FicWad

PROJECT MOBITROPOLIS
S Peter Davis

All characters (C) SEGA, Archie and SP Davis 2004.
Used without permission
To contact the author; trojan_masters@hotmail.com

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EMERALD HILL

A bare, gray-walled room without so much as a window to let in the breeze, and she was inside for a number of hours before anything happened. It would drive a person crazy to stay in here for any length of time, she figured. It was an asylum, but not one that helped the insane, one that created them.
Finally the one door opened. There was a squeaking sound, as if the hinges needed greasing, and the sound was almost deafening to her. It was a familiar shape that filled the doorway and blocked the light from behind. Something bright was outside, silhouetting the figure, but she knew who it was from that shape. The door closed, and once again the only light was from a very dim fluorescent tube.
"Bunnie Rabbit," said Robotnik, and he pulled up a chair as he scoffed and dropped a notebook on the metal table in front of him. "What an imaginative name. Your parents must have needed help thinking that one up."
She hadn't planned on even saying a word, but that one took her by surprise. Narrowing her eyes in shock and interest, she asked, "How did you know...?"
Robotnik reclined in mock surprise. "Oh, that impressed you?" he asked, "But, but, I haven't even started on the interesting part yet! You grew up on the continent of Southasia, your parents divorced and you moved here on your own when you were sixteen. You work as a tour operator through the Palace, that's presumably how you managed to sneak into parliament. Your first boyfriend's name was Tex Travis, a dingo, but you lost contact when you moved, although you still have feelings of regret about leaving him and sometimes think about going back. Your hobbies include collecting glass bottles, pencil sketching, and high treason. You have one filling, your tonsils have been removed, you are allergic to three specific kinds of pollen, should I list them for you? You don't drink except that you are partial to red wine, your favourite eyeliner is Blue-64, but they only make that in one brand. You take your coffee with two lumps and no milk."
Bunnie closed her eyes and rested her head in her hand.
"I know what you're wondering," Robotnik continued, "You're wondering how much I know about your friends, if I know so much about you. The answer is that I know everything about them. Everything, except their names."
Robotnik's eyes were invisible beneath their thick layer of glass, as the light shined from them and made them into headlights, shining into the very heart of her. Bunnie shifted uncomfortably as the professor continued.
"What I have created is the future," he said, "It is the unstoppable power of progress. Before I came along, you people had no idea what power you could possess. In ten years, just ten short years, I have fully industrialised your stone age society, and still you fight me, doubting my ability. My database has every facet of your life logged and categorised, every mobian in this entire kingdom is the same. There are massive amounts of data at my very fingertips. I know your tastes from the things you purchase. I know your health every time you see a doctor. I know about the life you left behind from a quick scan of the outgoing mail from the city. I know you from your fingerprints, as well. If you've ever touched a metallic object in your life, that's all I need to be able to author a full biography of you, and my book would be more accurate than if you had written it yourself. That is my power, Bunnie, that is what you are trying to fight against with your cheap radios and primitive gadgetry."
She said nothing. She only listened, with a lump in her throat that seemed to be growing, threatening to cut off her ability to breathe.
"I know about your group," Robotnik said, "I know what you're doing, I even know what you call yourselves. 'Freedom Fighters', right? Freedom from tyranny, freedom from greed, aid for the helpless and people in need. That's your motto, isn't it? I know you have at least one mole in the Palace. It will only be a matter of time before I know where you base yourselves and the names of your members. Of course, I would like to know sooner. That's where you might be able to help me, as a matter of fact."
"You might want to boil some coffee then," Bunnie replied, "Because you're in for a long wait."
Robotnik smiled. "Oh what, you thought I was going to interrogate you? Torture you? What do you think I am, a barbarian? I merely brought you here so we could have a little fun. I do, after all, have a few experiments I've been dying to try out on a live mobian subject. If a few secrets should be spilled through the course of our adventure together, then so be it. Two birds and one stone, I suppose."
The professor reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He placed it on the table in clear view. It was small and lightweight, like a cheap toy. Bunnie was unsure what it was, at first, but it looked a bit like a silicon computer chip, standing on six small prongs. Bunnie didn't want to appear interested, as that was probably exactly what Robotnik wanted, but she couldn't help herself. It was such an odd little thing. After a moment the answer dawned on her. It was a beetle, a cockroach or something similar. But it had been petrified somehow, and it no longer held its original shape, not exactly. It had been covered in metal, not dipped, but clad, as if it was wearing a very small suit of chain mail, except it was fused with its body, perhaps it even replaced it. Either somebody had made a tiny robot to look like a beetle, or...
"Come on," Robotnik said, "Let's have some fun."

