weakly. All of the moving around and pain was dragging his energy down.
Nicole examined the map and indicated the exit door was located west of the destroyed chute. Max limped his body all the way there, but as he anticipated, the door was entirely buried by mounds of heavy metal.
The workerbots that had been dropped here en masse had littered the center area and most of the walls barring the exit.
"No… what do we do?" He asked Nicole, feeling sadness overwhelming him.
Nicole scanned the area, and her map started to beep.
"Judging from the map, there is a second exit that leads directly to the sewer system. Perhaps that one will be of more use to us." She said to him.
Max only nodded and shuffled his way towards the second door. This one was barely visible and had discarded workerbots piled up across roughly three-fourths of it.
He could see the giant metal wheel that unlatched the locking mechanism for the door, and placed Nicole on top of the robots in one of the metal heaps, then put his right hand on the rusted metal wheel.
With all of the strength he could muster, he attempted to force the wheel to turn, but it refused to budge at all. The pulling motion led to his chest being shocked by a great deal of pain, and he took his hand off the wheel to hold his aching ribs.
"Ahhh!" He cried out, feeling both pain and frustration.
He was too hopeful to even think he could open that rusted door, and also, if he did unlock it, it was likely he couldn't pull it open because of the small robot heap. He felt crestfallen and was at a loss for words.
Max turned back to look at Nicole sitting atop the dead workerbots and made his way back to her.
"It's no use, Nicole..." He said to her, trying to keep his voice from cracking, but even after he spoke, she remained unresponsive.
"Nicole...?" He said again.
He looked at her screen, and he could see she was positioned to face the door. He turned around again and zeroed in on the area she was focused on. He staggered over and noticed that in the pile of workerbots, one of them stood out to him.
It was that of a young lynx, probably about the same age as Sonia, and looking at her discarded and abandoned in this miserable tomb brought a hopeless sadness he didn't need right now.
Max could only think of his dear little sister, and it hurt him deep inside. He looked away from the soulless being and back to Nicole.
Was she staring at the same sad image he was? He wasn't sure.
He limped back over and picked her up, holding her in his hand. She started to speak when she was jostled from the spot.
"I… am... having…." She spoke in broken words, and Max gave her a quick shake.
"Nicole, what's going on?" He asked her.
Nicole said nothing at first and then started to speak once more. "I… saw things… things that I've never seen before. When you placed me down, I could see images of a man grabbing onto me… I… it was somebody I've never seen before." She said.
This experience seemed to confuse her exotically, and Max wasn't sure what to make of it.
"What did he look like?" Max asked her. His legs were shaking slightly, and the more he stood, the more exhausted he became.
"I… he was older than... any of us. I… these workerbots. They…" This experience was so profound that it left even Nicole unable to explain it directly and logically.
Max was struggling to stand, so he weakly moved away from the door with Nicole in hand.
He could see piles of robots and a few heavy metal barrels lying in the corner, so he walked towards them and sat on one of the drums while leaning back to rest a bit.
He sighed painfully, feeling extremely fatigued, and rested his broken arm on his stomach. He kept his gaze on the young lynxbot trapped by the door and placed Nicole on top of the mountain of metal workerbots that sat near him.
"I really don't know what to make of this place," Nicole admitted.
Max turned his gaze over to her. He was not expecting to hear that, but in truth, she had been acting less like her typical self since they had fallen down here.
Max himself was not doing well either, as he was fighting to keep his fatigued body running. Even lying on these filthy uncomfortable barrels was making it hard for him to keep his eyes open.
"Wh-who do you think the man you saw was?" Max tried to ask, but his words came out low and hard to hear.
"I don't know... but I… #* &#^ %&" Nicole's speech started to become garbled as Max began to mildly fluctuate between awake and asleep.
Things were beginning to spin slightly, and he felt an overwhelming need for rest. He fought to keep himself lucid and awake, but he was failing to do so. His mind would think things as he felt sweat pour off his fur.
"How long was I down here?"
"I'm dying?"
"What should I do?"
His mind kept repeating the same things over and over again. He tried even harder to keep his eyes open, but they would periodically shut without him realizing it. He kept slipping in and out of consciousness, and eventually, he reached a point where he ended up staying that way.
…..
…
…..
….
….
…
RUMBLE!
…
SHAKE!
…
RUMBLE
…
CRASH!
…
A deafening sound echoed through the giant stone graveyard. Max's eyes opened slowly as the shaking and deafening noises knocked him out of his slumber.
Looking around, he could see the dim light of the room just as he had left it, but now he could see a giant thick chunk of stone lying on top of a pile of crushed bots.
He slowly looked up and could see the crack in the ceiling had gotten far worse, and a giant chunk of the unstable roof had fallen to the ground. Max knew the danger this presented, but he also could barely function enough on his own to really care.
He moved his head over and saw Nicole still where he placed her, and he ran his right hand along his sweaty face. He had lost all concept of time, and he felt far worse than he had before.
Max's pain was only a tiny percentage of his misery now, as he felt like he were boiling and was extraordinarily thirsty. It made him realize he hadn't eaten or drank anything in god knows how long.
"Ugh." He moaned, feeling ill.
He pulled forward, grabbing his aching chest as he did, and stared down at the nasty water flooding the room. He was so thirsty that even drinking that was tempting to his sick body.
"Max…" He could hear Nicole's voice and could make out the things she was saying once again.
"Nicole- I... what?" He struggled to say, barely able to keep his head wholly up under his own power.
"You are severely injured, and your body is sickly. I honestly wasn't sure if you would wake up again." Nicole said to him.
Max felt guilty and rubbed the sweat from his fur. "How long… have. This… How long have I been here?" He tried to make sense.
"You fell unconscious over twenty-seven hours ago. I could see you struggling to breathe, and you stirred every so often, but I couldn't wake you by speaking." She told him.
