"Hey, Tails...Tails?" Josh said, entering the lab.
Josh searched the room until he saw Tails at one of the tables working on one of the weapons.
"Is everything ok?" Josh said, approaching Tails.
"Just focusing right now." Tails said.
"What are you focusing on? Getting prints?" Josh said, looking for Tail's shoulder.
"No. Though I already tried that. Right now I'm swabbing the weapon." Tails said.
"Have the results yet come back on the prints?" Josh said, eager to hear the results.
"There wasn't anything to get results on. It's extremely difficult to get prints on weapons but that doesn't mean it wasn't worth a shot." Tails said.
"How difficult are we talking here?" Josh said.
"On average, you would be able to lift prints off a firearm approximately ten percent of the time." Tails said.
"Yikes. Gotta remember that when I plan to murder someone." Josh sarcastically said.
"I wouldn't bet too much on that. There are other ways to see if you were the one that fired the weapon." Tails.
"I said that as a joke, you know?" Josh said.
"I know." Tails said.
"So, what are the swabs for?" Josh said.
"Right now I'm just swabbing out all the water droplets on the weapon and saving it for later. With some tests I should see if there are any special properties about the water." Tails said.
"I feel like there's a "But" coming soon." Josh said.
"But, since there's so little droplets to work with, I need to be very conservative with my tests. If I do too much, I won't have any more water to work with." Tails said.
"Well, what are you looking for specifically from the test samples?" Josh said.
"That's the thing, the tests show what I'm looking at. Normally I would have enough context to narrow down what kind of test needed to look for something but, I don't have the luxury of that." Tails said.
"So, what tests are you thinking about running?" Josh asked.
"Not too sure. I'm just gathering the samples before they evaporate. Then I'll think about it. I just hope you're not banking everything on this" Tails said.
"I don't want to. But, I got nothing else at this point. No one has any leads of any kind. And, the last thing I want is for something like this to happen again." Josh said.
"Right. I'll do what I can but, I'm not getting many samples to work with. I wish you guys had sent me this the very hour the weapons were collected." Tails.
"In hindsight, the way we handled it wasn't good. But, we didn't know we were dealing with a crime scene. Guess I have to update some policies and procedures if something similar to this occurs again." Josh said.
"That's how they're made after all. It's an afterthought until an "event" happens." Tails said.
"Yea. By the way, you don't have to put your full effort into this. I know you have tons of requests lined up for ya." Josh said.
"That's already taken care of." Tails said.
"Really? Did you send out a notification that you're on vacation leave or something?" Josh said.
"I have Kit working on the requests for me until I finish with this. " Tails said.
"He agreed to have a huge workload dropped on his head at a moment's notice? Kinda hard to believe." Josh said.
"I told him if he needed any help I could stop what I was doing and assist him. I also told him he gets one hundred percent of the pay even if I help him." Tails said.
"That's a deal if I ever heard one." Josh said.
"Kinda have to make that way for asking a huge favor on such short notice." Tails said.
"Well, I won't bother you any longer. If it's not too much to ask, just give me regular updates if you can. It's not so much as me keeping a close eye on ya, but to remind me that we're getting somewhere at the very least. Give me less stress if you know what I mean." Josh said.
"Sure thing." Tails said.
####
"Well, that was rude. Anyway, we should start brainstorming on how the events are going to happen." Lanolin said, after Surge ended the call
"Uh, yea. We could head over to my place and brainstorm there." Amy said.
"Perfect! Let's go." Lanolin said.
The two made it to Amy's dorm and Amy unlocked her door.
Compared to the average dorm, Amy's was probably the most furnished, despite being the same size as the other dorms. Anyone who walked into Amy's dorm would immediately be bombarded with the theme of femininity. Amy's floor was somehow replaced with natural maple wood. Amy's walls were painted light pink with a white ceiling to finish the touch. In the middle of the room was a white fur carpet which was under a glass coffee table. Amy's was a warm pink queen-sized bed with multiple decorative pillows. In different areas of the dorm were white-colored bean bags for guests. Mounted on a wall was a thirty-inch flat-screen television. Many are still theorizing how Amy was able to furnish her dorm to this extent and still have room to walk around freely. Many believe she could furnish her dorm further but just chooses not to.
