Hop To It - Adventure 10

“So rings make you faster,” I said, as we walked back towards the cape. “And Robotnik--”

“Eggman,” both Amy and Humi said at the same time.

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. “So Doctor Mustache uses the rings in his robots to… do what? Do they generate power?”

“Fweet! Twee!”

Amy held up a hand for the bird to sit on. “Birdie says that Flickies like power rings because they energize them.”

“Chirp.”

Amy’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“What’d he say?”

“He said rings have a tiny amount of Chaos Energy in them and they spring up wherever Chaos Emeralds have been used in the past.”

Right, the Chaos Emeralds. Honestly I was still trying to wrap my mind around that one. I barely knew what they were, but I knew they were a big deal. Were there only seven? What exactly could they do? What could rings do if they were connected?

I’ve always been a curious person. I like knowing how things work, and why; once when I was younger, I wanted to grow up to be a scientist of some description. I didn’t like thinking about it these days, but even if the dream had faded I still liked to read and learn.

And this business with Chaos energy? Well, that was practically magic, wasn’t it? What I wouldn't give to know more about it. At any rate it was a nice distraction from everything else going on.

I pulled a ring out my pocket and looked it over, as if I could discern something from it just by observation. While I was focused on that, Humi leaned out of the backpack.

“How did you end up with a Chaos Emerald in the first place, anyway, Birdie?” Humi asked. She sounded a little subdued for some reason.

Birdie launched into a long, colorful medley telling a tale of great valor, showing off his locket with the picture inside and miming scenes of combat that were quite impressive for being performed with wings.

I mostly didn't pay attention, I'll admit. My mind started wandering. I touched on it earlier but, as far as I knew, there was still a crisis going on. What happened to my boss, Tory? Was I still going to have a job after all this? And I had friendly acquaintances among my customers, too. Were they okay?

Wait, I had someone here who might know, didn't I? "Hey Amy."

"Hm?" She looked up from translating for Birdie. "What is it?"

"You came in on the train this morning, right? What's the state of things in the Square?" I turned the ring over in my hand. Experimentally, I slipped it on one of my fingers. It was too big to stay put, but they came in different sizes, didn't they?

"Oh! People were scared but mostly okay!" Amy said. "A couple streets got closed off for being unsafe, but everything was fine as far as I knew." She frowned in thought. "I think Tails mentioned a missile from Eggman that didn't work."

A missile? What did blowing up the city get him, anyway? Still, I guess it was good to know. "Do you know what streets are closed?" Maybe my apartment was fine after all.

"I don't, sorry."

Rats. Still, it was a load off my mind. Maybe now I could stop worrying myself over it.

​"Shame. Ah well. We're almost there, so--" My ears twitched. "I hear something."

Humi leaned on my head, pointing her own ears forward. "What is it?"

​"It sounds like..." I started running. "It sounds like gunfire."

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

We sprinted down the path, and I almost ran right into a human dressed all in khaki.

“Oh, excuse me!” the man said.

I almost ignored him, but then I realized who he was. “Hey, you’re one of the archaeologists.” I was wondering why we hadn’t run into any of them yet. 

The older man with drooping eyebrows was ambling towards the jungle without much hurry. This struck me as odd, since as we were standing there the two more younger men were running past us in a hurry. He raised one of his impressive brows as he took us in. “I say, young man, that looks just like the new vest I ordered.”

I started sweating. “Huh, we must have similar tastes. Uh, nevermind that, what’s happening?”

“Hm? Oh, there’s a kerfuffle by the station,” he said dismissively. “Quite rude, they interrupted my lunch.”

Humi popped over my shoulder. “Who did?”

“A large feline and tin man, or some such--oh, my word.”

I pushed past him, Amy pulling ahead of me easily.

We finally made it past the cliff faces and I saw Big fighting one of Eggman’s elites, a red robot just like Iota. The number on its side said E-102, though I couldn’t remember offhand what the symbol was. The second letter would be Beta, wouldn’t it?

