Hop To It - Break 7

After Iota woke up, we really started settling into… I wouldn’t call it a routine, really, but things seemed to click into place a little.

While the construction of Station Square continued in the background, we just got on living, taking every day one at a time…

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

[Tails]

Four weeks after Perfect Chaos

Tails rapped his fingers against the desk, frowning. Gamma’s problem was proving more difficult to solve than he expected. A fake Emerald was able to power him on, but he just… stood there. Blankly. He didn’t talk, barely reacted to stimuli, and generally acted like, well, a robot.

Mechanically, everything was working just fine. Which meant the problem was in his software. But without any idea of what was wrong, Tails was left with no choice but to trawl through Gamma’s files until he found something. Gamma’s adaptive processing was present in his file directory, but for some reason it wouldn’t run…

Tails sighed. He wished Humi was here. Even if she was still struggling to read, she had plenty of creative ideas when he explained a problem to her…

The door to the workshop slammed open, and Tails brightened. Speak of the devil, he supposed. It was about the time that Humi and the other two usually showed up, after all.

The fox turned, smiling. “Hey, guys! Welcome ba--oh.”

Sonic grinned at him. “Hey, little buddy! Miss me?”

Unexpected, but still entirely welcome! Tails jumped up and let Sonic pull him into a hug. The following noogie was less welcome, but he laughed anyway. “Sonic! You were gone for a while!”

“Yeah… sorry about that.” Sonic rubbed his neck, sheepish. “That whole thing with Chaos kinda got to me. Needed to get away from everything for a while, you know how it is.”

Boy, did he. “Tell me about it. The city is still a wreck, but they’re finally getting the utilities sorted out.”

“Uh-huh.” Sonic walked past him into the workshop. “So what are you working on? Hey, isn’t that Amy’s badnik buddy?”

“We’ve been calling him a goodnik now,” Tails supplied, following him. “I’ve run into some problems getting him back up and running.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, little genius,” Sonic smirked. “Speaking of, I dig the duds, dude. But aren’t labcoats supposed to be white?”

Tails smiled and did a little half-twirl. “It’s nice, isn’t it? It used to be a vest, but Humi added some sleeves for me.”

They were a recent addition, and they were just slightly off-color from the original vest, but Tails thought it added to the charm. When no one was around, he’d been practicing keeping a small wrench and screwdriver hidden in the sleeves, for him to flick out into his hands. The trick wasn’t ready yet, but it would be so cool once he mastered it.

“Well, the color’s awesome, so you won’t hear me complaining,” Sonic said, flashing a thumb’s up. He snapped his fingers. “Oh! I almost forgot, I picked something up for you in Empire City.” Sonic dug around in his quills. “Fantastic chili dogs out there, by the way. Where did I put that thing…”

“You went that far?” Tails asked, wide-eyed. “Wow, you must have really needed to clear your head.”

“I wanted to stay away from the coast for a while after the whole flooding thing. I mighta gotten lost for a bit.” The hedgehog frowned, then bent down to check his socks instead. “Right, here it is.” He pulled out a plastic bag filled with small brown pellets. “The chili dogs weren’t the only great food out there. Empire City has some of the best cuisine in the world, or that’s what they say anyway. I found one old lady who makes and sells homemade candies, and when I saw these chocolate mints--”

Tails snagged them out of Sonic’s hands, not waiting for further explanation, and Sonic burst out laughing. The fox opened the bag with haste and popped one in his mouth. They were a little melty, but only a little, and the taste, well…

“....Mmmmmmmmmm!” He closed his eyes and savored the taste. “Theshe are good!”

“They better be,” Sonic said, snickering. “For what I paid for them? They better be at least a ten outta ten.”

“Definitely an eleven,” Tails agreed. Part of him wanted to guzzle them all down at once… but then he wouldn’t have them anymore, so he reluctantly set them aside instead. “I’m really glad you’re back Sonic,” he said, a touch somberly. “You aren’t usually gone more than a week at a time.”

Sonic frowned, pulling Tails into another half-hug. “Aw, I’m sorry Tails. But you don’t gotta worry about me.”

“I know.” Tails pushed away with a small smile. “I don’t suppose you ran into Amy while you were out?”

Sonic made a face. “Uh, no? Why would I?”

“She took off looking for you not long after you left,” Tails said, turning back to his computer. Gamma’s files remained inscrutable. “You must have missed her.”

“Thank goodness for that…” he muttered. Sonic shook his head and leaned against the work table in the center of the room. His hand brushed against something and he looked down. His eyes widened. “Whoa, what?” He picked it up. “You found one of the Chaos Emeralds again?”

Sonic turned it over in his hand and squinted. Wait, no. This wasn’t shaped right. It was square on top instead of round, and it wasn’t purple; it was more pink-ish. Almost the same color as Amy, in fact.

