Back to Chapter 14

The following week, Sonic found himself strolling through the Green Hill Zone, taking in the sun and the fresh air. Curious as to what Doctor Kintobor might be up to, Sonic gravitated in the direction of the hidden laboratory. It was a particularly lovely day, with the sun shining extra bright, unfiltered due to the lack of cloud coverage in the sky. This extra brightness saw Sonic’s eyes caught by light reflecting off a shiny, metallic surface. Sonic turned to look in the direction of the glare and was drawn in by his curiosity.

Walking over to the strange object, Sonic tried to work out what it was. It was similar in design to a street lamp. In fact, on a second look, Sonic realised that’s essentially what the object appeared to be, though he didn’t imagine it would offer much in the way of illumination at night time as the spherical bulb was blue. The lamp, if indeed it was one, wasn’t very much taller than Sonic, only a foot or so separated them. Not especially tall and not especially bright, this strange thing wouldn’t light up anything beyond a very small area if turned on.

Sonic, now fully baffled by this bizarre machine, inspected it a little further. Its base was a shiny metal, with reflective yellow and silver stripes. The thin arm that held the bulb up looked similar to polished stainless steel. Affixed about half way up the arm was what appeared to be a sort of insignia depicting a star. Sonic reached up to run his fingers across this star shape and noticed the bulb wobbled ever so slightly. He took a step back then, seeing there was no danger, moved forward again. Sonic reached out to the star and touched it. Nothing happened.

Sonic shrugged, gave up and walked away. As he turned to leave, however, Sonic banged his elbow on the street lamp.

“Owch!” Sonic yelped, rubbing his elbow. He didn’t have long to feel sorry for himself, however, as he spotted the bulb began to move. It didn’t fall off, rather it sort of swung underneath its own axis, held in place by some sort of gear or wheel. Making a “ding-dong” sort of noise, the bulb swung down to the bottom of a loop and then back up again. After repeating this motion, the bulb clunked into place. The only difference was it was now red instead of blue.

Sonic furrowed his brow. This was rather odd. Curious, he gave the post a slight shake.

Nothing.

The bulb was now firmly fixed in place.

How strange.

Shrugging once more, Sonic walked off and carried onward towards Doctor Kintobor’s lab. He’d been feeling rather energetic all morning but he had to admit whalloping his elbow like that had sort of took the wind out of his sails. As if feeling a bit more mindful of himself, Sonic carried onward at a slower pace towards Kintobor’s facility.

***

Popping open the hatch and climbing into the lab, Sonic was surprised by what he saw. Dozens upon dozens of monitors were staring back at him. Some showed camera readouts, some displayed data and some were exhibiting various entertainment channels. Sonic liked TV as much as the next guy but he thought this was a bit much- nobody could watch this many channels at once, not even a super-brain like Kintobor.

“Ah, Sonic!” the doctor’s delighted voice rang out as he walked into view, “I’m glad to see you! I was beginning to worry I’d scared you off!”

“Not me, doc,” Sonic replied, “Though I’d love to know what’s going on with all these TV sets”

Kintobor let out an amused sort of snort-laugh, “No, no, my dear boy, these aren’t televisions! They’re computer monitors!”

Sonic looked again. He could see the doc was right.

“So, what, you’re hosting an enormous game party?” Sonic quizzed.

“These monitors are more than just screens, Sonic. They’re computers! The whole motherboard is stored within the design!” Kintobor said, patting his hand on top of one of them, “They’re all part of my brilliant information relay network! Or, rather they will be once they’re fully installed! The truly marvellous thing is this--”

Kintobor spun around a monitor that was standing alone on the floor. He pointed at a reflective panel that was located where the power cable would usually attach.

“That’s a funny looking power cord,” Sonic admitted.

“Oh, you’re so right it’s marvellous!” Kintobor cheered, “This is a small solar panel, Sonic. It collects the sun’s rays and converts them into power! These computers don’t need to be attached to a power source- they run off the sun’s rays! And, yes, of course, they’re totally weatherproof, can survive in a vacuum and submersible to a depth of three-hundred metres! They’re practically indestructible!”

