"Guess i'm not the only evil person around here." Surge whispered, to herself.
As Josh walked away to talk with someone else, Surge made her way back to the elevator. The only person she could talk to semi-comfortably without starting a fight seemed to be having a serious conversation with Amy. Surge activated the elevator and began her ascent. When she got to the top and exited the building, she contacted Kit on her Scroll almost immediately.
"Hey!" Kit answered.
"Looks like they care about their grunts more than I thought." Surge said.
"You mean-"
"Yes, They know. And, they're launching an investigation on it." Surge said.
"Like I said- Wait, how do you know this? I haven't heard anyone talk about it yet" Kit asked.
"They had a meeting about it and I was in it. They're going to keep it a secret until they find out what happened." Surge said.
"That's...interesting." Kit said.
"Isn't that a good thing for us?" Surge said
"I think so. I wasn't expecting them to keep it behind closed doors. If you keep pretending you're helping t, they'll update us on what they know, and we can act accordingly," Kit said.
"Sounds good. How about you, you're able to access the files?" Surge asked
"Yes! I'm looking through the files right now as a matter of fact. The model that's on the files appeared to be an older version than the one you had on but, It's enough to give me a working frame to start." Kit said.
"Nice! Sweet victory here we come!" Surge said.
"Anything you have going on for today?" Kit said.
"Not much. Looks like everyone else is busy with the obvious. Guess I'm going to go train again." Surge said.
"Ok. Don't hurt yourself." Kit said.
"Doubt it." Surge said, before hanging up.
Surge made her way to the training center.
"I'm not trying to play stupid. I really don't know what the issue is." Sonic said to Amy.
"Look, I know we agreed to give Surge a chance. And I know I was the one who started that idea. But, don't you think you're giving her a bit too much trust? You were skeptical when I shared the idea with you." Amy said.
"I was and still am. Just not as much as I was at the beginning. Especially when she choose to save me instead of letting me fall to my death. It seems like you keep forgetting that happened." Sonic said.
Just after Surge left the briefing room, Amy pulled Sonic to one side of the room from everyone else so they could talk in more privacy.
"I didn't forget. This is like the sixth time you told me. Yes, she did save your life but that doesn't magically rule her out as someone who could have an ulterior motive." Amy said.
"Not saying she doesn't. I did say I was still cautious of her but not as much compared to when she arrived on day one." Sonic said.
"Bringing her to be briefed on something extremely confidential that only a few people know, really shows how cautious you are. Great job!" Amy said sarcastically.
"She wanted to help. Which she rarely does. She was even concerned why we weren't going public with the incident to help look for the missing operatives. And why are we having this conversation in private? You weren't the only one that had a problem with it." Sonic said.
"I'm just...Forget it. Just be careful is all I'm asking." Amy said, before walking away and calling the elevator down.
Sonic walked up to Josh, Lanolin, and Whisper.
"Had fun over there, champ?" Josh asked, teasing Sonic.
"We have a real funny guy over here." Sonic said.
"Hey, it's not our fault you didn't check your Scroll." Josh said.
"It wasn't like I did it on purpose! I was tired." Sonic said, in defense.
At this point, Amy had entered the elevator and made her way up to the surface.
"Yet, you were the only one who didn't read the message." Lanolin said.
"Alright, you know what? My bad. I'll try to be more focused after just waking up from a four-hour sleep. I promise it won't happen again," Sonic said sarcastically.
"Hey, relax. We're just messing with ya." Josh said.
"But, Amy was taking it seriously. You guys were upset too but, she's taking it to another level." Sonic said.
"You don't know what she's acting that way?" Whisper asked.
"No." Sonic asked.
"If you girls don't mind. I think it's time for some guy talk. I'll send you the information we were talking about to your Scroll soon." Josh said.
Lanolin and Whisper left through the elevator.
"Ok. Let's use our heads for a second." Josh said.
"Ok?" Sonic said.
"You have a thing for Surge right?" Josh asked.
"Well...-"
"Let's pretend that you do, just for this once." Josh said.
"Ok." Sonic said.
"In this hypothetical scenario, it's obvious that you're giving her a better treatment than anyone else would have gotten in her position. Now, you're not catching that much heat because it's actually working somehow. When Surge actually cooperates and does what she's told, She can be a big help." Josh said.
