"The Nature of the Beast"
A work of Sonic the Hedgehog "Fan-faction" by Glazius Falconar
It’s a sad state of affairs where every story is prefaced by something like this…
This story and all new characters, situations, and theories, are copyright (©) 1997 by the author, Glazius Falconar (aka Paul Arezina). All situations and characters stemming from the Saturday morning animated series as aired on ABC (particularly the character of Dulcy the dragon) are copyright Sega, DiC, and/or Archie Comics. You can’t change this story in any way or charge others money for the sole purpose of reading it without my expressed written consent. The concept of the World Wide Web is copyright H. G. Wells, in his "Men Like Gods." Read it sometime. I believe I lifted the title from something in one of C. S. Lewis’s books. He’s written a lot more than Narnia… head to your local library and have a look around for "The Screwtape Letters" and "The Great Divorce". They read a lot better than some of the stuff out there…. And remember, if you want to post this on your web site, have questions about it, would care to exercise your right to free speech through flaming, (be warned: I will exercise my right to free speech via 1,000 copies of your flame in your inbox) or just feel like you have to e-mail somebody, my e-mail address is at the end of the story.
I was sitting in my dorm room - albeit on an alien world - wondering what Mobian enigma to take on next, when my vid-link blinked on. "Glazius?" said a familiar voice, and I recognized Professor Raptarius’s face on the vid-screen.
"Professor! This is a pleasant surprise. Why are you calling?"
"It’s about this latest section of your report, Glazius. I’ve showed it to a few of my colleagues, and they’re beginning to wonder if you’re not just making this all up."
"Professor! You know I would never do a thing like that!"
"I know that perfectly well, Glazius. The problem is that they don’t know that. A set of stones which allows movement through five dimensions… a natural source of energy which can be easily tapped to produce antigravity… and especially those ‘dragons’, as you called them. They all seem just a bit too fantastic to exist."
"You’re right about that, Professor. It’s gotten so that I can barely trust my own eyes sometimes. I suppose that Mark’s logs would help clear up this misunderstanding? You know how terrible an artist I am…"
"Don’t be so hard on yourself, Glazius… but I get what you’re trying to say. Mark’s logs are as close to an impartial record as you can obtain right now… I’ll send one of my graduate students to try and dig them out of the Vault. Clarise?"
My vid-screen split in half, and a young gull appeared on the other half. "Yes, Professor? Oh, it’s the storyteller…"
So, it had spread already. How can anyone make a judgment like that? "Now hold it! You have no proof of that!"
"Calm down, Glazius!"
"Sorry, Professor…"
"Now, Clarise, I think it’s time you learned a bit about the intricacies of Avis Prime’s filing system…." So saying, the Professor closed the link. I felt a bit sorry for Clarise… but my recordings would likely be on top of the mass of data that cluttered the Vault, so it shouldn’t take her more than a planetary rotation or two…
Let’s see now, where was I? Oh yes… what to do… well, if they were so concerned that I was spinning fiction, what better way to disprove that than by finding the truth behind it? "Mark, show me everything you’ve recorded about the Mobian species known as ‘dragons’."
"Displaying, Glazius…"
As Mark scrolled through what little I had seen of these strange sapients, I realized that I had almost no way… short of scanning the planet itself… to actually see a Mobian dragon in action. Or did I? Hmmm… well, it seemed like the only thing on Mobius with a tie to these dragons was a group of guerillas who called themselves the Freedom Fighters. Tagging along with them would probably give me the best chance of meeting a dragon… or at least being close enough to scan one. "Mark, activate psychic cloak and teleport me to a point a wingspan below the apex of the tree limbs covering Knothole."
"Engaging cloak… teleporting…"
That was odd… a few of the Freedom Fighters were gathered in the grassy commons of Knothole… and one of those augmented hovercrafts was idling a feather’s length off the ground. Had they been discovered and captured? I didn’t see any signs of a struggle… and why else would they be awake so soon after sunrise? This was most peculiar…
"You all have your assignments: Rotor, you and Bunnie will reroute the spy-eyes and the security cameras…"
"You can count on us, Sally-girl!"
"…and Sonic and I will enter the plant and blow the main computer. If anything goes wrong, we’ll meet up back at the junkyard."
"Like somethin’ can go wrong with the hedgehog on the job! That SWATbot factory is as good as gone!"
The Princess just rolled her eyes. Rotor and Bunnie boarded the hovercraft, and Sally leapt into Sonic’s arms. Sonic formed his signature warp bubbles and headed for Robotropolis with the hovercraft following close behind. "Mark, track those sapients. I want to know where they’re headed."
"Tracking, Glazius…"
Okay, I wouldn’t have to worry about finding them later. Apparently, the Freedom Fighters were going on some sort of mission… and Rotor had managed to re-wire one of Robotnik’s hovercraft to serve as a transport. I took off for Robotropolis as well; this proved to be a chance to see the guerillas in action.
I touched down near Sonic’s location to find that he and Sally were already making their way into the factory… and the nearby cameras certainly looked like they had been deactivated. That had been entirely too quick… either that, or Robotnik hadn’t shielded his security sensors from attack. Or maybe… "Mark, scan the building."
"Scanning, Glazius…"
Oh no. I suddenly wished very strongly that the Prime Law didn’t exist… because Sonic and Sally were walking right into a trap. A trap that they likely didn’t know existed… this did not bode well for the future of the planet. I followed them, more out of habit than anything else…
"Sonic, hold it!"
She’d detected it too, with that computer of hers!
"Robotnik’s laid a defense grid around that ladder"… and she pointed to a small wire ladder, extending perhaps five wingspans from the floor to a slightly higher catwalk. "That’s the only path Nicole can find to the control center. And the grid is armed!"
No, she hadn’t detected it… this did not look good…
"Exactly how bad is it, Sal?"
For answer, the squirrel picked up a rock and flung it at the grid. A few milliseconds after it touched down, eight energy blasts came from what looked to be wall-mounted guns and reduced the rock to a pile of ash.
"Whoa! Buttnik really doesn’t want anybody getting to that ladder…"
"We have to turn back, Sonic."
Yes! Turn back! Turn back! Please! You don’t know what you’re walking into… what’s the use, they can’t hear me think, and I can’t say anything to them either.
"No way, Sal. I can beat those lasers like that!" and the hedgehog punctuated his statement with a quick snap of his fingers. "The bombs are in my backpack, right?"
The Princess nodded. "Great! You go back to the junkyard, Sal. I’ll take care of Buttnik’s factory."
