Embedded Files
Sonic ran back to the village, his feet pounding almost as hard as his heart. This wasn’t his usual sort of run, the confident swoosh, the controlled movements. This was panicked, frantic almost. The sort of run a frightened child would run.
Sonic eventually came to a stop when he saw Porker Lewis sat in a grassy area, minding his own business.
“Porker!” Sonic yelled.
Porker turned to face Sonic, “Sonic? What’s up? You seem upset”
Sonic walked up to his friend, “Porker, there’s been an accident. Something terrible has happened to Doctor Kintobor. I don’t understand it but he was sort of changed somehow”
Porker’s eyes widened, “Is he alright?”
“No. I don’t think so. I think it’s something to do with an experiment he was doing, he wanted to extract evil energy from the planet. I think he might have absorbed it into himself”
“Well, we have to help him!”
Sonic realised Porker was right.
“Sonic, what exactly happened? From what Uncle Chuck says, Doctor Kintobor might be a little easily distracted, but he’s brilliant- he isn’t the kind of person to make mistakes on important experiments”
Sonic suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. Kintobor was easily distracted- and he’d been the one to distract him. All that messing around with the egg and asking for food. If he’d just been a little less impatient… Sonic snapped back to reality.
“Porker, pal,” Sonic started, “I want to help Kintobor. And I know you’re a bit better with science than I am. But it might be dangerous”
Porker shuddered, “D-dangerous?”
Sonic tilted his head slightly. He’d never heard Porker stutter before. Did Porker only stutter when he was frightened? Sonic didn’t like the idea of his friend being afraid. And so, Sonic made a split-second decision that would inform a lot of his actions going ahead.
Sonic buried his own emotions.
“Relax, buddy,” Sonic said coolly, “Everything’s going to be fine. You’ve got me here to help if things get a bit sticky. In fact, I’ll lead the way!”
Sonic instantly regretted saying that, but he couldn’t let Porker worry, could he?
“O-okay, Sonic. That makes me feel a bit better,” Porker replied.
Sonic decided his tactic had worked.
***
A short while later, the two friends arrived at Kintobor’s lab. Sonic had slowed down his walking speed considerably, outwardly so that Porker could keep up but actually because the last thing he wanted to do was return to the lab so soon.
What if Doctor Robotnik was waiting there for them?
Everything seemed so cruel. Sonic had lost everything before he came to the Green Hill Zone. Then he gained so much- friends, parental figures, a genius mentor. And now this. Sonic started to wonder at the back of his mind whether he was allowed to be happy, whether he deserved any of it, if bad things were just supposed to happen to him.
Sonic decided to dismiss those thoughts as unhelpful. Right now he needed to put on a brave face for Porker’s sake.
The two of them arrived at the mountain where the laboratory resided. Porker noted the new holes in the side of the rock face where the Chaos Emeralds had launched themselves out into Mobius’ upper atmosphere.
Sonic walked towards the hole he’d burrowed into the mountain and turned to face Porker, his heart thumping with fear, “Coming?”
“Yeah, I’m c-coming,” Porker responded, slowly following.
Porker was serving as moral support as much as anything as far as Sonic was concerned. It was only now he realised how he was actually potentially endangering Porker’s safety. Sonic wanted to tell Porker the truth but his mouth wouldn’t open; he was just too afraid.
The two friends walked through the tunnel and came to the entrance hatch. Sonic climbed the ladder and turned the wheel on the door. With a clunk, the door unlocked. Sonic hoped Robotnik hadn’t heard that. Slowly, Sonic lifted the hatch a slight way open and peered in. There were no signs of life anywhere in the lab. Sonic opened the hatch and climbed in.
“Hello?” Sonic ventured.
Nothing.
Sonic immediately felt a reassuring wave wash over him. For a fraction of a second, he lost all feeling in his body as a warm, tingly sensation of relief passed over him, before his senses returned to normal. Sonic helped Porker up from the ladder and into the lab.
“It’s okay. No sign of…” Sonic stopped short of saying Robotnik’s name, “No sign of trouble”
Porker surveyed the lab. It was a total mess. Complete and utter disarray. Papers, files, folders, glasses, beakers, nuts, bolts, screws, test tubes, metal panels, computer screens and countless other trinkets and gizmos strewn all over or smashed on the floor. Porker winced.
“Look at this mess!” Porker gasped.
“Coming from a pig, that’s saying something,” Sonic half-smirked.
“You might like living in a pigsty, Sonic,” Porker shot him a wry smile, “but I don’t!”
“I have to admit, I’m not very good at tidying up”
“Yeah, well,” Porker tutted, “I think this one might end up being a group effort…”
“We’ll cancel that tennis tournament Sally planned, shall we?”
“Something like that,” Porker idly replied, still trying to wrap his head around the state of the lab.
“Hello?”
Sonic raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean, hello?”
“I didn’t say hello, Sonic,” Porker responded.
“Is somebody there?” came Doctor Kintobor’s voice.