Princess Sally Acorn hugged all of the Freedom Fighters as very close friends do, but it was Kethriel who she embraced with a certain passion, a dear companion who has been away too long. Sonic found himself wondering if it was a lovers' embrace. Soon enough she approached him and, less affectionately but no less friendly, shook his hand and flashed that intoxicating smile. "I had a feeling," she said, "That we would meet again soon enough. You didn't really look lost this morning."
"No, I was," Sonic replied, "I think I've been lost all my life."
That night, the Freedom Fighters and their unusual leader sat down to discuss matters. It was straight to business with little room for casual discussion, and everybody was anxious to hear what Slick had to say. A very worried expression was written on his face, and it hadn't gone away for hardly a moment since they had left the Iron Ward. The weasil stood before them now, alongside Kethriel, who spoke first.
"Okay, first things first, I guess. Sal, you probably haven't heard yet, but I'm afraid Bunnie didn't return from the Palace today. We lost radio contact with her sometime before eleven, she was our visual contact in the parliament conference."
"Oh my..." Sally was lost for words for a moment, "I haven't heard anything about a prisoner or a spy, my brother must be holding her personally. I don't know where... I don't know where she would be. I'll keep one ear to the ground."
"Hopefully we can have her out as soon as possible, I doubt she would be harmed too much yet, not with all of this vital information about us in her head. I've always told you all that capture is worse news than death, but I trust Bunnie with secrets much more than anybody, even myself. She has an iron will. And if there's one favourable outcome, and God forbid we think of her capture as a good thing, but in times like these we need to take things as they come... there's a chance that the prince doesn't know that we know anything. It's obvious that he was expecting a mission today, but he didn't find one. All he found was our spy, and if we're lucky, he will be content with that. Thanks to some quick thinking by our team today, the information retrieval wasn't witnessed by a single person or SWAT in the whole palace. That is, nobody except you, Sal."
"That's right," Sally grinned, "You guys are in big trouble now. I'm telling on you."
There was uneasy laughter among the congregation.
"I'll let Slick talk to you about what he found today," Kethriel continued, "This is the real thing, it's what we've been trying to get our hands on ever since we formed this group. It's close to the end now, guys, one way or another." He handed the meeting over to Slick, who cleared his throat nervously.
"Well, to put it one way, I found out a lot, but I didn't really find out anything. Robotnik is clever with his files, even on his private network the whole plan is written out in a language that only he and the prince and whoever else can understand. It's almost set out like a fairy story." He cleared his throat again. "Basically I found out about something he's calling the 'Mother Hen Project'. The Mother Hen, I'm quite sure, is a reference to the ARK colony. Throughout these files, there was a lot of talk about an 'egg'."
"The only egg I know about is Robotnik," Rockfall said, and he chuckled at his own joke.
Slick continued, "You know how we figured Robotnik was installing some kind of weapon onto the ARK? Well, as it turns out, I think that's not too far from the truth. Something that really startled me was when I found some documents that stated that construction on the ARK was actually completed about six years ago."
"Wait, that doesn't make any sense," Rotor chimed in, "Mobitropolis has been sending materials up there at a steady rate for the past decade. Where have they been going, if there's nothing left to build?"
"Oh but there is," Slick replied, "You see, this is the reason that Robotnik put such emphasis on having robots build the ARK. His excuse was cutting costs, but there's also the convenient fact that he can tell robots to build literally anything, and nobody has to know what's going on up there. All anybody knows is that there are materials being sent into space and they're being converted into something. Robotnik vastly, vastly overquoted the actual size of the finished ARK colony. So he's been allocated materials to build something that's at least three times bigger than what was actually built. That means that whatever's left over afterwards is his for free, and nobody's asking questions because the only people in the position to ask questions have been replaced by subserviant tin cans. I found a schematic diagram of the ARK, and Robotnik has cut corners everywhere. It's just a big hollow expensive bucket floating around out there. As far as shape is concerned, it's much more similar to an orbital docking platform of some kind than a space colony."