"Be careful, Son…"
"Juice time!" The hedgehog formed his warp bubbles and sped across the grid, laser fire literally hot on his heels. He took a running leap and managed to grab hold of the ladder. He flashed a quick thumbs-up to the Princess and began climbing.
"Why do I even bother?" With that, Sally turned and left, heading for whatever rendezvous point she’d arranged.
At least she was safe. But the hedgehog was walking into almost certain doom. It seemed as though the fate of the planet hung on his life… although the Freedom Fighters were a decent group of guerillas, Sonic gave them a speed advantage… something they’d desperately need to win against Robotnik. Perhaps, I thought to myself, he might be able to escape… perhaps… but the only way to know was to see, painful though it might be. I half-heartedly winged my way after the hedgehog.
He arrived at the control room without incident… not even bothering to question why there weren’t any patrols making the rounds. He removed what looked to be a high explosive device from his backpack, set a timer on it, and tried to attach it to one of the consoles.
It passed right through… as I knew it would. Much of this "factory" was nothing but an elaborate hologram.
"What the…?" As the hedgehog passed his own hand through the console, the entire room dimmed and faded… revealing at least three hundred SWATbots, if not more, lasers armed and aimed.
But why hadn’t they fired? Ahh… the behemoth himself had come to witness what he imagined to be the hedgehog’s execution. I could feel my own anger building as he taunted the hedgehog…
"Well, well… looks like you’ve fallen into my trap, rodent. But where are your little friends?"
"Someplace you’ll never find, Buttnik."
"Perhaps you don’t appreciate the seriousness of the situation. You might be able to evade one or two SWATbots firing, rodent, but six platoons?" He burst out with a maniacal laugh. "You’re as good as dead already. At least make your remaining time on Mobius useful and tell me where Knothole is."
The hedgehog took one look around, gulped audibly, and replied, in a slightly shaky voice, "As if! The Freedom Fighters don’t betray each other, Buttnik."
"Oh, that’s too bad. Had you told me, I would just have roboticized you rather than killing you outright. SWATbots… set lasers on lethal discharge."
A cascade of beeps and buzzes swept the area as internal circuitry was recalibrated… and a barely audible click sounded as I slowly slipped a wingtip into my own phased energy blaster and leveled it at the behemoth’s red eyes. If the planet were to lose its greatest hero, it would also lose its greatest villain… if I had anything to say about it, Prime Law be hanged! I would not let another planet pollute itself into oblivion. Mark was trilling warnings, but I paid it little heed.
"You’ll never get away with this, Buttnik!"
"Oh really, hedgehog? And exactly how do you intend to stop me?" Sonic was silent. "I thought as much. As is the custom, I’ll let you say a few final words… not as though it will matter."
Sonic seemed to be thinking, then… stuck his fingers in his mouth and gave a piercing whistle.
No, not a whistle… it sounded more like the cry of a frightened sparrow. This was too much. My wingtip slowly flexed, edging closer towards the trigger…
The behemoth simply laughed. "Was that your swan song, hedgehog? How fitting… dissonant, chaotic, and soon to be forgotten… just like you." He raised his mechanical arm in the air. "SWATbots…"
No! This would not happen. I sighted the behemoth’s glowing red eyes and…
"Not if I can help it!"
What the…? Who said…? Suddenly, a gout of fire lanced from the air and surrounded the hedgehog in a ring of flames. Just as quickly, a blast of ice created a slightly larger ring, encircling the outer perimeter of the SWATbot lines. Those robots not caught in one extreme or the other were quickly warped into uselessness by the extreme temperature differential… but the behemoth’s own transport was safely outside both. He seemed a bit stunned by the sudden developments… as did I. I slowly replaced my blaster and realized what I’d almost done… and turned my eyes skyward to see the hedgehog’s savior.
A dragon! I’d expected one, but… the Freedom Fighters had enlisted a dragon? "Dulce! Care to cut it any closer next time?"
"Sonic, I just saved your life! Now, apologize or I’m not taking you home."
"Geez, no need to take it personally, Dulcy. It was just a joke, okay?" But the dragon had a big grin on her face as well. She lowered herself to the center of the circle of flames.
"All aboard the Knothole Express!"
The hedgehog laughed as he vaulted onto her back, and she launched herself skyward… as did I. "Mark, scan dragon, maximum resolution."
"Scanning, Glazius…"
Mark slowly swept a beam across the dragon’s body as I struggled to keep up with her. How could something this big fly this fast? I’d find out when the scan was complete… or so I hoped. I turned my attention to the conversation on the dragon’s back.
"Man, that was a close one, Dulce."
"I’ll say. Next time, let me know when you’re planning a mission so I don’t have to fly so far."
"Right… umm, Dulce, you didn’t happen to see Sal around, did you?"
"I’m right here, Sonic."
What the…? I looked for the source of the voice and saw a head poking out of what looked to be a pouch on the dragon’s underbelly.
"I picked her up first, Sonic. I couldn’t just leave her like that…"
The hedgehog just shook his head. "Man, that was one freaky mission. ‘Buttnik dreamed up some sorta fake building for us to try and blow."
The Princess looked concerned. "Umm, Sonic… you didn’t arm any of the explosives, did you?"
"Yeah, one, but it’s in my pack now, so what’s your point?"
"Sonic! We have to get rid of it or it’ll blow us out of the air!"
"Oh man… Dulce! Hang a right!"
The dragon nodded and swung effortlessly around in a smooth turn. The hedgehog had pointed her towards what looked to be a refinery… not very far from the "SWATbot factory" he had recently come from.
Sonic dug around in his backpack until he found one explosive with a glowing area… seemed to be counting down digits. "Oh man… this better work." The hedgehog leaned slightly over the side of his dragon mount and dropped the explosive… right down a smoking pipe. It clattered off the sides as it fell downward.
"Dulcy, we’re going to need to be pretty far away when that goes off."
"You got it, Sally." The dragon made another quick right and began pumping her wings faster, accelerating to a speed I could barely manage to match, eventually turning and setting down on the opposite side of a building. Or, rather… perching, almost… she was a few stories up from the ground.
"Sorry about that, you two… I need a breather…"
"Take all the time you need, Dul…"
The hedgehog was cut off by a massive explosion… apparently, his explosive had come a little too near to Robotnik’s oil supply.
"What on Mobius was that?"
"That used to be one of Robotnik’s refineries, Sonic. You must have dropped that bomb right into a tank of oil!"
"Chill, Sal. What’s the problem?"
