Hop To It - Advance 11

[???????]

It took four years, but she was ready.

She set her most recent paycheck aside and turned to her savings book, the little notepad where she diligently kept track of her finances, and added everything up.

It wasn’t easy, being a working single mother, but she managed just fine. Her daughter was an absolute gem who hardly ever gave her trouble, her boss was accommodating, and her apartment was cheap. For four long years, she’d been squirreling away every last penny she could, saving towards a single goal, and now she finally had enough.

Working as a waitress at a Chao Garden café was nice, a wonderful opportunity, and the customers tipped well, but what she really wanted, ever since she was a little girl, was to run a Garden all her own, and now? Vanilla was finally ready. She had the work experience. She had the money to get her accreditation. Now, all she needed was to find a place to put down her roots.

She looked towards the door slightly before it opened, and her darling and wonderful daughter came in with the catalogues she asked for.

“Thank you, Cream,” she said warmly.

“Are we really going to move?” her little girl asked in that wide-eyed wonder of hers.

“If we’re lucky.” Vanilla took the thin volumes from her and glanced over them. “We don’t need the Central City one, the city doesn’t need two.” Plus her current boss might not appreciate the competition. Vanilla wasn’t doing this for the money--she just loved Chao so much--but they’d need to make some for this to work. “I don’t think Chao would like Empire City too much; they don’t have the green space policies Central has…”

She sifted through the different locations, while Cream hopped onto the other chair in the kitchenette, holding today’s newspaper. The little rabbit didn’t care much for the news, she was just interested in the comics, but she still stopped when a word she recognized jumped out at her. “Mama, there’s Chao Garden in the paper!”

Vanilla looked up from a tempting offer of a spot of land in Spagonia--it would be such a long way to go, but the country had generous laws surrounding animal shelters, which Chao Gardens technically fell under. “Is there?”

Cream hopped up to show her and tripped on her ears, accidentally shoving the article in question into Vanilla’s face. Gently taking the paper, Vanilla scanned until she found the words and started from the beginning.

“‘Disappointment as Station Square’s famous Chao Garden on the top floor of Hotel Sodor is shutting its doors to the public.’ Oh my. ‘The Garden previously operated at the expense of the hotel’s owner…’” Vanilla trailed off, reading through quickly to the important parts. “‘...but now that the hotel has been sold to a new owner, the top floor is being converted to a penthouse suite. The Chaos who could not be adopted are being released into the wild’, what? They can’t do that!”

“They can’t do that!” Cream echoed. “They aren’t wild Chao!”

“No they are not.” Vanilla took a moment to breathe. She was not going to lose her temper in front of Cream. 

Chao did not have many natural predators, if any, but those raised in captivity wouldn’t have any idea how to find their own food, or find shelter, or any of the things needed to survive on their own. Chao weren’t like animals, they didn’t have the instinct; they couldn’t figure it out on their own!

And if there was a Chao Garden shutting down, then maybe there was a chance for an opening. Station Square would be a wonderful place to set up, with all those tourists going in and out all the time…

Vanilla quickly read through the article in case there was anything else important, then neatly folded the paper and stood up. “Is Cheese awake, dear?”

Cream shook her head. “He’s still napping.”

“Wake him up, please. We’re going to take a trip.”

Cream beamed. “Are we rescuing the Chao, Mama?”

Vanilla smiled right back. “We certainly are.”

------------------------------------

[Heyu]

Chaos Energy is the most fascinating source of power I’ve yet come across. It follows certain rules, but these rules are inscrutable and difficult to ascertain. I have developed a means to turn chaos energy into electricity, but attempting to reverse the process has proven nearly impossible. In one direction it is only a 1-3% loss, while in the other the energy lost to waste heat is enough to melt the copper wiring in the conversion device. Why? How? Surely there must be some other method that I haven’t discovered that would allow a more balanced transformation… alas, my other projects are more pressing, so I have few opportunities to sate my curiosity.