"What does this have to do with Ames?" Sonic asked.
"It's simple. You know she likes you." Josh said.
"I've already told her that we should stay as friends." Sonic said.
"You know that "Let's stay as friends" thing doesn't work...At least seventy five percent of the time. She still thinks she has a chance with you. And if she still thinks she has a chance with you, she sees Surge as competition." Josh said.
"That...does make sense for how Amy's been acting lately." Sonic said.
"You think? Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up since you weren't aware. Like we said, it's hypothetical. And from the looks of it, Surge still hates your guts, so I doubt anything would happen between you two." Josh said.
"You think so?" Sonic asked.
"I'm not a people's person and I'm certaintly not good with understanding women. But, if someone makes it their soul purpose to kill you, and they had it for a long time...that doesn't go away just like that. Despite of what you think and what you told her, That grudge she had towards you, sounded like she would take it to he grave. Which makes her sudden switch to become one of the good guys all the more suspicious." Josh said.
"Hypothetically, right?" Sonic asked.
"Yes. We're still in the Hypothetical world." Josh said.
"While we're on the topic, Why did you gave her a hint that I may or not like her the other day?" Sonic asked.
"I'll admit, I was a bit abrasive and thought I was helping. Just know, I did it because I was looking out for you. Now that I think about it, that's also where Amy is coming from too. Except she's doing it to keep you all to herself but, you get my point. What I'm trying to say is, be smart. If Amy isn't your gal, make it even more clear than before. If Surge is your gal, make sure she's who she says she is before making your moves. I agree with Amy on the fact that you're trusting her too quickly. She saved your life, sure. But knowing her, she probably want to kill you herself in a more prideful way. She can't boast about killing by just letting you fall to your death." Josh said.
"Huh. Never thought about it like that." Sonic said.
"Amy wasn't saying that, that was the case and Surge is still out to kill you. Amy is saying to keep your eyes open and keep her at a distance while you talk with her. A Simple request." Josh said.
Sonic was left in thought.
"Just trying to look after you is all. And not just you but the entire Resistance. Who knows what else she could be planning besides killing you" Josh said.
"Right." Sonic said.
"So, what are you up to now? Besides the obvious, of course." Josh said.
"Probably eat some breakfast and hit he gym. Wanna tag along?" Sonic said.
"I've already ate breakfast so, I'll skip on that. Contact me on my Scroll when your ready for the gym." Josh said.
Both of them entered the elevator and left the briefing room.
Sonic and Josh met up at Sonic's dorm and walked towards the C.A.T after Sonic had his lunch.
"Anyway, besides the obvious that has been going on. How's life treating you?" Sonic said.
"Not to bad. Can't complain. You?" Josh said.
"Same here. What do you want to work on?" Sonic said.
"I haven't worked on legs in a while...but at the same time...I still don't want to." Josh said.
"You've got to at some point. Don't want your legs to look like toothpicks compared to the rest of your body." Sonic said.
"Yea, you're right. Might have to keep it light since I haven't worked on them in a while." Josh said.
"No sweat." Sonic said.
The two approached the C.A.T and entered it.
"Not that much traffic today huh?" Sonic said.
"It is a work week. Be glad we missed the rush hour after 1900." Josh said.
"Right." Sonic said.
"Speaking of which, I read the reports from the officer that handled the situation Surge was in last week." Josh said.
"Yea?" Sonic said.
"Yea. I couldn't stop laughing from reading the witness statements. The whole thing sounded like out of a high school movie or something." Josh said, while laughing.
"He did have it coming." Sonic said.
"I agree, but he also didn't." Josh said.
Sonic and Josh, entered through the training entrance.
"What do you mean?" Sonic said.
"That guy seemed to be a well known asshole to everyone that goes there. So, he did have it coming. I also read what he said to the officers, and he explained why he was acting that way towards her." Josh said.
"I can already tell where this is going, I already talked to her about it a couple of days ago." Sonic said.
"Oh good...speak of the devil." Josh said, nudging Sonic.
Sonic and Josh saw Surge on the treadmill.
"She looks focused. Don't want to interrupt her. Let's just start our workout." Sonic said.
"Probably for the best." Josh said.
"Not sure if I'm just inexperienced but, for a prototype, this gadget has a complex design." Kit said to himself.