The squirrel sighed. "How many WorkerBots were in that refinery, Sonic? You might have just killed a thousand innocent Mobians!"
That’s right… the guerillas couldn’t take out any of Robotnik’s work force because they’d be killing their own fellow citizens. But from what Mark could gather, the refinery was operating without anyone’s intervention…
"Calm down, Sal, nobody was in there."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Simple. Buttnik sealed the doors."
"And how do you know that?"
"Buttnik put a fake room on that factory. When it faded out, I got a good look at that refinery. The doors and windows were covered up with metal plates… and we hadn’t sprung any security alarms."
"Hmm… you may be right. But we’ll have to check with Uncle Chuck to be sure."
The dragon, who’d been craning her neck to see the other side of the building, suddenly gasped and took off. I launched myself into the air as well. "Whoa, Dulce, how ‘bout a warning next time?"
"Sorry, Sonic. Look behind you."
Sonic looked back, as did I, to see… a whole squadron of those "Stealth-bots" in what looked to be attack formation. And from every loudspeaker in Robotropolis came a very familiar voice… "Stealth-bots! GET THAT DRAGON!!" Robotnik had apparently been shocked back to his former awareness by the explosion of one of his most precious resources.
"You think you can handle them, Dulce?"
"It’ll be a stretch…." The dragon turned and headed straight for the squadron.
I followed her, hoping my psychic cloak would protect against errant laser blasts… what was…? Smoke was billowing out of the dragon’s nostrils, and I slowly halted and began micro-fluttering as she weaved through the formation, making an impromptu smoke screen. Deprived of visual navigation, many of the robot planes simply crashed into each other before they could make suitable adjustments… but a few broke free of the smoke and began following the dragon, who was heading back to Knothole. I took off after her, managing to pull just a bit ahead…
Sonic looked back. "Dulce, I hate to bother you, but they’re gaining!"
"I know that, Sonic! I’m just getting a bit tired… I know! Crack the whip time!"
What was ‘crack the whip’?
"Hang on, you two."
This would be interesting to see… "Scan completed, Glazius."
I took half a second to glance down at Mark… and was bowled over by a shock wave as the dragon shot past me. I managed to right myself just before I hit the upper limbs of the Great Forest… and I could see by the trio of explosions in the distance that the Stealth-bots had been similarly affected. What was that? I could still see the dragon off in the distance, so I began flying after her. It would be interesting to see where she would land…
The dragon began circling a grassy area… hmm… Knothole’s original design had probably included landing pads for hovercraft and the like; this must have been one of them. I could see - Bunnie? So she and Rotor had gotten back safely - guiding the dragon in with a large set of flags. But she was coming in much too fast… and the rabbit dived out of the way as the dragon tried to brake herself with her feet. She came to a halt with about half a wingspan of her body buried in the soil.
Sonic leapt off the dragon’s back, and Sally slowly climbed out of her pouch. "That was… one of your better landings, Dulcy."
"Yeah. Just keep practicing… whoa, somebody stop the world…." The hedgehog staggered into the forest with the squirrel following a bit unsteadily behind him.
Now that was strange… Dulcy had perfect command of her supernatural abilities and could maneuver expertly in the air… but couldn’t pull off a landing? Something didn’t seem right about that. I’d have to… hmm, why not? After I was through analyzing Mark’s scans, I’d have a look at how she came to join the Freedom Fighters… it would prove to be interesting. I turned and headed for my base.
I touched down and replicated myself a quick lunch. As I slowly ate, I reflected on the many similarities between the rather primitive Mobian replication technology and the highly sophisticated replicators in use on Avis Prime today… and the replicators that the Terrans had developed. All worked on basically the same principle… perhaps, I mused, technology evolves much as life does; similar challenges prompt similar solutions. After I’d finished eating… "Mark, display a… well, a schematic of the dragon." I didn’t exactly know what else to call it.
"A schematic, Glazius?"
And Mark was a bit confused by the term as well. "A… cutaway view, Mark. A static hologram of the dragon, cut along the anterior/posterior axis."
"Displaying, Glazius…"
Mark displayed a full hologram of the dragon… and then one half slid along the other, revealing the internal biological machinery of the strange species. I looked for any internal chambers which might account for that strange buoyancy in air… the wings themselves didn’t look to be powerful enough to lift a solid mass of flesh and bones off the ground…. As I’d thought, the dragon possessed two air chambers, stretched rather taut by the air contained in them and two more, located just in front of her lungs. Hmm… that was odd… the ones by her lungs seemed to be directly accessible from her main windpipe… but the natural valves on the other two seemed to allow movement of air outward only. That was certainly odd… how were they filled? I had a look at the other half of Mark’s depiction of the dragon… they connected to her stomach? What possible reason… no, it couldn’t be! But then again… why couldn’t it be? "Mark… are there any minerals on Mobius which will release hydrogen gas when treated with a strong acid?"
"Affirmative, Glazius. Several such minerals exist."
"Give me a display of their relative abundances and decomposition products, Mark."
"Displaying list, Glazius…"
Hmm… at least two were prevalent enough on this continent of Mobius that the dragon would have easy access to them. Which meant that at least one of those bladders was filled with hydrogen gas… and the other one… hmm… "Mark, what did you detect in those air chambers… besides the decomposition products of those minerals?"
"Scans revealed a gaseous suspension of particulate organic matter."
She probably derived that from… I had to laugh. Although the dragons depicted in Terran fairy tales were pictured as voracious meat-eaters, this dragon was a simple herbivore. And a… hmm, I don’t believe we’ve yet come across a creature which eats rocks… I imagine "geovore" would probably be an appropriate term. The hydrogen she isolated from the rocks would probably be a tremendous aid to her flight… but wait a minute! Hydrogen was notoriously flammable… and while that might be what produced her fiery breath… how would she keep from exploding if the external temperature was a bit too high? Hmm… wait a…
"Mark, are those blood vessels lining the air chambers?"
"Affirmative, Glazius. However… another vascular system of unknown function also runs along the outer surface of said chambers."
Hmm… it probably would be… "Mark, temperature inside those vessels, relative to the dragon’s body temperature."
"Temperature is approximately 50 degrees Celsius lower than internal temperature of the dragon."