“Tails, what is this?”

The fox looked up. “Hm? Oh, that’s the artificial Chaos Emerald that’s meant to power Gamma.” He turned back to the computer, all nonchalant like he hadn’t just said something crazy.

“You made a fake Emerald?!” Sonic gasped. “Woah! That’s amazing!”

“It worked so well for Iota, I didn’t see a reason to do something different for Gamma.”

“Who’s Iota?”

Tails opened his mouth, but the sound of the shutter door opening cut him off. “That’s probably them now, actually.”

Sonic blinked, a little bewildered, but followed Tails into the main room, only to tense at the sight of a second badnik walking in. He didn’t make a move, though, because Tails wasn’t even slightly worried and greeted it warmly.

“Hi, guys! You’re late today!”

A mouse popped up over the robot’s--Iota’s?--head and tumbled down to the ground, stumbling only slightly on the dismount. “Yup! We got held up at the Final Egg!”

Sonic frowned. “Final Egg? Is Egghead still hanging around there?”

The mouse noticed him, surprised. “Oh, hello. And no, we just like to raid it for parts.”

“Sonic, this is Humi,” Tails said, introducing her. “She’s the one who fixed up my coat like I said earlier. Also, she built Iota there, who’s the reason for that hole in my wall.”

“Irritation: I already said I was sorry about that,” the robot groused in a surprisingly soft voice.

“I meant to ask about the boarded up wall,” Sonic teased. “Nice to meetcha!”

He held out his hand for a fistbump, and Humi returned it gladly. Iota’s sent a jolt of pain up his arm, but nothing he hadn’t gotten from Knuckles.

Introductions made, Humi turned the bulk of her focus on Tails. “How’s the progress on Gamma coming?” She started moving towards the work area.

“Not great,” Tails admitted, following after her. “I can’t figure out what the problem is, but I was hoping that you might have some ideas, actually…”

Their voices faded as they went into the next room, and Sonic chuckled. He folded his arms behind his head and made to go after them, before he became aware of Iota staring at him. “Hey big guy, what’s up?”

“Statement: I rather like your fur color, chap. Is it natural?”

“What, this?” Sonic rubbed a knuckle against his chest. “I’m all-natural, baby! No aftermarket modifications here.”

Iota’s speakers hissed rhythmically in what Sonic figured must be a laugh. “Ironic Statement: It’s curious, because you’re the color of the sea but I have been told that you cannot swim.”

Oh, well, there went Sonic’s good mood. “Yeah. Funny.”

“...Oh dear. I appear to have performed a social faux pas. Apologies.”

Sonic waved it off, walking after the kids. “It’s whatever.”

He didn’t usually mind, but after the Chaos thing Sonic would be happy if he never thought about swimming ever again.

He stepped into the workshop, where Humi had climbed up onto the table and started fiddling with a pile of scrap while Tails worked on the computer and they talked.

“...where’s Heyu by the way?” the fox asked.

Humi slotted a gear into place. “He’s back at the house. We got a lot of those ring boxes this time and Heyu wanted to shore up his reserves. He thinks he’s close to figuring something new out.” She took a slide whistle and did something to it before it vanished into the depths of her project.

“Who’s Heyu?” Sonic asked, feeling a touch exasperated. “How many new people did you meet while I was gone, Tails?”

Tails paused and started counting on his fingers. “Heyu, Humi, Iota, the Mayor, Captain Palisade--”

“What?”

“--uh, you remember Big, right?”

“The cat guy?”

“Yeah, him and Froggy. So, seven.”

Sonic shook his head, grinning. “You’ve been busy, buddy.”

The fox smiled. “Heyu is Humi’s…” He trailed off looking at her.

She smiled cheekily. “He’s my butler.”

“He is not!” Tails laughed. “He’s her guardian, and they’ve all been in and out for the past few weeks. Humi and Heyu are here almost every day!” He stood and handed Humi and a tiny screwdriver when she couldn’t find one. “It’s been nice having so much company.”

Sonic winced. “Right. Hey, buddy, sorry about--”

“Ta-da!” Humi helped up her finished work, which turned out to be an oddly-shaped pendulum clock. It was lopsided and the hands were made out of blue metal sticks that looked vaguely familiar. It wasn’t until Sonic saw the pendulum hanging beneath that he realized it was a Kiki tail. The clock was made out of broken Badniks.

She wounded the hands back three revolutions, stopping five seconds from three o’clock and letting it tick forward. The slide whistle inside sounded off the hour in the most hilarious way possible, and Sonic snorted.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool,” Tails remarked, tapping the face. He yelped when a hatch opened up and a crude, miniature Iota sprung out and poked him in the nose. “Yipe!”

“Oops! Sorry!”

“Haha, it’s fine.” Tails rubbed his snout, taking a step back. “This is even better than that toaster you made. It’s got character!”