"So what's he actually been building?" Rotor asked.
Slick just shook his head. "I couldn't find out. That knowledge is too well protected. What I do know is that it's been at least six years in the making, and now it's pretty much complete. Apparently the clock is ticking down. By the end of the week, evidently, the Mother Hen is going to lay an Egg, and by then we can probably pack up and move north because I doubt we can stop this thing once it's geared up."
"So it's just as I feared," Sally said, "We really don't know anything useful, anything that can help us stop this."
"Hey, I didn't say that," Slick said, "I haven't even gotten to the interesting part yet. There seems to be one flaw in the plan, one thorn that's been in Robotnik's side since the very beginning of this so-called Mother Hen project. It turns out that this weapon, whatever it is, is so huge and sucks up so much juice, that he's been having a heck of a time figuring out how to power it. It seems conventional fuels just aren't enough. You'll never guess the solution he came up with. Have you ever heard of the Chaos Emeralds?"
"Sure," Sally replied, "It's a kids' story. The ancient echidnas had to ward off an enormous monster, so they forged these seven magic jewels and used them to destroy it."
"That's the story," Slick said, "Except it's apparently more than just a story, being that Prince Martin has dug up at least five of them."
There was a pregnant silence in the room for a few moments. Sonic's eyes darted confusedly from one Freedom Fighter to another. It was Rockfall who responded first, and he did so with a loud, barking laugh.
"The Chaos bleedin' Emeralds!" he said, "Now you're just falling for cheap trickery. There's no such thing as magic emeralds, that I know for sure."
"They're not necessarily magical," Slick explained, "Just powerful. Very powerful. I don't know the science behind it. But all of those mines that the prince opened up to gather minerals for the space colony? It seems they've been mining in some very specific locations. It seems like they're looking for more than just minerals."
"So many cover operations," Rotor commented, "Layers and layers of intregue. Good grief, no wonder nobody has figured this out yet. Martin has a cover for everything, this whole thing is sealed up tighter than a drum of plutonium."
"The Chaos Emeralds," said Sally, "How can we use this to our advantage?"
Slick scratched his head. "Well, I figure our best shot, or really our only shot, is to collect these seven emeralds ourselves and hold them, somewhere safe. One thing I did manage to find out is the exact locations of the five that have already been dug up. These are unthinkably valuable relics, so they're not all in one place. Robotnik has five secure industrial facilities across the continent that he's using to store one emerald apiece. We might just be able to raid them and retrieve the stones ourselves... as long as we realise, this kind of operation would make today's run look like breaking into an empty house with no doors. I don't even know what kind of protection the prince has on these things."
All eyes turned to Sally, a gesture of respect for her authority over the group. A few of the Freedom Fighters looked as if they wanted to bow down. Rebel fighter or not, she was still a princess, and she was in the presence of patriots of the highest order.
"I guess we should go for it," she said, "We're running out of options. If this is going ahead by the end of the week... well, it's Sunday now. We may have, at most, seven days to organise all of this and make it happen. I know you're all tired, but every minute counts from now on. I say we boil some coffee and get to work on this right away."
The others mumbled in agreement, and suddenly nobody was seated anymore, apart from Sonic. Everybody was moving furniture around and getting to work. Sally approached the blue hedgehog and kneeled before him. "Hey," she said, "That was some great work you pulled off for us today. I'm very happy to have you aboard, we can use your talent."
"Uh," Sonic shifted a little uncomfortably, "Thanks. I mean, no problem."
Sally nodded. "You must be tired now, though. We're just going to be working on this problem tonight, it might take all night until morning, you wouldn't find it very interesting, I don't think. I mean, some really top secret stuff, just us management types, you understand."
"Oh, sure!" Sonic replied, "I understand, no prob. I'll, uh, get out of your way."
"The villagers are celebrating a job well done, I believe. You should feel free to kick back, make yourself at home, you deserve it."
"Thanks," Sonic replied, "I think I will."