I let out a low whistle. Whatever enzyme-catalyzed reactions were going on in those vessels, they were endothermic in the extreme… and provided a natural heat sink for the dragon. I imagined that heat reversed the reaction, to some extent… all the dragon would need to supply were a few more molecules of catalyst or reactant every now and then. I saw that the rather unique system of vessels ran along the surface of all four of the dragon’s air chambers… that was certainly odd. Even stranger was a protuberance on the roof of her mouth… which appeared to be tied directly in to her nervous system. What purpose could that… of course! Now I knew how she managed those incredible feats…
Her flame breath was produced simply by exhaling the contents of both stomachs and igniting them a second or two later with that neuro-electric sparker. The particulate organics would float downward and the hydrogen would rise, making an expanding cone of flame. And that natural vascular heat sink, coupled with an exhalation of some of the other gases obtained by dissolving those minerals, would prevent the flame from shooting back into the dragon’s system and causing a catastrophic (at least for her) explosion. The blasts of ice were produced by supercooling ordinary air in the two air chambers by her lungs, using the vascular heat sink to chill it to the point where it could freeze the water vapor already present in the air. I imagined… yes, there were ice nucleating proteins lining those two air chambers, so she wouldn’t freeze her own body solid. As for the smoke… hmm… "Mark, do any of the gaseous by-products from mineral decomposition allow combustion?"
"Affirmative, Glazius…"
So she brought a mixture of particulate organics and byproduct gas into her mouth and ignited it… under anaerobic conditions. That would produce billows of smoke fairly readily… and leave a rather nasty aftertaste, I imagine. Or perhaps years of belching smoke merely deadened the palate. Hmm… how had a species this well-equipped managed to avoid dominating the planet? A blast of flame or ice could easily take care of most competitors… but perhaps all dragons didn’t breathe flame or ice. Perhaps… but with no other representative of the species, I had no way to be sure… or did I? Hmm…
"Mark, are logs of the destruction of Mobotropolis sufficiently detailed to extrapolate from?"
"Query unclear, Glazius. Request desired information."
"Can you give me a thermal depiction of the events?"
"Affirmative, Glazius…"
Although watching Mobotropolis being slowly converted to a metallic junk pile by concentrated acid was rather unpleasant, I saw… hmm… although all of the dragons were cooled somewhat by a natural heat sink, only a few among them had "cold spots" along their chests. Meaning that only those few had the ability to breathe ice… and fire as well, or so it appeared from Mark’s logs. I wondered what evolutionary path had led to such a strange difference within a species… perhaps it was because their powers were also potentially self-destructive that the fire-breathing dragons had not dominated the planet… or even their own species. As for their evolutionary origin… I did not know exactly how the heat sinks could have developed, but… weren’t there giant lizards called "dinosaurs" that once roamed the Terran homeworld? Perhaps these creatures were the descendants of a similar precursor on Mobius Prime. Though they were undoubtedly warm-blooded… of course! That’s what "Dragons’ Nest" meant… a place to lay eggs. And I imagine that the pouch on the dragon’s abdomen was intended for carrying eggs. These beasts had a definite reptilian origin… which meant that…
It suddenly hit me what the dragon meant when she said it was time to "crack the whip"… Terran physiologists believed that the dinosaurs… the larger ones, anyway… could swing their tails like whips and create sonic booms… up to an order of magnitude louder than normal conversation. The shock wave that knocked those Stealth-bots away - and sent me heading for the canopy - was actually a result of the dragon creating an aerial sonic boom. And the increased speed… I imagined that, if she angled her wings properly, she could simply ride the shock wave. A definite speed boost.
But there was still one question that bothered me: how had the Freedom Fighters managed to enlist a dragon? Only one way to find out… "Mark, prepare a binary temporal search. The initial target date is… 20 years in the past." Just to be on the safe side. "And the event you are to look for is…" Hmm… what would indicate the dragon’s presence… ah… "the dragon known as Dulcy being present at Knothole for a period of at least one hour… in the evening. Once you’ve found the date, take me to seven planetary rotations before it and guide me to Dulcy’s location."
"Processing request… performing preliminary translation…"
Suddenly, it was evening.
"Beginning binary temporal search…"
I shut my eyes as Mark leapt from present to past to future over and over, trying to find the dragon’s whereabouts in each time period. After a few minutes, Mark trilled, and I opened my eyes to see a holographic arrow pointing towards… the Great Unknown. The wasteland and its workings were still a mystery to me; perhaps Mark could do a little scanning while I was there. I switched on my air generator and began following the course Mark had plotted. As I crossed the border between forest and barren terrain… "Mark, perform a continuous sensor sweep of the area. I want to know everything you can find out about this region."
"Affirmative, Glazius…"
As Mark slowly accumulated data about the terrain, I found myself wondering again what strange forces had created this place… perhaps, I thought, the dragons trained their abilities here? Though that wouldn’t explain the condition of the soil, it certainly would explain the lack of vegetation… and the gout of flame…? I braked and began micro-fluttering as I examined its source…
A family of dragons? Apparently… the flame was shooting out of the mouth of a dragon with no pouch, who I could only assume to be male, and two females were watching… Dulcy the younger of the two. This would definitely be worth viewing… "Mark, initiate incremental translation."
"Initiating, Glazius…"
The flame slowly died, and the male spoke. "You see, Dulcinea? That’s all there is to it. I wish I could tell you how… but none of us really knows how the Protector powers are activated. Just concentrate on a flame."
Dulcy nodded, and inhaled… to produce a tongue of flame somewhat shorter than… her father’s? "Mark, run phenotypic analysis. This is a family I’m looking at, correct?"
Mark slowly swept a beam over the trio as the male encouraged his… daughter, was it… "Scan complete. There is an 86.5% probability that the juvenile dragon is the child of the two mature dragons." Which was good enough for me… I really couldn’t see why Dulcy would be out with anyone but her family.
Dulcy’s father demonstrated the technique of guiding the flame… perhaps a differential use of hydrogen and particulate organics… and left his child to practice on a few rocks. He touched down on a nearby mesa, smiling as he watched the young dragon try to hit the mark… the female alighted beside him.
'Khadgar, are you sure this was wise?'
"Sebina… dearest… Dulcinea started manifesting her powers less than a moon ago. If she isn’t taught to control them now… the Lair will not be a very safe place for the next few years. And practicing indoors is out of the question… for now, at least."
"The Lair"? A communal home, possibly…
'But Robotnik is searching for dragons. The few who have ventured outside have either been taken back to that terrible city or returned covered with scars from the lasers. And she’s a Protector, Khadgar. If she is taken away...'
Strange… the use of the term "Protector" again. Perhaps those few dragons able to breathe fire and ice were guardians of those who couldn’t. And the slightly higher death rate which would result from such an occupation might be enough to keep the two forms in balance.