Humi beamed. “You think so?”

“Of course!”

Sonic raised an eyebrow. Was she… blushing?

Humi dropped down, carrying the clock. “Iota, check it out!”

The robot trudged into the doorway, scanning the room before zeroing in on in. “Ah. You cleaned the badniks’ clocks, and now they make a very clean clock. Very good, Miss Humi.” The tiny copy of him popped out again. “And a little me! Mister Heyu will love it.”

Humi’s smile widened, but then collapsed into a frown. “Hm, he’s taking a long time. Do you think he’s okay?”

“The last time he experimented with rings, he did cause a small explosion,” Tails noted.

Sonic made a note to ask about that. This Heyu guy sounded fun!

Humi huffed. “...I’ll be back later, Tails. Heyu might talk about safety but he can be really stupid about his own. Come on, Iota.”

“Of course, Miss.”

The robot took the clock while Humi climbed onto his back, and a set of wheels unfolded before Iota drove away, only pausing to close the shutter door back behind him.

Tails waved happily until they were out of sight.

“Well they seem fun,” Sonic noted. He smirked. “Especially that mouse girl.”

“Humi’s great!” Tails agreed, his namesakes flicking excitedly behind him. “She’s really smart and understands basically everything I say, which is rare!”

“Ouch. But true, go on.”

“She helped me fix up the Tornado 2 and she always seems to have exactly what we need on hand, not to mention when she hotwired the Egg Carrier.”

Sonic made an impressed sound. “Wow. Your Amy sounds way cooler than mine.”

“Yeah, she--” Tails blinked rapidly. He looked at him, confused. “What?”

“Oh, nevermind.” Sonic waved it off. “I’m glad you’ve been having fun, bud.”

They fell into a pleased, comfortable silence while Tails got back to work. Sonic found a comfortable nook to cram himself in for a nap.

“Are you staying for long?” Tails asked after a while.

Sonic considered the question. “...Nah,” he decided. “I’m not giving up hunting down Eggman’s new base yet! Besides, you said Amy was looking for me, and the best way to avoid that is to keep moving.”

The fox shook his head, amused. “Okay then. But you better bring me a new souvenir to make up for it.”

“Sure! What do ya want?”

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

[Heyu]

Five weeks after Perfect Chaos

“What do you mean I missed Sonic?!”

Amy stomped her foot angrily, and I snorted.

“Sorry, but you know how he is,” Tails said, not sounding very sorry at all. “He never stays in one place for long.”

“Why don’t you use your fortune telling to find him?” I asked. I was shuffling a deck of cards myself. I’d talked Tails and Humi into a game night and we were queuing up to play Uno when Amy burst in.

Iota was having trouble with the cards thanks to his metal fingers, and Humi was fashioning him some temporary rubber fingertips to compensate.

“Fortune telling?” Iota asked, skeptical.

“It doesn’t work like that!” Amy said. “The three of pentacles isn’t going to tell me where to go to find my beloved Sonic!”

“You don’t have to use a tarot deck,” I said, setting the cards down on the table. “Just, like… write a bunch of cities and towns down on index cards and shuffle them. It’s gotta be better than running around aimlessly, right?”

Did I actually think that would work? No. But then I didn’t think her tarot reading meant anything the first time either, and that ghost echidna seemed to think reading the future was plausible, and if ghosts believe in it why shouldn’t I?

Amy started to argue, but then looked contemplative.

“I’m glad you’re here actually though,” I continued. “Before you go tearing off after the wind again, I have a favor to ask.” I stood up and walked over to her.

“What is it?” She sounded a tad apprehensive, which actually made me feel a little insulted. What did she think I was going to ask?

What I was going to ask was, “Can you come with Humi and I to go clothes shopping?”

Amy blinked. “Eh?”

“The repair work at Station Square is going great. They’ve almost got the pipes and electricity back up for the whole city now, and are starting to get the hospital and a few other important buildings up and running now,” I explained. “There’s a small strip of stores that managed to escape the bulk of the damages that are open for business now, including a clothing outlet.”

I looked over my shoulder to make sure Humi wasn’t listening, but she was focused on Iota’s fingers, tongue hanging out the side of her mouth and everything.

I leaned down and lowered my voice. “I would consider it a personal favor if you helped Humi find some new… underthings.”

Amy’s eyes widened as understanding dawned.

Gosh, I was embarrassed to be talking about this. “I don’t quite think me and her are close enough yet to discuss her underwear situation,” I admitted.

“Say no more,” Amy said. “Seriously. I’ll help you guys find the perfect outfits!”

“Thanks, Amy, I appreciate it.”

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

Five weeks and two days after Perfect Chaos

I’d been planning to go to Central for our clothes, but the reconstruction was going faster than I think anyone expected. Standing on this street, you could almost forget the rest of the city was a wreck. It was just as well, because stuff in Central City was expensive.

