"Tell me again how you put the whole base on alert? The truth this time." Clutch said, through the Scroll.
"I told you! It wasn't me! I'm learning about this at the same time you are!" Mimic explained.
"Well, then you're good for nothing! Aren't you at the base twenty four seven? You must know something!" Clutch said.
"I don't! But, I'll figure it out" Mimic said.
"Hey, I already know that. You're not an Idiot Mimic. But, neither am I. If you can't keep it quiet over there, then I'll find someone else to do it and let the Resistance know they have unfinished business with someone among them." Clutch said.
"I get it. I'll figure out what happened." Mimic said.
"Good. Now how's the electric girl and the water boy doing?" Clutch said.
"Huh? You mean Surge and Kitsunami?" Mimic asked.
"Yea, how are they doing?" Clutch said.
"Ok, I guess? They had a rough start but they smoothed their way in afterwards. I hardly talked to them to be honest." Mimic, said
"Well, start talking to them more. They're there to assist you and vice versa. And how the hell do you know what they're up to if you don't check in on them from time to time." Clutch said.
"I assumed that-"
"If there's one thing I learned over the years is to not assume. Especially in this line of work. For all we know, THEY were the ones that caused this. And, if that's the case, it's gonna cost ya." Clutch said, interrupting Mimic.
"Y-yes. I understand." Mimic said.
"I hope so." Clutch said, before hanging up.
Mimic sat on his bed in his dorm room in disbelief.
"Base is on alert? How the hell does he know that? I haven't noticed anything different" Mimic said to himself.
"So, what's the occasion?" Surge asked.
"What do you mean?" Sesamie responded.
"For inviting me to this Cafe? What else would I mean?" Surge asked.
"Because that's what friends do? They hang out with each other when they can?" Sesamie said.
"Yea, but. We could've talked on the phone like we did the other time." Surge said.
"Hanging out in person is way better than just talking on the phone." Sesamie said.
Unlike the standard mornings Surge has had for a while, Sesamie asked if she and Kit were willing to eat breakfast with her via Scroll. Surge told Sesamie that Kit would be busy, but she had time to go. The Cafe was your typical Coffee cafe. The architecture was appealing in its simple design. However, compared to the other buildings in the Resistance, the Cafe had a more modern look to it, as if it had recently built a few months ago. The floor was a solid grey ceramic flooring that was polished. The walls were made of warm-colored wood material with pictures of nature from different ecosystems. The ceiling was black with hanging ceiling fans.
Surge and Sesamie had sat near the window with a clear view of the morning commuters heading to their duty.
"So?" Sesamie asked.
"So, what?" Surge.
"Aren't you going to ask how I've been lately?" Sesamie asked.
"You were the one who invited me! You ask first!" Surge said, pointing at Sesamie.
"Oh, boy. Is this how you talk to your friends? Or friend...Am I your only friend?" Sesamie said.
"No it's- *sigh*. Look, I'm not a morning person. It's nothing personal, ok? I just don't like talking to anyone early in the morning." Surge said.
"You see? That's called "Communication". Wasn't so hard to do right?" Sesamie said, with a smug smile on her face.
"Screw. You." Surge said, clearly unamused.
"Haha. I'm just messing with you." Sesamie said.
"Uh huh, sure." Surge said.
"Anyway. How have you've been lately?" Sesamie said.
"Could be better." Surge said
"Better than not being ok, I guess." Sesamie said.
"Yup." Surge said.
"And you say...?" Sesamie said.
"Oh, how are you doing?" Surge said.
"Dreadful, for almost a whole week." Sesamie said.
"How come?" Surge asked.
"I've been having these migraines recently and they aren't fun. Plus, my dry clean machine broke down yesterday. Not only is my work list backing up but I need to pay for the machine to get fixed." Sesamie said.
"Yikes. Doesn't sound fun at all." Surge said.
"It's not something I haven't experienced before, it just sucks you know?" Sesamie said.