Khadgar launched himself from the mesa to show his daughter how to breathe ice… and barely dodged out of the way of her first attempt. After a few tries, she was able to adjust to the recoil that the sudden expulsion of air caused. Sebina, meanwhile, was flying in broad circles over the valley where her daughter was honing her powers… probably on the watch for Robotnik’s forces. But there were no robots in the area… not even within range of my falcon’s eyesight… and Mark was using its sensors to try and form a picture of this strange wasteland, so a scan was out of the question.
A billowing cloud of smoke caught my attention as Khadgar demonstrated the last of the Protector powers that I knew of. Dulcy followed suit, producing a smoke screen nearly as big as her father’s.
"Excellent, Dulcinea, excellent! Your control is coming along very nicely indeed! Now, if you’ll just…"
'Khadgar... I really don’t think we can afford to spend much more time outside...'
Khadgar looked at his wife and nodded. "Your mother is right, Dulcinea. It’s best that we returned home. It’s not likely that you’ll accidentally activate any of the other powers."
"Other powers"? There were other powers? None immediately apparent from a scan…
Dulcy nodded and flew toward what I assumed to be the Lair, her parents flanking her. I followed the trio… perhaps if this "Lair" existed in my native timestream, I could obtain more information on the genesis of this strange species…
Suddenly, a tangle of steel cables erupted from the sand below! What in the…? Before Khadgar or Sebina could react, their daughter was helplessly ensnared and pulled downward to… a metal dome? It slammed shut over Dulcy’s head and began shaking… as a large transport slowly rose from the sand. I flew in for a closer look… and saw that the pilot of this transport was none other than Snively Robotnik. He let out a nasal laugh… through what looked to be a loudspeaker mounted on the transport…
"Oh, Robotnik will be so happy when he gets my little present…"
Sebina swooped downward, landing on the dome and trying to rip it open with her claws… 'You little weasel! Give back my daughter or so help me, I’ll...'
Snively looked rather amused. "You’ll what? Eat me alive? Hardly. This transport was designed to be completely impenetrable."
Khadgar slowly eased himself downward through the air… "Even to a Protector, you sniveling little…" He took in a massive breath… I didn’t see his chest sacs inflating, so I could only assume he was going to try and melt the dome.
"Don’t be so hasty, oh mighty Khadgar…" That nasal laugh again… "This metal will melt only at temperatures of 3,000 degrees… and I rather doubt you’d care to charbroil your lovely daughter."
"No, but I would care to charbroil YOU!" So saying, Khadgar exhaled a gout of flame, which bathed the cockpit of the transport in fire… when the flames died… nothing had happened?
"You foolish dragon… this cockpit is constructed of a temperature resistant polymer. I could survive for two hours in the depths of the Great Volcano without even breaking a sweat!"
Sebina… smiled? 'Let’s put that to the test.' She grabbed the cockpit with her forelimbs and began trying to wrench it from the transport.
Snively seemed a bit shaken up, but he managed to retain his composure. "Look to the sky behind you, you overgrown lizard."
The two dragons swiveled their heads - and I did a neat pirouette - to see several squadrons of Stealth-Bots approaching. 'You little weasel!' exclaimed Sebina…
Snively laughed. "Just to show you how much I care… you have 15 seconds to say your good-byes. I advise that you not waste it."
Khadgar and Sebina perched on opposite sides of the steel dome which held their child. "Dulcy!" yelled her father. 'Can you hear us?' added her mother in an equally insistent tone.
"Just… just fine. You don’t have to yell…" came a voice from inside.
"Dulcy… we can’t get you out of there…" said her father.
"I… know. What are they gonna do to me?" replied Dulcy from inside her prison.
'Nothing you need to be afraid of, Dulcinea,' answered Sebina.
"Oh… isn’t that precious? But I believe that you two have something to fear…" came Snively’s nasal tenor. "StealthBots! Chase them away!" A low hiss sounded from inside the dome.
Khadgar took a short breath. "Knockout gas. She won’t be conscious much longer. We’d better…"
Sebina shook her head. 'There’s something more.'
Khadgar nodded. "I’ll hold them off."
He launched himself into the air, shredding, melting, and freezing StealthBots as though there were no tomorrow… and StealthBots were also plummeting to the ground sparking as if from a huge electrical shock… and with their cockpits eaten away by acid. The other powers…
Sebina remained by the dome. 'Dulcy... if we can’t free you... look for the Freedom Fighters... they can help you.'
"Freedom Fighters… help… me…" came a weak voice from inside. The gas was taking effect.
'And, Dulcinea... we love you...'
"I… know… Ma…" and a soft thud came from inside, as though something had collapsed.
Sebina, tears in her eyes, took off… only to land again on the cockpit of the transport. 'I swear, you little worm, if even one scale of hers is out of place...'
Snively only laughed. "You can’t harm me, dragon. Now, get off before your husband is perforated by my little friends. StealthBots! Set lasers to lethal discharge." He smiled evilly at Sebina as she prepared to take off for home…
Khadgar took advantage of the momentary delay this caused to weave a massive smokescreen through the StealthBot ranks. He and his wife then took off, probably for the Lair. But I was more interested in what was going to be done to Dulcy… hmm…. Perhaps the Freedom Fighters would rescue her… that would certainly give her enough reason to join them. But why wouldn’t she have headed for home? Perhaps if… but I’d need to… this was definitely worth seeing.
Snively turned the transport back to Robotropolis and began muttering to himself, unaware that the loudspeaker was still on… "A whole squadron of StealthBots gone… but I did capture a dragon. I just hope Uncle Julian is in a good mood…"
So he and Dr. Robotnik were related… though they certainly didn’t look like it. I followed the transport as it made its way from the Great Unknown through the Great Forest - these Mobians didn’t have much in the way of adjectives, did they? - to Robotropolis. I half-expected the Freedom Fighters to overrun it on the way… but no such thing happened.
The transport docked at the large ovoid building in the center of the city, and was unloaded by a minor army of roboticized Mobian citizens. They set the large dome down in the center of what looked to be a cargo bay, and slowly scattered out the various exits to do whatever else Robotnik asked of them. Speak of the devil…
Dr. Robotnik entered… covered in dust and debris? His suit was ripped as well… either he liked hands-on maintenance or he’d been in a nasty accident. Snively noticed his uncle’s plight and ran to him.
"Sir! What happened?"