Lanolin walked in and sat down on one of the bean bags.
"I think it would be best If we split up the work and help each other when we can. Do you want to plan the dance or the tournament?" Lanolin asked.
"Dance." Amy said, sitting on one of her bean bags.
"Great. I brought some notepads with us to help with the planning." Lanolin said, as she placed some on the coffee table.
"Do you think...I overreact?" Amy said.
"What do you mean? Overreact to what?" Lanolin asked, puzzled by the sudden question without context.
"Surge being with Sonic." Amy said.
"Oh, that. Just so you know, I'm not the best to come to advice for….for that kind of stuff." Lanolin said.
"I know, I just need someone to vent to for a moment. You know, girl talk." Amy said.
"Sure thing." Lanolin said.
"I feel like it's always a chore to get Sonic to spend time with me for anything. The only time it's easy is when it's, getting food, sparring, or something to do with the Resistance. Even then, I feel like I'm just tagging along to whatever he's doing even though I'm the one who planned it." Amy said.
"He does seem like a guy who's always busy. Too busy to even check what time our meetings start too." Lanolin said.
"I thought that was part of the reason until Surge came along. I get it, she's new and had a few blows with some of us before joining us. Which was why Sonic wanted to make her transition as soon as possible." Amy said.
"But?" Lanolin said.
"But, he would magically hang out with Surge at a moment's notice." Amy said.
"What proof do you have of that? I think it was just a coincidence that we called him when Surge was around." Lanolin said.
"After the meeting, he left with Josh. We call him half an hour to an hour later, and he's with Surge?" Amy said, making her argument
"Not trying to fight back at everything you're saying but, right now, that's all they're doing. Hanging out. Blaze hangs out with Sonic, Whisper hangs out with Sonic, Tangle hangs out with Sonic, and I hang out with Sonic. What makes Surge any different? From what I heard, it's not unheard of for Sonic to turn his enemies into close friends. That's probably what he's doing." Lanolin said.
"I know, I know. It's just that, I feel something is different this time." Amy said.
"Well, one piece of advice that I'm comfortable telling you is to not show excessive jealousy. No one that I know likes an overly possessive partner." Lanolin said.
"Right. You're right. Sorry, I just dropped that on you out of the blue." Amy said, feeling regretful
"No need to apologize. That's what friends are for." Lanolin said.
The two grabbed a notepad and began writing up their drafts for how the events would go.
"Now that you brought it up, I do have one question to ask you." Lanolin said.
"Sure, go ahead." Amy said.
"If it turns out they do like each other...are you planning on doing something about it?" Lanolin asked.
"I-uh...no. I mean, yes? Should I do something about it? Why do you ask?" Amy said, feeling defensive
"Just asking. But, don't do anything rash if it's the case, ok?" Lanolin said.
"Yea, sure." Amy said, getting back to her note writing.
###
"There's no way that's True!" Surge exclaimed.
"I'm telling the truth, honest! I was just casually eating a chili dog when a portal opened up below me and next thing I knew, I was about to fight King Arthur!" Sonic said.
"Wait. About to? So, you didn't fight him?" Surge asked.
"I did, but not at that moment. I faced him later on and defeated him." Sonic said.
"How come you couldn't defeat him then? Don't tell me you did one of those, "he's too strong I'll have to fight another day, or some crap like that." Surge said.
"Believe me, I was going to fight him. But, a wizard pulled me back and teleported the both of us into a nearby forest to get away." Sonic said, ignoring the irony of Surge's comment.
"Now there's a wizard!?" Surge said, skeptically
"The same one who teleported me in front of King Arthur, yea." Sonic said.
"You and a wizard had to back off from fighting someone? How strong was this King whatever?" Surge asked.
"He was a handful. But, I had help from Caliburn and Merlina. Now that I think about it, I should probably pay a visit to her at some point. See how she's doing" Sonic said.
