The Maker: Book 1

by Wolf478 Sun Jul 07, 2019 1:40 pm

Prologue

The world of humans certainly hasn’t been the world of just humans for a very long time, in fact the days in which the world would be inhabited by humans exclusively as the sentient lifeform were numbered, and another sentient life has emerged. It was not expected, but at the same time, there were some who did. Mobians, they were called. Anthropomorphic animals. A long history developed between the two races, and it became clear that these mobians were far more than simply animals with the capacity of humans, they had more, and their capacity was beyond that of humans.

Some mobians were gifted with powers, these powers know no bounds. From summoning fire from thin air, to controlling the shadows around them, the individuals imbued with these abilities usually suppressed them, attempting to live a normal life. However there were some who could not.

The process by which these special mobians were given their powers was at first random, but it was found that the genes could be transmitted to future generations, but not always successfully.

But that is only for those of you who came in late.

Those of you who have ridden the story of this Earth from it’s beginning already know all of that, and thus, this is what you are here for.

This Story doesn’t begin as you would expect, there is no hero, nor will there be. This story begins in a sewer, however it won’t be the story of a downtrodden beggar who rises to power.

A Sewer, the curved, blackened concrete of the tunnel seemed to ooze condensation and a curiously thick liquid of organic origin. The smell was, needless to say, quite foul. There was very little of appreciable worth within the cramped tunnel, but at least the tube was not exactly one of high-traffic.

A creature stood still, silent, almost breathless in the darkness. How long the creature had stood there was unknowable, but it was there for a reason. By creature, it was clear that the figure was a mobians of hidden appearance and race. The darkness played too well to hide the features of the creature, and as such, the second creature, travelling to meet the first, was unable to distinguish who it was he was meeting.

After keeping sure not to step into the thin line of waste that trailed along the bottom of the concrete piping, the second creature stopped, two full arm widths away from the first.

This second mobians was much more recognisable than the first, his fur was of a monotone shade, grey or white, but with the utter darkness of the tunnel, the colour could not be distinguished clearly. While it wasn’t much to recognise, it was more than the first figure gave away.

“So, you had an offer for me?” The second creature asked, assuming that, while truly indistinguishable, the first creature would surely be the one he was there to meet.

“Yes. Here.” The first creature replied, pulling a single hand out from behind its body and revealing within it a folded note, which when unfolded would be of considerable size and detail. The second creature took the note, the only sound being that of the paper brushing against fingertips.

While neither of the creatures were visible to the other, or to any other individual who could look upon them, the second could feel an uncomfortable stare from the first, glaring through the darkness. “I shall get to work on this as soon as possible,” he said, attempting to keep his own unease out of his voice.

The first creature was motionless, at least until it pointed to the note now within the second creature’s hand. “Do not open it now. Do not show anyone. And do not let anyone know of its existence.” The creature turned to move its whole body for the first time since the encounter and retreat, but halted and turned back to the second creature “I may not be able to work on the device myself, but I have worked hard to develop a web of newsfeeds and surveillance. Keep that in mind if you ever get the urge to disobey my instructions.”

The first creature, finished with what it had to say, completely turned around and began to walk slowly away from the second, its footsteps echoing through the rounded sewer tunnel.

The second creature looked down to the note resting in his hand, “What do I call this?” he called after the first creature, referring to the details written on the paper, not yet revealed.

The first creature stopped once again, not bothering to turn again completely, but rather leaning to the side and turning its head, “I’ll be sending an associate to check on your progress. Do not show them the note, and do not explain the device.” The creature completely ignore the second creature’s question, but before the second creature could ask again, the first one had vanished out of sight.

by Wolf478 Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:54 am

Chapter 1:

Darken’s Repairs & Requirements

The day of the actual story was quite special itself. Not special in the sense that it was eventful, but that it was beautiful, perfect blue sky, the rare cloud, and plenty of faithful customers. This part of the story tells of a small, single-tailed, Grey fox, light grey underbelly and muzzle fur, a mess of grey hair on his head, and strikingly blue eyes.

This foxes name is Darken.

“Can I help you Sir?” he asked, smiling to the man at the other side of the counter. The man in question was a short and wide man, with a long hooked nose, and slicked back ebony hair.

The man rapped his fingers on the counter, “Yes please, I need something that I can have on me at all times that has compartments for little screwdrivers.”

Darken was at first confused by the man that resembled a penguin, “I’m sorry sir?”

The man smiled patiently, “I am a watchmaker you see, and I need something that can easily store my screwdrivers.”

Darken nodded enthusiastically, “That’s all you needed to say sir!” remembering that a while ago he had designed and produces such an item, “Just this way!”

The Penguin man followed Darken as he stepped out from behind the counter and walked briskly to one of the few isles in his small corner shop. Almost by scent, Darken could tell where he had placed the last pieces of stock he had for the Watchmakers desired item.

“Now, I do have a small box with individual notches for you Screwdrivers, for easier and faster selection. Or,” He said, bending backwards to look on the shelf below, “I also have an adaptable Swiss Army Knife, now it does serve a different function but I thought that maybe you might find it more helpful.”

The Watchmaker examined the two items on separate shelves, “Well… What’s the main difference?”

Darken picked up one of each, “This box simply stores each individual tool, whereas the ASAK is each individual tool, You can insert any item or tool into each of the available areas,” he said, indicating to small rings within the oddly shaped capsule, “and they are then stored within the device, like a conventional Pocket knife.”

The Penguin’s eyebrows shot up past his greasy hair, “So, I can put the screwdrivers in,” he says, pointing to the holes in the capsule item, “and whenever I need them I can just whip this thing out? Whereas with the Screwdriver box, I have to keep them inside it and whenever I need them I have to try and wrench them out?”

Darken smiled enthusiastically, “The ASAK is a beauty isn’t she?”

The man put the box back on the shelf, but held the capsule, “I’ll take two!” he said, grabbing another.

Darken nodded to the Marvelling Watchmaker and beckoned for the man to come to the counter, “Come, I’ll set you up.” Darken stepped back behind the counter and pushed in the numbers into the cash register, Darken only dealt in cash.

After the transaction was complete the small fox smiled to the large man, as he left with the two Adjustable Swiss Army Knives held in his enormous hand.

Darken took a moment to enjoy the silence in his self-owned tool shop, just five rows of shelves stood inside the small space, including the window and far wall. The walkway was the only part of the shop that was spacious enough for three people to stand side by side. Above the counter was a small Television, one of the old-style box TVs with the cathode rays and all that jazz. News was always on, as the same channel had the sports program, customers loved to stay informed.

“Today on MMorning” The television announced. “The dangers of Flour, Should Pangolins be allowed as pets and, the answer to the controversial question: Is global warming actually coming?” Darken halved the volume of the Television and waited for another customer, contemplating the plans for another Device he was working on.

After waiting quite a while, and believing he had exhausted his supply of faithful customers already today, he climbed the stairs up to his living area.

The grey fox had a small living room, no bigger than half that of his shop, and to the left of his living room was his sleeping quarters. Although to him, all of his residence was a lab, chunks of metal and wires hanging loose everywhere. Blueprints lay half rolled up-half scrunched up all over the tables and floor.

This was heaven to him, and Darken wouldn’t let anyone say otherwise. He was just heading for the fridge for a cold drink when he heard a customer ding the bell on the counter. Darken turned around, frustrated, but regained calmness as he called, “Be with you in a minute!”

Darken clambered back down the fragile stairs and stopped at the counter, “Hello, how can I help you?” he asked. This time his customer was a Tall, Muscular man, with extremely hairy arms and face, wearing nothing but shorts and a singlet.

“Hey, I just needed a box of screws, preferably ones that can drill through steel.”

Darken smiled, another customer that he could help, “Not a problem Sir.” With the same grace as when he helped the Watchmaker, he beckoned the man to follow him to a shelving unit, “So, I’ve got your basic screws that can drill through wood, there's a chance that they’ll dig through steel.” He said looking up to the highest shelf, then he crouched to the middle shelf.

“I’ve got Steel Screws, that’ll drill through steel no hassle And,” Darken smiled, difficultly picking up a box of heavy screws from the lowest shelf, “I’ve got these.” He said, almost dropping the box.

“These are tungsten-alloy screws, flies into steel like a hot knife through butter, plus a 10 year warranty to never lose its grip, never have its head chewed, and never snap. In fact, I hope your drill has a warranty.” The Man snatched the box with a hungry sense of discovery, excited by the new possibilities that lay before him.

Without need of instruction, the man bounded to the counter, obviously keen to purchase and use the screws. Darken was surprised by this burly mans sudden change in figure.

Without question the man paid the sum of money and leapt out of the store, Darken could almost hear the man yodelling. The front door of the shop took quite a while to close after being flung open by the strong man.

And once the door had closed the news began blaring from the Television, “Choc-Chips should be replaced with Spinach-Cubes, complains Old lady!” As the news reporter was about to continue, Darken pressed the big button on the remote and turned the machine off all together. It was closing time. The fox moved around the shop, closing every blind, locking every door, and turning off every light.

He would not be returning to the shop again today.

by Wolf478 Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:13 pm

Chapter 2

Hedgehog Antics

While Darken’s main crowd was mostly humans, he did occasionally have a run-in or two with some fellow Mobians. Not that he saw them as ‘fellow’ mobians, everyone was together in this grand society. Some mobians despised humanity, and with good enough reason, humanity commonly looked down on mobians, literally and societally.

Not to mention the whole issue with ‘powers’.

The fox was thankful for not having powers, it put him on the same level as humans and gave him a bit of humility when talking to people of his kind. Of course however, there were mobians with powers that everyone knew of.

Sonic the hedgehog. Yes, he’d saved the world multiple times, made the big screen etc. but to Darken, the hedgehog was just driven by pride. If everybody stopped thanking Sonic, and he stopped making the big screen whenever he stepped outside, would he still rescue them?