"What happened, Snively? What happened?" Dr. Robotnik’s eyes glowed red. "Those blasted Freedom Fighters happened! They blew up one of my finest, most inefficient factories and I barely escaped with my life! That’s what happened!"
Hmm… so he was trying to pollute the guerillas out of hiding. I couldn’t really condone such a practice… but I did detachedly admire his ingenuity. The behemoth was trying his best to cope with unconventional warfare… and achieving some degree of success.
He focused his gaze on Snively. "You have some bad news for me, don’t you, Snively?"
Snively laughed nervously. "N… no sir… why would you think that?"
Robotnik’s eyes glowed a brighter red. "I can see it in those little beady eyes of yours. Tell me what it IS!"
Snively gulped audibly… and nodded. "Y…yes s…sir. I w…was out on p…patrol when I l…lost a squadron of StealthBots."
Robotnik lifted his nephew by his shirt collar. "You did WHAT?!"
Snively continued, shaking in fear. "T…two dragons, sir… they destroyed the squadron…"
Robotnik brought his nephew close to his face and stared at him, his eyes glowing red… Snively struggled to break free… "Snively… if you don’t give me some good news in the next 30 seconds… you will find yourself embarking on a new career as A LAWN DART!"
Snively screamed in panic and fumbled for something in a pocket of his pants… he withdrew a small remote control and handed it to his uncle. "I th…think this qualifies, s…sir."
Robotnik flung his nephew aside… into a mass of padding. Snively hit the ground dazed, but unhurt. Robotnik pressed a button on the remote control with his organic thumb… and watched as the dome on the transport split open… revealing Dulcy, bound by steel cables and completely unconscious. His eyes slowly faded to their normal color, and a smile crept across his face. He began laughing. "Snively! For once you’ve managed to do something right! Have her taken to the dragon roboticizer… I think I could use a nice attack robot right about now."
Snively, in full command of his faculties, himself smiled. "There’s more, sir. Your dragon-proof transport performed flawlessly… and the young dragon was displaying the Protector powers."
Robotnik’s eyes widened. "The Protector powers? I believe I have underestimated you, Snively. We shall have to see if they hold up under roboticization."
Snively nodded, and muttered to himself… "Of course you’ve underestimated me… dear uncle Julian… just wait until you see what I have in store…"
"What was that, Snively?!"
"Umm… the floor, sir. What floor was it on again?"
Robotnik sighed and shook his head. "It is in the basement, Snively." He smiled at the approaching ranks of roboticized Mobians. "WorkerBots! Take this dragon to the roboticizer."
"Yes, Dr. Robotnik," sounded in unison from a hundred metallic throats, and the small army clanked over to the dome holding Dulcy, lifted it up, and proceeded out a wide doorway at the other end of the cargo bay. Dr. Robotnik departed for the doorway, as did Snively… but I wanted to try something.
"Mark, cease incremental translation."
"Affirmative, Glazius."
The door at the far end froze, not fully closing behind the behemoth and his metallic entourage.
"Mark, display an internal schematic diagram of the building I’m in, as you constructed it while I was mapping Mobotropolis. Highlight all rooms on the basement level large enough to house a dragon-sized roboticizer."
"Performing calculations… displaying…"
And I became a small red dot on Mark’s three-dimensional hologram of the building. I flew through the corridors… sure enough, the behemoth had changed very little of the building’s internal design. Perhaps a wall broken down or added here and there, but no major renovations. As I made my way downstairs, I pondered something the behemoth had said…. Would Dulcy’s powers remain if she were roboticized? For that matter, would any dragon’s?
The answer, perhaps fortunately for the Freedom Fighters, was an emphatic "no". The roboticized dragons wouldn’t be able to refuel their internal supplies of hydrogen gas and such because they couldn’t eat… and the natural heat sinks and that neuro-electric sparker would be inactive due to the ubiquitous metal ions. In fact… a roboticized dragon was a walking explosive… if the hydrogen were heated sufficiently….
Here we are, just as Mark had forecasted. The procession of dragon-bearers had already found its way to one of the rooms Mark suspected as a dragon roboticizer location. The others likely housed backups… or possibly the machinery that kept the building running. "Mark, resume incremental translation."
"Affirmative, Glazius…"
The procession made its way to the center of the room and eased the dragon’s dome to the ground… and slowly filed out through the only entrance to the room, splitting into two ranks to permit the passage of Julian and Snively Robotnik. The behemoth pushed a button on a console, and a glass tube descended from the ceiling, fitting snugly around the dome Dulcy was unconscious in. He then turned to his nephew.
"Snively… exactly how do you propose that we wake her up?"
That’s right… the roboticizer required its subjects to be awake and afraid for proper functioning.
"Wake her up, sir?"
"Yes, Snively, wake her up. I would like to see her face when she realizes where she is."
"Of course, sir…" Snively scanned the control panel. "I believe that I used compound 12-J to knock her out, so this should bring her around again."
Snively moved his rank over several ranks of paired buttons, finally choosing one… the labels probably represented knockout drugs and their respective antidotes. As a light pink smoke wafted into the tube, Dulcy began choking… at least she was coming around. Her eyes slowly opened… and opened much wider when she became aware of her surroundings.
"So you’re awake, my dear child." The behemoth laughed as he edged closer to the tube. "Enjoy your last few moments as a free-willed being."
The dragon’s eyes narrowed to slits as she stared at Dr. Robotnik. "If you’re trying to scare me, it’s not gonna work."
Dr. Robotnik laughed. "Oh, the brave little dragon… too bad your parents couldn’t be here to see this."
Dulcy remained calm. "My Ma told me there wasn’t anything to be afraid of."
The behemoth seemed a bit taken aback… if there was no fear…. Suddenly, a beam shot down from the ceiling! The process was beginning… without the proper prerequisites. Robotnik spun around and glared at his assistant. "Snively!"
"M…my finger slipped, sir…"
Robotnik’s eyes glowed red. "Stop this at once!"
Snively gasped and scrabbled frantically at the control panel. "I’m t…trying, sir… but the controls aren’t responding!"
Robotnik rounded on the dragon, who was bathed in the radiation that the roboticizer used to scan her body… and the dragon winced slightly, as though a needle had been… of course! She now had nanites in her system… and the beam from the ceiling slowly dimmed and faded. A nasal voice came from behind the control panel.
"I believe I stopped it, sir."
The behemoth turned again, eyes glowing madly… "Snively… if you ever do anything like that again, I will have your... what in?"