"Visit who? Who's Merlina?" Surge said, getting defensive.
"The wizard. Remember?" Sonic said.
"Oh." Surge said.
"Yeah, a lot more happened than that but, I just gave you the barest rundown of what happened." Sonic said.
"And I don't believe a single word of it. Sounds like a fairytale you would read to a child. Even then it would still be hard to believe it when you're the one telling the story." Surge said.
"Hey, I'm just recounting history. I've been through so much it's honestly hard to keep track." Sonic said.
"Oh yea? like what?" Surge said.
"Well, I defeated an evil genie, I defeated a Babylon guardian, defeated a super-dimensional sun god, defeated-"
"And you expect me to believe that ALL of that happened?" Surge asked.
"As I said, it's already written in need for me to prove otherwise." Sonic said.
"And your friends can vouch for that?" Surge said.
"Absolutely. Some of them were there when it happened and could tell you their side of the story." Sonic said.
"Whatever you say, hotshot." Surge said.
"You know, your doubtfulness is hurting my feelings." Sonic said, sarcastically as he held his hands above his chest.
"Awww poor guy. Someone asked for proof of all the ridiculous things you said happened." Surge said, mocking Sonic.
"Ok, how would you feel if you were telling someone something about what you did a while back that you thought was cool, that person just laughed in your face?" Sonic said.
"That wouldn't happen because one, I'm just that good that no one would question me. And two, I'll just pummel the loser and be one with my day. It's no big deal. " Suge said.
"Ok, then. Tell me about an adventure that you've been on." Sonic said
"I-I, well, let's see."
"Don't tell me the coolest thing you did was when we both took out that Eggman base"
"SHUT UP. I took out an Eggman stronghold before I joined you losers. It's that it wasn't, as cool. Dr. Starline didn't let blow up the place" Surge said.
"What happened?" Sonic said.
"He just wanted the robots to be under his control. The plan was for me to escort Kit to the broadcast tower without causing too much trouble. Surge said
"That doesn't sound like a bad plan." Sonic said.
"I guess so. But it's definitely more boring than glassing the place." Surge said.
"That's true. Either way, you just gotta take it one step at a time. You gotta start somewhere. I can tell you for sure I wasn't doing all of this when I was starting off. But, that was a long time ago. Give it some time and I'm sure you'll get involved in something." Sonic said.
"Is it really that easy?" Surge said.
"Once you build your reputation, good or bad, you'll be drawing attention from places you wouldn't even know exist until they get you involved." Sonic said.
"Sounds annoying." Surge said.
"It is and it isn't. They kinda happen when you're really bored and have nothing else to do." Sonic said.
"Being thrown into a major conflict during my downtime. Sounds lovely." Surge said, sarcastically.
"Was that actually sarcasm? Because that sounds like something you would do if given the chance." Sonic said.
"Depends on my mood that day." Surge said.
"Which we both know, changes at a dime." Sonic said.
"Screw off." Surge said.
Sonic chuckled as he looked up and saw the moon on its way to reach the peak of the sky.
"Looks like it's getting late. We should start heading back." Sonic said.
"Right." Surge said.
Sonic and Surge exited the Grove as the moon reached its peak. Soon after, they reached their dorm building and entered.
"I'll catch you later I'm guessing?" Sonic said.
"Yea. One quick question before you go." Surge said.
"What is it?" Sonic said.
"There's someone I need to speak to and I need to know their dorm room number." Surge said.
"Sure! Who is it?" Sonic asked.
###
"So, I've got intel on the incident." Mimic said.
"Took you long enough." Clutch said.
"The Resistance doesn't know what happened either. It seems they're still investigating it. However, they're no longer on high alert compared to earlier." Mimic said.
"Don't just tell me what the Resistance knows, tell me what you know too." Clutch said.
"Neither Surge nor Kit was responsible for it. If they were, I probably wouldn't even need to investigate it to find out. They're not the quiet type." Mimic said.