Big swung his fishpole, and the hook latched onto a rock and swung it around like a flail in one of the least likely things I think I’ve ever seen. The robot used the gun that made up its right hand to deflect the blow and fired at Big’s feet, forcing him to scramble backwards. I found myself tilting my head, though I couldn’t figure out why until Humi made a confused sound on my head.

“Huh, the robot is missing on purpose?” she pointed out.

It was? It was. That was odd. 

Humi started loading her air cannon anyway, and I tucked the ring back into my pocket. “Want a new trophy, Humi?”

“Boy, do I!”

“Okay, let’s--”

“WAIT!”

Amy sped in out of nowhere and got right between 102 and Big. The cat almost failed to pull his attack before it hit her, but more surprising was the robot wrapping an arm around her and putting itself between her and the fishhook.

Big stumbled from the momentum of his swing. “Whu-huh?”

“This is my friend, Gamma!” Amy declared.

I walked over and put a hand on my hip. “Come again?”

“When Eggman captured me and Birdie, Gamma set us free!”

“Affirmative.”

I blinked. Eta’s voice had been toneless and flat, like you’d expect a machine to. Iota’s voice had almost been natural, but lacked inflection. It had sounded like someone had recorded a bunch of words and arranged them to form sentences. Gamma, however, while it sounded like Iota in general, almost sounded like a person speaking through a filter. It had character.

“And you!” Amy said, whirling on Gamma. “Am I gonna have to save you from ALL my friends?”

“I was defending myself.”

Big pointed an accusatory finger. “Dat’s the robot dat took Froggy away from me!”

“Ribbit!”

Amy frowned and turned to face the robot. “Is that true?”

“Yes,” Gamma confirmed. It paused. “I apologize. I was under orders, and had not yet realized the error of my actions. I hope I did not cause any lasting distress.”

Big squinted. He walked right up to the robot, who stood just a little taller than him, and looked it in the eyes.

Gamma stared back, its lack of expression providing no insight into what it was thinking, but Big must have seen something I missed, because he nodded and relaxed, holding out his hand. Gamma accepted, and they shook.

“Okay. I’d rather make friends than enemies anyway, right Froggy?” Big asked. The frog croaked in what I almost thought was an uncertain manner.

Humi jumped out of my backpack and stepped over. Next to Gamma, it really put into perspective just how small she really was, and I followed her in a hurry, ready to pull her back just in case Amy was wrong.

Gamma met my eyes for a split second. Despite the green glass, it really felt like it--no, it felt like he really had something going on behind those lenses. Then his gaze passed from me to Humi, having to bend at the waist to even look at her.

“You are very small.”

She puffed her cheeks out. “Maybe you’re just huge!”

“...Also possible.”

I looked at Amy, who was just watching with a smile.

“You really turned your back on Eggman?” Humi asked.

Gamma nodded. “The Doctor is cruel, and must be stopped. Rescue of E-Series robots underway.”

“Rescue?” Amy said, delighted. “You mean more of Eggman’s robots want to turn away from him? That’s wonderful!”

Gamma didn’t answer. My eyes narrowed.

“What about the Critters inside, though?” I asked.

Gamma looked at me again. “...Rescue is underway.”

Amy’s smile fell, though she didn’t seem to catch on to what he was saying. Big, surprisingly, did, judging by the way his tail lashed.

Humi either ignored or didn’t catch the implication, because before I could stop her she was climbing Gamma like a jungle gym and parking herself on his shoulder. “So, hypothetically, if I kept a robot head from when we beat Iota, would I be able to rebuild him and--”

I reached up and plucked her off the robot, tucking her back in the pack. “That’s enough, thank you,” I said firmly. “Where did you even learn the word ‘hypothetical?’”

“I know lots of words! Besides, I took loads of robot parts, I could do it!”

“Let’s shelve this discussion for later,” Never, “Because if you’ll remember, we’ve got a mission.”

The idea of letting Humi build a robot was unnerving. Not least because of the possibility that she might actually manage it. Iota could have killed us!

She pouted, though calling it a mission made her perk up a bit. “Okay, we’ll talk about it later, Mr. Gamma!”

Gamma’s head swivelled to follow her as I walked to the station. “...Later.”