A hiss sounded as the glass tube slowly began to lift, and Dr. Robotnik shoved Snively away from the controls. He tried frantically to lower the tube again… and his face visibly paled as Dulcy slowly walked out of the roboticizer and stood before him. Robotnik winced, expecting the inevitable slaughter… and waited… and waited… and… the dragon did nothing? "Mark, stop time, and scan the dragon for inorganic structures."
"Ceasing incremental translation… scanning… it appears that a ‘slave module’ has been constructed at the base of the dragon’s brainstem, and artificial neurons are running not only to skeletal muscle, but also to several areas of the brain."
Something had gone wrong… or right, as far as Robotnik was concerned. He now had control over an organic body… but why weren’t the dragon’s immune systems rejecting… of course! Doubtless, whatever minerals Mobian dragons ate, they were bound to contain metallic contaminants… possibly metal ores as well. And a dragon’s immune system would adapt… becoming more tolerant to the presence of metal in the system. The nanites and the artificial neurons wouldn’t be rejected, as they would be in an organic Mobian.
As I pondered this turn of events, I saw Snively, where Robotnik had thrown him, with a smile on his face. There was no doubt in my mind that he had planned this deliberately… but was it to get rid of his uncle or to test this new technology? Only one way to know… "Resume incremental translation, Mark."
"Resuming…"
Robotnik finally opened his eyes to see the dragon standing impassively before him. "Well? Aren’t you going to tear me limb from limb or something?"
Dulcy responded in a strange monotone… "I cannot do that, Lord Robotnik."
Robotnik’s jaw dropped… and he slowly composed himself. "You can’t? Hmm… and what is the location of the 33rd fossil fuel power plant?"
The monotone again. "Coordinates 1C latitude, 5D longitude."
Robotnik rubbed his chin, thinking to himself… "And my mother’s aunt’s maiden name?"
And the dragon intoned, "You have no such relative, Lord Robotnik."
The behemoth laughed, realizing the potential for this latest phenomenon… an organic dragon, under his full control. "Snively… it appears your bungling incompetence…" - and he turned to face his nephew, who was trying very hard not to smile - "has proven use…ful…." He seemed to see the expression Snively was trying to conceal, and his face darkened. "You had this planned from the start, didn’t you, Snively?"
Snively nodded. "Yes, sir."
Robotnik’s eyes glowed red again. "And what would have happened had your little experiment failed?"
"You would have been torn to shreds by a very angry dragon and I would be safe behind the safety door… which you so thoughtfully flung me next to."
The mad doctor rubbed his chin, the red gradually faded from his eyes, and a smile slowly spread across his face. He began laughing… "It appears I have greatly underestimated you, Snively… a few more stunts like this and we could be partners…" and he gazed steadily at his nephew, all traces of mirth abruptly leaving his voice… "or you could find yourself a tin soldier one morning. I don’t take well to backstabbing, Snively. Remember that."
"Yes, sir." Snively turned to go.
"And one more thing, Snively."
Snively turned again. "Yes, sir?"
"I want a full report on the theory behind what you just did. I have the strangest suspicion it might not be permanent…"
Snively smiled. "It is, sir. I’ve checked the figures ten times over, easily."
Robotnik waved a dismissing hand… his metallic one. "You probably have. That’s why I want to see them."
Snively, slightly less jubilant, turned on his heel and left for some unknown destination.
Robotnik chuckled to himself as he turned to the dragon. "Well then, my dear girl… let’s see what you’re capable of."
Over the next few days, uncle and nephew ran series after series of tests, determining the extent to which Dulcy’s powers could be controlled. Before long, she was shooting flame, ice, and smoke with astonishing accuracy… and Mark’s scans confirmed what I had feared… that "slave module" was hard-wiring her brain, disrupting thousands of neuron connections. I couldn’t predict what shape her memory would be in after she was freed from Robotnik’s control… she had to be freed if she were fighting alongside the Freedom Fighters in my native timestream. But how was it to be accomplished? I watched as Dulcy was put through test after test, simulation after simulation…
And finally, it happened. Robotnik decided to use his latest resource. He, his nephew, and Dulcy were on the roof of the ovoid building which served as a command center. "Unit DLC-1!"
That’s what he had converted Dulcy’s name to… in accordance with her self-image as a roboticized dragon. Dulcy responded in the same monotone as she had originally used…
"What are your orders, Lord Robotnik?"
"You are to undertake a reconnaissance mission. Somewhere in the Great Forest, there exists a hideout for the most despicable criminals known to Mobius. It is called ‘Knothole’."
That’s right… according to Robotnik’s databases, the Freedom Fighters… and every other Mobian… were wanted criminals.
"You are to find it… and you are not to harm any of the creatures there. Not yet, at any rate…"
He was probably planning to attack in force later on… but there would be no "later on"… I hope…
Snively spoke up. "We will be in constant radio contact. The transceiver is in your right ear…" to which Dulcy tapped the indicated location… to assure herself of the presence of such a device. Snively continued.
"Should you find the base, you are to report immediately. Is that understood?"
Dulcy nodded. "Understood."
Robotnik laughed. "We’re finally going to do it, Snively! After all these years, that blasted hedgehog will finally be mine! Unit DLC-1… you are dismissed. Carry out your orders."
Dulcy simply nodded and took to the air. I followed her… hmm… "Mark, I want to hear all communications which follow the radio frequency used in the transceiver in the dragon’s ear."
"Scanning transceiver… adding band to spectral buffer…"
I heard nothing but a mild static as I followed Dulcy. She was searching the Great Forest in a rather slow, methodical fashion… flying narrow sweeps from east to west… and every fifteen minutes, Robotnik would call for a status report, and Dulcy would say she had found no sign of Knothole. As the minutes turned to hours, Robotnik grew increasingly more frustrated… until…
We were coming up on the location of the Power Ring pool. And… as luck would have it… the hedgehog and squirrel were waiting by the pool… I imagined that a ring was due to come up. Dulcy saw them too, and stated… wearily… "I believe I have located Knothole, Lord Robotnik." She began flying tight loops around the pool.
Hmm… "Mark, scan dragon for signs of fatigue."
"Scanning… dragon is severely fatigued. She has likely been several days without food or rest."
That much was true… Robotnik treated the dragon like one of his robots. And… she had held up… but she likely wouldn’t much longer.
Sounds of rejoicing came over the radio waves. Robotnik managed to contain his jubilation long enough to say, "Excellent, DLC-1! What are your coordinates?"
"Coordinates are..."