"Remember what I said about assumptions. But, this is interesting. Seems to me there is probably another unknown party taking their rounds at the Resistance. If it was Eggman who was responsible, they definitely would've known by now. If that's the case, find out who's responsible and see if we have a common goal." Clutch said.
"Of course." Mimic said.
"Anything else I should know." Clutch said.
"They're also organizing two entertainment events to try to distract everyone as to why they're still investigating the incident." Mimic said.
"Those events are?" Clutch asked.
One is a fighting tournament and the other is a dance party. Both are on the same day but, They haven't officially announced when it will happen." Mimic said.
"Fighting tournament, huh? Whenever you get the chance, find out more about that. The rules, regulations, all that stuff. And make sure you find out about it days in advance so I can think of something." Clutch said.
"Of course." Mimic said.
Mimic ended the call with Clutch.
Immediately there was a knock at his door. Mimic quickly transformed into Duo.
"Who is it?" Duo asked.
"Open up, it's me." Surge said.
Duo opened the door.
"Hey, Surge! What's up?" Duo said.
"We need to talk inside." Surge said.
Duo stuck his head out the door to see if there was anyone else in the hallway. Once the coast was clear, he stepped aside to let Surge in. Surge entered the room as Duo closed the door and locked it.
"What did you want to talk about?" Duo said.
"Whisper, what's the history between you two?" Surge said.
Duo immediately dropped his facade and transformed back to Mimic.
"Told you, you would figure it out eventually." Mimic said, with a smirk.
"Answer the question." Surge said.
"That is of no concern to you. I only shared enough information to put you at ease with the fact that we are not after the same goal and that we're working together. No one ever asked you why you wanted Sonic dead, or at least I never did. So, I don't see why you think you have the right to know why I want Whisper dead."
Surge admitted that Mimic did have a point.
"It's actually good that you're here. Not sure if you heard, but there are two events coming up in the near future." Mimic said.
"Yea, the fighting tournament and the dance party. What about it?" Surge said.
"Whenever those dates of the events become official, make sure your calendar is clear for that week. Clutch will have something planned for us." Mimic said.
"Wasn't going to miss it anyway, so it won't be a problem." Surge said.
"Good, good. Is there another reason why you're here?" Mimic asked.
"Yeah, how are you and Clutch working together anyways. You two don't seem to be on the same wavelength if you get my drift." Surge said.
"Let's just say it's good to have some sort of protection when there's people out to get you." Mimic said.
"People like who?" Surge asked.
"I'm not going to answer that. Unless you have something important to tell me, you can leave" Mimic asked, as he transformed into Duo, opened his dorm door, and gestured Surge to leave.
Surge locked eyes with Duo as she left the dorm room and walked down the hall.
Surge received a call from Kit on her scroll.
"Yo." Surge answered.
"Hey, can you stop by the workshop? I need to test something." Kit said.
"Yea, I'm on my way." Surge said, before hanging up.
Surge arrived at the workshop and observed it to be a lot more cluttered than usual.
"What's with all the extra junk?" Surge asked.
"I'm doing requests for the others in the base for Tails while he works on something important. I've been trying to work on the project as well at the same time." Kit said.
"What do you need me for?" Surge asked.
"Can you raise your right arm to the side please?" Kit said.
Surge did as instructed. Kit then began to strap electric cables to the respected arm.
"What's this?" Surge asked.
"This is a rough draft of what an exoskeleton would look like. Right now it's just bare wires for functionality purposes but, all of that will be covered and safely tested after I'm finished. All I need is to do a quick test to see if I'm on the right track." Kit said, finishing strapping the cables on Surge.
Kit then attached a much thicker cable to Surge's arm and linked it to a monitor on the workshop desk. The monitor was then flooded with algorithms and code.
Surge began to feel the cables on her arm warm up.
"The exoskeleton would not need to be turned on when I finish it. This is just to make sure everything is working properly before the test even starts. When this project is finished, the exoskeleton will begin to function once an electrical current is generated from your body." Kit said.