Kit took notes on the formulas and functions of the Dynamo Cage. Kit Yawned as he continued his marathon of taking notes since he arrived at the R building.
"Now I understand how Tails could stay here for hours. Once you're in the rythym, it's difficult to stop." Kit said to himself.
"Speaking of which, I haven't seen him in a while. I wonder what he's up to." Kit said, as he brought up his Scroll and called Tails.
"Morning, Tails. How goes it?" Josh said, entering the workshop.
"It's going as well as it can be. How come you wanted to meet me in the briefing room? And what's that in your hands?" Tails said.
Josh walked to the center table and placed two rifles that were secured in a plastic evidence bag on it.
"Let me fill you in on what's going on." Josh said. Josh proceeded to inform Tails of the situation.
"So, you only managed to find their weapons?" Tails said.
"Yes. We're already planning to conduct more searches when it's daylight in case we missed the bodies in the night. Though something tells me, we still wont find them." Josh said.
"I understand why I need to know this but, Why are you telling me this to me only in private? Shouldn't I just come to the meeting?" Tails said.
"Normally yes. Except, I have a special request for you. That is if you wish to accept it." Josh said.
"Ok?" Tails said, crossing his arms.
"I have a feeling that those rifles are the key to finding out what happened. I don't care how you do it. I don't care how much resources you need. I'm asking you to do your science stuff, and find out who made contact with Charlie's team." Josh said.
"I-"
"Before you say anything, I need to tell you something first." Josh said.
"If you choose to accept. You are not to tell anyone of what you're up to. You are to hide any evidence of you working on this project to the best of your ability. Now, do you accept?" Josh said.
"Of course, but I have a question." Tails said.
"Sure. Go ahead." Josh said.
"What do you think happened to Charlie's team?" Tails asked, looking at the rifles on the table.
"Not much of a clue. Like I explained earlier, there wasn't much to go off of. Why?" Josh said.
"It seemed straightforward to me. They were at a recently destroyed Eggman base, and got attacked. Not leaving the bodies to be found is a little uncommon but not out of the realm of possibility. The only reason you would want me to run tests, and to ask me in private, is if you think an unknown enemy was there that night." Tails said.
Tails waited for a response that Josh didn't deliver. Tails turned around to look at Josh, who was smiling.
"Very perceptive. Yes, I do think someone or something was also there. I wouldn't jump the gun and call it an unknown enemy. It could be an entity we've met already in the past. I don't have the evidence to prove it but I have my suspicions. Josh said.
"Anything you want me to look for in particular?" Tails said.
"Not sure but, this clue may help. The weapons were found with water on them." Josh said.
"Water?" Tails asked.
"Yup. It was odd enough that the other operatives pointed it out. Too much liquid for it to be sweat, It wasn't raining, and no pool of water was nearby." Josh said.
"Huh. I'll keep that in mind." Tails.
"Thanks. How's everything else? We hardly see you, you know." Josh said.
"It's hard to have time off when there's so much requests to be fulfilled. Not to mention improving our tech to increase the survivability of our operatives." Tails said.
"True. But, it wouldn't hurt to have a few days off to yourself. You don't want to burn yourself out. It's harder to work while recovering from a burnout than catching up from your days off." Josh said.
"I might be able too if Kit is willing to take over for me." Tails said.
"Right. He was the one that helped with the binoculars. If you think he could handle it, go ahead and ask him if he's willing to take over for a couple of days. That should be enough to reboot your system." Josh said.
"I'll think about it." Tails said.
"Just trying to help. Catch you later." Josh said, making his way out.
Sonic and Josh were almost done with their four sets of their final workout. It was Josh's turn to use the machine while Sonic stood by.
"I mean, would it work?" Sonic asked. Josh finished his ten reps and locked the leg press.
"How am I supposed to know? I only met you recently when the Resistance started taking shape. And besides, you would have to look for all the chaos emeralds again. Who knows where they are." Josh said, getting off the machine.
"But, we could pretty much win the war in weeks!" Sonic said.
"Yea, but think of the time and resources it would take to find them. We could look for them as we expand, sure. But, I wouldn't put all our eggs in that basket. I rather stick to liberating cities and recruiting talent. Much more reliable." Josh said.
"What are you losers up to?" a voice said.
Sonic and Josh turned to see it was Surge, who was drenched in sweat.