“Not to mention the sickening merchandise you can purchase of him. I wonder how happy his is knowing you can wear his face on your ches-“ Darken noticed that his current customer, who was browsing the wares of his shop, had stopped and looked up at Darken with a puzzled look on their face. The Man shook his head dismissively and continued searching.

“Ah, Whatever. I’ve got more important things to tend to.” He said, ending his mental rant and continuing with his day.

Customer after Customer came to his shop, each one finding something that they needed and each one making a purchase. Darken wasn’t interested in making money from his business, he was interested in having money to invent, so he chose a job in which he could invent to make money, which in turn he could use to continue his own inventing.

The news blared again from the TV “Strawberry seeds should be removed from each strawberry before consumption!” The customer that had been startled by Darkens outburst came to the counter, placing a reel of wires on the table, “Just this thanks.” The man said, nodding to the wire.

Darken pulled up the numbers and handed the man the spool, “Have a nice day!” He called out.

The rest of the day after that was sadly uneventful, no new customers arrived. So Darken closed up shop early, allowing for some work on his Blue prints. Darken closed all the shutters, and locked all the doors.

He climbed the stairs to the very top and then stopped as soon as both feet were off the last landing. “Home sweet home.” Darken mumbled, letting the smell of socks, grease and cold pizza violate his senses.

Without further hesitation, he threw on his lab coat and made for the cabinet in which he kept the current blueprints. A lock was placed on this small box, to make sure no-one would steal a gander at his work.

Quickly and quietly he snuck over to his main inventing table and began to tinker with scrap metal. During this time, Darken was able to contemplate things that had been troubling him, with a lack of clients and customers, he had needed to take some of the more bizarre jobs.

But this was not the problem, people were willing to pay him, and he could keep doing what he liked; Inventing. But even still, there was that one request he had received, a stranger with a disguise, instructions and even enough money for Darken to open a new shop! Plus enough to pay for fresh pizza every night!

And so, with little else to worry about besides suspicion he tinkered away with the chunks of steel and scraps of wire until he fell asleep with his arms on his desk, still holding the tools and gadgets of creation.

* * *

The small grey fox awoke to the sound of his refrigerator door being closed, someone was inside his house… Slowly, he moved his hand, with spanner clasped firmly, off the table and to his waist.

He snuck a glance at the direction of noise, as a bottle-cap was removed from the top of a bottle. There was a silhouetted figure in the dim light filtering through his window, this person was standing in the kitchen, raising a bottle to their lips.

The Black outline showed quills, a long nose, pointy ears, small body, and the addition of shoes and gloves.

A wave of shock coursed through the fox, anger coursing through his veins at the rude interruption. In a single rush, Darken lifted himself out of his chair, spun around, and hurled the spanner straight for the creatures head. “Get out of my house!”

Darken shouted, his fear, anger and survival instincts getting the better of him “Get your ass out of my house!” the spanner missed completely, hit a wall and clattered to the ground with a horrendous high-pitched clink.

The Hedgehog dropped the bottle, smashing glass across the floor in a glittery array of light. Darken grabbed another tool from behind him and flung it at the hedgehog, now moving slowly towards him. “I’m not gonna ask again!”

He stopped as the silhouette advanced further, completely avoiding the tools being thrown. Darken leaned back against the workbench behind as the hedgehog grew uncomfortably close, “I’m warning you, I’ll stick a screwdriver right between your eyes if I have to!”

The black outline, now still, leaned forwards and… Kissed him?

Before the now fuming fox could react, the hedgehog was gone, bolting to an open window and leaping out into the night. “They… kissed me!?” he shouted, trying to prevent himself destroying his work in anger.

A knock from the neighbouring apartment cut Darken off, “I appreciate everyone has fantasies, but could you tone it down in there!? Were trying to sleep here!” The fox marched to his bedroom and threw himself onto the bed. Not bothering to take off his lab-coat or shoes.

by Wolf478 Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:38 pm

Chapter 3

Hedgehog back for more.

Today Darken decided to take a day off, which happened very rarely. With the Semi-Traumatising experience with the hedgehog in his living room he figured that it would be best if he didn’t work too hard.

Instead of helping customers to find the right hardware, Darken was going to work on his machines. One of the projects included a miniature robot that could drill through rock and create a living-room sized space in minutes. Another was a can opener that also warmed the contents of the can as you opened it. And there was also the one he was working on the night before.

Enjoying the enormous amount of time he had on his hands, Darken set off to work, creating and inventing.

* * *

At about lunch time, as Darken was preparing some left-over pizza in the microwave, he heard a knock from downstairs. Not a big knock, as if a human customer was inquiring about today’s unavailability, but a small, friendly knock.

And so, with pure curiosity as to who it could be, and contempt if it were perhaps a Hedgheog. He made his way down to the dark shop, reaching for the light switch. When the lights came on he could see a cat, a black cat with white underfur, a mess of brown hair with a large, single braid, a teal tank-top, brown jeans and light aqua eyes.

She knocked again, trying to see into the shop.

“I’ll be there in a sec!” Darken shouted, jogging to the door. No sooner had the door been unlocked then it had flung open as a panting, sweaty cat stumbled into his machine-shop.

“I… Am… Here… For… A… Business… Proposition…” She said, through deep, heavy breaths. The cat was bent over and gasping for breath.

“Are you alright there?” Darken asked, concerned for the small cat.

The cat nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine, Just had to catch my breath. I’ve been running a while.” The fox poked his head out the door and looked up and down the street, curious as to why the cat would be running.

When Darken turned around, the cat had regained their composure, “As, I was saying, I have a business proposition for you.”

Darken breathed out heavily, “I am actually closed today…” The stranger looked ragged, so the fox offered them a chance, “But… I’ll hear your plan.”

The cat smiled, “Oh, good. Do you have a chair or something to sit on?”

Darken held up a hand, “Just a minute.” He said, running to behind the counter for some fold-out chairs. The cat was waiting, exhausted as Darken came back with the metal chairs.

As Darken folded the chairs out, the stranger began to walk down an isle in the shop, “Your website certainly is correct! Items for every need.”

Darken smiled, “Yeah, I try to have the right stock so that when I get a customer, they can find something that’s perfect for their need.”

The cat moved along from one from one isle to the next, “I’m Kitty by the way.”

Darken smiled, “Darken, but I guess you already know that” he said, remembering that she knew about his website, on which is a large picture of himself.

Kitty browsed through the shelving unit and came back to sit down, “Anyway. While I run my own small business in technology, I need assistance from a more experienced engineer since my specialty is in the information side of our speciality.”

Darken nodded, “Well, I’m flattered… You seemed to be in a rush, I take it this is important? What is it that you need?”

The cat leaned forward in her seat, “I need to hide.”

Darken was taken aback, “Are you a criminal?” he asked nervously, reaching for his pocket.

Kitty’s eyes darted to his hand, slowly lowering, “I am not a criminal! I need to hide from a creature. A beast. Just like how you hide from your own fears in this little building you call a shop.”

Darken was surprised by the sudden outburst from the cat, then angered by the unexpected calling out by the stranger. “I do not hide from anything in here!”

Kitty lowered her head, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to-“ But there was no stopping the angered fox.

“I’ll have you know, someone broke into my house last night. Stole some of my food and drink, which I am only barely able to scrape together enough money for, and then they had the gall to kiss me! Does it sound like I’m hiding from anything here?” Darken had tears brimming in his eyes from the yelling.

Kitty looked up, with tears also in her eyes, “I am tired of running. I need your help to hide me!”

Darken flicked a business card from his pocket to her, “Here is my business number, call me” he said, getting up from his chair and opening the door. “I will be seeing you another time… I have work to do I’m afraid” he said, motioning for the opened door.

Kitty wiped the tears from her eyes and got up without a word. Silently Darken watched the cat leave, angry with no one but himself now “Yelling at a customer…” he muttered, closing the door.

* * *

After many hours of Inventing, creating, tinkering and sleeping Darken awoke with the moonlight shining through his window. As he got up from his bed he felt a grumble from his stomach, midnight snack time.

Darken made his way through his bedroom, careful not to step on anything, then scrambled his way through the living room. A gentle and welcoming hum could be heard from the fridge, beckoning to Darken.

The fox was not able to resist the callings, and bending down to open the small fridge door, turned on the light inside revealing the left over pizzas and energy drinks. Grabbing the closest bottle and slice he stood up straight and closed the door with his foot. Shuffling to the light switch, Darken took a bite out of the pizza, Chicken pizza.

As the light came on Darken was shocked to see a Purple hedgehog sitting at his dining table. The Hedgehog had a golden belt, Yellow gloves with an orange stripe, similar shoes, light blue eyes and pink arrows along her quills. Not to mention the completely pitch black jumpsuit they wore, exposing their feminine figure.

“What the-“ Darken said, choking on his pizza, He finally swallowed it, “Who the hell are you!?” He shouted, surprised. “Are you the hedgehog that came here last night?” Darken said, bitterly remembering what had happened the night before.

The stranger stood up and turned to face him, “Up for a midnight snack I see.”

Darken looked at his food, then to the hedgehog, then to his bedroom door, “Have you been here this whole time?” he asked.

The Hedgehog’s expression never changed, “Most of it.”

Darken looked at each of his windows, “How’d you get in?” he wondered out loud.

The hedgehog pointed to the stairs, “You forgot to lock the door.”

Darken winced as he remembered that he had indeed forgotten to lock the door after the Cat visited. “Right… And you are?”

The hedgehog smiled, “Ah yes, where are my manners. I’m Alia, I am here to ensure the ongoing production of my employers invention.”

Darken frowned, disappointed that any of his clients would dream of doing this. Normal visits he could handle, but during the night? That was taking it a bit far. “Right, So what was the ordeal last night about?” Darken asked, scarred by the events that took place nearly 24 hours ago.

The hedgehog grimaced, “I was meant to check up on your work last night, but you woke up early, and freaked out.”

Darken growled and cracked open the seal of his drink, “You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Alia smiled, “Something to remember me by.” She said, remembering the same moment that Darken was referring to. “Anyway, I came to check that you’ve been working on the blueprints. May I see them?”