I flipped to the next page. Professor Gerald’s thoughts on chaos were a fascinating read, though since he was writing this mostly for himself there were notable gaps in the document where, I assume, he would have understood what he meant, but I was in the dark. I skipped ahead a bit to a more relevant snippet.

The literature on chaos energy is scarce enough that I’m certain my own musings have tripled it, but I’ve been able to confirm that Mobians are fountains of the stuff, to a varying extent. Most of the animal folk don’t get much out of the arrangement, likely due to their bodies only having a limited ability to store it. Much like hair, which reaches a certain length and then stops growing until it is cut, their bodies produce chaos only up to a certain point.

Shadow was designed to have an enormous reservoir for chaos energy, and this was definitively a success, though the general lack of prior knowledge on the subject has resulted in a design flaw: his body lacks the ‘cease production’ threshold. The overflow of energy has a caustic effect on him and his surroundings, so I’ve procured a set of limiter rings through my sources. The artifacts do the job of slowing his regeneration to manageable levels, though he is still in discomfort. Maria, to my pride, seems to have developed a more intuitive understanding of chaos that I lack and thinks she can improve on the limiter rings. I’ve seen her preliminary designs, and they look promising.

In the meantime, we are managing with a daily routine of taking Shadow to the testing range and letting him vent the energy on disposable targets. As a happy accident, emptying his reservoir on a daily basis seems to be improving his ability to detect the energy. Time will tell how that influences his development.

I set the folder aside, thinking. I wondered, not for the first time, if I should turn these into a university or something. Then I turned to my own notebook and started organizing my thoughts.

Limiter rings. That thing that silver hedgehog kid was asking about. They inhibit a Mobian’s ability to generate chaos energy(?) and possibly more. He seemed to think I’d be able to make them. Gerald had to acquire them and called them ‘artifacts.’ A naturally occurring type of ring, or purely a created thing? Gerald knew enough about them fifty years ago to be able to identify them as a solution to a problem. Are they well known among Mobians? Will need to ask someone older, maybe from the Islands.

Was Shadow designed as a hedgehog because of the chaos thing? I thought he was supposed to be a panacea? I think I already knew something about this but it’s crazy. I guess Shadow could have been multipurpose but I’m not seeing much synergy between cure-all and magic superweapon. Shadow himself would be an invaluable source of info on this if only he--nevermind.

I sat back, tapping the pencil against my desk. What useful conclusions can I draw?

Let’s see, let’s see. Shadow’s senses got better after being drained, huh? I imagine he was able to move his energy around easily since it was boiling out of him constantly, but I don’t have that luxury. I can’t even feel the stuff on my own. So what I need to do is get drained myself, and maybe the difference between full and empty will let me figure out how to ‘see’ chaos, so to speak? Something like that.

…How do I do something like that?

I puzzled over that, staring at my homemade floating ring desk toy as if it would give me any kind of answer, when I heard the printer start in the next room, where Humi kept her computer. She planned on moving it to her lab-shed eventually, but that would have to wait until she could run the ethernet cable out to it--anyway. She didn’t use the printer for much, so I got up to see what she was doing. I needed a distraction.

I must have been laser-focused on the folder, because that was the only explanation for how I didn’t realize it was Iota in the computer room. “Hey, big guy, what are you doing?”

The goodnik turned to me, and I noticed a cable leading from him to the computer tower. “Explanation: I realized that I can convert my files into a printable format, and I thought our walls looked a little bare.” He held up an empty picture frame. “I seek to rectify this.”

I looked at what was being printed, and saw a picture of the three of us. I picked it up--still warm, and also a little wet from the ink.

It was a pretty artful photo, actually. It was of us shortly after arriving at the new and improved Mystic Station, Humi in her Y-Nought, me standing next to her, and despite being the camera Iota was in there too; the vending machine behind Humi was showing Iota’s reflection in the glass.

“Hey, this is pretty good,” I said. “You ever thought of being a photographer?”

Iota looked to the side. I was sure he’d be blushing if he could. “I am no photographer. This is merely something I saw. I liked this frame, so I want to frame it.”