"T-twenty-seven? I... how?" He asked, but in truth, he knew the answer.
Even now, he felt like he was ready to pass back out, and he had never felt so awful in his entire life, nor could he stand his insatiable thirst.
Nicole knew that Max was deprived of both food and water. She also knew that his body was likely trying to heal itself through deep rest.
"I… don't know what to do, Nicole." He whined, feeling upset. "I can't open the door, and I can't move anything out of the way. I just…" He trailed off as he leaned back, looking at the ceiling. His hot face was starting to leak fresh tears.
Nicole could do nothing but sit and watch him cry, she wanted to say anything, do anything to ease his suffering, but even with her vast knowledge, she was powerless.
She knew that those were virtually the only ways out, and there was little she could say to offer him solace.
Max wept on the barrel, sliding his only good arm up to his face. Every cry and whimper caused his chest pain, and he just felt hopeless, sealed away forever in this stone coffin with the rest of the damned.
"I just wanted to help. I wanted to make sure everybody would be fine." He cried out to nobody in particular. "Did I really deserve this… this punishment?" His voice cracked and quivered, and his crying was laced with painful moans.
Nicole watched on in silence, and she was sure if she possessed a heart, it would be broken by now. This feeling of despair that Max displayed elicited in her something she could not physically feel, but she definitely "felt" something emotionally for him.
Max leaned back, feeling pathetic. A 16-year-old should not be sobbing like a coward and instead be thinking of solutions, but here he was, crying his eyes out.
He was an adult now, was he not? He tried to chastise himself for his inappropriate weakness, but it only led him to the realization that his kind and gentle heart wouldn't allow him to be a steadfast, stoic hero.
He sniffled and tried to stop crying, and he eventually looked at Nicole, who just kept her silence.
"I… it is funny Nicole… I… am tapped here," He gulped in the air between sobs and pain. "But I just keep thinking… about... my…arm..." He wheezed a bit.
Max slid his right hand up to his sleeve and pulled the torn fabric up to display his injury to Nicole for the first time.
Nicole could see the seriousness of his injury and could immediately tell it was severely infected. She knew that he would die from such a severe infection, and for the first time, she felt the genuine emotion of fear.
She knew it was fear. She could qualify it. She might not be able to experience the physical aspects, but she could feel the emotional pain of it.
Max let his sleeve flop down. "I'm scared, Nicole..." He cried. "I'm scared to lose my arm... I..." He started to break down and cry into his dirty sleeve, not caring in the slightest about the filth.
Nicole could see and understand his despair. Out of everything that happened, this was the one thing he couldn't stop thinking about. It was the one thing that terrorized his mind.
"I…" Max cried again, gripping his aching chest. His fever was getting the better of him, and he almost slid off the metal drum he was resting on.
Nicole was a machine, and she was logical through and through. She knew the truth of his wound, and she knew that at this point, there was an exceedingly high chance it would have to be severed off.
She watched him fall over himself in agony and misery, and she finally chose to speak.
"I… your injury has not reached the point that it would require amputation. I think you will be fine by the time we find a way out of here." She lied to his face.
She honestly didn't even know why she lied. It didn't even make logical sense to do so, but she did regardless.
Max sniffled and looked down at his bent arm. "I… do you really think so?" Max put his trust in Nicole since he had a high degree of faith in her knowledge.
Nicole didn't answer immediately. She knew the truth. She knew that leaving the arm attached would likely kill him with such a severe infection.
"Your arm will be fine, Max." She lied a second time.
Being logical about this with Max took a backseat to his comfort.
"Promise me, Nicole… Promise you won't let anything happen to my arm." He practically begged, as if dodging the issue that he was stuck down here and likely going to die regardless.
…..
…..
"I promise…" Nicole said to him.
It was the first time she ever made a promise, and unfortunately, it happened to be one she was confident she couldn't keep, but regardless she did it anyway.
She really didn't even understand it herself, but in acting illogically, she found her own self feeling a little better because of it.
Max gave her a weak smile and wiped his nose with the dirty sleeve. He let out a small chuckle of sadness and looked at his lap.
Nicole sat there contemplating his laugh at a time like this, but she quickly realized that her lies had brought relief to him. He was trying to raise his spirits in this desperate time and did it the only way he knew how.
"It is good to hear you laugh," Nicole said to him.
Max leaned back, and his dizziness returned to him. He held his chest and looked at Nicole. He wanted to get his mind off everything, so he thought hard about something to talk about.
"Nicole? What were you talking about before I passed out?" Max recalled her speaking about the man she saw, and then things went to gibberish.
"I stated that I had no idea who that person was. I cannot recall who he is or when I might have contacted him, but his likeness calls to me. I can see it for some reason as if it were familiar." Nicole said to Max.
"Could the person you see possibly been the man that built you? You are only just remembering now because of your upgrade?" Max tried to help her figure it out.
"I suppose that is possible," Nicole admitted. That was probably the most likely explanation, but it didn't explain why it triggered here of all places or why she could only recall vague, marred by shadow images of him holding her.
Max kept his gaze fixated on the machine, and his eyes started to close once again. His fever and exhaustion were destroying him, and he feared that the next time he fell into slumber would be the last time he would be alive.
Nicole watched him quietly, realizing that she would have to see him die a horrible death.
She realized that she would watch his body rot long after he passed on and inevitably turn to bone. She was eternal, unlike him, and she knew that watching him die was probably her greatest fear. She knew it, and she recognized it. Unlike before, when uncertainty ruled her, she now knew the truth of it.
Max was starting to slump over, and his tiredness was beginning to drag him down once more. No matter how hard he fought, he just couldn't win against the sickness.
"I am scared." Max heard Nicole's voice pierce the silence, and his eyes opened with a slight jolt of energy.