Darken shrugged, “Yeah, I’ve been building it,” he said, pointing to a block of steel and wire in the corner, “But I’m sorry, you can’t see the plans.”

The hedgehog took a step closer, “That’s a shame…” Alia was moving a bit closer than Darken was comfortable with.

“Umm… No.” He said, putting a hand out in front of him, “Not today. Yesterday was enough to last a life time.”

Alia smiled and nodded, “Alright, Cheerio then!” she said, heading for the stairs. Darken caught himself looking at her quills, such a vibrant colour…

Anyway, he was glad to be rid of the unwanted hedgehog and was happy to get back to his work.

by Wolf478 Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:55 pm

Chapter 4

Not so simple matters

Darken woke from his sleep sweating. After what he had experienced hours before, he was confused as to what was going on in the world. Through all of the things that Darken had experienced, nor was even able to compare to what was about to happen in the day ahead.

Darken leapt out of bed, ignored his stomach’s call for food and made straight for the stairs. Darken needed to open shop early today to make up for his losses the previous day.

Opening up each shutter and dusting each shelf, the front door was unlocked, and the shop was available to the public.

The first customer he received was a woman looking for some drill-bits, the second was a man looking for a blade-sharpener, and the third was another man looking who hoped to find a super efficient oiling solution. All three were served and all three were satisfied.

Darken was re-stocking his supply of Adjustable Swiss Army Knives when he saw the door to his store open. But he didn’t see anyone enter.

“Hello?” said a voice from within the shop.

Darken was startled, “I’m just over here!” he called out to his next customer.

He heard footsteps coming closer to him, small, quick footsteps, quite similar to his own. When Darken had finished organizing the ASAKs in a presentable manner, he turned to look at the stranger.

A familiar face greeted his own. It was the cat from the day before.

This time she seemed even more distressed and took a bit longer to recover.

“So… Kitty, what is it that you wanted this time?” Darken asked, concerned about the amount of trouble the Cat must be going through to visit him.

Kitty took a deep breath, “I need an answer to my question from yesterday.”

Darken was taken aback once again by Kitty’s request, “Well…” he said, contemplating the thought, “I…” the fox knew that the cat would continue returning… and he didn’t know what the cat was hiding from… such a big decision… “Look. I know that it must be hard for you to come here, but please, come again tomorrow and I will have an answer for you.” He used his best marketing reply, sure to increase interest of offer.

Despite Darken feeling good about himself, Kitty looked defeated, “Ok. I’ll come back tomorrow…” She said quietly, exhaling strongly. Kitty made for the door, Darken watched.

“Hey…” he was about to ask as the cat opened the door and ran down the street. The fox moved quietly back to his counter and waited for the next customer.

* * *

The rest of Darkens day was filled with customers and restocking. All in all it was a good business day, and thus the fox had little time to invent in the afternoon.

Darken fell asleep almost instantly as he lay his head on his pillow, grateful for his warm bed.

* * *

Darken awoke from his blissful slumber, for the third time in three days, unnaturally. And, like the other three times, he awoke due to an unexpected guest.

The foxes eyes shot open, as his mouth released a groan at the sound of a chair being pulled out from his dining table.

“Alia!” he shouted, from his bed, “What is it this time” he asked, almost certain who the intruder was. Darken heard footsteps, and then the light to his bedroom was turned on.

Unsurprisingly, the same purple hedgehog dressed in black and wearing the same revealing orange and yellow gloves stood in his doorway. “How’d you know it was me?” she asked, smirking.

Darken rolled his eyes, “You were here last night and the night before, of course you were going to come tonight.”

Alia threw her head back, “You think you know me so well.” She said sarcastically, “Anyway, I heard you got a business offer today.”

Darken frowned, “What?”

The hedgehog put a hand on her hip, “The cat.” She said, as if stating a fact.

The fox, sitting up in his bed shook his head, “I don’t know the pay, so I might not be taking the job.”

Alia simply tossed a heavy metallic cylinder onto the foxes lap, “We’ve decided to up the amount we’re going to pay you.” The cylinder held what looked to be a crystal of some kind, imbued with a vibrant energy.

“A Chaos Drive?” Darken asked, his jaw dropping to the floor for the second time in one day. “What am I meant to do with this?”

Alia shrugged, “You figure it out. Do we have a deal?”

The fox couldn’t tear his gaze from the salvaged battery sitting on his bed sheets, “Uhhhh… Yeah.”

Alia nodded, “Don’t screw this up.” the hedgehog smiled and gave Darken a wink, “See ya!” she turned around and disappeared from the foxes peripheral vision, as he was still staring at the Chaos Drive that lay less than a foot away from him.

* * *

“Did you give him the Device?” A voice said from a screen on the wall of the room.

The room, if one could call it that, was essentially a dungeon. The walls were made from a filth-stained concrete, smooth to the touch, but with obvious smears and spots where some sort of liquid had spilled.

There was a single halogen light embedded in the ceiling between four hook mountings for a single metal slab suspended by chains from the hook mounts. On the wall was a single monitor, on the which was currently the image of a figure, stooped over a desk littered with surgical equipment.

“Yes sir. I gave him the machine.” Said the figure inside the concrete room. A hedgehog, kneeling in front of the monitor despite the other figure facing away from whatever surveillance camera was transmitting the footage.

“Excellent. Hopefully that should get things moving much faster. A little bit of my own research always helps.” The figure said before the screen cut to static and turned to black, leaving the second figure alone in the room.

by Wolf478 Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:10 pm

Chapter 5

Choices

As Darken awoke from his rest, he recalled the visit from the night before, and remembered the Chaos Drive, a super-cell battery salvaged from high-class Empire robots, powerful enough to power an entire neighbourhood for a few months.

Without touching it, the fox crept out of his covers and left his bedroom, so as to see the device from a distance.

Darken now stood at the far end of his dining table and gazed at the precious machine that sat at by his pillow.

Contemplating what to do with the Chaos Drive brought the fox nowhere.

Darken breathed in deeply and decided to weigh the device, find its exact measurements and take notes, do some research. Maybe take up the possible replication of it as a long-term project. Although it wasn’t likely.

The fox ran to the rich, glowing power-cell, examined it by eye, then lifted it up in his hand. “It’s a lot lighter than I expected. Something akin to a can of drink, I think.” He lifted it to his ear and shook it.

That was when everything changed.

He heard a sloshing sound from within the device, “Definitely not natural” he said, eyes widening in confusion.

From the base of the machine came a small syringe. The syringe extended into the foxes soft hand and emptied its contents into Darkens bloodstream, the creature frozen in shock.

“That can’t be good.” He said, throwing the device at the floor of his apartment and stumbling out of his bedroom.

As Darken’s vision became blurry, he saw his hands. They weren’t small, fingered hands, they were sharp-clawed paws. That was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.

* * *

The fox awoke to the sound of sirens, heavy breathing and roaring engines. It felt as if fire was coursing through Darkens veins as he lifted his head.

Darken was in an ambulance, along with three nervous looking field surgeons and four heavily armed police officers.

His eyes fell on a doctor wearing glasses “Hey!” he tried to say, but talking felt like sandpaper against his wind-pipe.

“Hey you.” He whispered, trying to lower the pain level.

The surgeon glanced at Darken, but then had to double-take before making proper eye contact, “What?” he asked, almost frightened by the concept of Darken being awake.

Adding to the confusion going through the foxes mind at that moment, two of the officers raised their side-arms.

While Darken did not hear the police speak, or the doctors. He did however get a silent vibe that something he had done was not right and highly un-like him.

“What happened?” he croaked, “Why am I here?”

The doctor with the glasses leaned back, eyes not leaving the fox lying in front of him. Despite Darkens attempts to contact the people around him, he received no reply.

The fox attempted to get up, but felt a sting of fire spike through his mind, as if someone had plunged a white hot knife into his skull. Without movement or communication available, the grey fox blacked out again.

* * *

When Darken finally awoke he found himself in a dark hospital room.

The room had three other empty beds placed spaciously away from each other, on Darkens right was the door and to the far side from the door was a large window which offered a marvellous view of the city.

“Whoa…” the fox whispered, surprised by the sudden change in environment. One minute he was in a stretcher in the back of a hostile van and the next he was in a beautifully positioned hospital room.

A machine that was making beeping noises was hooked up to several magnetic strips placed around Darkens body.

“What happened?” he said, his throat feeling better than it had what felt like minutes ago.

Not to the foxes surprise, he received no answer to his question.

Looking around the room he saw three of the exact same beds he was lying in, and similar equipment surrounding each of those beds. “Why am I here?” he asked himself again, wondering if a part of his mind would answer.

Darken shifted his gaze from what was around him, to his body itself. His shoes remained in tattered shreds on his feet, and likewise his gloves on his hands.

He heard footsteps coming closer.

Darken slammed his eyelids shut and rolled over in his bed, pretending to sleep. When the footsteps stopped a bright light shone through Darkens eyelids, obviously a torch of a security guard.

Apparently his room was patrolled. The guard stayed for little more than two seconds, then turned around and with clacking shoes, made his way back to wherever he had come from.

“Darken?” the fox heard a familiar voice.

“Hello?” he asked in return, concerned as to who had spoken.

“It’s me Alia.” The voice said, close.

Darken looked around for the source but found nobody. “Where are you?” the fox asked, “I can’t see you.”

A creak was heard from underneath the stretcher and Alia stepped out from underneath Darkens hospital bed, “Here I am” she said, smiling devilishly.

Darken glared at the hedgehog, “What did you do to me?” he said, reaching to grab the purple creature. Alia stepped back and out of Darkens reach, “I gave you a serum. It’s all part of the plan.”

Darken looked for something to throw at Alia, “I am in hospital. Plus you gave me a fake Chaos Drive!”

Alia pouted, “You aren’t grateful for the gift?”

Darken held up his arms, to which were attached several unidentified cords and tubes, “Grateful? For what?”