“Recognizing a good photo op is half the skill of photography,” I said, making it up on the spot. I had no idea if it was true or not, but it sounded good, right?

“Perhaps.”

Iota unfolded his vacuum setting and used it to gently blow on the picture to dry the ink faster, and I followed him as he took it to the living room and put the newly-framed photo on the wall over the couch.

“Good idea, Iota.”

“Thank you. I’m pleased with it myself.”

I felt my ears twitch to the left and looked towards the front door. “Any idea what Humi’s up to?”

“She was working on her next project, now that the Omochao are off in their new sub, the DOVE.”

I blinked. “Dove?”

“The Deep Ocean Vehicle Explorer, I believe.”

“...That’s not a pun,” I said with a frown. “Is Humi feeling okay?”

“It was Yuno’s idea, actually,” Iota said with a chuckle. “Humi wanted to call it the Sand Witch.”

I snorted. “That’s a bit better.” I looked at the picture again. “...We should do something, the three of us. I’ve been busy with the rings, Humi’s been building non-stop, and you’ve been gardening every day. How do you feel about going to Twinkle Park for a day?”

“I am not sure I’d be able to go on many rides,” he lamented. “I fear I would exceed most weight capacities.”

“Good point.” I rubbed my chin. “I’ll figure something out. Maybe after Tails’ birthday party--” I cut off, turning to look at him when my eyes fell on Iota’s chest hatch, the one that held his battery, the artificial chaos emerald.

I stared, and wheels started turning in my head.

“Heyu? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing. Let’s go find Humi, shall we? I just had an idea for solving a problem I’ve been having.”

--------------------------------

[Humi]

Wire. Solder in place. Wrap around. Don’t touch the chaos shard. Touch the chaos shard and it will collapse into dust.

Humi’s tongue poked out the side of her mouth as she worked, wearing a pair of very dark glasses that she found in a dumpster behind a hospital once, to keep the light from the soldering torch from hurting her eyes. Then, once the wire was firmly in place, she moved to the left slightly and used the same torch to re-melt the grilled cheese she’d let grow cold before taking a bite.

Humi had started making the new and improved Y-Mi in her lab, of course, but then she got hungry, so she took her work to lunch.

Fry leaned out of his truck, watching with interest. “Hey, that’s cute, it looks like Heyu.”

Humi smirked, not looking up from the phone. This first one was made for Heyu, so she customized it. The Y-Mi was going to be a flip phone, since she liked the way they looked, so she made the base with the number pad brown with white buttons and the top with the screen yellow, like his vest. The antenna was made to look like one of his ears; the other ‘ear’ was folded down over the ‘vest.’ It was cute.

Powering the thing was a headache. She made the battery case modular so that if she ever figured out a better power source she could easily replace it, but right now she was using a chaos shard. Breaking a chaos drive into tiny shards that could fit in the phone was hard, since even taking them out of their tube made them unstable. And there was no way to charge it, either, and no way to know ahead of time what the battery life was going to be. Probably pretty good, but it’s not like this was an exact science.

She had two other shards that survived the shattering process. Enough to make one for herself and one other. Idly, Humi wondered if one of the artificial emeralds would still have its recharge feature if they broke it into pieces… that would solve all her problems with the Y-Mi.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Humi said, and then frowned. Why did she--?

“Thanks, mousie!” Fry grinned at her and closed his window, then hopped out the back of his truck.

Humi blinked rapidly. “Sorry, sorry, what did you ask? I wasn’t listening.”

“Oh. I asked if I could borrow your wheelbarrow.” Fry pointed towards the Fivers’ garage. “I think it’s high time I go and get some tires for the Gatormobile, yeah?”

Humi took a bite of her sandwich, careful not to get crumbs in the phone. “You’re leaving the… neighborhood?”

“Oh, uh. Maybe? No, I don’t think so.” The gator rubbed his neck. “It’s more like I’d like to have the option, you know? I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but I’m the only guy here with a vehicle.”