"You're?" Max said, surprised to hear an admission of feeling from Nicole. An explicit declaration that she was feeling a certain way.
"I am afraid of watching you die." She stated bluntly.
Max was shocked by her admission and looked down. If he was feeling well enough, he might even be embarrassed by her proclamation, but he just stared at the dirty water on the floor.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized that after he perished, she would be stuck here forever and that in itself made his heart break like so many other parts of his body today.
He knew there was nothing Nicole could do to help him, but he started to wonder if he could do anything to help her. Her fate was unfair, and even if he had to die like this, knowing she would be down here trapped without a way out hurt him.
"If you had kept the self-destruct protocol on me, you could have blasted your way out," Nicole admitted, and it came across as a statement filled with guilt on her part.
Max scowled when he heard that, and he forced himself to his feet, grimacing in pain as he went.
"No… stop talking like that!" He raised his voice and staggered slightly due to his dizziness and pain.
"Y-You are important to me, Nicole, and even if I were down here dying just the same, I would never sacrifice you to save myself!" He grabbed onto his hurting chest.
"I may be a lot... lot of things, but one thing I am not is completely selfish." He took in a few sharp breaths and stared at Nicole.
Nicole could say nothing to that, and she just remained quiet. She had worked up Max at possibly the worst of times, but that look of determination on his sickly face kind of took away the feeling of fear and guilt she was emotionally experiencing.
Max looked around the room, and his eyes zeroed in on the door that he had tried to open previously.
He started to think with every ounce of strength he had left in his brain. His mind began to wander back to the conversations with Rotor and then with uncle Chuck about missing workerbots. His eyes glanced at the piles of workerbots and then settled themselves back on Nicole.
He started to shuffle closer to her while drawing his sword as he went, and Nicole was utterly unclear as to what his intentions were.
"Max… What are you doing?" She asked.
Max just looked at her apologetically and started to raise his sword in a shaky right hand.
"Max?" Nicole asked him again. It was clear that he was not in his right mind any longer.
"Nicole… I don't... know how much time and energy I have left. I just want you to know that I am going to save you no matter what…. don't be afraid… please." With that request, he swung his hand downwards and sliced the bottom half of Nicole's outer case off.
It fell into the dirty water revealing her precious electronic guts. He re-sheathed his sword and placed his now free hand on her case.
Nicole could sense the danger, but without any way to defend herself, she was at the mercy of Max. She trusted him but was unsure if he had lost his mind or not due to his condition.
She really didn't get a chance to answer him as he effortlessly reached in and pulled out the precious A.I. chip that had been powering her newfound growth. He was sad to destroy his mother's heirloom but knew that if this was the only way he could unchain Nicole, so be it.
Max placed the chip into his pocket and eyed the robot lynx partially trapped inside of the pile. He limped over to her and grabbed onto the wall slightly as he lost his balance. His sickness was making everything difficult, but he had to get this done. No matter what, he wouldn't let Nicole suffer the same fate as he would.
He braced himself and started to slide his broken arm into the armpit of the robot and his right arm into the other one. She was half sticking out, and it would take some force, but he believed he could pull her out if he put everything into it.
Once he gasped in a few breaths of air. He started walking back to let his upper arms attempt to pull the tortured lynx from her prison.
"Rrrr ahhhhhh!" Max screamed out in agonizing pain as he pulled back against the stuck machine, every once and a while shaking to jostle the robot free from the pile.
Max ignored all of the damage he was doing to himself and pulled as hard as he could. The pain was unbearable, but he couldn't quit, not yet.
A minute passed, and the robot jostled free with a hard slam to the ground. The left open space caused the other robots once on top of her to fall into it.
The young robotized girl plopped face-first into the dirty water, and Max swallowed as much air as he could to catch his breath. He had indeed hurt himself doing that, and it was so terrible he felt he could almost pass out from it.
"Ah... hah…hah…." He breathed in and out in an attempt to control the agony.
His whole body was hurting, and he had to use his right hand to hold himself up against the wall so that he could stabilize himself.
After a few minutes, Max was able to remove himself from the wall. His arm felt worse than ever, but at least his chest only hurt when he moved or breathed again. He looked down at the bot he pulled out and made his way to it.
Max examined her back for a minute and then drew his sword again once he found what he was searching for.
He gently inserted the blade tip into one of the minor cracks along the plate at the back of the robot's head. He then proceeded to push down while rocking it back and forth until a small snap could be heard.
After that, he gave a swift kick to the side of the sword, and the back panel of the head flipped open, revealing the precious interior of the robot.
When he looked inside, his suspicions were confirmed. There was nothing inside the robot's head, and it was devoid of its most vital part.
Max looked over at Nicole's destroyed body pieces floating in the water, then put his sword away and reached into his pocket to pull out the A.I. chip. He stared at it lying in his right hand and then looked at the empty space in the robot's head.
"Robotnik's been removing the brains of roboticized citizens and then discarding their bodies down here," Max said to himself.
Max didn't know who this was or who she might have been, but Robotnik had erased her entire being from history. He couldn't help but feel intense guilt on top of all the other miserable emotions, but he had already come this far, and he refused to back down.
"I am sorry… I hope that at the very least, freeing you from this disgusting place gives you some sense of peace..." He said to the dead machine. Even though he knew she was gone, he had some hope that she could still hear him somehow.
Max dropped to his knees with a gasp and started to place the chip into the robot gently. It effortlessly slid into place and immediately locked in with a loud click.
He slammed the head plate closed, used the workerbot pile to help bring himself to his feet, then moved towards the deactivated robot and used his boot to carefully roll it over so that it was facing him.
Max knew that Nicole had taken a long time to activate when he initially transferred her A.I. to the roboticized brain and was fully aware he might be dead by the time Nicole was reactivated with this transfer.