I frowned at that thought. I needed to track down Tory again. Or find some other job. My savings would last a while, especially since I’d barely touched them so far since the devastation, but eventually I’d need to start working again.

The ring on my left hand gleamed under the fluorescent lights and I entertained the idea of street performance or birthday magicianry for a moment before pushing the thought away. I’d figure it out later. No sense in spoiling a day out with that stuff.

I hummed and pulled a vest off the rack. It was sized for humans, but that was barely a problem for me. Plenty of pockets and felt pretty sturdy. It was a pleasant sunny yellow, too.

I held the vest down close to the floor and compared it to my shoes. The yellow stripe across them wasn’t quite the same shade, but it was close enough to make me happy. My mom would probably have some words about it, but I wasn’t planning on taking it down the catwalk any time soon. All it needed to do was give me a little protection in the jungle, hold my rings, and not make security systems target me.

I took the yellow vest and a black one of the same make and started looking for Amy and Humi, who had naturally run off the second we entered the store. I wondered what kind of clothes Humi would be drawn to, now that she had a chance to pick anything she wanted. I imagined her as being more practical, unlikely to buy a ton of things.

On the other hand… Amy was with her. I sped up a little.

When I found them, I found Humi struggling under a stack of dresses while Amy was piling more on top.

“And this will look so cute on you! Ooh! And this will be perfect for the beach!”

“But I don’t like the beach!” Humi whined. “The sand gets in my pockets!”

“Oh come on! Everyone needs a cute swimsuit!”

I chuckled and took the stack off Humi’s hands. “Amy, maybe let’s slow down?”

Humi breathed a sigh of relief while Amy pouted. “Heyu, I know you’re a guy so you don’t understand, but a girl doesn’t just settle for good enough. We need an outfit for every occasion!”

“I’d settle for good enough,” Humi protested.

The pink hedgehog huffed.

I grinned and started sorting through the stack of dresses Amy found. “Looks like a lot of these are in your size…” I said, giving her a sideways look.

“I figured she’d grow into them,” she lied.

Humi and I shared a look.

In the end, Humi ended up picking out a set of outfits. One simple pink dress, a trio of otherwise identical dresses in yellow, blue and red, a set of sturdy overalls, and several multicolored bolts of cloth.

“What are those for?” I asked, picking up a maroon bolt.

“I like to customize,” Humi replied, as if that explained everything.

I frowned, but was distracted from pressing further by a short scream from the front of the store, accompanied by metallic stomping. I closed my eyes and sighed.

“Triumphant: I have decided upon my paint!” Iota tromped into the store holding cans of blue and tan paint. He held them up for inspection as he approached, and I winced.

“I dunno big guy, that’s an expensive brand.” I grimaced. “On the other hand, the weatherproof paint is probably better--actually, Humi, maybe we should find an auto shop for his paint, what do you think?”

Humi hummed, tilting her head. She climbed up my shoulders to get a closer look at the cans. “These say they’re fine on metal… I’ve never really painted my stuff before. Maybe Tails would know.”

“I think I saw a payphone outside,” I murmured. Then I froze. “Wait. Iota, I didn’t give you any money. How’s you pay for these?”

The robot beeped. “...Pay?”

Crap. I shoved Humi’s selections into Amy’s arms. “You two go to the counter with these, I need to go sort this out before someone calls the cops.”

“But what about my new shoes?” Humi asked.

“Grab a pair! And find out if they carry gloves!”

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

As Heyu hurried out, Amy and Humi exchanged a look. Then Amy smirked. “You know, I think I saw a pair of small Grind Boots on sale. Those things are super customizable.”

Humi grinned back.

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[Iota]

Six Weeks After

“Calculating…” Iota arched his arm back with exacting precision, then lashed forward.

The fishing line shot out over the water, and the bobber landed with barely a drop.

“Hey, good one!” Big said happily, nudging the robot. “Now watch this.”

Big showed off his own skill as Iota watched, fascinated; it was more fluid than Iota’s, and while technically less refined, managed to display the cat’s mastery of the rod. The line almost seemed to change direction in midair, and the lure landed perfectly in the center of a school of trout.

“Remarkable.” Iota watched Big take a seat by the lake and get comfortable. Froggy jumped from Big’s shoulder to the top of Iota’s head, distracting the robot momentarily, before he asked, “What happens now?”

“Now, we wait until we get a bite. I’ll show you what to do after.”

Iota nodded minutely, careful not to dislodge the frog. After a moment, he took a seat himself, crouching until his body rested on the ground.

It was nice and peaceful. And plenty of fish to be found. Iota’s cameras weren’t that well equipped to see beneath the water, but he still delighted in seeing the fish flit about.