"Are you paying to get it fixed or paying for the parts so that you could fix it?" Surge asked.
"All depends on what's wrong with it. It broke down towards closing time. Haven't done a proper check on what went wrong. Sometimes it's a easy fix and sometimes it's not." Sesamie said.
"Sorry for wait! Can I get you two something?" The waitress said.
"I'll have a Caesar salad and green tea please." Sesamie said.
"Ok. And what about you?" The waitress said.
"I'll just have a BLT with water." Surge said.
"Right away!" The waitress said before walking away.
"So, how come Kit couldn't make it? I always hear about him but I never actually seen him since you two arrived." Sesamie said.
"He works at the R building. He's working on something big and doesn't have a whole lot of time to relax." Surge said.
"Huh, reminds me of Sonic's partner. Glad he's pulling his own weight." Sesamie said.
Surge noticed Sesamie's face became a bit distraught as she looked out the window.
"Can I ask you something?" Sesamie asked.
"Ummm. Sure." Surge said.
"I know you just got here recently and all but, since you helped take down an Eggman's base, I figured you might be a little more informed." Sesamie said.
Surge leaned forward as she paid more attention to the conversation. Based on the tone of her voice alone, it seemed Sesamie was being serious.
"I haven't heard from one of my friends in a while, and the last time I heard from her a night or two ago." Sesamie said.
"What was she doing last time you saw her?" Surge asked, locked in the conversation.
"Well, I didn't see her. We were talking each other on the Scroll and she mentioned about a operation that opened up that was easy to do. She wanted me to join as well but, I was too tired from working all day." Sesamie said.
"What operation did she join?" Surge asked.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure. She said something about a night shift and cleaning." Sesamie said.
Surge nervously shifted in her seat as she started to predict who Sesamie might be referring to.
"What's her name again?" Surge asked.
"Her name is Katherine but her friends and I call her Kate." Sesamie said.
"I'll ask around." Surge said.
"Thanks, She's a good kid. I'm sure once you mention her name, everyone would know who you're talking about." Sesamie said.
"How come?" Surge asked.
"She's the kind to have that innocent energy around her. You know, the ones who's think the world is all sunshine and rainbows because the reality of life hasn't hit them yet." Sesamie said.
"How was she able to join an operation then? I Wouldn't want someone like her in my group, that's for sure." Surge said.
"From the way she described it, it wasn't too much to it. She said, all she had to do was walk around with a flashlight and that's it. I told her that as long as it's safe then it's fine. I know it's the early morning and she's probably sleeping but, sometimes I can be a bit overprotective of her." Sesamie said.
"I could ask around but, Don't get your hopes up." Surge said.
"Thanks, it means a lot." Sesamie said.
"Sure. On a different note, how did you become the owner of a dry cleaners store?" Surge asked.
"It's nothing exciting, really. Before all of "this" with Dr. Eggman, I was just a kid living with my mother and father. While my father went to work, I would help my mother do the chores around the house. Clean dishes, sweep the floor, you get the idea. As I got older, my mom started teaching me how to sew and do crochet. It was down right impossible when I first started but, after some time I started to get the hang of it." Sesamie said.
Surge nodded to indicate Sesamie to continue.
"When the war started, I was in my mid teens before the Resistance took me in. At first, they didn't need someone with my skills as there were more important things to worry about. But, as the Resistance began to establish itself...my skills became more prioritized to put it simply." Sesamie said.
"...And you're parents?" Surge asked.
"Yea, they didn't make it. Everything was happening all at once when it was time to leave But, they made sure I made it out ok." Sesamie.
"Darn. Sorry to hear that. Your parents sound pretty cool." Surge said.
"Thanks. How about you? How you became who you are now, I mean."
"They didn't tell you?" Surge said.
"Nothing I haven't already heard." Sesamie said.