“Alright,” I said. “How are we getting to the Carrier?”

“There’s a raft at the bottom of the stairs,” Amy said. “It’s probably big enough for all of us.”

…

It was not. With me, Amy, and Big all standing on it, it was a tight squeeze.

Gamma looked down at us from the dock. “I will find my own way.”

“Are you sure?” Amy asked.

Instead of answering verbally, Gamma crouched and unfolding, extending propeller blades. After a moment to warm up, he took off and started flying away. It wasn’t a fast method of travel, but it got the job done.

Humi whined. “If I’d known that was an option--”

I put a hand on her head. “Somehow I doubt the robot has seat belts for mice, Humi.”

She huffed. “Fiiine.”

I didn’t want her having a falling scare again.

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

With me and Big doing the rowing, we made a pretty good turn of speed. Good enough that we didn’t lose sight of Gamma, anyway.

As the Egg Carrier came into view, I couldn’t help but gasp. The ship was enormous, an island unto itself!

“Hard to believe this thing ever got airborne,” I said, feeling faintly awed.

“Wait, is that the ship we saw yesterday?” Humi asked.

I nodded. “Must be. I’d be shocked if Robotnik had two of these things. How did it go down, anyway?”

“...You know, I’m not sure,” Amy admitted. “Big?”

He shrugged. “It blew up. Dunno why.”

Well, alright then.

“Hey, you?”

“Who, me?”

Humi smiled slightly. “Are you…”

I waited. After a few seconds where she didn’t continue, I looked over my shoulder at her. “Am I what?”

She fidgeted. “When this is… over…” She grunted. “...I want to show you something.”

“Ominous,” I said, trying to raise the mood a little. “Should I be worried?”

“It’s not something bad!” she said quickly. “I promise.”

“Humi?” I frowned, because obviously that was worrying, but we were nearing the little dock someone had set up by the Egg Carrier, and I needed to focus on helping Big steer. Now wasn’t a good time to have a heart-to-heart. “Alright. Later, you can show me anything you want.”

“Okay.”

Big pulled us onto the dock and tied the raft down. Amy climbed the ladder first.

The cat stared at me. Or, rather, I think he was staring into space and I was just in the way. “Rabbit?”

I blinked. “I’m a hare, actually, but yes?”

Big scratched his ear. “When you were in da jungle, did you run into any ghosts?”

“Did I--what?” I shared a look with Humi, who looked just as confused.

“Guess not. Nevermind then.” Big started climbing, leaving me and Humi at the bottom.

Ghosts? Were there ghosts now? Why not at this point? Nevermind, don’t worry about it. Instead, I reached up and grabbed Humi’s hand. “Hey, seriously, are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured me. “Let’s find Birdie’s friends.”

With a nod, I climbed the ladder. Pretty soon I was on the deck with the others, including Gamma who was pacing around the deck.

“So!” I clapped my hands. “What’s the plan, gang?”

Gamma stopped and faced us. “E-series must be rescued. Zeta and Beta are on this vessel. Once they are saved, mission will be complete.”

Humi leaned into my ear. “What about Eta?”

“Maybe not the best time to bring it up,” I told her. “We should finish the current task before planning another.” I frowned. “Actually, Amy, what happened with the one chasing you?”

“That thing?” Amy scowled and looked to the sky. “It’s probably still around. I gave it the slip at Eggman’s base, but it’s been so annoyingly persistent so far! Some people just don’t know when to quit.”

Gamma shook his head. “ZERO will show up, or it won’t. If it does, it will be dealt with.”

…What was I even doing here? Between Amy, Big and Gamma they had all the firepower they needed. I should be playing cribbage with Humi back at the hideaway. She was feeling down for some reason, and instead of cheering her up I was here, on the ruined airship of a diseased mind. The only reason I was here was because I still didn’t like the idea of Amy going off on her own--wait.

“Hey Big, out of curiosity, how old are you?”

Big blinked at the unexpected question and started counting on his fingers. “Uh… six--no, seventeen winters.”

“That’s almost adult supervision…” I muttered.

“Wuh?”

“Nevermind. Hey Humi, while these guys hunt down killer robots, want to continue ruining Robotnik’s stuff?”