And chance chose that moment to intervene. The antigrav energy which comprised a Power Ring chose that moment to come in contact with the water of the pool… and the Power Ring fountained skyward, just as an exhausted Dulcy swooped a bit too low. The two collided, sending a massive jolt of Power Ring energy through Dulcy’s system. Too exhausted to even scream, and deprived of the robotic motivation for staying aloft, she went limp and let gravity take over… gliding to a most ungraceful halt in a tangle of brush a few wingspans from the edge of the pool.
"Sonic… what was that?" The Princess had apparently been sleeping… but that was little surprise, since it was a few hours past midnight.
"Huh? Musta dozed off… the ring!" Sonic leapt off a log which extended into the pool, managing to grab the ring before it returned to the watery depths from whence it came… and hydroplaning on his stomach for quite a few wingspans before he splashed to a halt in the shallows on the opposite end of the pool. He stood, shook himself fairly dry, and sped back to the Princess. "What was what?"
"It sounded like something crashed… that way… we’d better check it out."
"You got it, Sal." And the hedgehog and squirrel slowly picked their way through the shrubbery. Meanwhile, on the airwaves…
Snively spoke rather insistently into his microphone. "Your coordinates, DLC-1?… DLC-1, what are your coordinates? DLC-1? DLC-1! Come in!"
"What’s wrong, Snively?"
"I don’t know, sir. DLC-1, can you hear me? Respond!"
Robotnik yelled in rage. "Something must have gone wrong, Snively!"
"B...but how, sir? You checked the schematics yourself and found no flaws."
I heard the sound of metal on metal… Robotnik thumping his fist on the nearest available surface, most probably. "I know that, Snively, and you know that… but the hedgehog… the hedgehog…" The thump again. "I swear to you, Snively, he must have some guardian angel! Blast it all!"
I didn’t need to hear more. "Mark, exclude radio broadcast."
"Removing band from spectral buffer…"
I flew to where the dragon had crash-landed, to find Sonic and Sally bending concernedly over Dulcy’s unconscious body.
"What happened to her, Sal?"
The Princess spoke into her pocket computer… that machine was with her everywhere… "Nicole, scan dragon. Report any anomalies."
"Scanning, Sally…"
A blue beam shot from the computer and slowly swept over Dulcy’s body. It was a scanning tool as well… but how could such a small case contain such a thing? Considering the current technology, at the least… a scanning device alone would be easily twice the size of Nicole, in all dimensions. A mystery for another time…
"Scan completed, Sally. Dragon is suffering from severe fatigue and possesses various inactivated metalloid structures distributed throughout the body."
"Which means…?" said the hedgehog, tapping his foot.
"Which means, Sonic, that the poor dear escaped from Robotnik… and flew non-stop to get here." The Princess slowly stroked the ridge on top of Dulcy’s head. "We need to get her to Knothole…"
"I’m way ahead of you, Sal." The hedgehog dashed off, to return seconds later carrying an organometallic rabbit.
Bunnie slowly rubbed the sleep from her eyes… "Sally-girl? Sugar-hog? What in… oh mah stars… a dragon!"
Sally nodded. "We need to get her back to Knothole, Bunnie… do you think you can manage?"
Bunnie slowly shook her head… "She’s just a kid… but that ain’t sayin’ much, considerin’ she’s a dragon kid… I’ll do what I can." She hefted Dulcy onto her robotic shoulder and began walking back to Knothole, making slow but sure progress through the tangled brush… Sonic sped back, probably to inform everyone of their latest arrival. Sally walked alongside Bunnie… and the two proceeded in silence back to their base… and their home.
As I followed them, I began thinking… what had that Power Ring done? Apparently, it had shorted out not only the "slave module", but also the nanites which repaired it… Mark confirmed that such a thing had indeed happened. Perhaps because the energy was in its pure form, not yet contained within a ring of magnetic monopoles… that would probably be the most logical explanation. But another question nagged at my mind, one that couldn’t be answered so easily: what had become of Dulcy’s memories? Even the best Avian scientists couldn’t chart memory, or determine what area of the brain controlled it… but it was likely, according to almost every theory, that the manipulation Robotnik did had interfered with Dulcy’s long-term memory… but to what extent?
The small procession arrived at Knothole and was instantly surrounded by a group of concerned Freedom Fighters… and Dulcy slowly awoke. "Where… am I?"
Sally gazed into Dulcy’s sleep-starved eyes and said in a calm tone, "This is Knothole. We are the Freedom Fighters."
Dulcy seemed to recognize the name. "My Ma said… Freedom Fighters… will help me…"
Sally nodded. "That’s what we do. But you need some rest… what’s your name?"
Dulcy thought for a minute. "I am D…L…C…"
"Dulcy?" interrupted the hedgehog.
The dragon thought, and then nodded.
Sally continued. "Well… Dulcy… you’ve come a long way… and I’m sure you have a story to tell us… but you need to sleep. We’ll need to talk in the morning."
Dulcy nodded sleepily and shambled over to a tree near the edge of the clearing Knothole was constructed in. She curled her tail around one of its branches, drew herself up, and began snoring quietly… and the Freedom Fighters left to follow their example… all but a squirrel and a rabbit.
"You think she’ll be alright, Sally-girl?"
"She just needs some rest, Bunnie."
"That’s not what I mean. She said her Ma told her somethin’…"
Sally realized the implications of Bunnie’s sentence… "You think… Robotnik’s…"
Bunnie shrugged. "I don’t know. But if he did… he’s got a lot to answer for." Her robotic fist clenched into an iron ball.
Sally put an arm around Bunnie’s shoulder. "We’ll find out in the morning. Who knows… we may wind up with a dragon on our side."
The two friends slowly made their way to their respective huts.
"Mark… take me home."
"Query unclear, Glazius."
I sighed. Sometimes I wish that Mark weren’t so logical. "Return me to my native timestream and teleport me to my base."
"Affirmative, Glazius…"
I needed some sleep as well, come to think of it. Another mystery solved… somewhat… perhaps a few loose ends, but no major new enigmas. That was a first. And once I analyzed Mark’s logs of the Great Unknown, I’d be a few steps closer to finding out the secret behind the mysterious wasteland. I laughed as I considered what I’d just been through. Glazius Taladas Falconar, explainer of the flight of dragons… hmm…
I had settled down for a good night’s rest when I realized… there was another flying species on Mobius… the fox. How did that little two-tailed sapient manage to get and stay airborne? A definite mystery… but best thought about on a clear head. I said a silent prayer and drifted peacefully off to sleep.
This story has reached its conclusion, but we both know more are coming.
Questions? Contact me at [email protected].