"Well, I'm not sure I feel comfortable talking about it right now." Surge said, as she started to feel tense.
"How come?"
Surge felt more uncomfortable as her mind subconsciously attempted to think back before her last secured memory—back before she was the property of Dr. Starline. Unfortunately, like all other attempts, whether voluntary or involuntary, it ended with one result: blank space. It was almost similar to trying to think before you started to store long-term memories as a child. It's a barrier that cannot be passed through.
"I...I just don't want to talk about it." Surge said.
"No worries. You don't have too." Sesamie said.
"Listen. I have to go. Text me how much my order cost and I'll send the money to you or something." Surge said.
"Ok? Is everything alright? Was it something I said?" Sesamie said
"Nothing like that, catch you later!"
Surge hastily left the cafe and walked in a random direction. The thoughts about what her childhood must've been like ravaged her mind. She always tried to suppress any thoughts about who she was before she met Dr. Starline. For some time, it would work, and she would replace that space was frustration and pain. However, it proves to be a futile effort as, somehow, there would be something to trigger it no matter what. Surge continued to wander as she cleared her mind. When she was able to start paying attention to her surroundings, she found herself somewhere in Center Grove. Surge decided to lie down on the grass to decompress.
Tails entered the Research room in the R building. Compared to its other half, this room looked far more sophisticated. The entire four planes of the room were white with rectangular ceiling lights that made a faint buzzing sound when on. The room had several counters with black housing and a silver top. On top of the counters were various kinds of tools, tech, and books related to science. Microscopes, test tubes, beakers, emergency eye was station, vacuum chambers, you name it. Tails placed the rifle that Josh had given him on to an empty counter.
"Water being observed on guns, huh? When it wasn't raining, and there was no nearby source of water." Tail said to himself.
Tails was thinking about what his goals were with the rifle and how to approach it. Tails read the report prior to arriving in the room.
"The guns were never fired, so the assailant most likely didn't touch it. It would be a waste of time to check for prints. Even if the assailant touched the gun, it wouldn't have made a difference as so many other people touched it before I had possession of it. I would have to speak to Josh on making policies on preserving evidence." Tails pondered to himself.
Tails entered the Research room in the R building. Compared to its other half, this room looked far more sophisticated. The entire four planes of the room were white with rectangular ceiling lights that made a faint buzzing sound when on. The room had several counters with black housing and a silver top. On top of the counters were various kinds of tools, tech, and books related to science. Microscopes, test tubes, beakers, emergency eye wash stations, vacuum chambers, you name it. Tails placed the rifle that Josh had given him onto an empty counter.
"Water being observed on guns, huh? When it wasn't raining, and there was no nearby source of water." Tail said to himself.
Tails was thinking about his goals with the rifle and how to approach them. He read the report before arriving in the room.
"The guns were never fired, so the assailant most likely didn't touch it. It would be a waste of time to check for prints. Even if the assailant touched the gun, it wouldn't have made a difference as so many other people touched it before I had possession of it. I would have to speak to Josh on making policies on preserving evidence." Tails pondered to himself.
"There was no distress call or anything similar to that. And the other teams didn't hear any kind of disturbance before the radio check started. Whoever took out that team knew precisely what they were doing. I hope they're ok, wherever they are. The only clue I have is that water. Under the right angle, I should be able to shine a light on the weapon and see where the residue of the water dried up. From there I could swab the area and run some tests." Tails said..
On the other side of the R building, Kit continued the development of Surger's secret weapon. His rhythm was interrupted when Duo the Cat entered the room.
"Hey, Kit! Is Tails here?" Duo asked.
"Uhhhh, no. It's just me." Kit said.
Duo then transformed into Mimic.
"Hey, Kid. Where's your partner?" Mimic said.
"Surge? I'm not sure. Last time I was with her, she said she was going to eat with a friend. That was a while ago. What's going on?" Kit said
"I want you to call her and tell her to get over here." Mimic said.