Well that was patently false, but Humi didn’t think bringing up the Y-Mi or the boat that the Omochao left at the docks would count towards what he was talking about. “Well. Okay.” She swallowed her mouthful. “Don’t be afraid to ask me for help if you need it, when you get back. I bet I can make your suspension better so the tires don’t blow again.”

He grinned and clapped her on the back hard enough to almost knock her off the bench. “See? Why would I leave when I get free vehicle servicing here?”

“...” Humi’s brow furrowed. “...Huh. I could be charging for this. I should be charging for this.”

“Oop, me and my big mouth.” Fry laughed. He went to get the wheelbarrow, walking past Heyu and Iota as they approached. Humi raised her shades up on her forehead before Heyu greeted her in the usual way.

“Hey, you!”

She pointed at herself. “Who, me?”

Iota shook his head as they bumped fists. “Falsehood: Oh, this one again. It never gets old.” 

“Don’t be upset just cuz your joke doesn’t come up as much,” Humi teased.

Iota sighed, then shook his fist at her. “Why, I oughta.”

She stuck her tongue out. “What’s up Pops? How’s the ring thing going?”

Heyu clapped, sending a bell tone peeling out. “I’m so glad you asked! I think I’ve had a breakthrough, but I’ll need your help.” His eyes slid down to the Y-Mi on the table. “...Something about that looks familiar.”

Humi giggled and picked it up, snapping the casing closed. “It’s the first new Y-Mi! This one’s yours.”

She handed it over and Heyu’s brows rose. “Hey, that’s got a good weight to it.” He balanced it in his palm before wrapping his hand around it. “Good size, nice feel.”

…Heyu focused on the weirdest things. “Call someone on it, dummy!” She needed to know if it worked!

Heyu chuckled and flipped it open, making a noise of appreciation. “Hm… Well, let’s go two for two.” He typed out the number and let it ring while Humi bounced in anticipation.

“...click...Hello?”

“Oh, hi Penny.” He covered the mic with his thumb and whispered to them, “I meant to call Ringo, but he must be out right now.” Back into the phone, he went on. “Good to talk to you, how are things?”

“...How are things? How are things?!”

Humi grinned. She recognized that tone of voice.

Heyu clearly did too, from the way his ears lowered. “Er. You sound upset by something. Everything okay?”

“No! You promised me an interview when you called Ringo last time, and then you ghosted us! For months!”

“I did? I don’t remember that--”

“Well I do! Hayden, don’t you know how big a deal this is? You were there on the ARK! It could have been the story of my career, and you--you!”

Heyu winced. “Listen--”

“No, you listen! Now, I’ve got a big secret and you’re not hearing a peep about it! How do you feel about that?”

Humi burst out laughing. Iota’s shoulders shook.

“What is that, who is that?”

“Listen, Penny, I’m sorry, okay? We can do the interview right now, alright?” Heyu scratched behind his ear. “Sorry, Humi, I think I’m going to be a bit. Good work on the phone.”

He walked off to a bench Fry had set up nearby while Humi tried to get her giggling under control. “He-He-Heyu has such bad luck with making calls, doesn’t he?”

“Amused: I’ll say.” Iota crouched down next to the bench while Humi finished her sandwich. Fry walked back by them, wheeling the barrow along in front of him. “I say, what’s this?”

“Humi said I could borrow the barrow,” Fry said, not stopping. “I got some things in the city.”

Iota stared at her. “...But it’s my wheelbarrow.”

“Sorry, Iota.”

“Is it okay? I can put it back--”

Iota waved the gator away. “It’s fine, mate, just bring it back in one piece.”

“Are you going to the city?” Shelldon jogged up to meet them. “Mind if I tag along? I’m running low on sugar. I think I’m onto something with this new flavor but it’s a little too bitter for my liking--”

Fry shrugged good-naturedly. “Sure, sure, come on slug man.”

They watched the pair make their way down the road. Humi turned to Iota. “I thought he was a snail?”

“Hushed: I have never seen him remove the shell from his head, but I have seen him adjust it.”

“Huh.” She looked over at Heyu, who was still deep in conversation. “Let’s go with them, I need to get something from Tails’ workshop anyway.”