Alia put her hand on her hip, “Your defence mechanism.” She said, as if the fox would instantly know what she was talking about.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he said, obviously contrary to the tone of Alias voice, “I destroyed my clothes and I don’t know what else!”

The purple hedgehog rolled her eyes, “I guess you’ll just have to find out for yourself then, if you’re so ungrateful.” She turned to leave but stopped as Darken called out.

“Wait. What is going on? I just want to run a business.” He said, wishing that everything could go back to the way it was.

Alia turned around and winked, “You’ll find out…” almost unnoticed, she reached down to her belt and twisted a knob on it, “Bye foxy” the purple hedgehog faded away in front of the fox, leaving him once again alone in the hospital ward.

Struggling to battle his whirring mind, Darken managed to wander off to sleep.

* * *

Darken awoke once more that night, and this time was much more eventful than the last. This awakening was mainly different by one factor, there was a ventilation grill laying on his bed.

“What the fresh bread!?” Darken shouted.

“Sshhhh…” a voice which also sounded familiar to the fox whispered.

“Alia? Again?” Darken asked, furious that the hedgehog kept visiting him.

But, completely to Darkens dismay, a different voice answered from the vent above, “No stupid. It’s me Kitty.”

Darken looked up at the source of the voice and found none other than the black and white feline staring down at him through the ventilation shaft.. “Kitty?” the fox asked, an eyebrow shooting up past its normal position, “What the hell are you doing here?”

The cat put a finger up to her lips, “Shhh. Don’t let them know I’m here!” almost as if by command, footsteps echoed through the nearly empty room.

Darken’s eyes widened when he remembered that the vent grate was laying on his stretcher. The footsteps got louder and Darken flung the sheets over the grill, hoping that the guard wouldn’t notice.

As a thin stream of light entered through the doorway of the hospital room, Darken squeezed his eyes shut, so that not a sliver of light entered his optical lens.

The footsteps stopped momentarily and then they started again, this time getting more distant with each step.

The fox opened his eyes when the footsteps had all but disappeared off the face of the earth. “Kitty, what are you doing here?” he asked again, this time more hurriedly, sure that something was monitoring his conscious state.

The cat grimaced, “I came to get you.” The feline seemed distressed, “I figured that after all this you wouldn’t want to return to your shop.”

Darken contemplated the ramifications of escaping the hospital, and then weighed them to the afflictions of the tests that the health centre would inevitably perform. “I’ll do it.” He said, “I’ll come with you.” Removing the cables from his hands, Darken stood up on his stretcher and then reached his arm up, slightly unstable on the soft material underfoot.

Kitty smiled, “I knew you would.” Then the cat too outstretched her arm for the fox to grab a hold of. Darken took the hand and Kitty pulled him up into the shaft.

“Ok, what’s the plan?” the fox asked.

They heard footsteps from down below, this time more hurriedly than ever before. Kitty flashed a nervous grimace, “We get outta here!”

* * *

“He’s in hospital?” the man on the screen asked. Once again, his back was turned to the Hedgehog in the musty room.

The Hedgehog kneeled again in front of the monitor, and while the figure still took no notice, this time they were rather focused on moving bits around on the table in front of them.

“Yes sir” the Hedgehog replied, a bead of sweat dripping down her face.

The man clenched his fist, “You were meant to contain this situation!” he said, slamming his hand onto the desk.

The hedgehog shifted uncomfortably “Sir, I figured that this way things would happen faster.”

The figure stopped his shuffling about of the equipment and remained perfectly still. “Faster!? My Intel has informed me that he’ll be there for years! How’s that for faster!?”

The hedgehog shook her head, “There is someone that can help him. Surely your web of spies has told you that? Someone who visited him and asked for his help. Hmm?”

The mysterious figure at the table went back to his work, “You’ve done your fair bit of research.”

The Hedgehog nodded, “Yes sir.”

The man stopped once again, slowly putting down the item currently in his gloved hand, “Keep it to a minimum Alia.”

The hedgehog nodded once more and as the screen blanked out she stood up from the ground, stepping over to the metal slab and laying to rest on it.

by Wolf478 Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:11 pm

Chapter 6

Escape

Vulpes and Feline were sprinting madly through the vents, hard considering they were on their hands and knees. A spray of gunfire was heard from down below, and seven fresh holes appeared in the floor of the tunnel in front of them.

“They’re shooting at us! Why are they shooting at us!?” the cat yelped, panic coursing through her veins.

Darken blinked the sweat from his eyes, “I have no idea! I think it has something to do with-“ Darken was cut off by another spray of gunfire.

As soon as the shots had finished an unholy screech was heard, and red light filtered through the punctures in the metal, sirens. A loud voice was heard from the hallway underneath the fox and cat, “Please remain calm and do not interact with non-staff members. Thank you.”

This phrase was repeated many times as the two scrambled through the tubes in the ceiling.

Darkens concentration on the consistent message was broken as another burst of bullets flew through the tunnel just a metre from his face, “It’s getting pretty hot in here!” he shouted, water dripping from his head.

Kitty shoved herself beside him, “They must have turned on the heater or something!” the fox continued crawling frantically as a bullet whizzed past his head, narrowly missing his cheek.

A muffled voice came from down below, “He’s with someone!” Another spray of metal.

Darken and Kitty crawled through the hot, narrow passage and came to a intersection, “Which way do we go?” the fox asked, “I came from the right!” the feline yelled, “so we go that way!” she said, motioning for the right tube.

A blast of shrapnel was cut off by the sound of something small and metal hitting the floor. The only sound that could be heard was that of the sirens, “What in God's name!?” a distressed voice from below shouted, “You can’t use that in a hospital!” another voice yelled after that, “I’ve already pulled the pin! It’s gotta go somewhere!” something small and hard landed inside the ventilation shaft behind Darken.

Without even looking behind him to guess what it was, he shouted to Kitty, who was now in front of him, “FASTER!” not even a second passed as fire, smoke and shards of metal exploded from behind Darken.

Fire licked the soles of Darken’s shoes as he scrambled to the cat, “What the Hell!?” Darken roared, “It’s a hospital!” the only thing the fox received in reply was a round of gunfire.

The mechanic growled to the feline, “How far is it to the exit!?” the cat pointed in front of her, to a dip in the ventilation shaft up ahead, “Just there! There’s a massive drop there!”

As the two neared the destination, they noticed that the tunnel got hotter and hotter, “Kitty, That wouldn’t happen to reach the heating system would it?”

Kitty stopped for a second, but then remembered what they were running from, “Yes it does.” She said, almost defeated.

Darken continued crawling through the tube when he discovered a small mesh on the floor. The fox gazed into the grill, “I think I found our way out!” he shouted.

Kitty scrambled over to Darken, “What is it?” the fox removed the vent cover, “An elevator shaft.” With that the cat and fox dropped into the cavity and fell.

Almost without thinking, Darken grabbed a hold of the cable, intense heat flared through his fingers, but gradually he came to a stop, with the cat metres above him, “We should be safe for now. Let’s find a way out of here.” Darken said, attempting to be as quiet as possible.

Kitty and Darken slowly, but surely crawled their way down the elevator cable, which was not in use due to the lockdown.

* * *

The two creatures made it to the bottom of the shaft, not running into any more hostiles. “Darken…” the Kitty asked, unassured, “What do we do now?”

The fox grimaced, “I…” he mumbled, considering his options, “I guess we should go to my lab…” as he was speaking to the cat, his eyes were darting around for an exit, such as a door or another vent.

To his surprise there was an emergency hatch inside the elevator shaft which would inevitably lead to a fire exit outside. “There!” Darken shouted, pointing to the small door on the wall.

Kitty shot a wary glance at it “That?” she said, raising an eyebrow and staring into the shiny, untouched surface of the exit hatch, “won’t they be combing the outside in case we escape?” she asked.

The fox ignored the cat’s concerns and was already at the door, “Let’s hope they don’t find us then!” the fox yanked on the lever and the door hissed open, rejoicing in its long awaited use.

The outside breeze punctured the musty inside of the elevator shaft like a breath from heaven, allowing the cold air to refresh the hot Cat and Fox standing in the emergency doorway. Darken and Kitty stood in the chilled wind of the outside world for a moment, enjoying the relaxing scent of pine trees and grass from the nearby park.

Darken could nearly smell the soil from beneath the building, “Geez, we’re close to the ground!” he said, eyes widening when he took a short peek, “I knew we were getting close, but not that close!”

Although the hospice towered high into the atmosphere, the platform that the two were on was merely floors away from the asphalt. Darken longed to run to his little mechanics shop, but didn’t want to have to run again, not after what just happened.

The fox wished that he had never taken up that one, innocent job, and that he had just stayed in his shop and helped people pick out custom power tools… “We’d better get going.” The cat standing beside Darken whispered, “They’ll be coming for us any minute.”

The fox nodded slowly and closed his eyes once more, “I know.” He outstretched his arms to enjoy the cooling breeze, Kitty shrugged, “I just thought you’d like to know.”

The fox shook his head, “Fine, I’ll go.” With that Darken and Kitty bolted down the fire escape, across the pitted, red-metal walkways and stairs that winded down the building.

Within seconds the two reached the concrete pavement waiting at the bottom, and basked in the glory of solid ground. Darken ran down the street, the intense rhythm of his feet and heart mixing into one tune that was easy to follow.

Kitty quickly caught up to him, panting after just a short burst of energy, “I had a look behind me as I was running, there’s like… twelve black vans and five police cars at the hospital.”

Darken tried to ignore the cat, focusing on the beat of his own internal drum. “Whatever you did to get there must have been pretty serious.”

Darken tried swatting the mental fly that kept landing on the parts of his memory that he wanted to forget; the deal, the blueprints, the hedgehog, the chaos drive, the grenade.

But to no avail, “What the fresh bread is going on Darken!?” she asked, trying to get through to him, but regretted what she said almost instantly, seemingly capable of picking the exact time not to ask something yet again.