"Staying in shape, just like you." Sonic said.
"Doesn't look like you're pushing yourselves all that much." Surge said.
"Just because we don't look like we got a bucket of water dumped on us doesn't mean we're not working hard." Josh said.
"How far did you run?" Sonic asked.
"Ten miles with a constant pace of seven minutes." Surge said, proudly with her chest.
"Seven minute pace for ten miles! Is that even real?" Josh said.
"You could look at the treadmill screen if you think i'm kidding." Surge said with a slightly serious tone.
"Wasn't saying you were. Just impressive is all." Josh said.
"You've been quiet. Bet you can't do better than that huh?" Surge said, turning to Sonic.
"Try a five-minute pace. Then you can talk to me," Sonic said with a smirk.
"It's like standing amongst gods with you two. Geeze that's insane." Josh said.
"Five minutes? You're joking right." Surge said.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Sonic said.
"I knew I should've asked you first before I said my stats. Probably made that up." Surge said.
"You don't have to believe me. You've already seen me in action a couple of times already. Right?" Sonic said.
"Yeah, but that's different from just racing." Surge said.
"Yea yea, you guys are fast and have impressive stamina we get it. The real question is, how come you're here, Surge?" Josh said.
"What? I can't talk to you guys or something?" Surge said, feeling offended.
"No. Just wondering is all. We saw you when we came in and you looked like you were locked in. And we know how your attitude changes when we stop to say a quick hi." Sonic said.
"Well, I'm talking to you guys now. Don't know what else you two expect from me." Surge said.
"We're not expecting anything! Talking to us is good. Anyway, what are you doing after this? Besides taking a much-needed shower." Josh said.
"Not much. I've been looking through the Scroll and notice there aren't a lot of operations available. I'm assuming it's because..." Surge said.
"Yup. Exactly what you think it is. For you though, we could set something up confidentially like we did with the eggman's base. The only requirement though is that you would only be able to invite other highly skilled members, like we did last time." Josh said.
"I could start my own operation already?" Surge asked.
"Don't see why not. You can't just think of it off the top of your head. It needs to be a proper plan or no one would trust your leadership." Josh said.
"Your plan was vague and had a major change at the last second!" Surge said, pointing at Josh.
"That was because we had limited intel on the base and we needed to act sooner rather than later. And, the change I made wasn't just from my thoughts alone. Sonic and Whisper agreed to the swap of roles." Josh said.
"Everyone except me huh?" Surge said, crossing her arms.
"To be fair. We had every reason to believe that if we told you, you wouldn't come. And, we couldn't afford to wait another day." Josh said.
"You got that right." Surge said.
"Which I still don't understand your disagreement with that. That was probably the best decision we agreed upon. You two obliterated the place! Like as if that wasn't the first time you two worked together." Josh said.
"That's because we're just that good." Surge said.
"You just proved my poi-. You know what? Forget it. Anyway, we have to continue our workout unless your willing to stick around and chill with us. We could leave together." Josh said.
"I think not. I'll let you two continue your "workout"." Surge said, using her fingers for quotations.
Sonic and Josh watched as she walked away.
"Did she already forget that you've beaten her in a fight...like twice?" Josh asked.
Sonic didn't respond.
Josh looked at Sonic, who appeared to be fixated on something.
Josh placed himself near Sonic and tried to look in the direction he was staring at. All Josh could see was Surge walking away to the entrance.
"Dude get it together, we're almost done. It's your turn to do your set." Josh said, elbowing Sonic.
"Right right. Sorry." Sonic said, getting onto the leg press machine.
"Happens to the best of us man. No need to apologize." Josh said.
"Oh yea? Who do you like?" Sonic said.
"That's confidential." Josh said.
"Are you serious? You know who I like." Sonic said.
"Technically, I don't. It's hypothetical, remember?" Josh said, smirking.
"Wow. Got it. Let's just finish this and get out." Sonic said.
"On you, buddy." Josh said.
Surge made it to her dorm room and took a shower. After she finished, she realized Kit wasn't back and gave him a call.
"Hey." Kit said.
"How's it going over there?" Surge said.
"Haven't really stopped since I started earlier this morning. I should be able to start putting the components together next week. Anything new happened today?"
"Other than what I told you about the meeting? No." Surge said.