At the train station, Humi was surprised to see the Vespas waiting for the train too. Kissing, of course.

The station master was looking a little frazzled as they climbed the stairs. “Please tell me you folks are actually taking the train. These two have been reenacting cheap romance movies in my station for the last hour.”

Neither of the bees noticed them until Fry tapped Waxer on the head. “Sorry to interrupt whatever this is, but you’re blocking the doors.”

Honey gasped, looking at the time. “Oh, dear, we’ve been here for a while now!”

“Sorry, everyone!” Waxer said, bowing. He brightened looking at Iota. “Are you all going to Station Square as well? Honey and I are furniture shopping, and we might need some help. We are small, you see.”

It was true, Humi reflected. The bees were adults and they were only a little taller than she was. Counting her ears, but still.

“Regrettably, we are only going this far,” Iota apologized, “but I wish you good hunting.”

“Hey, don’t worry, I’ll lend a hand,” Fry promised. “Once I get the parts I need we’ll go get your stuff.”

“Are you sure?”

“What are neighbors for?”

The four of them crowded onto the train, and the station master let out a sigh of relief before sending the tram off. “Thought they’d never leave.” He took a seat behind the ticket counter and gave Humi and Iota a wave. “You have a good day now.”

Humi waved back and turned to go back down the stairs. “I guess it’s just you, me and Heyu again for the day.” She skipped over to Tails’ place. “We should do something, once I get the parts I need.”

“Delighted: Heyu said much the same thing, though he seemed at a loss as to what.” Iota paused, staring at the boarded-up wall that never got entirely fixed, and hurrying away with an air of embarrassment. “Oh, but he wanted to ask something of you first.”

“Oh?”

“He didn’t tell me what, sorry. I think it will be interesting though.”

“Hm. Well, we’ll see. Now help me look.”

“Query: For what?”

“Tails puts that logo of his on everything! He’s got to have some stickers stored away somewhere!” She opened a random drawer and sifted through it. “Also some fabric, maybe, and an extra circuit board. This is for his birthday present, and his homemade stuff is better than mine.”

“...Is it… proper, to use his own belongings to make something for him?”

Humi looked up, genuinely perplexed by the question. “Why not? He left this place alone for months. If there was anything irreplaceable here he’d have taken it with him.”

“I’m not sure--okay.” Some battles weren't worth fighting, Iota decided.

----------------------------

[Cream]

“Okay, Cream, Mommy is going to talk to the nice people in City Hall. You stay out of trouble and be good, okay?”

“Yes, Mama!”

Vanilla smiled at her and turned to Cheese, hovering next to her. “Cheese, remember, you have to keep her safe.”

Cheese saluted. “Chao!”

“Chao chao.” Chocola nodded. 

The brown Chao flew over Vanilla’s shoulder as she fished in her purse and handed Cream a twenty. “Take this in case you get hungry, okay? We’ll meet back up at the train station later.”

“Okay!”

Cream’s Mama was busy a lot, and Cream didn’t like sitting still for too long. She liked tea parties and arts and crafts, but she also liked running and playing games, and Mama just wasn’t always able to do that.

Cream didn’t really remember when Mama started letting her wander on her own. To her, it had just always been that way. But she vaguely remembered Mama being really worried the first few times she did it, and Cream didn’t like making her worry, so she was always super careful and always got back home before dark. She was a big girl, and big girls were responsible.

It probably helped that Cream could fly away if things got dangerous.

Part of her wanted to join Mama in the important meeting, but she knew enough to know it would be really boring, and exploring this new city seemed a lot more fun than sitting in a stuffy room for hours and hours. That was practically forever.

“And you’ve got your phone?”

Cream held it up dutifully. As was their routine, she rattled off her mother’s phone number and address.

Vanilla relaxed slightly. “Message me every so often. And don’t talk to strangers.”

“Yes, Mama.” Cream’s ears twitched and she shuffled from foot to foot.

Vanilla smiled fondly at the clear sign Cream was getting impatient. “Have fun. I’ll save those Chao, don’t worry. Love you.”