Sonic reached up to prod at one of the monitors that was stacked atop two others. The stack gave a wobble and the top monitor fell to the floor, bursting open in a flash of light with a “pow” noise.

“Whoops,” Sonic shrunk away sheepishly.

“Yes, well, I did say practically. Unfortunately they’re not shockproof and a good whack like that will still crack them open. But to a lover of the classics such as I am, I do so love the art of percussive maintenance!”

“Percussive what?” Sonic asked.

Kintobor looked at a monitor that had a wobbly reception. He gave it a smack and the picture straightened up, “It means if you hit it, it fixes it”

Sonic stepped over the broken monitor, “Hey, doc, I saw a weird street light outside. You know science stuff, do you know what it is?”

“Oh, you must mean the Star Post!” Kintobor exclaimed, “Yes, well those can be found all over Mobius. Different designs, different looks. My theory is an ancient culture created them and the differing designs represent off-shoots of that culture as it spread across the globe. There are quite a few scattered throughout the Green Hill Zone, you know. The one unifying factor is they all bear a star emblem somewhere on the design. Naturally hence the name, Star Post!”

“But what do they do?” Sonic pressed the issue.

“Well, nobody’s quite sure if they do anything at all! I’ve certainly never seem them do anything in particular”

“I bumped into the one I saw and the bulb on top spun round and turned from blue to red”

“Really?!” Kintobor’s eyes widened, “You’re not having me on?”

“Totally serious, doc”

“Sonic, in all my testing, those bulbs have never once moved. What did you do?”

“I banged my elbow on it”

“Well, yes, I must admit I never tried that, but it seems unlikely your elbow is the key”

“So it’s just a weird street lamp after all?”

“So far as I can tell,” Kintobor shrugged, “My tests have proven inconclusive thus far, I’m afraid. Now! To business!”

“Business?”

“Yes! Your good friend and mine, Charles, tells me you have some quite remarkable speed skills- is that right?”

“Well, not to brag or anything, but yeah,” Sonic bragged.

“Marvellous! Sonic, I wonder if I could impose upon you a favour. Would you be willing to deliver these monitors to locations across South Island?”

“Doc, there must be at least fifty of these things here! How am I supposed to deliver a shipment of that size and weight?”

“You’re not,” Kintobor smiled, “Because we’re going to reduce the size and weight first!”

Kintobor reached into a nearby desk drawer and pulled out what looked like a sci-fi blaster.

“Woah, easy now, I didn’t say I won’t help!” Sonic protested.

“It’s alright, Sonic, this isn’t a gun! It’s a shrink ray! It’s a prototype, a fellow scientist from Equinox Labs is working on the finished thing. You see, if I zap these monitors like so—”

Kintobor gave the monitors a burst from the shrink ray. After a second or two, they began to grow smaller.

“…then they’ll shrink like so!” Kintobor picked up the now-tiny pile of monitors and scooped them into a bag full of hundreds more like them.

Sonic raised an eyebrow, “Much of a call for miniaturised computers is there?”

“Ah, well, that’s why we’re using the prototype. After a few hours, the effects wear off and the monitors return to regular size. Not fit for what Equinox need but perfectly suited for my purposes. I’ve already had bags like this sent across the globe, South Island is the only place left I need to cover.

“What are these monitors for anyway?” Sonic enquired.

“As I said, they’re a computer relay. I’m hoping any Mobian will be able to use them to pass on information across the world. More specifically, I’m hoping they’ll input information on the whereabouts of the missing grey Chaos Emerald”

Sonic grasped the doctor’s intentions, “So you can find the location of the emerald without leaving the comfort of your lab!”

“Quite so!” Kintobor looked as though he might dance with joy.

“Well then, there’s no time to lose! If we have a few hours before those monitors return to their normal size, it looks like the Sonic the Hedgehog Whirlwind Tour of South Island is about to get underway!”