He just examined the face of the deactivated robot and wondered if Nicole would be ok with this. He knew that he was forcing something irreversible onto her, but given that her having a physical body was the only way, she would escape.
His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a slight movement coming from the lynx's head, and within moments the robot started to twitch its hand.
Max gazed down in complete surprise and anticipation, as he honestly thought it would take a long time for her to activate like previously, but she was already showing signs of life, unlike before when it took many hours.
The robot's eyes started to power on, and they were two bright blue lights that shifted and moved as it looked. It was as if the fires of a sacred soul began burning deep within the artificial body. Taking in the sights for the first time and reborn into the world as an autonomous being.
"Max… what is... this...?" Her feminine voice came out, but only this time. It had inflection and personality attached to it.
He could tell right away she was in a state of confusion by her voice alone.
He smiled at her, and she could clearly see his sickness and injury better than she ever could before. Her eyes looking at him were able to pick up and copy every muscle movement he made, and within seconds she was able to sit herself up.
"Movement?" She said, looking down in shock.
She moved her dirty metal hands in front of herself in disbelief as the puzzle pieces came together for her. She looked up at Max, who was still smiling at her as best as he was able. He was holding his chest and now leaning against the dirty wall for support.
"What had he done?"
"Why had he done this?"
"This- this is somebody else's body?" Nicole stated in a surprised tone.
Max stood there and took in a painful breath. "No, it is your body. Whoever it belonged to is now gone for reasons I cannot fathom, but I promised I would make sure you could get out, and so I did what I had to." He said.
Nicole was sitting there attempting to let all of what was done sink in. She didn't know this was possible, but it strangely felt like she had reached her rightful state of being.
Her roboticized brain started to work in tandem with her other roboticized organs, and together it created a harmony that she had never known.
Feelings were feelings, and memories were memories. The logicality of computer beginnings crossed the threshold into extant life. She understood it, she knew it now, and all confusion on the matter had been wiped clean.
She looked over at Max, struggling to make his way to her, and she was awestruck by the gifts he had given to her out of sheer ignorance and faith.
Nicole understood his care and could now fully reciprocate it. She mimicked his leg movements and started to rise to her metal feet. She stood shorter than him but a thousand times stronger.
He stopped in his tracks and staggered a bit from her sudden rise. He wasn't afraid but surprised that she has assimilated so quickly to her new form.
Nicole felt powerful and free in a way that she never had before. She turned to Max, and her eyes burned brightly with blue fire. She moved over to him until she stood before him and took notice of his gaunt, sickly figure.
"…."
"Nicole?" He asked, unsure of what to say to her.
She remained silent and stepped forward. Her arms started to outstretch and lightly wrap around him. He felt discomfort but now understood what she was doing.
He slid his right arm around her, and the two embraced for the first time. Nicole couldn't feel his warmth or touch but could feel the weight of him on her metal body. She may have been grimy, but it was the first time that either of them felt real comfort in all of this.
"We're getting out of here," Nicole stated, as a matter of fact, releasing Max from her gentle grip.
Max staggered somewhat and went back to leaning against the wall to keep himself standing.
He was thankful Nicole immediately took to this new form and started to feel a great deal of hope. He was doing horribly, but he knew he could trust Nicole to help him.
Nicole turned to the door and looked extremely determined as she started to grab onto the metal wheel of the locking mechanism. With relative ease, she was able to twist it, causing a loud scraping sound. The rust flaked off of it, and she could hear the metal latch slide open.
Max watched in awe as she effortlessly moved the heavy workerbots out of the door's path, and after several minutes had cleared enough out of the way to open it.
She reached out her metallic arm and started to tug at the door. After about a minute, it began to bend and break free from the rust. With one large pull, the door flung open with a loud screech revealing an extremely dark tunnel that smelled terrible.
Max couldn't believe that she had freed them, and now there might be a chance to return to Knothole.
He staggered forward and almost fell, but Nicole quickly caught him by his right arm.
"Ahhh rrhh!" He cried out.
The more time that passed, the harder it became for him to move. She pushed her body against him so that he could lean most of his weight on her, and with her metal arm, she held him up while carefully avoiding his injury.
"Th-thanks, Nicole…" He said weakly and appreciatively.
With that, she slowed her pace and let Max go at the speed he needed to. Both stepped into the foreboding darkness of the tunnel, and Nicole's blue eyes shined a light on the path. She could see entirely in the dark, but the brightness of her eyes helped Max also see better.
The tunnel comprised old, wet, slippery stones, and it was apparent this was the old Mobotropolis sewer system. The two walked in tandem with one another, and Max held on with all of the strength his right arm had. The stones were dangerous, and he was already prone to falling due to his condition.
The two walked in silence, slowly making their way through the sewer system. After about ten minutes, it was apparent to Nicole that Max was struggling to move. She stopped and started to look upwards along the stone wall. There was an extremely long ladder that led up towards a utility cover.
Max could see the blue light shining over these things, and in his heart, he knew he couldn't climb this ladder. He was sure he would fall, and he felt terrible for making things more difficult on Nicole.
"I- I don't know if I can make it, Nicole. That ladder is a bit much." He said to her.
She looked at him and then started to bend down to her metal knees. "Put your arm around my neck, and I'll do the rest." She said to him in a pleasant tone.
Max looked up once more and decided to rely on her, then wrapped his right arm around her neck with his tired grasp. He could feel her metal arm bend behind herself to support his weight and allow him to sit restfully on it.
Nicole stood up slowly so as not to jostle him too much and, with her free hand, grabbed onto the metal ladder. With one arm Nicole slowly started to ascend the ladder keeping most of Max's weight on her body so that he didn't have to struggle or hold on very hard.
"Ah," Max cried in slight pain and fear.