A rainbow trout breached the surface, snatching a midge out of the air before falling back down.

Logging request: secondary speakers, music library. It would be very nice to have ambience for this scene… but no, the sound of water and wind was music enough.

“I like your new outfit,” Big said. “Reminds me of something.”

Iota wore his new paint proudly. Sky blue and tan/beige. Unobtrusive, yet striking (in Iota’s opinion), and matching the typical outfit of the hosts of the documentaries he appreciated so much. He was especially proud of the new moniker adorning the metal patch on his chest, declaring to the world that he was Y-ι. 

He was still deciding on what the Y stood for.

“Thank you, friend. Have you considered updating your look yourself? In the market last week I saw a pair of waders at the Big-and-Tall store. The shop isn’t open yet, but once it is, I presume Miss Humi could alter it to fit you.” Iota chuckled. “Mister Heyu was quite irritated over her adding pockets to all her new clothes.”

Big hummed, considering. “That could be interesti--”

One of the trout took Big’s bait and snapped at the hook, interrupting him. The cat didn’t stand so much as he let the line pull him up, but once his feet were on the ground he planted them firmly. He pulled mightily, spinning the reel with the greatest of ease. The trout fought back, but against the unstoppable force that was Big, it had no chance.

It was a big trout, too. Larger than Encyclopedia suggested was common. Perhaps these were a unique breed. Or, given the history of this jungle, perhaps influence from the Chaos Emeralds?

Big dragged the poor trout onto land, where it flopped frantically with the hook still in its mouth. The cat, blank-faced, grabbed it by the tail and held it up for inspection as it continued to wriggle.

“Hm…” Big squinted. “What do you think, Froggy?”

“Crrrrrroke.”

“You’re right. Needs more time to grow. Back it goes.” With a shrug, Big unhooked it and tossed it into the water again.

Iota watched it, as best he could, as it swam to the other side of the lake, until the waves and the refraction hid it from view entirely. “...Query: You consider that small?”

“Yup.”

“It is still larger than most trout of that species. What size do you keep?”

“At least twice that size,” Big said casually. “Like the one about to bite your hook.”

Iota returned his attention to his bobber and saw it being dragged underwater. He stood for greater leverage and pulled, attempting to mimic Big’s technique. Unfortunately, while his memory was flawless, merely seeing something in action is not the same as attempting it yourself, and Iota was nearly pulled off his feet. That was a surprise, as he was certain he weighed more than a thousand pounds.

“Watch your footing,” Big advised.

Iota let a burst of static out of his speakers. The line pulled taut, and the robot was astonished when the fish reared up and started dancing on the surface of the water like a dolphin, pulling with all its might against him.

“Incredulous: Why, I oughta…!”

“Ooh, you got a tough first catch,” Big said sympathetically. He reached out to help.

“Declaration: No, I can do this!” The reel was fighting him, but Iota had an idea. The fish dove into the water, then reared back up; at the apex of its jump, Iota pulled, and with no water to push against the fish went further in the air than it likely intended, and lost a great deal of distance in the process. It came close enough, in fact, that it was in Iota’s reach.

Big cried out in alarm when Iota dropped his rod to instead reach out with his arms, extending them to their max to grip the fish on its sides and pull it back. The trout was slippery, and wriggled furiously, but Iota’s grip was like iron, and he reeled it to shore triumphantly.

“Victory!”

Big clapped.

Iota held the trout overhead as it flopped futilely. “Now what?”

Holding up a finger for him to pause, Big reached up, grabbed Iota’s fish by the tail, and pulled it out of the robot’s hands. Then he slammed it into the ground until it died.

“...Oh.” Well, yes, Iota supposed Big was catching fish to eat them. It was going to die. It was still a bit… graphic. The robot settled back down on his haunches as Big put the fish into an icebox they’d brought along. “Query: You do this every day?”

“Most days,” Big replied, casting his line again. “Some days I catch enough to last a couple. Sometimes I fish for fun and throw everything back. Some days I take a train to town and eat pizza.” The cat shrugged. “Not often.”

Fishing for sport? That sounded more Iota’s speed. Still. He could hardly begrudge Big needing to eat. And there was a sense of satisfaction in successfully claiming victory over a tough foe.

Iota speared another worm on his hook. “Challenge: Let’s see if I can do it properly this time…”

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

[Heyu]

Seven Weeks After

I watched the ring, suspended in midair. My hands were both splayed. I lowered one pinky finger, and the ring started rotating along the y-axis. The same finger on the other hand went down, and the rotation became faster.

I wrote that down, and continued with my ring fingers--ironically not the fingers my rings were on. Also, note to self, I need to find another thing to call these; saying ring all the time is making it not feel like a real word.

We weren’t at Tails’s place today, since he went into town to buy some supplies. So instead we were hanging out at our own house.