The fox stopped running and turned to face he cat, “I have no idea what’s going on!” he shouted anger flaring in his voice, “I don’t know what I did, I don’t know why those guys are trying to kill me and the parts that I do know, which so far haven’t endangered you, I am trying to forget! If you thought I knew the answer to your questions, do you not think I would try to answer them!? Huh?”

Darken took a deep breath, “Look, I’m tired, I’m traumatised and I want to get to my home. I’m sorry.” Without waiting for Kitty, who had now stopped running and was standing still in shock, the fox began jogging back to his apartment-shop.

* * *

After running down a few different streets, Darken was able to discern his general sense of direction, and where his shop was in the city. With the apartment only a block away, the fox had time to think and to consider his options.

“What is going on?” he asked out loud, not to anyone in particular. “What… What? What.” He said to himself, struggling to form a question of actual importance compared to the first.

Darkens mind wandered through his memories, searching for things that would hint at this moment, any memory besides the obvious ones. But he could not find any. His whole life had gone downhill because of a single deal he made with a stranger.

Then Darken thought of Kitty, and who she was and why she had come to him in need. And especially who this person she was hiding from was, could it have been the same that Darken is hiding from now? Could it be the Police? Could it be the Empire? Or someone else entirely?

Just as Darken had bolstered himself enough to delve into his thoughts of the current situation and where he was aware it started, the fox’s repair shop came into view. “Can’t do anything about it now. There’s only one option for me,” he said as he slowed down to a walk at his front door.

Darken reached for the doorknob and twisted it, a rattling sound echoed through the street, it was locked. “Dang it!” Darken shouted. Without looking for another option, he curled his fist and bashed the glass with a strong punch.

The glass, thankfully shattered instantly and the fox was allowed entry. “It’s not breaking and entering if it’s your own house.” He reassured himself, picking through the shards carefully.

Once Darken reached the other side of the glass-field he realised he was wearing shoes, or at least hospital slippers and could have simply walked through the whole thing.

With no time to lose, the fox ran up the stairs behind his counter and up into his apartment. “Sorry love, gotta go.” He whispered to the building, wishing that he wouldn’t have to leave his only home.

Darken ran into his room and grabbed a pillow from his bed and some bags from his closet. He stuffed the pillow and a few lab coats into the first bag, zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder.

Darken took one step backwards and spun on his heel to walk into his living room when he saw Kitty sitting at his table, “Hello Darken, getting ready are we?” the cat asked.

The fox’s mouth twitched into a smile, “Yeah. I figured we’d need some stuff.”

The cat shrugged, “I forgot to mention what the pay was for the whole… expedition thing” she said, “I was going to give you this once we were out of town, but after what just happened I think you should have it now.”

Kitty pulled a large, glowing Cylinder out of her pocket, “Here, take it.” She mumbled, holding out the device for Darken.

The fox took a quick look and then began packing gadgets from around his lab, “No thanks.”

Kitty looked surprised, “No thanks?”

Darken was still packing items frantically when he spoke, “Last time I touched a Chaos Drive, I wound up in hospital.” He said, stopping only to point at the power-cell, “But if you want, could you go and put it in the machine over there?”

The fox now pointed to a circular machine on a table on the far wall, the device had a perfectly flat surface with wires coming out of the edges. Kitty stood up from the chair she was sitting on and walked over to the strange metallic object.

“Where do I put it?” she asked, flipping the machine over, looking for a slot to put the Chaos Drive.

Darken, while still packing things, pointed to the machine again, “Open it up, and put the Core inside.”

Kitty raised her eyebrows, “Ah.” She said, understanding. She pried the device open from a section that was bare and wire-less. Inside was a small divot which was big enough for a lunchbox, the cat placed the Chaos Drive down in the open space gently, “Is that it?” she asked.

Darken stopped shovelling things into his bags and then walked over to the cat, “Yeah, I originally used car batteries, but they didn’t last long enough. It sucks the electrons out of the air, but with this-“ he said, waving to the machine, “-it should just power the void without anything too technical going on.”

A hum filled the room and it took a moment for Kitty to realise that the hum was coming from the device. “Sorry, did you say void?” Kitty asked, fear trickling down her spine.

“Yeah,” Darken said, proudly “You put anything into it, and then when you need it back you just whack the bottom of it” the fox smacked the surface of the disk, “And it comes right back out!” then Darken hung his shoulders, “I was going to commercialise it but it uses too much power. Good thing I built it though.” He said as he began flinging bags onto the machine, “Because it’s gonna make our trip so much easier.”

The fox smiled and ran around his apartment, finding things like the fridge and dropping them onto the small device. “And the best part is that it doesn’t get any heavier!” he threw a few more items of furniture onto the disk, “That should do it!”

He adding a small locked box that contained commission instructions, including the blueprints that led to the events that had just occurred.

“By the way” Kitty said, “Just thought I would mention that I did steal the Chaos Drive from a GUN transport.”

Darken hesitated but then picked up the machine and placed it in a bag and slung the bag on his shoulder, “That’s alright” he said, contemplating the consequences of entangling with GUN, “They’re already on our tails. Got everything you need?” he said, looking Kitty up and down.

The cat shrugged, “I do have a small shack, but it’s nothing worth going back for. Where are we going?” she said, giving the apartment a quick look over.

The fox also shrugged, “Dunno, far away. Far, far away. I guess.” The two walked down the stairs between the shop and house, “But, I take it that I won’t be coming back here again then…”

by Wolf478 Mon Jul 15, 2019 2:19 pm

Chapter 7
(Part 1)
(Because I have to Re-write a lot of this)

The Wild

“C’mon Darken!” Kitty shouted, “We’ve gotta find somewhere to go soon!”

The fox had been listening to the complaints of the cat for three days straight, every night while sleeping in a bush, every day while hiking through the forest, every time they have to climb a rock. “It’s called Searching!” he’d shout back, “Hunting is called hunting because if there was no work involved it would be called killing! That’s why we’re searching, not finding.”

Darken was starting to regret being stuck with this cat for what now seemed to be the rest of his life. Probably an exaggeration, but he just couldn’t see how they’d be able to go back to civilisation

They had been travelling through small grassy knolls for a while, and there were a few decent sized hills, but there was sadly nothing too exciting, which had drawn the day out. Not to mention the sun beating down on their heads.

“Why don’t we just live in a cave? We’ve seen plenty of them over the last two days.” Kitty shouted, from the peak of one of the mounds.

That sparked a though within the fox’s mind. As part of his admittedly rushed packing process he had in fact packed a project he’d been working on. A small robot capable of churning out dirt and rock for hole-boring. It wasn’t the biggest of machines, but given some time it could produce a frame in which charges could be placed and detonated to clear out a decent sized living space.

Darken’s eyebrows were crawling down his face and nearly into his muzzle fur when he had an idea. “How about we live in a cave then!?”

Kitty was taken aback by the fact that Darken had agreed, unsure of whether the fox was being serious or not, “What?” she asked.

Darken smiled, remembering one of the gadgets he had packed into his bag, “We’re going to live in a cave! But not just any cave, no, we’re going to live in a man-made cave!”

Kitty shrugged, “How are you going to do that?”

Darken reached into his bag and pulled out the Void-Disk, “Before we left the city I was working on a project for some contractors, they wanted me to build them an automated hole-boring system. They wanted it cheap, and they wanted it small, I would imagine they wanted it discrete too since it would mean they could slack off on the job.”

The cat rolled her eyes, “Get to the point please.”

Darken shook his head, “Sorry” He could sometimes rant, not often, but sometimes. “Anyway, I figured a small robot would get their job done and so that’s what I made. It bores small, programmable holes into dirt and rock or concrete or whatever it is that you need it to. We can program it to dig out holes in the hill that we can place charges in and blow out a suitable living space.”

Kitty sighed and folded her arms, “Why is that any more discrete than living in a cave? You’re just going to blow a mountain to kingdom come and expect no-one to notice?”

The fox breathed in, she had a point, and indeed he was being a bit rash. “Well, then what if we used it to bore holes in some trees, then we can get to work on a log cabin instead?”

It would take a lot more time, admittedly, and while the droid wasn’t designed to churn through wood, it should at least do the trick. It was designed to cut through concrete, wood shouldn’t be much more of a task than that.

Darken rapped on the back of the VD and with a flash of light a small ball dropped to the ground, originating centimetres from the perfectly flat surface of the device.

The fox gently slid the VD back into his backpack and snatched the metallic orb from the muddy hillside, “This is it.” Without any objection from the cat, Darken took out a screwdriver from his coat, which he had managed to keep on throughout the hike, and began unscrewing a small albeit thick metal panel on the back of the orb.

Kitty folded her arms, “Well, let’s see if it works,” she said, slightly sceptical, yet partially a believer due to the Void Disk functioning properly.

The mechanic sighed, “Just hold on a moment, I’ll have to set up some sensors around the trees we want cut and program it to follow the co-ordinates and bore through the trunks. Once it’s done that the trees should simply topple over.”

Kitty shrugged, “How long will that take?”

Darken returned the mutual shrug, “I don’t know, first we gotta set up the sensors. But once we’ve done that we can just sit back and relax. When the trees stop falling we’ll have enough to start construction.”

The cat nodded, “Alright then, let’s place some sensors?”

The grey fox tapped the back of the Void Disk, and several capsules appeared in a similar fashion to the metal orb. “Yeah, let’s place some sensors.”

* * *

“Alia!” the stranger shouted, the purple hedgehog kneeling, “You assured me that this would all make him work faster! He’s not working faster! He’s not working at all!”

Alia lowered her head, “I’m sorry boss, it wasn’t my fault, the cat was meant to take him to her workplace, where they could collaborate. I thought it would be more efficient.”

The mysterious man growled at the hedgehog, “There are many things that you don’t understand. There are also many things that you don’t know about that cat.” The silhouetted figure turned to someone off-screen and whispered to them, something almost inaudible but the hedgehog was able to make out the man saying ‘teach her something’ and new it wasn’t good news.