He was bouncing a little bit with each step Nicole took, but he knew they were rising. He placed his acing chest against her metal back and clenched his right arm as tightly to her as he could.
CLANK
…
CLANK
…
CLANK
…
CLANK
…
They slowly rose to the top of the ladder. Max still feared falling, but since Nicole was taking the brunt of most of his weight. He found himself relatively safer than he would have been if he had tried to climb this thing the entire way with his broken arm.
"We are here." Nicole let Max know she had reached the top.
Now was the tricky part. She had to remove the utility cover to reach the streets. Not only that, but the roads might be perilous. She wasn't sure how to proceed at this time, but Max made the decision for her.
"Ahhh hahhh." He whined in pain as he let himself gently down to the ladder step below her and wrapped his right arm around the step at her feet to stabilize himself.
His broken arm dangled at his side, and he positioned himself between the bars of the ladder in a sitting position so that he could rest all of his weight on it.
"Ju… just get up… please..." He asked her while gritting his teeth. He was extremely uncomfortable, but he knew Nicole had to break them out of here.
With Nicole's hand free, she could apply force against the utility cover while simultaneously holding her position on the ladder.
With little effort, she pushed up the giant, massive steel chunk of metal. Her blue robotic eyes looked out and were greeted by a destroyed city street in central Robotropolis.
The hour was late evening, and the weather was going completely insane. The winds were blowing so hard that it might literally blow Max over if he stood on his own. The heavy rain that flooded the streets started pouring into the sewer, dousing Max on the ladder.
"Ah… What's going on up there?" He asked her while holding onto the ladder for dear life.
Nicole could see that there was no SWATBOT activity in the vicinity and that it would be best to move now. She threw the utility cover aside with a loud slam and quickly darted from the ladder to the street. The heavy rain from the sky and road started flooding in onto Max, and he became scared that he might slip off.
"Ah! N-Nicole!" He tried to yell but wound up only hurting his chest.
After a second, Nicole reappeared with the utility cover and used it as a way to stop the rain from drowning him out.
"Can you make it?" Nicole asked apprehensively.
Max could hear the tone of her voice and started to speak up to her.
"I-I'll be fine… Just… wait for me..." He said while pulling his aching and weak body up into a standing position. He had such a short distance to go, but it was so hard and painful that he still wasn't sure he could make it.
He slowly and agonizingly pulled himself up each step, sucking in and swallowing air as he went. He was struggling to breathe and hold on, and it was only his sheer determination to get out of this place that kept him rising.
"Five more..." He cringed.
"Ahhh, rrrrr." He roared in pain.
"Four…" His hand started to shake on the ladder.
"Three…" He was almost there; he could taste it. "A little more."
"T-two..." He heaved in, hurting his chest.
"Ah!" He slipped a little bit and almost lost his grip.
Nicole threw aside the disk of metal and reached down. She grabbed onto his right arm to make sure he wouldn't fall.
The sudden grab and jolt caused him to scream in pain. "Ahhhh fu-!" He cried in agony.
Once Nicole was sure he was secure in her grip, she pulled him up with her mechanical strength to the rainy world above.
"I-I'm sorry." She said remorsefully.
"Ohhhhh… ahah…" Max collapsed to the ground rolling a tiny bit while clenching his chest and trying to get air into his body.
He was lying in a giant puddle in the middle of Robotropolis but could care less about any threats or Nicole's apology.
Nicole walked over to him and looked down at the struggling boy.
"Max, are you alright?" Nicole's voice was full of sympathy.
Max just nodded to her until he found enough air to speak out loud. "I-I just need... a… minute... please..." He asked her through painful breaths.
Nicole just frowned and gave him a silent nod. She decided to take the opportunity to survey the area they were at. Even if she had changed forms, she still retained all of the knowledge she previously had and knew the quickest ways to escape the city.
Max just lay on the ground staring up at the decaying planet. The darkest of thunderclouds raged overhead, and the thunder cracked so loud that one could swear Robotnik was firing his cannon.
The rain was so thick and heavy that it made it hard for him to see three feet in front of himself, so he moved his right hand towards the sky and simply let the rain splash onto his palm.
He was burning up with a fever, and his desperate thirst almost compelled him to drink the falling drops. He knew how polluted Robotnik had made this rain, so he opted to just let it soak his body and face instead.
The slightly cool summer rain washing over his destroyed and torn body was almost a blessing. Had the summer sun been beating down, he might as well have just jumped off that ladder.
He lay in the puddle quietly, basking in the slight relief the rain offered him. He almost never wanted to move from this spot, but when Nicole came into focus standing over him, he knew that it was time to move.
Nicole reached down to grab his outstretched hand, and she pulled him up gently to his feet. Once he was weakly standing, she held him close to her frame for support.
"We are in central Robotropolis. Uncle Chuck is located over in that direction," She pointed. "But I spotted legions of SWATBOTS swarming the areas further down. I don't think we could sneak you past them." She said.
The wind was blowing so hard against Max that it hurt his body, and he just nodded to Nicole's assessment.
"U-uncle Chuck doesn't usually keep me-medicine anyway." He breathed in. "Knothole is-is my only chance."
It was such a long hike to Knothole, and the weather was worse than it ever had been before, but what other choice did they have?
She saw uncle Chuck give Max a bag of medicine when they visited, and she wasn't willing to subject him to hundreds of SWATBOTS.
"Alright… The sooner we go, the sooner we can fix your arm." Nicole reassured him, despite still knowing the grimness of the situation.
Max nodded and limped his way alongside Nicole. She provided him with the support he needed to move forward, and without her, Max wouldn't make it too far on his own.
He held on to her firmly while she kept her superior robot eyes scanning the area. The rain did not obstruct her ability to see and sense things, so there wasn't much to worry about when it came to SWATBOTS.