"Uhhh. Sure." Kit said, as he called Surge on his Scroll.
"Not in the mood right now. But I do have to speak with you later about something." Surge said, with a hint of irritation in her voice.
"Mimic needs to speak with us, we're in the R building. Where are you?" Kit said.
"I'm in the Grove, relaxing. You can tell Mimic we'll speak with him later, we have the entire day left." Surge said.
"It's urgent. Plus, you can get here in seconds with your speed. Just get over here." Mimic said, over Kit's shoulders.
Almost instantly, Surge appeared in the workshop.
"What the hell do you want now?" Surge said, as her voice looped through the Scrolls. Both Kit and Surge hung up their calls.
"The whole base is on edge! It took me a while to ask around and found out that a whole team disappeared near the base!" Mimic said.
"We already know. Welcome to the present old man" Surge teased.
"What? How?" Mimic said.
"They had a meeting about. Was "accidentally" invited. Why what's going on? Did you do it?" Surge said.
"No I did not! That's why I'm here asking you two. Were either of you involved in this?" Mimic asked.
"No. What's the big deal anyway?" Surge said.
"Because it could potentially blow our cover!" Mimic said.
"How? No one in this room was involved. So, how are we at risk of getting our cover blown." Surge said.
"Not blow our cover directly, you idiot. I mean that they will keep a closer eye on suspicious activities. Which means they would pay more attention to the things we do since we just joined recently." Mimic said.
"Well, If I'm being honest with you, I don't care. None of us did it, so we're fine. We can just lay low for a while and postpone whatever we have going on. Speaking of which, when I'm put on the need to know bases of these "plans", it makes me care a lot less about it. I can somewhat understand why I'm not allowed to know what Clutch's plans are exactly but, if i'm supposed to be working with you, then I need to know your goals too." Surge said.
"That's none of your business." Mimic said.
Surge stepped forward to Mimic's face.
"It is. Because if I don't know why you're here, then I'm just going to assume you're here for the same reason I'am. To kill Sonic. And NO ONE will kill him except me. So, if you don't want to share why you are here. Then you're competition. You can forget about checking in on me and "Sharing" information through a one way road. Because I won't be sharing anything." Surge said.
Mimic stared back at Surge in silence. She had a point. In fact, he would've thought the same way if he was in her shoes. Although, he would've kept those thoughts to himself instead.
"You're partially right. I 'am here to kill someone. But I promise you, it's not Sonic." Mimic said.
"I'm going to need a name, Tentacles." Surge said.
"You've already met her already. In fact, you're well acquainted with her as well." Mimic said.
"Her?" Surge asked.
"I'll let you figure the rest out yourself. It shouldn't be hard, even for you. Just keep your head low until this investigation dies down. And, I'll try to be more charitable with my information when we have a little meetups" Mimic said, leaving the Workshop.
"Her...He's going after someone we've already met." Surge thought to herself.
"You said, you wanted to talk about something with me, Surge?" Kit said.
"Huh? Oh, right." Surge said, checking the entrance door to make sure no one was nearby.
"When you took out that team, did you happen to get their names?" Surge said.
"I remember two of them. There were girls and they seemed like they were friends. Why?" Kit said.
"What were their names?" Surge asked.
"One was Jasmine. She had the USB drive. The other was Kate." Kit said.
"I fucking knew it." Surge said.
"What's going on?" Kit asked.
"Nothing. Just...Just continue the project." Surge said, leaving the workshop while having two hands on the top of her head.
Surge walked out of the R building with her mind racing on what to do. Surge called Josh.
"Hey." Josh said.
"Hey Josh, Serious question." Surge said.
"I'm all ears." Josh said.
"So, I have this friend who knows I do operations and stuff, right?" Surge said.
"Right." Josh said.
"And she asked about her friend who she hadn't heard from in a while. My friend said that her friend was last heard talking about joining a night operation." Surge said.