***

Over the course of the next couple of hours, Sonic found himself enjoying a bit of sightseeing. Admittedly, he hadn’t been able to fully take in the scenery as much as he usually liked to, but he loved discovering new locations. In one direction from the Green Hill Zone, stretched the Bridge Zone and its beautiful clear, blue waters. Across the final bridge in the Zone was the Jungle Zone, full of lush forestry and vibrant plants. In the other direction from Green Hill Zone was the Marble Zone, a forgotten civilisation left empty by the ancients that had left it. The Spring Yard Zone was an amusement park spanning an entire city created in more recent times, with flashing lights, neon signs and plenty of fun things to bounce around on- Sonic enjoyed that one. All these Zones and plenty more in between and around them gave Sonic a grand tour of South Island that showed him the length and breadth of what he could find on Mobius.

In each Zone he visited, Sonic had done his best to ensure the monitors were placed away from anywhere they might cause any problems when they expanded to their regular size. He’d done his best to avoid houses and busy walkways, usually preferring patches of grass as safe spots to leave the computers.

“By my estimation, Sonic, you should be in the last Zone on the list by now,” Kintobor’s voice piped up.

Sonic looked down at the wristwatch Kintobor had given him. On the watch face was Kintobor’s smiling visage. A watch and a video phone all in one- now that was smart.

“The Star Light Zone,” Sonic responded, taking in his surroundings.

“Oh, now, we should get some really good readings there! The power panels should be able to take in lots of solar and lunar light. You know, they say the stars in the night sky shine so brightly it’s like a second daytime!”

“So… what’s with all the street lights?” Sonic asked.

“Well, it gets cloudy too you know!”

“How much longer before these things start getting a bit heavier, doc?” Sonic asked.

“I estimate you have around ten minutes to drop off the remaining monitors,” Kintobor replied.

“Ten minutes? Well, it doesn’t leave much time but I’ll—”

“Wait, sorry,” Kintobor interjected. He smacked something off screen with the palm of his hand, “Five minutes. Faulty readout”

“Percussive maintenance, huh?” Sonic gave a sigh.

“Sorry,” Kintobor smiled sheepishly as he shrugged.

“Time to move things up a gear or two, methinks,” Sonic said to himself, starting running off at speed.

The Star Light Zone seemed to be built for Sonic to take advantage of his speed. There were ample places for him to get a good run-up, including some loop-de-loops not unlike those in the Green Hill Zone, albeit made of metal instead of natural formations. As he placed the remaining monitors high and low, springing off seesaws in the children’s playpark to reach higher ledges, utilising the training Sally had given him, Sonic couldn’t help but think it was remarkable how different areas of the same island had developed in different ways, some preferring a more down-to-earth habitat, whereas others embraced technology more strongly.

Suddenly, Sonic found himself slowing. The monitors were expanding, dragging behind him as they grew. Sonic took a peek in the back. Three monitors. Not bad. He took the last three computers out and placed them next to one another as they reached their normal size. This could be one of those cyber-cafes he’d heard about.

“Sonic, are you there?” Kintobor’s voice came from the watch once more, “According to my readings, the monitors should all be full-sized now”

“I’m here, doc. I had to place the last three next to one another but all in all I think this has been a pretty successful trip”

“Oh, well done, Sonic, I must say, simply marvellous job! Now, bring yourself back home and I’ll start linking the relay together!”

“Roger, doc. See you shortly,” Sonic waved a thumbs-up at the watch screen. Putting on a burst of speed, Sonic raced back the way he came.

It was quite close to the Star Light Zone border that Sonic heard a familiar “ding-dong” noise. He screeched to a halt and looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, there was a Star Post, its bulb now lit up red. The wind being blown through Sonic’s slipstream must have spun the bulb, or so Sonic reasoned.

Sonic took another look. Something was different. The Star Post crackled with a weird sort of energy. Tiny stars danced around it. Sonic found himself mesmerised, unable to turn away by sheer force of curiosity. They say curiosity killed the cat, but Sonic was a hedgehog and he was faster than any cat anyway. Sonic walked up to the Star Post and peered at the stars. As they spun around one another, he thought he saw a glimpse of… somewhere familiar.

Sonic took another step towards the Star Post. The large bag Kintobor had given him containing the monitors now flapped empty at his feet. Unwittingly, Sonic tripped over the bag and fell into the dancing stars.

Sonic landed on his backside. He looked up. There was the Star Post. No dancing stars.