The winds howled, and the lightning flashed across the sky. Each step Max took felt like it might be his last. The world was spinning and disorienting to him at this point, and he was losing some lucidity, as the violent storm only enhanced his confusion even more.
The wind pounded against them, and Nicole noticed that Max seemed to slump further and further down. He was exhausted and pushing himself harder than anybody could possibly imagine. She knew that words would not save him now but relief from his physical distress.
For about forty minutes, they slowly walked out of the city of Robotropolis and made their way into the sacred Great Forest. Once inside the cover of trees and thick woods, the winds stopped badgering Max quite so hard, and his walking speed improved slightly. The forest was a welcome sight for Max, but the blown-over trees and severe flooding made it somewhat tricky to navigate.
Nicole did her best to move anything that barred their path and helped Max every step of the way.
He was plodding but kept walking regardless of his physical needs. Nicole urged him to stop, but he kept refusing to do so. He felt as if he was on borrowed time and wasn't even considering that he was hastening his death.
"We should rest." Nicole tried to convince him once again, but Max still refused to do so.
"W-we need to keep moving. I know I can make it if we don't stop." He said to her.
Max knew it was over an hour hike at a reasonable pace and that if he stopped, he might never get up again. He was as persistent as he was fearful when it came to getting to Knothole in a timely fashion.
The two walked for about another hour and a half until they reached a small series of cliffs and rock formations.
They were a pretty good indicator that Knothole was reasonably close to their current position, and Nicole knew that it wouldn't be long now until they could reach the medicine in the village.
She looked at Max, who could barely walk on his own and had his head slumped down. He was hardly holding onto her, and it was mostly her dragging him through the wet forest by herself.
"Max?" She asked as the rain pounded off her metallic head. Her blue eyes focused on his face as she waiting for some sort of response.
"Ugh... Nicole… I…" He said, trying to formulate words. "Thirsty…Tired..." He struggled to say things.
Nicole hated to see him like this, and despite her best efforts, it seemed to be resulting in failure. The pollution-filled rain was not adequate to feed a dying person, and the rivers and lakes were also filled with it. Nicole couldn't believe that Robotnik had caused so much damage in so many ways.
She started to walk, but Max tripped, letting out a wail.
"Aughhhh!" He cried out in agony as Nicole caught him with her metal arms so he wouldn't hit the ground.
He banged his chest against her, and it caused him intense pain. Nicole, concerned for his fragile body, gently set him on the grass, leaning against a tree. He couldn't keep his head up any longer and quietly moved his right hand over his chest.
"Nicole… you have the autonomy… you need to get back to Knothole… You don't need me to make it there. I promised you that I wouldn't let you be trapped there, and I kept that promise." Max said in a low voice.
He was scared to die, but he reached the point where he couldn't go on any longer. He didn't want to go on any longer. He was so close, but his body wouldn't let him.
Nicole grabbed hold of his arm and started to pull him up, wrapping it around her neck. "I promised you that I wouldn't let you die. Just hang on a little more for me... Please?" Nicole's voice sounded sad.
Max put as much effort as he could into raising his head to look into her shining blue eyes. "I... Ok… I…just... I need a couple minutes off my feet." He admitted to her.
He couldn't push himself any longer, but perhaps he could build up enough strength to barely make it back.
Nicole looked around, and she spotted a cave not too far up a steep incline surrounded by trees. She figured getting Max out of the rain for a few minutes might do him a world of good. She held onto him and slowly started to carry his weight up the incline. Max used his feet to stay steady, but it mainly was Nicole doing all of the work.
The two climbed slowly for about five minutes until they reached the opening of the cave. Nicole could see an orange glow shimmering within it and wondered if it might be a Freedom Fighter taking shelter from the chaos.
Max smiled, seeing the warm light. Perhaps somebody here could help him get back to Knothole.
Nicole helped Max walk into the cave as their feet scraped against the dirt. There was a slight shuffling noise, and then as Nicole and Max reached the center of the cave, they heard the powering on sound of an energy weapon.
Nicole's eyes started to move towards the sound, but she heard somebody call out to her.
"Don't fucking move! Or I'll blow your goddamn head off, SWATBOT!" The weaselly voice tried to sound intimidating.
Nicole watched as Snively started to walk out from behind a giant rock corner and placed himself in front of the fire burning further in the cave. She could see a bunch of his belongings scattered around the fire and could see Snively's worried expression.
Nicole opened her mouth about to say something, but she was cut off by Snively.
"You aren't a SWATBOT. You are just a goddamn workerbot! Why are you off wondering around here instead of building!?" Snively thought for a second. "Unless my uncle sent you here to fool me!" He said with a shriek, and it was clear he was extremely paranoid.
"Workerbot?" Nicole asked in confusion, forgetting that that's what this form once had been.
"You're a workerbot. It's obvious!" He spat at her mistrustfully.
She looked at Max, and that brought Snively's attention to the boy.
"Who the hell is that?" He said, surprised to see an animal holding onto a workerbot.
"Please…" Max said in a pathetic and tired voice while standing in the light shadows of the cave.
"I… need... help..."
Snively's hand was shaking. "Bullshit, you're just the MK-2's coming after me. This is a trick. Well, I ain't buying it!"
Nicole wished she could attack him, but any move she made would only put Max at risk, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.
Max let go of Nicole, knowing Snively mistrusted the robot more than anything. He started to stagger forward, barely able to keep himself moving.
Nicole tried to stop him, but he just weakly pushed her hand away. "Please… help me..." He begged once again.
He had no personal familiarity with Snively but knew him as a threat. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to beg and plead for his life.
Snively raised the gun at Max and started to bark orders. "Stay back! I'll blow your head off!"