"Let me guess. That friend they haven't heard back from was part of the team that disappeared ." Josh said.
"That's what it sounds like." Surge said.
"What did you tell her?" Josh said.
"I told her that I wasn't well connected so, the only thing I could do was ask around but couldn't make guarantees." Surge said.
"A decent deflective response. Ok. Just give it a couple of hours and get back to her. Tell her that you asked around and that you heard rumors that her friend was part of a secret operation." Josh said.
"Ok, got it." Surge said.
"What was this friends' name that wasn't heard back from?" Josh asked.
"Kate." Surge said.
"Yup, she was definitely amongst the group that got ambushed." Josh said.
"Crap." Surge cursed.
"Hey, don't worry. We'll find them." Josh said.
"Right..." Surge said.
Surge heard Josh chuckle on the other side.
"What's so funny? Her friend is gone!" Surge
"I know it's a bad time to bring this up but...now you know how others feel when they lose someone close to them. Or at least, you will know soon if we don't find Kate and the rest of them. Keep that in mind when you think about the things that you've done." Josh said, before hanging up.
"Fuck you, Josh." Surge said, before walking off.
Josh closed his Scroll as he walked through the Center Grove with Lanolin. The two wanted to further discuss how to cover up the disappearance of team Charlie.
"And that makes Kate. All of Squad Charlie were asked for their whereabouts by their friends or relatives. Now that I'm thinking about it. I don't think we'll be able to keep the facade of them being a secret operation. Kate doesn't fit the bill at all of someone becoming an operative. Let alone having the guts to volunteer to be one. Heck, if you told me she was on a secret operation, I would've laughed in your face." Josh said.
"It's what we have for now. Who gave you the tip on Kate?" Lanolin asked.
"Surge. A friend of hers asked about Kate. Sounded concerned too." Josh said.
"Surge's friend?" Lanolin asked.
"Both. Which is odd." Josh said.
"Why is that?" Lanolin asked.
"Because, why would she care? She's done awful things in the past. This shouldn't faze her in the slightest." Josh said.
"Did you already forget that she's trying to be one of the good guys? Maybe it's a sign that she was being serious." Lanolin said.
"Maybe...Maybe. That's actually a good point." Josh said.
"Speaking of which, We haven't found any new clues at the site. And unsurprisingly, no one got any new leads through their contacts." Lanolin said.
"I have someone who's working on something. It's going to take a while, but my contact is probably our only chance to make a breakthrough." Josh said.
"And, who's this, contact?" Lanolin asked.
"I'm keeping it behind closed doors. Not that I don't trust you but, if word got out somehow, not only would our potential lead be sabotaged but that contact would be killed. This contact is a good friend of ours and I will not put their life in jeopardy." Josh said.
"Fair enough." Lanolin said.
"You said, there weren't any new leads at the site?" Josh asked.
"Yes. And no new incidents either." Lanolin.
"Ok. I'm guessing we keep the same routine of sending a scavenge team with a patrol?" Josh asked.
"Seems to be working so far, so yes." Lanolin said.
"Good. Good." Josh said.
"Hey...We'll find who did this." Lanolin said, putting her hand on Josh's shoulder
"That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about what's going to happen once we find out." Josh said.
"Unless you're expecting it to be one of us who did it, I wouldn't see how finding the monster responsible would be a problem." Lanolin said.
Josh didn't respond.
"Why did you want to meet in Center Grove anyway?" Lanolin asked.
"It's a different change of scenery. Instead of huddling in a dark lit room like we're planning to take over the world, We can talk in a more peaceful setting." Josh said.
"It does feel less stressful talking about stressful things in a place like this." Lanolin
"See? We should hold meetings in Center Grove from now on." Josh said.
"Don't push your luck. Maybe once in a while it wouldn't hurt to talk out here but, I don't want our confidential information leaking out in the dumbest way possible." Lanolin said.
"I know I know. Was just messing with ya." Josh said.