"Guess that's a good thing. How's your progress with Sonic?" Kit said.
"It's...going. Can't rush a relationship you know?" Surge said.
"I don't. I don't think you know either." Kit said.
"Don't play smart with me. You know what I meant, Mr. let's be patient unless we're retrieving confidential files." Surge said.
"It's not like they're going to fi-"
"DON'T JINX IT. Do not jinx it, please." Surge said, cutting off Kit.
"Sorry." Kit responded.
"Whatever. Because of their search for the bodies, Most of the operations have been canceled. You're not going to go back to the base to look for anything are you?" Surge said.
"Hard to say. I don't think so. Unless I need a component that is not found here. Even if that's the case, it will be a while before I need them." Kit said.
"Good. I'll talk to you later I guess." Surge said.
"Bye." Kit said.
Surge got into bed and was about to fall asleep until she felt she had gotten a notification from someone.
"I should really mute this thing after sunset." Surge said to herself.
She saw the notification indicating that Sonic had messaged her. Surge's heart dropped as she had a very brief adrenaline dump. She checked the message. The message read: "Hey, I was serious about seeing who's better on the treadmill. Maybe we could do it tomorrow? You looked good running, by the way."
Surge blushed and read the last part of the message a few more times. She then called Sesamie.
"What? It's like eleven at night." Sesamie said, sounding slightly agitated.
"Were you sleeping?" Surge said.
"I was about to. What is it?" Sesamie said.
Surge gave Sesamie the rundown on what happened at the gym and then read the text message.
"I'm guessing you want me to help you respond again?" Sesamie said.
"Why else did you think I called you?" Surge said.
"I would just respond to the training part of the message. Ignore the part where he said you looked good." Sesamie said.
"Why?" Surge said.
"Because there's nothing to say. If you respond by saying you looked good too, it doesn't sound like you at all. Just focus on him challenging you to a competition, however you want to respond to it is up to you. Just don't be over the top." Sesamie.
"Got it." Surge said.
"Good. Have a goodnight." Sesamie said, before hanging up.
Surge went to select Sonic to message him. She thought about what she wanted to text him for a moment.
"Yo." Sonic said.
Surge jerked slightly from the sudden voice from her Scroll.
"Uhhhhhhhh. Hey." Surge said.
"What's up? How come you called?" Sonic said.
"I just wanted to talk about the race on the treadmill." Surge said, after managing to form a complete thought.
"Oh, yea. You know I was thinking it would be better if we do it outside. That's if you want to do a full on race rather than measuring pace time and distance." Sonic said.
"No, yea. I was thinking the same thing. Wouldn't want to break the machine when we're going all out, you know?" Surge.
"Right. Haha." Sonic said.
Silence lingered as Surge struggled to think of something to keep the conversation going.
"Is there anything else?" Sonic said.
"Uh. No. That was pretty much it." Surge said.
"Gotcha, have a good-"
"Hey." Surge said, cutting Sonic off.
"Yea?" Sonic said.
"...Nevermind. Goodnight." Surge said, before hanging up.
Surge flipped on her bed to face the ceiling. She grabbed the pillow her head was on, placed it on her face, and screamed.
"How did I accidentally call him?"
"That should do it for now. I should really get some rest." Kit said.
Kit cleaned up his workstation and stashed his flash drive away. He rolled up his paper with designs and began to walk out of the workshop. As he exited the building, he bumped into someone.
"O-Oh! Hey Kit! Didn't expect you to be here so late!" Tails said, nervously.
"Sorry about that. Didn't mean to bump in to you. And, I kind lost track of time while I was in there." Kit said.
"I know exactly how that feels. Anyway goodnight!" Tails said, quickly entering the building.
"What are you holding?" Kit said
"Oh, this? This is just uhhhhh, a prototype! Something I'm experimenting on." Tails said, before entering the depths of the R building.
Kit looked on as Tails rushed in before the building door closed in front of him.
"That looked a lot like the weapons used by the sweep team I met last night. Why was it in a sealed plastic bag?" Kit pondered.
Kit yawned as his exhaustion reminded him he needed to head home. Kit soon arrived at his dorm and opened the door to find Surge with her pillow still on her face.
"What are you doing?" Kit asked.
"Don't want to talk about it." Surge said, through the pillow.