Nicole was watching in apprehension, but Max just kept moving towards the tiny human. He finally reached a point where his body was visible in the light of the fire, and Snively could see his gaunt, sickly body, his cuts, gashes, bruises, and a curved, broken arm. He looked into his eyes and saw just who it was.
Snively's hand shook until it lowered the gun to his side. "It's you… you survived that explosion...?" Snively said in disbelief. "Even that chute? You managed to survive it?"
It made little sense but seeing him again looking like this crushed Snively's heart. He had always had a sense of remorse for his crimes, but to be face to face with it was rather harsh.
Snively looked at the workerbot, and already he understood she wasn't a workerbot. He didn't know or care why she was helping him, so he just asked a simple question.
"What do you want from me?" He watched as the robot moved closer to Max and started holding him up once again.
She led him to the cave wall and helped him slide down until he was in a comfortable sitting position.
"He's dying and needed a place to rest for a few minutes. He hasn't had food or water in days." Nicole said to him, not that she expected much, but she had to at least answer.
Snively stared at the dying animal, and no matter how much denial he could try to bring in. He could not convince himself he wasn't directly responsible for that misery.
The boy had gone through unimaginable pain for days, and now out of all the places in this massive forest, he was at Snively's door. It was so ironic that it had to have been fate playing such a cruel joke.
Snively silently moved over to the fire and reached into the bag that he brought. He pulled out a giant bottle of filtered water from it. Water was something he could purify at any time, but at this moment, he felt that he didn't need it.
He arched his arm back as he threw the bottle at Nicole. It flew through the air, and when it got close to her, she reached up her hand to catch it with a loud smack.
Snively didn't bother to watch and merely turned his attention to the fire solemnly.
Nicole, though shocked, wasted no time and bent down to offer the water to Max.
She opened the cap to the bottle, then lifted the squirrel's head gently and started pouring the fresh liquid into his mouth.
Max ravenously swallowed the liquid as Nicole kept pouring it. After not too long a time, the entire bottle was gone, and Nicole rose to her feet, looking back at Snively.
Max, who seemed to be much more relieved now that he had some fresh, clean water inside his system, was propped up against the wall, and sleep was grabbing him again.
"What are….?" Nicole started to say but was cut off immediately by Snively.
"I don't want to hear it… Just please take him and go. I did you a favor, now do me one and disappear." Snively was not willing to harbor them, and he didn't want a robot within 100 miles of himself.
Nicole watched him and could see his nervous movements. She could tell he was terrified and put together that Snively had abandoned Robotnik in Robotropolis. She didn't know why or what circumstances lead to that, but what she did know is he was having some sort of crisis.
"He's going to find you." Nicole bluntly stated, knowing the reality of the situation.
Snively felt as if he was being antagonized and turned around with his gun raised. "The hell do you know? He spent years searching for Knothole in this forest and never found it." He said, bolstering his own confidence.
He stared at her, and her blue eyes of light stared back at him, and neither of them trusted one another.
Snively suspected she was some sort of trap, and she suspected he was up to no good given the abundance of technology he brought with him when he escaped. It was littered all about the floor around the fire, and she knew it had some purpose.
"Get out! Take the kid and leave!' Snively demanded again.
Nicole turned away; she knew she had more important things to worry about. She walked over to Max lying against the cave wall and bent down while placing her hand gently on his shoulder.
"Max… We need to go." She said to him.
Max didn't move or respond at all, and he just remained in a state of unconscious rest. Nicole shook him a little rough, but it elicited no response from him.
She lifted his head and checked out his face. He was entirely out, and his breathing was really labored. She could tell that his hourglass was running out of sand and started to feel emotionally fearful.
"Max... please!' Her tone became desperate.
Snively just kept his back to them, but the entire scene was breaking his heart. Now that he knew that the kid survived his little middle finger to Robotnik, he did not want him to die. He knew there was nothing he could do for him, but he kept a silent hope in his head.
Nicole's face started to turn from sadness to determination, and she stood up. "I'll not let you die; you wouldn't let me!" She thundered.
She bent down, and with all of her strength, she hoisted Max up to her chest, holding him in both of her robotic arms, and he almost looked like his mother in Sonic's.
Nicole ignored Snively and only started to make haste out of the cave. Her robotic legs were sturdy and fast. They carried her much quicker than the typical animal's legs would. She ran, cradling Max in her arms like a superhero.
Under fallen trees, through flooded paths she went, her vision was able to pierce the darkness of night, and she could see clearly where she needed to go.
Max bounced in her arms and didn't react to a single thing that was happening around him. Nicole leaped over a giant fallen tree and landed with a skid. She kept her balance and used the momentum to propel herself to go even faster.
Time was ticking down, but the closer she got to Knothole, the more determined she became. She pumped her metal legs and didn't stop until she could see a faint glow in the distance.
After a twenty-five-minute sprint, she was here. She made it. The brightness of a hut was clearly identifiable to her.
Nicole stopped and looked down to check on Max, and she could tell he was still breathing heavily. She had not wanted to carry him like that for fear of worsening his injuries with her rugged metal body.
However, desperate times called for desperate measures, and she was just thankful she was here as quick as she was.
Snively's extraordinary act of benevolence had bought him ever so much time, and even if Nicole felt the strange sensation of hatred for him, she at least acknowledged his hand in preserving Max's life just a little bit longer.
She moved her metal body in the storm, carrying Max gently now that she was within reach of Knothole, and she started to notice that most of the huts were silent and darkened.
It was odd, even at this time, and it made Nicole wonder just how many Freedom Fighters made it back from the mission at all. The light she saw appeared to be coming from Tails' hut, and even though she thought he was gone, perhaps he had returned during their absence.
Her bright blue eyes looked around, and she could not calculate how long they had been trapped.