There was a large open campfire in the village of Knothole that night, and people were dancing to music and chatting casually, not a roaring party so much as a social gathering. Sonic could see drinks on tap, soft drinks and alcohol, and he could even smell the unmistakable odour of an illicit substance called malcohol, or 'mega mack', which smelled and tasted like whisky but with a much more coppery and sharp undertaste that assaulted the tip of the tongue and the olfactory senses like hot metal. Unlike alcohol, malcohol was a stimulant and not a sedative, so it would make a person drunk but not sleepy or slurred, and it had no dehydrating effect so there was no hangover either. Mega mack was illegal in Mobitropolis, as it dulled the reflexes while making people hyperactive as well (thus leading to some very violent pub brawls), but it was freely accessable in some other cities beyond the borders of the kingdom, such as Station Square's popular Casinopolis district. This was probably from where the villagers had smuggled their supply. Rat had been a big fan of the stuff, Sonic had tried it but it had too much of a bite for his tastes.
Amy Rosethorne was sitting nearby with a drink in hand, not acting particularly sociable, and approached Sonic when she saw him.
"Hi-ho," she said, "I was wondering where you might be hiding. I heard that you had a good day. Been talking to my brother?"
"Yeah," he replied, "Well, they're all busy now. They're talking with the prin- uh, the leader." He wasn't sure if Amy knew who the leader was. She just smiled and chuckled. "It's okay, I know the big secret," she said, "That is to say that I'm not really supposed to, but it's a foolish mobian who ever suggests that Amy Rose can't figure out a mystery."
"Well I'm not really surprised," Sonic said, "You and Kethriel, you seem pretty close."
Amy seemed uneasy. She took a drink and looked a little absent. "We're not really," she replied, "I mean, Keth and I... we're different people. He's more optimistic than I am. We don't get along as well as you might think."
"You don't think the Freedom Fighters will be able to stop the prince?" Sonic asked. A few nearby people looked at him with concerned surprise, and Amy led him to a slightly more secluded area. "No, no, it's not like that," she insisted, "It's just that Keth sees so much that I just don't. He believes everybody has a special place in the world, like we all have this shining light inside us that we have to follow, and every mobian is sacred."
"But you don't see that."
Amy sighed and pointed to the sky. The stars were clearly visible from the break in the forest canopy. The constellations glittered as though they were celebrating also.
"It's a big universe out there," she said, "Look at all those stars. There are more stars up there, than there are grains of sand on all of the beaches on Mobius. We're not even a speck. I have trouble seeing any importance at all. I mean, look at Prince Martin. What's his special place in the world? What's his destiny? To kill everybody? Look at that awful Science Minister. No shining light inside him, just greed and ugliness."
Sonic nodded, and cracked an obscure grin. "Plenty of bacon, though."
"Huh?"
"Robotnik, I mean... plenty of bacon inside him. And eggs."
Amy cocked her head to the side, slightly. Sonic, his face silhouetted in the darkness, was smiling. "Well now," she said, "Was that a joke, mister hedgehog?"
"Maybe," he replied.
"Fancy that. Looks like there's quite a wise guy under that shy, modest facade."
Sonic's smile faded, and the two hedgehogs sat wordlessly under the watchful quarter-moon.