“Note: holding my thumb and ring finger together causes the suspended ring to spin along the z-axis, like a wheel. The direction it spins is determined by which hand is making the gesture, and if both are, it stops.” I hummed. Keeping my right hand in the pose, I had my left do a similar one except it was my pointer instead. The ring sped up quickly, and I wondered what that--

A tiny arc of electricity jumped from the ring on my left hand to the one suspended, and I dropped it in surprise. Because it was spinning, when it hit the floor it took off and crashed into Iota’s foot before falling over.

“Ow.”

“Did that hurt?” Humi asked.

“No. But it seemed appropriate to say.”

Iota was currently in multiple pieces, with his head on Humi’s table and the body standing next to it.

“You’re lucky I even had a digital camera that works in all this junk,” Humi groused. “Why do you even need one? Your eyes are already the best camera in this place.”

“Elaboration: While it is true that my current eyes are high-resolution, I lack a neck with which to capture interesting angles. Furthermore, I lack any interesting filters to work with, and will continue to until such time as you improve your coding abilities, Miss Humi.”

Humi grumbled. “I’m trying, okay? Reading is hard.”

Yeah, teaching Humi to read was proving challenging. She was the smartest kid I’ve ever met, but putting letters together into words was still giving her a hard time. Maybe it was just because she was starting late… or then again, it’s only been, what, a month since she started learning? How long did it usually take?

It wasn’t like I could remember learning to read. My parents taught me before I even went to school, so I didn’t have any idea of the process. Maybe I should give them a call, see if they have any insight. It’s been a while since my last call, after all, it wouldn’t hurt to check in.

“You’ll get it,” I said eventually. “You’re already reading, it’s just a matter of practice.” My face brightened. “Hey, maybe we can do a, a reading circle? We can take turns reading a chapter book, passing it back and forth. That sounds like it could be fun.”

Humi gave me a flat stare, but unfortunately for her Iota agreed with me.

“Capital idea. I can provide a number of humorous voices for the various characters.”

Humi shot the robot a betrayed look, but when she sighed I saw a little smile. “Okay, but I get to choose the book.”

“That’s the spirit. Which one were you thinking?”

“What’s that one with the mouse on the cover? Red…wall?”

“Ooh, that’s a pretty good one. It’s an epic, with war, romance, and puzzles. You’ll like--”

There was a knock at the door.

Humi stiffened, then rapidly set about putting Iota back together. I gave her a concerned look and looked out the window. A human in stained coveralls was standing at the door. He saw me looking out and waved.

“Calm down, packrat, I think it’s the guy about the utilities.” I opened the door and put on my best customer service smile. Sure, I was on the wrong side of it this time but a little friendliness went a long way. “Hi there, what can I do you for?”

The man snorted, and I took note of the heavy bags under his eyes. “You Hayden Fiver?”

“That’s me, sir.”

He showed me the badge hanging from his lapel. “I'm with the city’s repair effort. I’m here to do a survey of your property to figure the best way to bring it up to code.”

“Oh! Of course.” I stepped aside and let him in.

“Heyu!” Humi hissed from where she hiding behind Iota. The robot dutifully shifted to keep himself between her and stranger, which I suppose I appreciated. The effect was slightly ruined by the way one of his eyes was still hanging loose.

“Relax, Humi, he’s here to help, right?”

“Right.” He looked over the space with a neutral expression. “Yikes. Who built this place?”

“We don’t know, but I think it predates electricity,” I said.

“No kiddin’.” The man rolled his shoulder. “I can already tell this is gonna be a lotta work.”

“You’re not going to tear it down, are you?” Humi asked, glaring.

“Nah, nah…” The man waved her off. “Maybe a little. But just a little. Running some wires’ll be easy, the gas and the plumbing’s gonna be the hard part. Might be best to add an extension on for the utilities, I dunno.” He fished into his pockets and pulled out a cigarette. If he’d tried to light I might have had to ask him to step outside, but thankfully he didn’t bother. “I can go ahead and tell you that bringing this place up to code is gonna be a multi-day project. Maybe even a couple’a weeks. You’re not gonna want to be here while it happens.”

“But it’s my house!”

“Humi,” I said placatingly. “Mr.,” I looked at his nametag again, “Sanders isn’t kicking us out, he’s just going to make the place… better. We’ll have heating for the winter, AC for the summer, windows to keep the wet out, our own kitchen… and a functioning toilet instead of that outhouse.”

Humi had opened her mouth to protest, but I knew I had her with that last one. She was still trying to find some way to contest it, so I hit her with the master stroke.

“And don’t forget, electricity. Lights, outlets, maybe even TV!”

Humi’s ears lowered. “...I guess that’s okay then…”

“I would quite like a tellie.”

“I’m sure you would, big guy,” I said, smirking. I turned back to the survey guy. “When do you figure it’ll start?”