And no Star Light Zone.

Sonic was back in the Green Hill Zone.

Somehow, Sonic had managed to wind up back in front of the Star Post that had caught his attention that morning. This was extremely weird.

Sonic jogged back to Kintobor’s lab and clambered in through the hatch.

“Crikey, that was fast!” Kintobor said, impressed.

“I found a shortcut, doc,” Sonic replied, still not understanding what had just happened.

“A shortcut?” Kintobor was puzzled, “What do you mean?”

“I found a Star Post. I ran past it and I figure the wind from my slipstream blew the bulb over and turned it red. But then this sort of ring of dancing stars emanated from it. I tripped over your bag- oh, you can have that back, by the way- fell through and landed at the foot of the Star Post I saw this morning”

“Dancing stars… of course…” Kintobor’s jaw slowly dropped as he pieced it together, “That’s why the ancient texts call them Star Posts! Not because of their design! How foolish of me! You could design them to look however you want! They’re called Star Posts because of the stars they give off when activated!”

“What do you mean activated?” Sonic was struggling to keep up.

“Sonic- you turned the bulb on the Star Post red this morning. Then you did the same to the one in the Star Light Zone! Don’t you see?! The Star Posts are a gateway between Zones! If we can activate some more of them, we can experiment further to be sure, but I think in activating both of those Star Posts, you created a link between the two of them! Because those two were the only active Star Posts, you simply teleported from one location to the other! Sonic, this is an incredible breakthrough that will change transportation across Mobius! If we can fully understand this, Mobians may be able to travel across the galaxies!”

Sonic wasn’t quite sure what to say, “That’s… wow”

“That’s very wow, my boy! Ha-haa!”

“I think you may need to write this down to bring me up to speed, doc”

“…speed? Speed! Of course! It’s so obvious! Sonic, you’re brilliant!” Kintobor leapt up and down with delight.

“Well, thanks, but what did I do?”

“Your speed, Sonic! That was the key! You have the remarkable ability to run faster than anyone else, correct?”

“That’s true,” Sonic nodded.

“But I’ve been monitoring your movements this afternoon- you can turn and stop instantly- just like that!” Kintobor snapped his fingers.

“So?”

“So,” Kintobor continued, “All known laws of energy distribution, conservation and conversion would dictate that that speed energy can’t just disappear or dissipate! It has to go somewhere! Every time you make a quick turn a sudden stop, Sonic, that speed energy is stored within you! Have you ever noticed anything peculiar after you’ve been for a run?”

“Well, sometimes my spines stand on end. But I thought that was just static or something”

“Sort of, it’s a similar principle! But you’re not storing static, you’re storing pure speed energy!”

“But I wasn’t even moving at speed when I activated the first Star Post”

“No, but you’d been storing that energy already- when you hit your elbow on the Star Post, the energy discharged. It’s not speed itself that activates the Star Posts- it’s speed energy!!”

Sonic was a little confused but he was happy his friend was having a good time of things.

“Sonic, we need to run some tests. Do you mind if I test your speed?”

“Go for it!” Sonic smiled, surely he’d understand that kind of experiment!

“Thank you! Now, first things first, we need to—” Kintobor looked down at Sonic’s feet, “Have you been running in those this whole time?”

Sonic looked down at his battered trainers, “Well, yeah”

“With untied laces?”

“Does it make a difference?”

Kintobor’s eyed widened, “Sonic, I don’t think you’ve begun to tap into your speed”

Kintobor practically bounded over to a drawing table and pulled across a fresh sheet of blueprint paper. Scrawling and scribbling notes, making his swooping motions with his pen, Kintobor put together a design.

Finally, Kintobor stood up and rolled the blueprint up, “Sonic, I need you to take these to Charles. Tell him I want to make use of his expertise in invention. Let him know that any funds required will be covered by Lady Agnes. We’re on the edge of a breakthrough that will change the face of Mobius, Sonic. But to leap over that edge, we need Charles to bring this design to life”

Sonic took the blueprint from Kintobor, “What have you designed?”

Kintobor stood up straight, “I’ve designed you some new trainers”

On to Chapter 16