It was nearing midnight and Sonic was lying awake in his comfortable new bed. The party had dispersed outside, but there was still activity amidst the dim, orange flickering light. A shadow approached the hut, and the cloth that served as a door parted to reveal a familiar shape at the doorway. Kethriel's spines ruffled against the wall as he peered inside to see if Sonic was asleep.
"I'm awake," the blue hedgehog said.
"Hey," Kethriel replied, "Trouble sleeping? Is your bed okay?"
"That's just the problem. It's soft, warm and flat. There's no apple cores or broken glass, no used tissues and leftover stew and chicken bones. No garbage at all. I've never been less comfortable in my life."
The other hedgehog laughed. "Not that you remember, anyway, right?"
"That's right." Sonic smiled.
Kethriel entered the hut and sat beside Sonic's bed. Somebody outside laughed loudly at some unheard joke, and the fire crackled like a distant gunshot.
"There's big things going on," Kethriel said, "Big things."
"Yeah, no kidding."
"Bet I shocked you when you met our leader," Kethriel had a smug half-grin.
"Not really," Sonic replied, also smug, "You overdid it. She was the only person who could possibly have lived up to your hype, short of the king himself."
They shared a quiet laugh, which faded to a few moments of comfortable silence. Kethriel shifted position and sighed. "She's a great person to have on our side. The best we could hope for. I'm a mentor for many of the people here, but she was mine."
Sonic began to ask a question before he had truly thought about asking it, and became embarrassed for it. "Are you and her... I mean, the two of you... you know... together?"
Kethriel seemed to run the question through his mind for a moment, then smiled. "Is it that obvious?"
Sonic shook his head. "Not obvious, I'm not sure why it occurred to me."
The other hedgehog nodded. "It's true, she's more than just a mentor. I look at her and I see as much beauty and wonder as I can see in all of nature. To tell you the truth, I think I loved her before I even knew her, but I've known her for quite a while. I was her personal assistant in the palace. Her closest friend, she says. We used to talk as if there wasn't a barrier of social heirachy between us. That was how we began this group, I was the first person she told about her brother's plans. But our friendship... it doesn't change the facts, you know. To answer your question, no, I never told her how I feel. A princess is a princess is a princess, and a princess can't go around romancing some hedgehog. I know that, and I deal with it."
"Nothing wrong with hedgehogs," Sonic quietly protested.
"Darn right, bucko," Kethriel replied.
"I think she likes you."
"You think so, huh?"
Sonic nodded his head. Kethriel just smiled and looked at the ceiling. The fire crackled again.
"That's what we're fighting for, though, Sonic. It sounds cheesy but it's true. Love, freedom, beauty... love... they can try to take that away from us, to beat us into submission, but I like to believe there's no force greater than a group of people dedicated to the good fight. Good people with a good attitude. I don't know the King personally, but Sal speaks about him with all the love of... well, she speaks about him just the same as I speak about her. He's been one of our greatest leaders, and God willing he'll be our leader for many years yet. When his time finally comes, then Sally will be Queen, and I have a feeling she'll do just fine. That's the future I envision for the next generation."
"You're really passionate about this stuff, huh." Sonic commented.
Kethriel nodded. "Actually, Sonic... I admit I've been preaching a bit to you. I mean, I have a motive for coming here tonight. I was hoping that after what you've seen and heard recently, you might be willing to help us even more than you already have. Actually much more."
Sonic sat up on one elbow and furrowed his brow. "Well, yeah," he replied, "You guys put a roof over my head and helped me remember who I am. And after what you've told me... I have friends in Mobitropolis. Friends on the street. I don't want them to get hurt in the way you think they will."
"Of course not." Kethriel smiled warmly. "We're all getting rather desperate. Nobody wants to lose what we've fought for all of this time. That's got a lot to do with what I'm going to ask you to do for us."
The blue hedgehog began to look concerned. He saw the desperation in Kethriel's eyes, and began to worry that he was about to be asked something bigger than he had anticipated.
"This doesn't come from the Freedom Fighters," Kethriel went on, "This comes straight from Sally and I, we haven't discussed this with anybody else, and it's the first time I've ever gone behind the council's back on anything. They didn't like me sending you with them on that recon mission, and I'm sure that they would think this out of the question. But I truly do feel in my heart of hearts that you came to us for this very reason. The fact is, Sonic, that it really is beyond our power to organize a strike force to retrieve these emeralds in a week, not without being caught. The Freedom Fighters think that this information, about these stones, is a heaven-sent ticket to victory, but we must be realistic, and the reality is that we would have to be tactical geniuses to pull off a stunt like this. That is, unless there is another way."
"Another way," Sonic repeated.
Kethriel nodded and leaned closer to him. "One mobian, a single individual, if he exercised enough stealth and speed, might be able to make it to all of the emerald facilities in a week. We need a thief in the night. Not an army to take the emeralds by force, but a burglar to slip them away."
"I have a feeling I know which mobian you have in mind," Sonic replied, his face blank and heavy with realisation.
"I want you to know," Kethriel said, "That there is no pressure here. I do not push people around, give orders, hold myself above you."
"No pressure," Sonic replied, "Just the fate of a million lives."
"Just the fate of a million lives," Kethriel confirmed, and smiled. It seemed as though that was the most difficult smile he'd ever attempted, but that was who he was. A meaty silence hung over the room, even the sounds outside had subsided, and Sonic lay back down on his soft bed.
"Can I sleep on it?" he asked.
"Sure. It's not an easy decision, I'll give you that. But you would have to slip out of here early, on the sly. I still don't know what I'm going to tell Slick, Rotor and Rockfall about this, but if they knew what I asked of you, they'd probably ship me off to the loony bin. Maybe they would be right to."
Kethriel stood and moved towards the moonlight. "Either way, we may have already lost this fight if not for you. I'm very glad to have met you, Sonic. Very glad."