Mr. Sanders pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and flipped through it. “Oh, anytime really. Construction is going around the clock. Between you and me, the mayor snuck your place into the budget by mixing it in with, quote, ‘a long-overdue update to Mystic Station’s amenities,’ unquote.” Sanders grinned. “Sneaky guy, the mayor.” He scribbled out a number, then ripped the page out and handed it to me. “Whenever you get a place to stay for a while, you call that number and schedule the ‘repairs’,” he finished, making air quotes.

I nodded carefully.

Iota raised a hand. “I suspect that there is shady business occurring here.”

“Yeah, but it’s in our favor,” I said casually. “Try not to mention it in public. Or at all.” I wonder if I could get solar panels hooked up, or if that was too much to ask. Maybe I could suggest it to the Mayor during Tails’s award ceremony. A green initiative, or something.

“Anyway, that’s all from me,” Sanders said, turning to leave. “Try not to wait too long before setting it up, and all that.”

Somewhere to stay… I really did need to call my folks, then. They’d be stoked to meet Humi.

I followed Sanders out. “Thanks for the news. I’ll call soon.”

“News… Oh, right, I almost forgot.” Sanders snapped his fingers and partially unzipped his coveralls, reaching into some inside pocket and pulling out a small envelope, which he passed to me. “The Mayor asked me to hand it to you before I came out this way.”

With that, he left, walking through the trees muttering about giving us a proper driveway, leaving me with the letter.

I opened it up curiously, wondering what the Mayor wanted.

Dear Mr. Fiver,

If you’ve received this letter, you’ve already seen that I’m working on half of your request. This letter pertains to the other half. At your earliest opportunity, report to City Hall to pick up the certificate of adoption.

From the office of Mayor Gildenhall

I read over the letter twice. It was short. More of a missive, really, but it still took me a minute to recognize what it was saying.

“Hey, you!” Humi called from the door. “Is he gone yet?”

I folded the letter and stuck it in my pocket. “He’s gone. And you were quite rude to our guest, you know.”

“I wasn’t expecting him! And why are you grinning so wide?”

“Oh, nothing,” I said, forcing my expression back under control. “I’ll tell you later.”

I’d go and get it first thing in the morning.

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

Two Months, Two Weeks

“Congratulations, Tails,” I said, clapping.

“An impressive showing, Mister Miles.”

“Now we’ve both got matching Emeralds!”

Tails rubbed his neck, sheepishly, holding his reward with his other hand. “Thanks, guys. I’m glad you could make it.”

“As if we had anything better to do,” I said with a smirk.

Today was the day of Tails’s award ceremony. Mayor Gildenhall made a huge speech about his service to Station Square, and once it was over the kid genius was swarmed by well-wishers and grateful people eager to shake hands with the town hero.

It was pretty clearly overwhelming after a while, so we went up to save him. Iota was still given a wide berth by the citizens, even if they’d started getting used to him, so once we showed up to say hello, the crowd thinned out fast.

Tails held up the yellow Emerald, and it twinkled in the afternoon sun. “I wonder how they found it?”

“Probably the same way I did,” Humi said dismissively, evidently not bothered by the question. She pulled her own Emerald out of thin air and clicked it against Tails’ like she was making a toast.

“So Tails,” I said, putting on an announcer voice. I mimed a microphone and held my hand up to his face. “You saved Station Square and became a local hero! What are you going to do next?”

His smile dimmed. “I’m… probably going to take Gamma and move to my other lab in Emerald Town.”

I blinked. Humi’s smile fell. “What? Why?” she asked.

He grimaced as we started toward the train station. “I finally figured out what’s wrong with him. It turns out that… he’s designed to run his adaptive programming--the part of Gamma that is Gamma--on wetware.”

Iota beeped alarmingly. “That IS problematic.”

I frowned. “Wetware… Wait, isn’t that sci-fi talk for, like--”

“An organic brain,” Tails confirmed. “I found a zip file that won’t trigger itself to open unless there’s a Flicky in the battery chamber, and a little digging into the code notes told me that Eggman was experimenting with using wetware to add an element of spontaneity to his AI.” He took a breath. “It explains why he was so easily able to rewrite his own programming to disobey Eggman. But now it means that Gamma’s mind is locked up tight.”

Iota leaned down. “Query: So the only way to free him is to trap something else?” He huffed. “From what I’ve heard, my brother would never allow that.”

“He wouldn’t, no,” I agreed.

Humi’s brow furrowed. “But can you fix it?”

“I… think so.” The fox didn’t sound entirely certain. “But my equipment at the workshop isn’t up to the job. I need a better computer, better tools. My PC at Emerald Town is better than anything I could put together here.”

Humi nodded, understanding. “So you’ve got to leave.”