The mouse perked up. “Sure! But are you sure they don’t need our help?”

I glanced at Amy, who had tuned out the conversation and was talking with Gamma. “I think they’ll be fine. Besides, if we split up we’ll cover more ground.”

“Okay, if you say so.” She smirked. “Maybe I can find more robot parts for Iota.”

I groaned, but at least she was smiling. “Good, we have a plan. Amy!”

“Hm?”

“We’re going on ahead! We’ll meet up with you again in a little bit, okay?”

She waved happily. “Alright! Be careful!”

“I think that’s my line, young lady,” I said, turning towards the bridge. Gamma opened up a hatch on the deck and he and Amy descended into the hull. Big… took out his fishing rod and started casting into the water. Play to our strengths, I suppose. “Hey big guy, can you hold onto any mechanical parts you fish up.?”

“Okey.”

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

The Final Egg was a hideous mish-mash of parts. I rather suspected that it had been assembled from whatever parts could be found, put together not by an initial plan but growing as needs arose. From the outside, it was impressive, but on the inside it was just a bunch of nonsense. Granted, I only saw a comparatively small part of it, but once you got past the sheer size of everything it was just kind of ugly.

The Egg Carrier, even in its current state, was not that. It was definitely still Robotnik’s heavy metal aesthetic, but it flowed together much better here. I hated to admit it, but there was an elegance to this space. If it weren’t for his ugly self-referential logo everywhere I could have assumed I’d wandered onto the set of a sci-fi show.

I wondered why he was doing all this. Dr. Robotnik wanted to rule the world, right? But look at what he was able to accomplish! He was either one of the richest men in the world or he was sourcing all of these materials himself, and those amounted to the same thing eventually anyway. The only reason I could think of for wanting to rule the world was to be able to get anything you wanted, and it seemed like he was already capable of that. Actually ruling would be a headache and a half, even for a genius.

So what was all this in aid of?

“Heyu, look at this!”

The lights overhead flickered as Humi tore something out of the wall, and I winced. “Humi, be careful! Don’t touch anything with a live current going through it.”

“Sorry. But look!” She held up a… thing. It was a component of some sort, definitely.

“What is it?” I asked, unable to make heads or tails of it.

“I don’t know!” she said cheerfully. “But it tingles!”

Her fur was slowly standing on end. “Why don’t you find a way to turn that off before you put it in your pocket?” I suggested.

“Okay!” And with that, she dove back into the hole in the wall like the mouse she was, and I followed the sounds over her crawling through the vents.

I was glad she was having fun. Her mood had been swinging back and forth since the Final Egg. That scare in the foundry really shook her, I guess. She seemed bothered back at the hideaway, too. I thought it was just because of having to have Amy in her space, but on reflection I don’t think that’s it. After all, I was also still basically a stranger to her, and she invited me in with no hesitation.

…Actually, that was a problem too, trusting strangers like that, but at least I knew I wasn’t going to do anything to her.

Still, maybe when all this was over I should take her for ice cream or something. Has she even had that before? Oh gosh, that was a depressing thought. We were definitely getting ice cream.

Man these halls needed to be labeled. I guess Robotnik wasn’t expecting anyone but himself and his robots to be here, and since they obviously wouldn’t need a map, there wasn’t going to--oh, wait.

“Humi! Come down here!”

The vent popped open overhead, and Humi dropped down into my pack, making me grunt as the weight suddenly doubled. “I took a fan apart!” she said, waving the blades of said fan around.

“I thought it was getting hotter in here,” I said idly. I pointed. “We’ve got us a map.”

On the wall at the corner of a four-way intersection was a map not dissimilar to one you’d find in a mall. Except it was glowing green, of course. It even included the red star saying You Are Here.

It was that star that I put my finger on now, tracing a path to the bridge. “Looks like we need to keep going and take the next right, and then the stairs on the left will take us to the control room.”

Humi squinted, then turned to me. “Why do we want to go to the control room?”

“He might have computers up there.” I grimaced. “I’m sick of not knowing what’s going on. I want to know what all this was for.”