“Doc?!” Sonic’s eyes threatened to pop out of his head. Maybe he’d imagined it all! Kintobor was alright!
“Sonic, is that you?” Kintobor replied.
“Doc, where are you?” Sonic frantically asked.
“He might be trapped under something, we need to look for him,” Porker advised Sonic.
“Right. Doc, call out!”
“I’m over here, Sonic,” Kintobor answered, “Can you see me? I can’t see a thing!”
“Just keep calling out, Doc, we’ll find you!”
“Okay! This way! Um, whichever way this way is!”
Sonic followed the sound of Kintobor’s voice but couldn’t find any sign of the doctor. As a matter of fact, he was able to check every place the doctor could feasibly be trapped but came up blank.
“Sonic, what’s happening?”
Sonic looked up. There, suspended in the air, was the golden ring that had been powering the R.O.C.C..
“Will somebody tell me what’s going on?” said the ring. In Kintobor’s voice.
Sonic didn’t quite know how to respond. He knew he was very confused. Ultimately, he boiled it down to one question: “Okay, Porker, so when did golden rings start talking?”
“A ring?! What are you talking about?!” asked the ring.
Porker slowly stepped up to the ring and rubbed his chin, fascinated. Porker was pretty smart for a pig and hit on the solution, “Somehow, Doctor Kintobor’s brain patterns have been recorded on this ring”
“Hey!” the ring replied, almost impressed with Porker’s deduction, “I knew something was different!”
Porker turned to look at the bank of computers along the wall. Amazingly, they’d managed to survive the explosion pretty well intact, with only minor scuff and scorch marks to their outer casing. Porker eyed up a power switch and gave it a press. On the screen, the words “KINTOBOR COMPUTER” appeared. Porker navigated a few of the computer’s menus and found an option labelled “Hologram Assistant”, double-clicking it.
In the middle of the computer’s console, a beam of light sprang to life, reaching up to the ceiling. A three-dimensional image of a head began to appear in the beam. Kintobor’s head.
“Doc?” Sonic asked, with some trepidation.
“Greetings! I am the Kintobor Computer,” replied the hologram of Kintobor’s head, “Or, rather, more specifically, I am the hologram assistant designed to make the Kintobor Computer easier to use for less technologically skilled individuals. Hello, Sonic!”
“Cheeky so and so,” Sonic groused.
“Computer,” Porker began, “can you accept a data transfer from a golden ring?”
“A Mobius ring?” the computer asked, “Yes, those rings theoretically have the capacity to store data on them. If you plug the ring into the console, I’ll be able to begin the transfer”
Sonic spotted a power converter on the console, “There, Porker! Clip the ring into that!”
Porker did as Sonic instructed.
“Beginning transfer now,” the computer stated, “This may take a while- here’s some nice music while you wait”
A soothing tune played as a transfer progress bar filled on the computer monitors. Sonic and Porker shared an unsure glance. This was becoming a little bizarre. As the progress bar reached 100%, the music stopped.
“Transfer complete,” the computer announced, “I am now loaded with all data from the ring. Accessing data files”
The hologram blinked, “Oh my”
“Are you alright?” Sonic asked, uncertain of what was going on.
“I am now loaded with the knowledge of the real Doctor Kintobor up until the activation of the R.O.C.C.. Accessing laboratory CCTV files… restoring memories based on recordings… oh dear”
“Is everything alright?” Porker queried.
“I fear the real Doctor Kintobor may not be coming back any time soon. Not unless we can rebuild the R.O.C.C. and stabilise it”
Porker raised an eyebrow, “What is the R.O.C.C.?”
“The Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor,” Sonic and the Kintobor Computer said at the same time.
“I see,” Porker replied. He didn’t, of course, but he thought it better to be polite.
“Well, if fixing the R.O.C.C. is the only way to help make things right, that’s what we’ll do,” Sonic declared, “You okay to lend a hand, Porker?”
“Sure! It’ll be great to get this place tidy. Computer, can you aid me by telling me where things go and what they do?”
“Certainly, Porker,” replied the computer, having learned Porker’s name from Kintobor’s memories, “I’d be delighted to”
“Look, pal, don’t take this the wrong way,” Sonic said, “but you have my friend’s face. I’m not calling you ‘computer’, that’s too weird. Mind if I just call you Kintobor?”
“Certainly, Sonic. When the real Doctor Kintobor returns, we’ll cross the bridge of what to call me then”
“Fair enough,” Sonic accepted.
Porker looked over at Sonic, “Sonic, why don’t you head back to the Green Hill Zone and see if you can get the others to lend a hand with the tidying? I’ll stay here and make a start”
“Alright, Porker, buddy. I’ll be back soon!”
Sonic left the lab in search of some assistance.
“Okay, Kintobor,” Porker smiled at the hologram, “where should I start?”
“First things first, then,” Kintobor advised, “you ought to help me fix the lab’s security systems. I have a feeling we’ll need them fairly soon…”
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