"Sonic."
He heard his name called, and yet he could not turn around. It was the world of his dreams again, and in a strange lucid way he knew it, but could not take control. His body was numb, the feeling absent from his erect and spine-like fingers, as if all the blood had drained from his body and had been replaced with concrete. His name was Sonic, but what kind of a name was that? It wasn't a name, it was a nickname, short for something meaningful, something specific and-
Sitting, now. Sitting but uncomfortable. Something was attached to his head, cables brushing his shoulders, he couldn't move, he wanted-
Now he was running. Running like the wind. There was such pain, such unbelievable intense pain driving him forward, he had to escape the pain so he ran until his lungs felt as if they were going to burst out of his chest.
He ran, and yet he didn't move, not one inch. Snakes coiled around his throat.

Knuckles was out of place, seated in the finest resteraunt in all of Mobitropolis, a yuppie paradise known as Le Chanet de Mobius. A single candle burned down to a stump before him on a clean white tablecloth. He shifted uncomfortably and watched the activity around him. Business people and high-rollers sipped puddles of wine from huge glasses and ate tiny meals with at least seven different kinds of fork. Nothing looked particularly appetising. With a growing embarrassment he seriously considered leaving.
At this moment a well clad vulture approached his table from behind, and moved into sight, grinning like a teenager might before meeting his favourite celebrity.
"Knuckles?" he asked, "Don't tell me you're some other echidna, because as far as anybody can tell you're the only one." Knuckles could not place the stranger's accent, it was clear but exotic.
"You're the guy who wanted to meet me here?" he asked, "I was about to leave."
"Yeah sorry about that. Still, it's fashionable to be late, what? My name is Carrion. Rhes el Carrion, very excited to meet you indeed. Having a good time, are you?"
"Not really, no," Knuckles replied, "And I hope you realise, I don't have any money."
"Really?" Carrion asked, "That's interesting. Because I do, I have lots. So don't worry about this, it's all on the house. My shout and all that." He lit a cigarette with the candle flame and then chuffed away at it, to the obvious discomfort of the other patrons.
"So who are you, exactly?" Knuckles asked.
Rhes el Carrion smiled and leaned back on his chair. "I'm part archeologist," he replied, "Linguist, too. Also an analysist of really old junk. They travelled halfway across the world to give me this job, apparently I really am that good, which is quite flattering and not something I'm ready to deny, either."
"The Chaos Emeralds," Knuckles commented.
"That's what I'm here for," Carrion replied, "Those rocks certainly are important to somebody. Quite important to you, as well, or so I hear. I've been head of this project since it began, half a decade ago, and now they're telling me I have to wrap it up. Found five emeralds in as many years, I did, and now they're saying I've gotta step it up, find two more in less than a week. That's where you come in, my friend. We can do it, but we've gotta know exactly where to dig, get it right the first time, and that's what we need you for. All these robots will do the rest. Hey garcon!"
A waiter, passing by, turned and approached their table with a tray of drinks, three glasses of sparkling chardonnay. He leaned down slightly to hear what the vulture had to say. Instead of saying anything, however, Carrion merely dropped his lit cigarette into one of the glasses. It hissed and darkened in the bubbling liquid. "How's about an ashtray over here?" he asked.
"Uno momento," the waiter replied glumly, and shuffled away.
"These freaks eat out of my hand," Carrion commented, "Because I tip better than anyone this side of the Mobian equator."