Max was nestled into her arms, and the rain was running off his body as it was hers. She figured that no matter who was in Tails' hut, they had to help Max better than she could at the moment.
She started to make her way towards the hut, but she hadn't realized just how much her eyes pierced through the storm. She could hear faint footsteps racing behind her and quickly stepped away from the source of the sound.
When she turned around, she could see Annie standing there, soaked in the rain. She was carrying a giant thick stick and apparently attended to assault her with it.
Nicole could see the scared girl clearly through the rain, though it was so dark where they stood Annie could see naught but her blue eyes, creating the illusion of a horrifying threat.
Annie raised the weapon and looked as if she was about to swing it.
"G-get the fuck outta here!" She screamed as the sound of rain and thunder muffled it somewhat.
Annie could tell it was a robot and was desperately, if not foolishly, trying to attack it. She tended to look out windows and daydream, so it made sense she would spot such an oddity in the darkness.
Nicole held Max, and Annie could not see him through the darkness and all of the chaos. She swung the stick, and it was heading for a full-on collision with Max's head.
Nicole quickly turned, and the stick smashed against the back of her head, breaking the wood on impact. The force of the slam caused Nicole to drop to her knees, but she didn't lose Max from her grasp.
"Ah!' Her voice came out in surprise, though it did little to hurt or damage her in any way.
When the voice came, Annie stopped for a second. It sounded so familiar to her, yet different. It seemed like one she had heard many times but with the inflection of an animal.
"J-just who the hell are you?!" She yelled over the rain, not sure if she trusted her initial appraisal of the being. She didn't believe or like robots, but the voice made her confidence waiver.
Nicole was bent down, but she started to rise with her back facing Annie and then turned around, revealing her blue eyes shining brightly in the rain. "I am Nicole… Nicole the Lynx." She stated her self-imposed identity for the first time, and the name Nicole sent shivers down Annie's spine.
There was no way it was who her mind wandered to, and she stared in disbelief.
"O-Oh yeah, w-well prove it!" She said, calling the machine's bluff.
If it was Nicole, Max's Nicole, the only Nicole she knew; surely, she would be able to prove it.
Nicole said nothing and started to look down. Her bright blue eyes shined a light on her arms, revealing an unconscious, battered, and particularly sickly-looking Max.
Annie's heart cracked, and she couldn't believe what she was looking at. She ran over to him, caring not for the robot but the ghost she had once written off for dead.
"Max! Max, speak to me!" She shouted, and her voice was clearly upset. She placed her hand on him and could feel his struggled breaths.
He indeed was alive, and he was here, though not in any condition Annie would have liked to see him in.
Nicole kept her vision on Max, providing the light for her to see her precious friend. Annie just hugged onto Max's neck and started to tear up. She knew he was in terrible condition and that he needed serious help.
"He's dying," Nicole said, and Annie could hear the sorrow in her tone.
As much as she had a million questions for her, now was not the time for this. Nicole looked up, and it was now apparent that Annie's yelling had drawn the attention of those in Knothole.
Sonia was at the door of her now brightly lit hut looking outside into the darkness confused, and not too far away was Tails popping his head out of his hut window.
Nicole just kept her vision downwards, shining a light on Max for them to see, and the flood of elated panic started. Sonia could see her brother, and Tails immediately began to hop out of his window, not caring to take the time to leave through the door.
"Brother!" Sonia cried, unable to believe her eyes.
Tails ran towards the robot, and though he didn't trust her, it had not harmed Annie and apparently brought Max back to them.
"What's going on?" Tails asked Annie.
"S-She brought Max back, but he's dying! We need to help him!" Annie said in a panic.
Sonia stopped when she heard that and shook her head. "N-no, we have to do something! Anything!" She got caught up in the panic as well.
"Annie, you and Sonia run and get the medical supplies from storage. I am going to bring him to Cream and see if we can fix this!" Tails gave his orders to the two, who unquestioningly started running off to do as they were told.
Tails walked up to Nicole and then held out his hands for her to hand Max over to him.
Nicole just gently passed Max off into Tails' arms, and he gave a nod of approval. He was still somewhat untrusting, but the robot proved itself an alley by handing Max over to him without any sort of trickery.
"I don't know who you are, and I intend to find out later, but… Thanks." He said.
With that, he turned to start running off towards his hut. Max was a top priority right now, and he was scared to death of losing Sonic's son.
Nicole watched as everyone disappeared from her vision, and she just stood there, lost in her own thoughts.
"Did she make it? Was Max going to survive?"
The answers were utterly unclear to her. Nicole finally saw and understood the world that Max had willed for her, that he had tried to get her to understand. After all of this, she didn't know if Max would ever be the same, but she certainly knew that her job was not complete.
"I have a promise to keep," Nicole said to herself, and with that, she started marching towards Tails' hut.
Welcome or not, she didn't care. Max was trusting her, and she wouldn't let him down.
Wrap Up. Still my fav chapter. I love reading it to edit.
Also, here is my old story still.
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A short story on this story (Contains no future plot spoilers.) When I was a teenager, and I initially thought up this chapter. Some, I didn't know 15 or 16 years ago. Its original purpose was to give Nicole the computer an animal form since she didn't have one at the time, and I always wondered what she would look like. I always wanted to make her a bird, a cat, or another squirrel of some kind, but of course, I never wrote the story and wound up forgetting about it for a decade. I ended up remembering this chapter and going. "I want to write this. I just have to write this," and so I started writing it. I got curious and looked up how Nicole had evolved over the years, and it turns out SEGA/Archie DID give her a form, and it WAS that of a cat, so I basically was like. "Thanks, SEGA, for filling in the holes for me." TA-DA Nicole the Lynx! Saved me a world of indecisiveness.
That is the genesis of this story and how/why I did what I did.
Hoped you enjoyed it, look forward to more, because we aren't done yet.