“Pretty soon,” he confirmed. “The sooner I get to work, the sooner I can keep my promise to fix him.”

I saw Humi hesitate. Then she pulled Tails into a quick hug that caught both of them off guard. “It was nice hanging out with you.”

Tails laughed. “It’s not like it’s forever! It’s just until Gamma is up and running! Besides, I have too much fun working with you to never do it again!”

I looked away with a smile. Then I sobered up and said, “It’s probably for the best, anyway. I’ve been procrastinating, but I really need to set up those renovations to our home, so we’ll be gone for a while too.”

Humi blinked, looking up at me. “We will?”

“Yeah, I figure we’ll stay with my parents in Central while it’s going on.” I clapped. “And hey, Emerald Town is a suburb of Central, so we might end up running into each other anyway.”

Humi looked happier at that.

“I will need to borrow your phone one more time, to call them, Tails.”

“Of course!”

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

…rrrrrring…rrrrring…rrrrring… “You’ve reached the Fiver residence. We’re not available at the moment, so please leave a message after the beep.”

BEEP

I sighed, but it wasn’t really unexpected. It wasn’t a number they’d know after all.

“Hey Mom, Dad, it’s me, Hayden. Sorry for not calling you for a while, but I’ve got a thing happening and I might need to--”

-click- “Hayden? Is that you?”

Oh, good. “Hey, Mom. Is my old room still set up?”

“What?”

“It’s okay if I visit for a while, right?”

“Hayden Ulysses Fiver, WHAT do you think you’re doing?!”

I held the receiver away from my ear, perplexed. “I’m calling you?”

“I have been WORRIED SICK for TWO MONTHS, and never heard anything from you, and you have the nerve to call me up, casual as you please, like nothing’s wrong? I thought you were DEAD!”

I blinked, glancing at Humi. I watched as her face shifted from shock at hearing the yelling to glee as she slowly realized, as I did, that I might be in trouble. “What are you talking about? I called you… uh, a week after the disaster? I would have done it sooner but that’s how long it took me to find a working phone--”

“What on earth are you talking about, you never called!”

“Yes I did!” I hesitated. “Didn’t I? I could have sworn…”

Wait, no… I remember… I started to call her, and then got interrupted by the call from the mayor’s secretary. Oops.

“No you didn’t! Dev--Devon! Hayden is on the phone! He’s fine! You are fine, aren’t you?”

“I’m doing pretty good, actually--”

I winced as she huffed into the speaker. “And you forgot all about your poor, terrified parents.”

I heard a clack as she set the phone down a little harder than necessary. I could picture, in my mind’s eye, her pacing around the kitchen angrily rambling gibberish to herself, too mad to make words. I… might be in trouble.

“...Son?”

I sighed. “Hey Dad. Sorry about all this.”

“I’m just glad to hear you’re okay.”

“Thanks Dad. Listen, I really did think I already called you.”

“I believe you. Maybe now you’ll invest in a cell phone.”

“I don’t need a--well, okay, it would have been useful in this specific situation, but listen. I called because I’m--” I paused, considering how to phrase this. “The place I’ve been staying is being renovated after the destruction, and I need to crash somewhere while it’s ongoing.”

“Well of course we’d be glad to have you back for a while. Your mother will definitely be glad to see you in person after… all that.”

“There’s one caveat, though… My uh… roommates… also need a place to stay, and I might have promised them they could come with me?” I winced to myself. I had no idea how I was going to explain Humi to Mom and Dad. Iota might be the easier one to explain, actually. 

“...”

“Sorry.”

“...We’ll talk about this when you get here. When are you coming?”

I let out a breath. “I’ll take the train out to Central first thing tomorrow.”

“That’s not a lot of time to prep the guest room.”

“That won’t be a problem. One of them’s probably going to share a room with me, and the other will be happy in the garage.”

“What?”

He sounded incredulous, and I mentally replayed what I’d just said with a wince. “Listen, it’ll make sense once you see them. I’d explain over the phone but it’s a really long story and you’ll probably want to hear it in person. Otherwise you might get too worked up.”

“Did you get yourself in some kind of trouble, Hayden?”

Oh crap, he was worried. Dad almost never called me by name unless he was serious. “Kinda sorta.” Maybe I should give some token explanation, actually, otherwise it was going to be a really awkward meeting--

“...This better be one heck of a story. See you tomorrow afternoon.”

He hung up on me. Yeah, he was definitely serious. I guess they’d just have to see for themselves.

I put the phone down and turned to see Humi smirking at me. “Heyu’s in trouble…”

“Hush you. We’ve got to pack, unless you want the renovators messing with your stuff.”

She giggled and ran off, and I sighed.

Oh gaia, I was going to have to introduce Humi to my mom. That was going to be a headache and a half.

Well, it was locked in now. Nothing to it but to do it, so let’s hop to it…