Knuckles looked around uncomfortably. This wasn't his scene, and his host was embarrassing him. "Why did you want to see me?" he asked.
"Hey, I figured we should get to know each other a little if we're going to be working together on this," Carrion replied, "I have to admit an alterior motive, though. I'm just so fascinated to meet the last full-blood echidna on Mobius. The fact that you're on the team is so hush-hush, because if the science community knew what you were they'd have a field day. You're a historian's dream, Knuckles, a real live aboriginal. I've spent half my life researching your people's legends and religions, and now that I've met you I'd sell my soul to you for a story."
"A story?" Knuckles asked.
"Yeah. These artifacts, these Chaos Emeralds. I'd love to hear the legend from your own lips."
Knuckles sighed. The sooner he gave this arrogant bird what he asked for, the sooner he could leave.
"What you have to understand," he began, "Is that my ancestors attributed everything that happened in the world to the will of two warring entities. The god of life, Za'ren-Ki-La-Do, and the god of destruction, Ren-Xnao. 'Ren-Xnao' translates literally into 'Chaos'. You see, my ancestors knew a bit about thermodynamics, they knew that an ordered system always erodes into chaos if it's unkept. Za'ren-Ki-La-Do was the manifestation of order itself, responsible for the machinations of life, fate and the solid laws of the universe. What goes up will always come down as long as Za'ren-Ki-La-Do willed it so. But ordered things were always tempted away from order by Ren-Xnao, and so there was a struggle in every system and inside every echidna to resist the forces of chaos. Ren-Xnao became a dark being, a tempter, like the Devil. Za'ren-Ki-La-Do was often represented as a rock or a crystal with an all-seeing eye, solid and unchanging, while Ren-Xnao was represented by water, always moving and never keeping a shape. Sometimes he's a dragon, spewing water instead of fire.
"As legend has it, Ren-Xnao became so disgusted with life and order that he came down from the heavens one time in a mighty rage, determined to wipe all life off Mobius. In response, the god of life commanded that my ancestors stop his rampage, and he sent down seven small chunks of his own body, seven stones made of pure order, to help them fight. My ancestors used the stones to completely absorb Ren-Xnao and contain his wrath, but consequently, the monster's chaos saturated the order of the stones like water into a sponge and they, themselves, became chaotic. It was feared that they were dangerous, and so they were buried away from echidna society and, more importantly, away from each other."
"Fascinating," Carrion replied, "And do you believe all of this? About gods and monsters fighting wars on Mobius?"
"I believe lots of things," Knuckles replied confidently, "If you're asking whether I believe there's more to the world than what we can see and touch, then the answer is yes, I do. That cities and kingdoms, robots and technology are not necessarily the elements of progress, I believe that too. I believe whatever is necessary for me to believe, in order to do my job as best I can."
"Naturally," the vulture said, "But isn't it dangerous, what you're doing now? I mean, if your people buried the Chaos Emeralds to keep them hidden, aren't you tempting fate by digging them up again?"
Knuckles sighed and looked around the resteraunt. "My people have entrusted me with certain responsibilities," he said, "I have to make decisions that I believe my ancestors would have made, so that everything is the way it should be when they return. I've been waiting all my life to hear word about the emeralds. My people hid them for a time, but they're not safe in the modern world. It's only a matter of time before somebody digs them up. I just want to be there when it happens. The Chaos Emeralds won't end up in anyone's hands but mine."