The man sighed, “Don’t think I haven’t realised Alia.”

The Hedgehog sighed also, defeated, she knew what was coming next.

The man shook his head and stood up straight, “The serum you took was very important to me. I can’t believe you thought I wouldn’t notice it was missing. I’ve also learned that I myself made a mistake. The Chaos Drive I had sent you to retrieve was a fake, but I’m appalled you would take advantage of that and not expect me to know about it.”

There were footsteps outside the concrete room, and the screen cut to static and then to black. There was a knock on the door. The thick metal door, through which only a small slit was open, a way for food and nutrients to be delivered into the cell room.

Without waiting for an answer, the door was swung open and a silent figure entered the room, grabbed the equally silent Alia and dragged her limp body out of the cell.

There was no point in walking, since she could just be dragged. And she would need her energy for what was coming next.

by Wolf478 Tue Jul 16, 2019 7:47 am

Chapter 7

(Part 2)

The Wild

Darken looked down at the numerous tree trunks that had been toppled by the small spherical robot. There were enough to begin the framework for the house, and with some of the other things the fox had packed in the Void-Disk.

“Looks good, if I do say so myself. Quite impressed with the blueprints for this thing.” He said, picking up the metal orb and tossing it in his hand.

Kitty nodded, “Yeah, quite impressive, nothing insane, but not bad.” Of course there was still work to be done, and the amount of logs that had been cut was not enough to complete the cabin, but it would do for now.

Darken tapped again on the back of the disk, a small battery-powered drill and a circular saw emerged from it’s surface, but with the two of them being in the rainforest there was nothing with which to power the saw. However the drill could power itself for a small time.

“We’ll need to buy a generator if we want to use the saw.” Kitty told the fox, “I don’t think you have one of those in that thing do you?”

Darken shook his head, “No. Not at all. But, if you’re not too partial to cold food I can dismantle the fridge I packed and build a Generator?”

The fox could do it, and in truth he didn’t know why he packed the fridge of all things, but it seemed to be a good idea at the time, without even thinking that there wouldn’t be access to electricity.

Kitty shrugged, “Do what you need to do Darken, you brought us out here and cut down the trees.”

He gave a quick nod, “Alright then, while I start cannibalising our food storage system for parts, can you please measure out some holes for the main supports to go into for the robot to dig through. That’s what it was made for after all.”

The cat took the small orb out of the fox’s hand, “Yeah. Sure.”

Darken nodded and gave a hearty slap to the back of the Void-Disk, causing a small fridge to tumble into existence and make a loud crash as it hit the soft earth of the rainforest floor.

Kitty began the process for the boring robot and measured out some tree sized holes for a few of the unrefined logs of their first de-forestation expedition to go into as supports. Meanwhile Darken began to dismantle the fridge with the screwdriver he had previous opened up the digging robot with.

* * *

The hedgehog was dragged from the room, a different room to the grungy concrete room she abode in, this room she had been taken to. This room was used for what was referred to as correction. There was nothing correct about it.

Right now, her mode of transport, namely the floor, was not at all to reserve energy, but instead a result of the lack thereof.

The entire facility was the same, endless concrete hallways lined with cold, steel doors, each leading off to unknown locations. Most of which led to similar rooms as her own, a single monitor mounted on the wall and a single bed. Some rooms required extra additions, but they were all uniform copies of each other.

This time, instead of being returned to her own cell, Alia was taken a different route, one that took her down a concrete ramp, a very dark concrete ramp, covered almost completely by stains and dark smears.

“It would seem that you were given an extra hour Alia? I offer no apology, it was needed.” Said a voice from a room at the end of the ramp.

It was the same voice from before, the same voice from the monitor, and as the ramp ended Alia could see the same desk from the transmissions, covered in equipment of what appeared to be surgical equipment at first glance, but changes had been made to them, turning them into something else.

They rounded the corner of the walled ramp and the hedgehog was dropped to the floor adjacent to the desk, the man not standing there any longer as he did in the transmissions.

She looked up, the man was however, still present, standing next to a pod of some kind, a pod which by the dimensions, would be large enough to hold a Mobian.

“Did you learn something?” The figure asked, his face obscured by a mask but the back of his head clearly ending in a series of quills. Revealing that the figure was not in fact a man, but a Hedgehog. A Green Hedgehog.

She nodded, or at least nodded as much as her height from the ground could afford “I learned a very important lesson.” She remained on the floor, allowing herself to build up the strength to stand.

The Green hedgehog laughed, “That’s good.” He opened a small hatch on the side of the pod and began to interact with something within the hatch. “I have yet to retrieve the serum from the fox. I have yet to decide what to make of you, but for now be comforted in knowing that I’ll let him live. I need him to live.”

Alia remained silent, dreading to think what it was the figure had planned for her, and hoping that whatever he had planned for the fox would not result in the mechanic becoming one of the figure’s subjects.

“I’ll be sending 127 to retrieve the fox and kill the cat. Once that’s over I’ll figure out what to do with you. You are to remain in your cell until then.” The hedgehog looked up from the pod and directly into Alia’s eyes, then gave a wave to the figure that had dragged her in and she was once again taken back to her cell.

Alia let a faint smile crawl across her face once they returned around the corner, knowing that the lesson she had learned was not the one the Green Hedgehog had hoped.

by Wolf478 Tue Jul 16, 2019 9:47 am

Chapter 7

(Part 3)

(Hopefully there's only 1 more part after this)

The Wild

A rattling sound alerted Kitty to the completion of the makeshift generator, Darken, hands blackened from the grease used to lubricate the many parts of the fridge, stood up.

He wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, the rainforest humidity starting to increase now that the bulk of the day had passed and the afternoon sun was beginning to set.

“Well, I’ve finished the generator, only problem is that we have no fuel. So it’s basically useless. Probably less useless than the fridge but about as useful as the saw right now.”

Kitty slumped her shoulders. It seemed that the fox’s work had been for naught, however, she had at least managed to contribute to the build. The bore-holes were dug and the circumference matched the tree logs own, meaning that they could now be shoved into the holes. She hoped the fox had a machine for that too.

“So… What do we do? It’s going to get late soon and we’re going to need proper shelter.” She said.

Darken shrugged, “I don’t know. We still have the Chaos Drive from the Void Disk, but I have absolutely no idea what will happen to the Void Disk if we try to tamper with the core, and it’s not feasible to empty the device right now."

Kitty sighed, trying to figure out a way for them to cut the logs to build enough shelter to last the night. “What if we are able to utilise the energy produced by the Drive while it’s still inside the VD?”

Darken shook his head, “Like I said before, I have no idea how that’d effect the VD or the contents therein. I was hoping to study the Chaos Drive before we used it, but at the time we had no other option.”

Kitty put a hand to her chin, “Right, I’d say we don’t exactly have any other option right now right? We don’t have fuel for the generator, and we don’t have any other power source capable of powering the saw, which we need desperately.”

The fox nodded slowly, “Alright, if you want to ready the Chaos Drive then I’ll begin setting up the saw and the cable.”

“Yeah, sure.” The cat replied, she moved over to the disk, situated near the now-complete and unusable generator and picked it up, opening the back of it to check that the core was still secured in place.

Darken took the saw and removed the electrical plug from the end of it’s cable, separating the wires for them to hotwire the machine using the Chaos Drive. He looked over to the cat who had carefully inserted metallic splints onto either end of the Drive to attach the wires to.

It certainly wasn’t the safest option, and with the energy output of the Core, a short-circuit would almost definitely be lethal, but by the way things currently stood, it was their only option.

Darken glanced between the wires in his hands and the core, realising that a resistor would need to be constructed to prevent all of the power travelling into the saw at once and destroying it’s circuitry.

“We’ll need to make a resistor, half of the energy will be being used to power the Void Disk, but we’ll still need to cut some of the energy off. I’m not sure how much though. This is why I wanted to study the thing before we used it.”

Another factor that would only make the process more dangerous.

Darken put the cord of the saw down and moved over to the leftovers from the fridge, grabbing a cut-off piece of metal piping and carefully attaching it to the active end of the Core. The pipe would serve as a decent resistor, and currently it was one of the only things they had access to.

“That’s it?” the cat asked, “What about the neutral wire?”

The fox shook his head, “Not overly important, and right now we need to get cutting, we’re losing time.”

Kitty nodded, “Well, hook up the saw and we can get going.”

Darken clapped his hands together and took a step back, grabbing the wire from where he had dropped it and then carefully moving back to the exposed Chaos Drive. “You ready?”

The cat nodded silently in reply, unable to give a thumbs up as her hands were supporting the Void Disk.

Darken allowed the two wires to make contact with their respective circuit pathways on the core and a small led on the saw turned on, indicating that it was receiving power.

He motioned for Kitty to put the Void disk down and retrieve a small spool of electrical tape from his lab coat, which was now covered in filth and oil.

Kitty placed the VD down on top of the generator and reached over into the foxes pocket to retrieve the tape. With the non-conductive adhesive now in hand, the cat stretched out a piece and began to wrap it around the exposed connection.

“Well, we can get to work now right?” she said, still securing the active terminal.

Darken nodded “Yeah, now we can get to the real work.”

* * *

Alia sat in her concrete bedchamber, swinging gently on the metal slab suspended from the ceiling. The room was lifeless, apart from the light, the screen and the door. There was nothing besides the flat piece of metal that hung from the ceiling like an altar.

Occasionally someone would walk past her chamber, sometimes placing a tray of food into the door slot, but she didn’t know who else could be doing the rounds other than the Green Hedgehog, and the guard in charge of correction.

The cold lifeless existence that was present within the room was unbearable, and while the Guard and the Green Hedgehog were the only people free, she knew that there were other people here. Other mobians that lived in rooms just like this.

Some mobians needed special facilities. They were all slaves, slaves used to fulfil a greater goal. What the goal was, Alia wasn’t sure, but it required work to be done and it was people like her that would be sent to fulfil the work.