"Just make sure I don't accidentally blow this place up. We would never be able to talk our way out of it." Surge said, in a serious tone.
"Everything is looking from what I'm seeing. All I need you to do is just generate a small amount of energy." Kit said.
Surge did as instructed. Miniature yet visible sparks appeared around Surge's body. The monitor continued to display algorithms and codes but looked different somehow.
"It's looking good. No signs of faults. How are you feeling?" Kit said.
"No different than before." Surge answered.
"How do the cables feel?" Kit said.
"Slightly warmer but not that much." Surge answered.
"Ok, now stop producing energy." Kit said.
Surge did as instructed.
"Now I want you to produce a moderate amount of energy." Kit said.
Surge did as instructed. Sparks the size of a pinky began to appear around Surge. Immediately Surge's attention was brought to her arm. Even though she was exhausting energy, she felt like she was gaining more back from the cables as time went on. It almost felt like a feedback effect with mics and sound systems. The loop just keeps getting more intense. Kit was jotting down the results on the monitor on a notepad.
"I'm sure you're feeling something from the cables right?" Kit said.
"Yea, I feel more charged as time goes on." Surge said.
"Ok, now stop producing energy." Surge did as instructed however, the sparks remained particularly on Surge's right arm.
"Uhhhh, I think the cables are still charged." Surge said.
"Huh?" Kit said, snapping his head towards Surge's arm.
He inspected the cables and saw the sparks still appearing in the area. Kit looked back at the monitor and saw a more detailed explanation of what was happening.
"I guess I need to implement a vent system to drain any excess charge that isn't being used. I'll get to work on that." Kit said.
"Yea, that's cool and all, but how do I get rid of the charge?" Surge said.
"Don't worry, I had something in mind in case this happened." Kit said.
Kit, unplugged the cables from the monitor and attached them to a pair of jumper cables.
"Follow me." Kit said, leading Surge with the jumper cables.
Kit led Surge in front of the Humvee that was stationed in the two-post car lift. Kit entered the vehicle through the driver's door and popped the hood. Kit went to the engine and carefully attached the positive jumper cable to its respective destination on the vehicle's battery. Kit then attached the negative jumper cable to a metal bolt from the vehicle.
"What are you doing?" Surge asked.
Kit ignored the question and entered the vehicle on the driver's seat and turned on the vehicle. The vehicle turned on and the electrical charge from Surge's right arm dissipated. Kit quickly turned off the vehicle and got out of it.
"Did you seriously just use me to jump-start a car?" Surge asked.
"It worked didn't it?" Kit said.
"How were you able to turn the car on anyway? I don't remember anyone giving you a key." Surge said.
"I hot-wired it. The wires were already exposed. I'm guessing the car is having problems with the ignition or something." Kit said, as he walked back to the workshop bench.
"I don't know about you but, I can't just jump-start a vehicle every time I want to stop using this." Surge said.
"I know. Again this was just a test to see I was on the right track. At least we know it's doing its main purpose. Kit said, unstrapping the cables from Surge's arm.
"Can't say you haven't made progress that's for sure. How were you able to balance out the work between this and the other stuff?" Surge said.
"I kinda didn't. I was so close to finishing the rough draft on the arm that I got tunnel-visioned. But, now that we got the results, I can go back to finishing those orders." Kit said.
"Sounds good." Surge said.
"Anything going on out there? I've been here pretty much the whole day." Kit said.
"I found out who Mimic was here for." Surge said
"Who is it?" Kit asked.
"Whisper." Surge said.
"Did you find out why?" Kit asked.
"I was told that they both used to work together in a group but then Mimic betrayed them for some reason." Surge said.
"Sounds like he wants to finish up loose ends. Either way, I don't think we can trust someone with a reputation like that." Kit said.
"I didn't tell him that I know about that part. So, as far as he's concerned, we still trust him…..somewhat. They're also going to host a fighting tournament and a party at some point." Surge said.
"Whoa, really?."
"Yup, and we're attending both. Clutch is going to cook up a plan when we figure out what day it is." Surge said.