Chapter 45: Trojan Horse
Location: Unknown
One hour later...
Mendenhall stepped into the Resocialization Lab, finding Dr. Stanley Burgess standing in the center of the chamber. It was he who was the most dominating presence within the room, not the row upon row of Resoc Tanks. He was a man in his mid-fifties with a high forehead and dressed in a lab coat. It was immaculately clean, giving him the impression that Dr. Burgess rarely dirtied his own hands.
"Dr. Burgess," he stated, entering the laboratory.
"Ah, good afternoon, General," he greeted.
"How is the procedure going?" Mendenhall inquired.
"We're nearly finished," the Doctor replied, gesturing to one of the Resoc Tanks that housed the body of Princess Sally.
"So...is it everything Cauley claims it to be?"
"Oh, very much so. I've had a chance to test out this subconscious-form of resocialization on...willing participants."
Having earned the moniker as the Butcher of Korhal, the General had his doubted as to the validity of Dr. Burgess' statement.
"When will she be ready?"
"We still have to subject her to Memory Reassignment. Can't have her blabbing about what she learned."
He shoved his hand into the pocket of his lab coat, fishing out a slip of paper that he handed over to the General.
"That's the trigger phrase," he stated, "The programming will trigger once it's been uttered within her presence."
"Good. And it's obscure enough so that someone won't trigger it by accident," Mendenhall commented, "I'll pass it along to Anthony."
"I've also drawn samples of her blood," Burgess announced, "As per your instructions."
"Excellent. It never hurts to have a backup plan."
There came a ping from one of the consoles, prompting Dr. Burgess to approach and study the screen. His fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up the program that would replace her memories from the past several hours. She would wholeheartedly believe that she had been abducted by an Anti-Mobian faction seeking to prevent her from speaking before the National Assembly. She would naturally believe that she had convinced them to release her, stating that it was a poor decision, and they would be hunted by the authorities.
MEMORY REASSIGNMENT PROGRAM: INITIATED
Initiating the program caused those present to hear the anguished and muffled cries of the Chipmunk, but being restrained within the Resoc Tank, preventing her from being able to do anything.
Location: Prime Minister's Residence
The next morning...
Sonic lay sound asleep beneath the covers of his bed and could've easily slept all day had it not been for the incisive banging on his bedroom door that roused him from his rest. The hedgehog groggily hurled the blankets off his body and trudged over to the door where he found Bunnie and Antoine, a worried look on their faces.
"Morning," Sonic yawned, "What's so urgent that you guys had to wake me?"
"Sally-Girl's missing," Bunnie said, causing the hedgehog to sober up.
"Alright...that constitutes as being urgent," Sonic said, "Where'd she go?"
"We don't know," Amy said, approaching the group, "She left yesterday afternoon to meet with Tarro, but she never came back."
"Ze Prime Minister iz being woken as we speak," Antoine said.
"Right, I'll head out and scour the city," Sonic said as he headed back inside to grab his sneakers.
"Uh...Sugar-Hog, don't you think it might be better if we find out what the Prime Minister knows before we run around aimlessly?" Bunnie questioned.
"Huh...since you put it that way, it does sound kinda foolish," Sonic said, scratching the back of his head, "Just let me get ready and I'll meet you downstairs."
"Alright, Sugar-Hog."
As the others departed, the Hedgehog muttered, looking down at his hand before clenching it into a fist. He soon ventured down the stairs, discovering the rest of his companions had gathered within the dining hall, the Prime Minister seated in a chair dressed in a white t-shirt and gray sweatpants. His step-son was standing nearby, still dressed in his pyjamas after having been awoken by all the commotion.
"This doesn't bold well," Carmichael said shaking his head.
"Do you know where she went to yesterday?" Sonic asked.
"General Mendenhall told me that the Princess was contacted by someone named...Taa-um...oh how was it pronounced again?"
"Tarro?" Tails asked, causing Sonic to glance at him.
"Yes, that's it," Carmichael said, "he wanted to see her and asked to meet with her in Backwater Station."
"Tails, I need you to contact this Tarro fellow. Maybe Sally stayed over at his place like you guys did that one night," Sonic said.
"Aunt Sally's the only one who's be contacted by him regularly," Tails commented, "Even if I did know how to reach him it seems unlikely that he would ask to meet her in Mar Sara and then take her all the way to Tyrador."
"Alright, change of plans," the Hedgehog said, crossing his arms, "Tails, get the X-Tornado ready, you're flying Bunnie and I to Tyrador."
"Rodger," Tails said.
"Amy, take Sticks and head to Backwater Station and see what you can find."
"Okay, Sonic," the pink Hedgehog replied.
"Rotor, I want you to head over to the airport and see if Sal's onboard Freedom Two, if not you might be able to use the ship's communication array to finally make contact with NICOLE."
"Antoine! I want you and Muttski to conduct a search of the city. It's a lot of ground to cover, but we need to start somewhere."
"Oui," replied Antoine.
"Chris and I will remain here in case she returns," Chuck announced.
"Right. We need to be informed immediately if she turns up."
The Hedgehog then turned to Geoffrey, who stood there with his arms crossed and stone-faced.
"I'm coming with you," the Skunk stated.
Sonic was reluctant to do so, but immediately dismissed the notion when he realized that he was being biased by their tremulous history.
"Alright," he replied in agreement.
"I'll inform the authorities," Carmichael said, "They'll begin a search."