The hills looked like emeralds themselves in the early morning light. The sunlight rolled over the barely obscured half-disc horizon to the east and flooded over hills with such a green that it almost hurt Sonic's eyes, but he couldn't look away because it was a more beautiful sight than anything else that he could remember seeing. Looking over this emerald hill, Sonic couldn't help wondering what else in this wide world was as beautiful.
It wasn't the first time Sonic had a sweet tooth for adventure, but it was the first time he'd had an oppertunity to do anything about it. When he awoke, a backpack had been left just outside his hut, and inside it he found supplies enough for a week or so, or two with careful rationing, as well as a tied burgundy silk bag of unknown contents, a map, some assorted travelling necessities and a note from Kethriel. He had read it before looking through the pack.

-

Sonic,

Whatever your choice is on the matter we discussed last night, we will not see each other again for a while. If your answer is no, leave the pack where it is and you are free to go - after all you've done for us already, I can't ask you to have anything more to do with us if you don't want to. I will see that you have made your choice and I will thoroughly understand. We will find another way.
If you agree, however, there is much you need to know. We know which five facilities contain the emeralds, and two are not far from here. The closest is in the city of Station Square to the north, somewhere inside the Acornex chemical plant, one of Prince Martin's investments. We're not sure where in particular. The next is to the east of that, in a facility outside an ancient ruin. It's usually off limits to the public, you may have some trouble getting in. Beyond that, there is another industrial complex of some kind in the mountains even further east (don't worry, I've given you a map), another in an off-shore oil rig, and another in a robotics facility far to the north. I'm sorry that we cannot provide you any more information, I've told everything we know ourselves. All I can say is, if you take this pack, you have my greatest gratitude and that of the entire Freedom Fighter movement. I won't even wish you good luck, because I wouldn't have asked this of you if I thought you needed it. Our hopes and prayers are with you.

P.S. Inside the pack you will find a silk bag. My request is that you do not open it, even to peek inside, until the time comes to do so. You will know when the time is right. Whatever you do, try not to lose it before you need it.

Kethriel

-

Sonic had considered leaving the pack and heading back to Mobitropolis, back to whatever friends and lifestyle he still had, but something called to him. A lust to see more of the world. The emerald hills had clinched it. Perhaps, he thought, Kethriel had been right about the nature of fate. His speed, the nagging desire for adventure, even his life of theft, may all exist for this reason. Most of all, Sonic wished to learn something of himself. He had been without an identity, without a place, for far too long.

Early in the morning, before anybody else was awake, one blue hedgehog wore a backpack over his sharp spines and set out over the emerald hill.