She hated the facility, she hated the chamber, she hated the others, she hated the guard, and she hated The Master, the one orchestrating it all, the Green Hedgehog.

No-one ever got to see his face, it was always covered by a surgical mask, a dark visor or some other form of protection, the work he conducted was grisly, and a slip-up could be devastating.

She didn’t know what the work was, but every day there was more screaming, it built, it built up like a choir. Sometimes it would die down, only to be raised once again by another member.

It didn’t matter though, The Master had put his faith in her for this task. The Master had put his faith in the wrong person, Alia didn’t scream, and she did not give way to correction. Soon, Alia would escape permanently.

by Wolf478 Fri Jul 19, 2019 2:23 am

Chapter 7

(Part 4)

(I decided that this is the last part for the chapter because it was beginning to drag)

The Wild

The main logs had been cut, and were ready to put into place. With the light of the day beginning to fade, and with the lack of sunlight on the worksite anyway due to the cover of the trees, the cat and fox would be forced to put up a temporary shelter for now.

“Not so bad.” Kitty said, looking down at the last of the four corner logs, which they had just finished shaping.

Darken nodded, wiping more sweat from his forehead, “Yeah, it’s not bad. If we want to have a shelter tonight though, we won’t be able to cut anymore. We need to get these ones in place and then throw up a cover or something so we’ve got a bit of protection from the elements.”

The cat reached down to the log, “Well, let’s do it then. No time to waste.”

The mechanic followed suite, reaching down to the cut trunk and lifting it up in unison. The large shaft of wood was heavy, too heavy for any one person, but together the two mobians managed to heave it to the first bore-hole.

“What’s the plan to get it in?” Kitty asked. With the difficulty of taking the log to the foundation, there was no way that they would be able to lift it vertical and drop it into the hole.

“Well…”

Darken motioned for Kitty to put the log down, and the two of them did so. With the wooden support now no longer draining their energy, the fox sat down. “I suppose that if we could steady it, then a winch should be able to lift it mostly vertical, after that gravity does the work.”

It could work, but as it stood, neither of them had a winch.

Kitty nodded, “If you’re willing to allow me to disassemble some furniture, I can get us a winch, but I’m not sure what we can attach it too since all of the forest cover we’ve got are small branches.”

Darken waved a hand dismissively, “You work on the winch, I’ll find somewhere to hook it in. Don’t worry about it.”

Kitty took a look around at the trees and shrugged, “Alright then.” The cat moved over to the Void Disk, tapping it once and checking to see if what materialised would be of any use.

The fox on the other hand, got to work looking for a suitable tree to hook the winch onto.

* * *

With the cat’s work complete, the winch ready and hooked onto a suitable cluster of trees as a pivot point, the pair of them slung a length of electrical cable around the first log.

The makeshift rope was yet another necessity that they had had to come up with on the spot, mechanics and information miners weren’t the best equipped to construct houses, but the skills were enough to get the job done.

The end of the log slid into the bore-hole and after a few more hoists the cat and fox had managed to lift the other end high enough for the rest of the log to drop to the bottom of the hole, forming the first of the four corners for their cabin.

“Fantastic, 3 left and then the hard part is over.” The fox said, glad that the two of them now had all the needed equipment to get the job done, having gone into it without any sort of preparation.

“Yeah, we still need to get the other 3 done though, let’s get to it.” Kitty replied, also glad that they were now prepared, but beginning to grow tired of the delicate and straining work.

* * *

“There we go.” The cat said, breathing a heavy sigh and letting go of the winch handle, her hand red and sweaty from the continuous cranking of the handle.

Darken nodded, slapping the last log, now standing upright in the ground, the final foundation for the house and the milestone signalling the hardest part of the house was complete.

“Fantastic. I think we’ve done enough for the day, we should take a break, toss a cover between the logs and begin unpacking, we’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow and we’ll need our rest.” He gestured to the sky, mostly blocked by the cover of trees, but the sun had begin to set and the sky was growing dark.

“Yeah.” Kitty said, folding her arms and sighing, “Do you have a cover?”

The fox nodded sideways, “Uh, yeah. I did pack some bedding and we can use one of the sheets as a cover.” He moved over to the Void Disk, getting ready to tap on it’s back.

The cat motioned for Darken to do as he suggested and then lay down between the four supports, worn out from the extraordinarily tiresome day.

by Wolf478 Mon Jul 29, 2019 1:43 pm

Chapter 8

(Part 1)
(Sorry for the delay. These parts will take a lot longer to write now because I have to re-write these chapters almost entirely now)

Alternates

There was a slight buzzing sound as a swarm of small insects gathered near the makeshift shelter, and the fox was kept awake by the flurry of activity caused by it.

He listened to the chirping of the crickets and the distant ribbiting of small frogs, the rainforest was teeming with life, but not deafeningly so, and in all it was a pleasant ambiance, with of course, the exception of the flying insects. One would occasionally land on, or near, the fox and was certainly not appreciated.

They weren’t far from the city, but had certainly put enough rainforest between them and civilisation that any search parties would have difficulty tracking them down, and he hoped that they would not consider him a worthy target of spending the resources on the chance that they do find him.

That said, the fox had no clue what the hedgehog had talked about, a ‘defence mechanism’ of some sort. All he knew was that it put him in hospital and soldiers had been so eager to keep him there that they utilised a grenade inside the building.

The foxes body however, was tired from the last week of activity, since the beginning of the whole ordeal until now. Likewise, Darken’s mind, regardless of the noisy insects, managed to drift off into blankness and he began to sleep.

* * *

“127 is on his way” The green hedgehog said, his visage once again busily engaged in work, yet plastered on the monitor screen with demanding superiority.

“Good news is that I’ve instructed him not to hurt the fox.” The hedgehog said, not stopping once in his behaviours.

Alia remained silent, simply waiting for the transmission to end so she would be able to enact her plan, once the guard came round for the monthly cell-check she would escape, but she needed the screen to turn off and for the broadcaster to cease transmitting data. While the green hedgehog never looked away from his experiments, he always knew what was happening on the other side.

“I’m sending 426 to retrieve you and bring you to me. I think we should both watch the capture together.” He said, dropping a scalpel-looking device and replacing it with a form of syringe, “Unfortunately, You’ll be recycled after that, I’ll need to take your powers back and then you’ll be terminated.”

A sharp chill ran down her spine and a cold sweat began to break out across Alia’s forehead. She expected the green hedgehog to sentence her to death, but if she was going to be taken to him then she’d miss her opportunity to escape. Death would be inevitable.

* * *

The two of them had put quite a bit of effort in to the construction of the Wooden cabin so far, after cutting small cavities into the main support logs they had managed to begin construction on some walls, cutting rough planks out of the remaining felled trees.

“I assume we’re planning on putting in some internal walls?” Kitty asked the fox. While they had installed most of the outside walls, they had yet to construct inner walls, and at the moment it seemed that they would shortly run out of wood.

“Well, yes. But for now we have to work out how to do this door.” Darken motioned to the last wall, which hadn’t been put in yet. There wasn’t much to figure out, but they needed to devise a way for the frame to remain structurally sound.

Kitty shrugged, “Why don’t we extend the sides planks of the frame out a little to get some grounding?” She pointed to the planks which they had set aside for the walls, and the remaining log they had reserved for whatever their door-plan was.

They didn’t need the extra log for the door itself, but for the frame, they had decided to recycle the fridge door for their front door, which wouldn’t match the rest of the build, but it was efficient, and did the job.

The house was somewhat small, roughly 7 metres in length and 8 in width, with enough height for mobians to move about comfortable, but perhaps not humans. The floor plan was to create a layered lattice of planks to raise it off the mud of the rainforest, and a similar plan was made for the roof, but with a cover made from some salvaged plastic and a slight angle to the latticing.

The fox nodded, “That will work. Excellent thinking, I’m a bit cooked from this work, needing a break. What do you say to lunch?”

“This pizza won’t last long Darken. I hope you have a plan for food in the future?” the cat asked, giving a concerned glance to the remaining items that sat on top of freezer section of the fridge, that had remained untouched.

He shrugged, “No, I didn’t. But we didn’t have plans for a lot of things. I certainly didn’t plan any of this… At all, actually.”

Kitty looked at the walls, and gave them a smack, letting the wood bow and spring back, “Sure, lunch it is then.”

by Wolf478 Thu Jan 30, 2020 1:12 am

Chapter 8

(Part 2)
(Another Delay! Yay! I think I might just make this the last part for Chapter Cool

Alternates

The thick metal door of the cell block swung open loudly, thumping as it hit the concrete wall of Alia’s room. Another mobian stood in the now open doorway, barring any escape out into the hallway that the hedgehog had concocted. The bulky body of the German shepherd took up most of the doorway.

No words were swapped while the two figures made eye contact, she took note of the wariness in the dog’s eyes, 426 was generally neutral in attitude, so it was likely that he had been informed of some horrible idea that would garner such wariness. It was probably true anyway.

He let out a grunt and motioned for Alia to follow, which she begrudgingly did, knowing of what was going to happen if she continued down the path, but seeing no other… or was there? Was there another option?

As soon as the large dog had stepped outside of the doorway, she bolted, but not in pursuit of the dog, but rather the opposite, making her way down the dull concrete corridor as fast as was possible, considering that speed was not any ability she had been given.

Even her own ability, while immensely useful, was too mild to surpass the dampening power of whatever material had been imbued into the outer shell of the facility, but as soon as Alia escaped, she would disappear from the radar.

There was a loud shouting from the end of the hallway where 426 stood, looking behind her, Alia could see that the hulking German shepherd hadn’t bothered to try chasing after her, her speed far too great for his form to catch up to.

Of course, that wasn’t to say nobody here could. Running past the dozens of cell doors either side of the hallway, she could name a few of the numbers that were much better suited for speed than her, let alone 426.

So it became quite the scare when one of the doors Alia had yet to pass slid open, a small pale mouse stepping outside and looking about frantically. 381, a frail body but insane speed.