Surge was walking back to her dorm when she received a message from Sesamie asking Surge to call her. Surge called Sesamie on her Scroll
"Hey." Surge said.
"Hi. Look I know it's not evening yet but, I still haven't heard from Kate. My other friends are starting to get worried too. Did you manage to get any information?" Sesamie asked.
Surge hesitated as she thought about what Josh told her.
"Surge?" Sesamie asked.
"I heard you. Just... keep this a secret between you and me ok?" Surge said.
"W-Why would I keep it a secret? Is she D-"
"NO! She's...not. I wasn't able to get the whole story but, It looks like Kate was selected for a secret operation. I tried to get more info but that's all I got." Surge said.
"But, She would've at least texted something like that. Do you know-"
"I just said I don't know anything else. I tried. The more I asked, the more I looked suspicious." Surge said.
"I get it. Sorry. At least she's ok. If it's not too much to ask...At least try to know when she'll be back." Sesamie said.
"Sure thing." Surge said.
"Thanks. And, you don't have to pay for your breakfast, I'll cover it. My treat." Sesamie
"You sure?" Surge asked.
"Yup. Talk to you later." Sesamie said before hanging up.
The thought of what Mimic said resurfaced in her mind, and she walked back to where Kit was. Since joining the Resistance, she had already met a few female members.
"Okay, there's Amy, Lanolin, Whisper, Tangle, Blaze ,and a whole bunch of others! Who could it be?" Surge said to herself.
Surge continued to think until she entered the workshop.
"Oh, you're back." Kit said, confused with Surge's second visit.
"You were there when he said it. Mimic's here for a personal goal of his own. Have you given it any thought?" Surge asked.
"Honestly, I haven't. It has nothing to do with why we're here. You said it yourself. If it has to do with Sonic, then it's an issue. But, he said he's here to kill someone that's not him. So, that means there's nothing to worry about." Kit said, continuing to work on his project.
"You're not wrong. But, knowing who his target is could give us leverage in the future. I'm sure he has some of his own knowledge of why we're here." Surge said.
"I can't make any accurate guesses now. We know nothing about him. No one here has mentioned anything about him, And it doesn't look like anyone is concerned that someone might assassinate him, unless that person is really good at hiding it." Kit said.
"You think I could ask around?" Surge asked.
"If you are, I would do it discreetly. It may get us unwanted attention, especially with the investigation going on. But, I don't think you need to anyway. He seemed confident that you've already met this person and that you could figure it out yourself. The information may fall in your lap one day without even trying. And, it's not like it's something we need to know immediately." Kit said.
"Yea, you're right." Surge said
"I'll keep it in mind though, since you think it may come in handy." Kit said, beginning to clean up his workspace.
"I don't think, I KNOW it would come in handy. We could finally be on the same playing field as him. We don't even know where he lives in this base!" Surge said.
"I'm sure we can ask around if we really want to." Kit said, putting parts of the new Dynamo cage in a makeshift box and closing it.
"Ready to go?" Kit asked.
"Yea, sure." Surge said.
The two made their exit out of the workshop and out of the R building.
"Hey, you asked me earlier about those names from that Team that's being investigated. How come you wanted know?" Kit asked.
"It's ummmmm. Uhhhhhhhh. I have a friend that works at the Cleaners, right? And, ummmm. I think Kate was her best friend." Surge said.
"Will that cause a problem in the future?" Kit asked.
"Well, no. At least, it shouldn't be." Surge said.
"Then we should be fine." Kit said.
"How's that project coming along?" Surge asked.
"Right now I'm working on the frame and the housing. Nothing crazy." Kit said.
***Author's Note***
Extremely sorry for the delay and for the size of this chapter. Long Story short, I was looking for a new apartment to move into in a area where there was a housing crunch. I found an ideal apartment and would be moving into it soon in the next few months. I will be back on schedule in making these chapters.