“Love you too!”

Vanilla gave her one last look before climbing the stairs into city hall, and Cream and Cheese skipped away down the sidewalk. Cream wasn’t worried. Mama always came through.

Station Square had lots of things to do, but not a lot of it was available to unaccompanied children. The theme park looked fun, but it cost more than twenty dollars to get in, and she was too short to ride most of the rides. And the casinos didn’t let kids in at all--not that Cream really knew what a casino was. She was pretty sure it was an adults-only arcade.

The park was nice, but she didn’t have anyone to play with except Cheese, and tag wasn’t fun with just two.

Trains were interesting though. They rode a train to get here, and that was a lot of fun. They passed a steam train on the way, just like her toy train! So Cream ended up going back to the station. It had a food court, and she was supposed to meet back up there anyway, so that was definitely fine. Watching the trains was cool.

After several trains came and went, Cheese started getting hungry, so Cream went and bought them a basket of fries to share. They made their way to an empty platform to eat. Cream assumed that it wasn’t in use at all, but while they were eating she heard a whistle, and a small boxy train pulled in. Cream and Cheese watched, interested, as a small group of Mobians filed out. She’d never seen a big lizard like that before, or bees, or… she didn’t even know what the fourth one was. They all looked like they were having a good time.

“...can’t believe you guys were flying the whole time when the bench was right there.”

“It’s easy for us. We can fly as long as we want.”

“Yeah, but the entire fifteen minutes? Don’t your backs hurt?”

“Not yet, but maybe after tonight~”

The boy bee turned red while the others laughed, though Cream didn’t get the joke. What she did pick up was that wherever they came from was only fifteen minutes away. Once the group left the platform, never noticing her, Cream stood up and found a poster talking about Mystic Station, and how it was a jungle with ancient ruins… and a post-it note about a small developing community.

“Only a few minutes away, and with things to explore… What do you think, Cheese?” Cream turned to her Chao, and huffed a little to see him lounging in the empty food basket like it was a bed. “Cheese! You ate them all!”

“Chao…”

Cream looked around, trying to see if she needed a ticket or anything… but the train was just open and waiting. “Hello? Do I need to pay to get on? I have eight dollars left.”

She didn’t get an answer. So, cautiously, worried that someone would get upset, she stepped onto the train, pulling Cheese after her. The doors closed, startling her, and the train sped off back the way it came.

“Oh… I suppose it’s just that easy.” She pulled out her phone and sent a message.

-Got on train to somewhere called Mist Tick Station. Very close by. Will tell you when get there.

------------------------------------------

[Humi]

It took some doing, but Humi found everything she needed, including one of Tails’ logo stickers. He had a big pile of them in his nightstand, the dork. These were going to be great for his personalized Y-Mi. It was the best birthday gift she could get him in the limited time she had, a way for him to stay in touch with all their friends like Sonic, and Amy, and Humi herself. When they all travelled all over the place, being able to talk whenever would be amazing!

“Hm. How long were we searching?” Iota asked as they crossed back towards the Ruins. “The train is already back in the station.”

“Really?” Humi looked up and behind after they passed under the bridge. “Maybe one of them forgot something?”

“...I am glad that the train is electric,” Iota decided.

Humi, riding on Iota’s head, began sketching out the Y-Mi Tails Edition. She wasn’t able to make an antenna based on his tails, the way she did with Heyu’s ears. They were too fluffy! How would it fit in his pockets?

…Did he have pockets? Maybe she should get him a pouch belt like Heyu’s, too.

No, instead she was going to make a wrist strap styled after his tails. He was always flying so high, so a way to make sure he didn’t drop it would be crucial. They’d be flat but broad, almost ribbon-like, and it would be awesome.

Hm, what would hers look like? Maybe her tail could be the antenna, it was thin enough. What about her ears? Could she do something with that? Pink, or white? Ooh, or white with a pink patches pattern, yes. That would be cool…

Heyu was, somehow, still on the phone when they got back to the neighborhood, looking thoroughly wrung out.