“381! The master wants her!” came the echo of 426’s shout.

The pink hedgehog looked back carefully at the small mouse, the mobian looking back to her with a look of hesitance. He looked between the German shepherd and the shrinking back of Alias head as she continued her escape.

Breathing a silent sigh, the rodent’s light blue fur ruffled up in frustration and his legs blurred into action. She only managed to steal a single glance behind before her heart began to pound in her throat. 381’s footsteps were already clearly audible through the hallway so she readied her leg for a much more important purpose than running.

The blue mouse approached her, rapidly gaining speed, but was completely oblivious to her own slowing in pace, a sharp kick erupting from the hedgehog’s pink form and striking the mouse in the hip, causing him to tumble to the ground, hands clutched to his waist.

Dislocated, she guessed. Which was all the more convenient for her. The stairwell for the block was already visible and with no more doors sliding open to release their contents, she fancied her chances.

by Wolf478 Thu Jan 30, 2020 4:17 am

Chapter 9

(Part 1)

Gathering

It had been a whole day. A day of hard work and sweaty hunger as the last of the food had dwindled from the fridge and the felled logs had been cut up using their makeshift woodcutter. There were cuts and bruises covering their bodies from the unconventional hardware they were using.

Darken collapsed to the wooden plank floor of the small hut, it being the last of the 6 planes they had finally managed to put in, the walls and roof coming before. They were now out of logs, but internal walling was on the list of important items to be set up.

While Kitty had been finalising the floor panels, the fox had only managed to install a single lightbulb in the rafter. Enough to light up the room, but hardly enough to do much else than sleep.

And so they did. The cat and fox lay there on the roughly hewn, and still slightly sticky floorboards. Darken had hardly manage to resolve to sealing the wooden planks with some sort of varnish before he blacked out.

* * *

The pink hedgehog was only managing to hide within the shadows for so long, more than just 381 and 426 had been sent out after her at this point. She had only been able to make it up 2 flights of stairs before one of the higher level agents stepped in her tracks. A white creature, covered in thick plating, needless to say she was forced to take a detour.

The creature had begun to pursue her beyond the stairwell as she stepped off into a darker corridor. She found herself in darkness, following a shadow-filled corridor, the pink hedgehog, finding it hard to conceal her pigment even in the darkness turned to see the hulking plate-covered body blocking out any view of the way she had come.

The clanking of the creatures plates on the hard concrete floor made it quite clear that it was hardly as refined as her or later experiments. Exactly what this area of the facility was for was beyond her knowledge, and so hoping for a way out she began to feel around the walls, seeing no end to the apparent darkness of the corridor.

It was only a few cluttering footsteps of the creature before Alia’s hand found its way onto a change in the wall shape, a door, or something like a door. There was no handle, but instead there is a clicking sound as she presses on it and the door swings open.

The pink hedgehog stumbles into the side room beyond the door, the door itself shutting close behind her with a click. The heavy footsteps stopped outside the door, and as Alia stands shakily in the darkness of the room, a loud bang reverberates around her.

Then another, the large plated arm of the creature banging against the door. There was no click as it made contact with the door, and the door did not open. “446. You cannot stay in here forever.” The creature grumbled. “You cannot use your power to escape.”

Alia stood for a moment, looking out into the darkness of the room, hoping to catch something in her sights, but with nothing but darkness in reply to her silent plea, the hedgehog drops to the floor. Bangs echoing through the space from the persistent attack on the door.

* * *

“Well, Darken.” The cat said, propping herself up against the log wall of the hut, “We’ve done a good job.” The small grey foxes eyes peeled open and his body rolled over, “Yeah. We did pretty good, considering we’re 2 city slickers.” Darken began to push himself up off the ground onto his hands and knees.

“Maybe you’re a city slicker.” Kitty started again, “I’ve done this before, but with much better equipment.” The fox gave a small push and found himself on his feet, a little weak in the knees but otherwise able to support himself. He looked over to the cat, giving her a nod before making a stumbling attempt for the open doorway.

The sunlight assaulted the grey foxes senses, hot and radiating now that they had cleared a small opening in the tree line around the house, a decision he felt he’d come to regret pretty soon. The fridge was still only barely able to function there next to the makeshift generator, serving more as a storage shelf than a cooler now.

Darken stepped on over to it, swinging off the door and breathing a deep sigh as he found it to be empty. It would be a 3 day journey back to the city to purchase supplies, and right now they had hardly any energy to even start to make their way back.

The grey fox kicked the machine, toppling it over in a dishevelled shape. “What’s up?” said a voice from behind him, causing the fox to jump and turn around. Kitty had made her way over. “We’re out of supplies.” He answered, leaning against the side of the house.

Kitty drooped down against the log wall as well, “Well, we’ve gotta go back then?” She gave a look around the forest, “I’m not sure if there’s anything around here worth taking… easily at least.” Indeed, the tropic forest around the bi-council area had wildlife and greenery, but exactly how safely edible either were was too variable.

“So…” Darken mumbled, looking over to the Void Disk and it’s current Chaotic core. “We could… We could build a car.” If the Drive could produce electricity enough to move GUN robots or power the VD then it could easily spin an axle with a few mobians on board. Only issue was how to go about it.

by Wolf478 Fri Feb 14, 2020 1:13 am

Chapter 9

(Part 2)

Gathering

As the pink hedgehog began to feel her way along the walls of the dark room, she could feel certain divots where something ridged and plastic resided, she assumed to be light fixtures embedded in the wall. And right now Alia’s main goal was of course to escape, but right now the hedgehog needed to see where she was escaping to, so turning on the lights was the current task.

There was another clicking sound, but not from the door, from deeper into the darkness, Alia spun to try and make out what the source of the noise had been in the dark, but the room was deathly still and remained pitch black.

That was, until a blinding flash of white filled the room, and stayed there. The lights had come on. She found herself barely a foot away from colliding with a set of steel shelves. Indeed it was that the small plastic divots were lights, and while they had at first seemed bright in contrast to the tar-y darkness prior, they did not offer a lot of light, only just enough to see ahead of her.

To the far end of the room, directly down the partition of the shelves and across from the door she had come through, was another door. While the pink hedgehog at first felt a sense of hope at a way out, it became painfully clear that it was no escape when she caught sight of the same red lettering emblazoned on it used for the rest of the cells. 223.

“Damn.” She muttered, slowly walking through the rows of shelves towards the door anyway. It was either deal with the early model outside, or face one she had yet to see, so with those two choices in mind, Alia much better fancied being as far away from the one outside as possible.

There was another bang on the door, a much harder bang. “I can see the light under the door 446. You’re not getting out of there.” Came a silky voice, again, not one she recognised, but likely one of the 2^nd or 3^rd wave models.

The pink hedgehog’s eye caught onto a particular item in the shelves as she passed by, something she had seen before. Chaos drives, a few of them. She had been given one to hand over to the grey fox, but she’d swapped it out. The contents of the last one was still in her room, but these were very much real.

With another bang on the door, she grabbed the nearest pair and pocketed them, rushing to the door branded 223.

* * *

The grey fox dropped to the slightly damp earthen soil beneath him, tail swinging about tiredly. They hadn’t been able to work much out in terms of the actual frame of the thing, especially since the only piece of actual furniture they could use would be the fridge, which would be needed to store the goods. So he hoped that his funds hadn’t been seized and he’d be able to purchase a new one. Or at least, he hoped to hope. There wasn’t any decision made yet, they were still a little concerned.

“Well. We can use the fridge.” He suggested, “But I don’t know if we’ll be able to get a new one,” Which was seriously of little concern right now as the fatigue would begin to set in shortly, and decisions needed to be made now. “In all honesty, we don’t really need a fridge. And if we have to live without one then that’s no big deal.”

Kitty nodded, “So, are we locking in that call?” she sighed, looking down at the chaos drive, “Are we going to disassemble the fridge?”

The grey fox sighed, looking around the area, at the fridge, the house and the surrounding trees, “Yeah. Pass me the pipe we were using for the wood-saw.”

* * *

Her hand hovered over the cold steel door at the end of the storage room, hesitating, unsure of what could lay on the other side. And while the odds were certainly in favour of following the course of action, exactly who 223 was or why their cell was connected to this room was as open to variable as any attempt at escaping the way she had come in.

If luck smiled, then this would be a backdoor to 223’s cell and there would be another way out, but luck would also have to smile and allow 223 to let Alia through.

Taking a deep breath, committing to the cause, she quickly rapped on the door, looking back the way she had come and then listening carefully for any sign of life on the other side. Thoughts began to fill her mind, some hopeful however sceptical.

But without a reply, the pink hedgehog grabbed onto the small metal doorhandle and put a strong heave into, sliding it open. She took a step back immediately upon catching sight of the figure.

Standing right behind the cell door, or in the doorframe of the now open cell, a pangolin. Tall and slender, the creature stood looming in front of the pink hedgehog, silently watching her with a careful eye.

“H-Hi?” Alia whispered quietly, eyes unmoving from the tall creature as another banging on the metal door behind her causes a bolt of adrenaline to pump through her veins.

The pangolin did not offer a verbal reply, twiddling its long slender fingers and looking back to the door and the storage room beyond the pink hedgehog. It did not move, blocking Alia’s view of the cell beyond and any potential method of escape.

“I… I need to… pass through, please?” The hedgehog said, looking up at the creature.

It did not reply still, but instead retreated back into its cell, allowing Alia a full view of the cell and the hard steel door on the other side. Inside the small concrete room now available to her, she could see several small desks and stacks of paper. It was then that she breathed a small sigh of relief, and entered in.

The pangolin seemed to be indeed some sort of archivist, although exactly what ‘gift’ it had was not clear, perhaps a mental enhancement, it made some level of sense, as it was a mid-wave model. Although it was equally as likely that there was more hidden below the surface, and as such, the pink hedgehog proceeded carefully to the steel door on the other side of the cell.

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