“...and between the snail and the alligator we haven’t had to go grocery shopping as much. You know me, I wasn’t ever really big on breakfast, but I’ve gotten in the habit since Fry moved in. As for Shelldon, he’s kind of… well, his drinks have been hit or miss, but the hits are Top 40, maybe even Top 20 so far.”

“Ugh. You should be in prison for torturing that metaphor.”

“Yeah, yeah. There. I told you everything I’ve been up to,” Heyu said grumpily, running a hand through his fur. “Now will you please tell me about this secret you keep bringing up? You obviously want to tell me.”

“Hmmmmnope!” 

Penny cackled through the speaker, and Humi decided she liked this person. She took a seat next to Heyu on the bench, and he flashed a tired smile at her while Iota stood behind them.

“I know full well you’re still hiding something.”

“Penny, I told you, I wasn’t that involved with the ARK thing. I was just there.”

“I know when something’s being left out, Heyu. You said you got to the space station hours before Sonic did, and you didn’t do anything?”

“Well--” Heyu cut off. “I just don’t think it’s very interesting.”

“That’s what MAKES it so interesting, but--blast. I just got a message from my boss. But you better believe we’re not done here. I’ll call you back, and you better answer next time.”

“Wait! What about--can I at least get a hint?”

“Hmmmmokay.” Penny paused. “But I don’t have a shadow of a doubt that you’ll find out eventually anyway, once Ringo’s show swings by the Square.”

“...Well? What’s the--”

click

“--hint. Seriously?” Heyu closed the phone with a satisfying snap and leaned back. “Well, packrat, you gave it a really good name. Why me?”

“Was the call that bad?” she asked, trying not to laugh.

“That crow is ruthless when she’s mad.” He grinned. “I’m glad there’s only one of her, or she might have murdered me.”

Iota played a rimshot on his speakers. “Terrible.”

“C’mon, it was a good one.”

“But was the phone good?” Humi cut in.

“Oh, yeah. Sounded like I was standing next to her.” He rustled her hair. “You never fail to impress. And on that note…”

Oh right, he wanted something. “What did you need?”

“Right… That machine Tails made to make the artificial Emeralds, you helped him make it, right?”

Humi blinked. That wasn’t anything that she expected. “Yes?”

“And it works by pulling energy from the Emerald into a random gemstone, right?”

“Yeeeees?”

He grinned and pointed thumb into his chest. “Do you think you could make it pull the energy out of me?”

Humi stared. Then she stared harder when he seemed utterly serious. “You want to what?!”

He stood up, gesticulating. “Listen, no, listen! It’ll solve both our problems! I get drained so I learn the difference between yes chaos energy and no chaos energy, and maybe afterwards I’ll be able to make new progress in my Ring studies! And you, meanwhile, will get a new fake Emerald out of it!”

“...That sounds like a great idea!” Humi cheered. “Are you sure it will work?”

“No idea,” he admitted. “But I’m reasonably sure the worst thing that could happen is nothing at all. I’ve been reading Professor Gerald’s records, and apparently Shadow used to empty his reserves regularly as training, and he was just fine.”

This was perfect. Having new emeralds would let her make all the robots she wanted! “I’ll get on it right away!”

Iota beeped. “Hesitant: Er, if I could interject? I’m not sure comparing yourself to Shadow is wise. He was the Ultimate Lifeform, after all.”

Heyu scoffed. “Sure, sure, but he was still a Mobian. He was still mortal like you and m--like Humi and me. He may have been in the top percentile, but I haven’t seen anything to indicate he was all that different from a regular guy.”

“Have you seen anything to suggest he wasn’t?”

“Stop being a wet blanket, Iota,” Humi said, bouncing. “I’ll make it 100% safe, you betcha!”

“And I’ll finally be able to make sense of the chaos!” Heyu crowed, pumping a fist in the air. “Let’s hop to it!”

“That sounds fun. Can we watch?”

“Sure you can--”

Then three of them all yelped at once, falling over each other in surprise. A small bunny girl and a hovering Chao blinked at the sight.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said. “My name is Cream. What’s yours?”