Dust to Dust.

 
Tarka:

 
The explosion left little of the home left for study by the forensics
people. They would have a big job to go through anything near the blast.
Ted kicked softly at part of a cinder block and looked up at his partner.
 
"I don't know Nichols. Who ever did this didn't want anything left for us
find. It must have been one hell of a blast to do this much damage."
 
Nichols looked up from where he was squatting down looking at some torn
metal. "Aye, but who vould do all this without leven a note? The pure 
species group alvays call. No one for this time."
 
Ted nods. He looked to the side at a young foxmorph. "So Tails, what do you
think?"
 
Robert looked up. "Sir, I really don't like that nickname. As for this, I
rather liked this mixed race dance club."
 
 
Lobowolf:

 
Ted grinned, as he always did when he kidded Robert about his nickname.  He 
knew it bothered the young foxmorph, and that was more or less the point, 
although Ted actually liked his co-workers, thought he'd never admit to it. 
 
Robert sighed.  "Come on Ted, we're supposed to be working.  My name is 
ROBERT......ROBERT.......You know it's been years since I did that game gig.  
I'm an adult now...I've got a house, a mortgage, and a serious job. 
 
Ted sighed and nodded.  "Sorry about that Robert......I'm just giving you 
hell.  You're a good kid.....and a good detective.
 
Nichols looked up and scowled...."Hey, Ted....Tails....are you to going to 
sit and talk all day, or are you going to help me try to get to the bottom of 
this bombing?
 
Robert grimaced again as Nichols mentioned his alter ego...."Nichols....my 
name is Robert......why can't you just call me Robert?"  Robert sighed the 
sigh of defeat, resigning himself to be forever referred to as "Tails," a 
reference to the days more then a decade ago when he was a superstar athalete 
and a master gamer.  "I'm a master detective now," he thought "if only I 
could get anybody to think of me that way.

 
Terrycloth:

 
Nichols looked at the kid as he seethed, then turned and shrugged. "Tails, 
you'll be in charge of collecting the samples for forensics. Ted, come with 
me and we'll talk to the witnesses."
 
So while Ted and Nichols went door to door to the neighbors asking if they'd 
heard anything suspicious (other than the blast, of course) Robert picked 
through the rubble, taking a few samples from each square foot for later 
analysis. Strange... hadn't there been anyone in the club when it went up? 
Even for a big explosion like this there should be *some* body parts, or at 
least traces, but there was nothing. He made a mental note and continued 
methodically with the task.
 
Suddenly, something glittery caught Robert's eye from beneath a pile of small 
rocks. A chill washed over him as he carefully shifted the rubble to see what 
it was. A golden ring, glittering and undamaged. Almost glowing, the way it 
reflected the light. "No... no, it can't be..."
 
Taking out a handkerchief, so as not to disturb the chain of evidence, he 
reached down to pick it up. It hummed in his grasp, twisting as if trying to 
leap at him and, and what? Robert closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. 
"Not again."

 
Dogfire:


The ring was familiar and he did'nt need Sal's foresnic mind to identify it.
  
Unlike the rest of squad, Sal appreciated a detective who made good field 
notes and observations. 
 
Robert sat on a lab stool, watching Sal mutter at the analyzer and awaiting 
the results. The old chimp muttered, "Not much debris again, Robert?"
 
"Just a pile of dust, Sal. Same modus and...this ring..."
 
Robert twitched both tails, he resisted the urge to spin them as he did as a 
video star for fans.  And how pushy they were, it was'nt until he went 
through basic training, that he realized how much of a security force the 
studio budgeted to keep the crazies away.  Anominity is a blessing these 
days, the foxmorph thought ruefully. Except for that ring...a promotional 
tool in the new generation of video games, said to link up nerve endings in 
the fingers for better gaming response times. 
 
Each ring had an etching of a character. Tails, Sonic Hedgehoge and a host of 
other stars in the studio's line of games and videos.
 
"Robert, the ring has the same etching in it."
 
Robert looked at Sal, "Each one an original edition and not a copy?"
 
Sal nodded and he tugged on an oversized lower lip, a habit he had when he 
was reluctant to say something.
 
Robert added, "And the same picture, of Sonic with a crude engraving. 'I 
don't forget.' "
 
Sal nodded, "The same."
 
Same Modus, an unusual bomb leaving dust for debris in the blast zone and a 
carefully placed ring. But no missives claiming responsibility or demands. 
Just a ring with a etched message.
 
Robert shook his head, "I'm going to go down to Amok Studios and have them 
give me access to their 'Crazie' files. Thanks Sal..."
 
Robert waved and padded back to the station. Somehow finding a crazed adult, 
who was once a Sonic gammer, would make him feel better. But the words 
bothered him, the words from another kit star. Who, unlike him, did'nt 
weather the transision from when fame as a cub superstar would fade away.
 
"But he was dying when he wrote those words..." The words came unbiddened 
from his lips. Sonic's angry words as he was coughing his life away after 
catching a rare form a disease that reappeared in the 21st century after 
being dormant. Turbuculosis.  
 
"He can't be alive, he can't.." Robert muttered as he pulled up to the 
station.
 
 
Tarka:
 
 
The crazy files were displayed in the air around tails as he worked thtough 
them with small waves of his paws. They were for the most part run of the 
mill nuts. A few long haired humans and a few morphs mixed in with them. A 
three tailed blue gerble that belived they were the reincarnation of papa 
smurf was probable the most intersting.
 
His com beeped a moment later and he took the call. "On. Detective Roberts 
online."
 
"Hey tails!" Teds voice came in clear. "We thought that you would like to 
know. The boys did some checking on the game. Well, you might find this 
interesting, the game ring has the next ver of a renewed Sonic the Headgehog 
game. We were talking to them after you left. Turns out that it isn't relesed 
though. New game. They were really interested in how we got a copy."
 
Robert frowned. "Sir, that isn't possible. Less they have found another blue 
headgehog to play the main part." He shivered... Sonics last works coming to 
him again. "Anyway, thank you Ted. I will look into it from this end,.
 
 
Lobowolf:
 
 
Robert sighed....the idea of another continuation of "The Game" upset him.  
He had closed that chapter of his life...at least he had until this recent 
string of bombings.  Suddenly, his past seemed to be hurtling at him full 
force.
 
Robert answered Ted...."Thanks for the heads up, Ted.  I want to finish going 
through the crazy files here.  I know there's a connection here someplace, if 
I can only find it.
 
"Hey kid, you okay?" Ted asked, a sudden note of concern coming into his 
voice that Robert had never heard before.
 
"Sure I'm okay, Ted.  It's just another case."  They said their customary 
goodbyes, and Robert broke the connection. "End call. Tails....um, I mean 
Roberts offline."
 
Somewhere in the back of his mind, the sterling voice of James Earl Jones 
chimed "Thank you for using a Verizon brain-phone.
 
Robert directed the holographic imaging computer to close the seventh batch 
of files.  "Batch seven...close all.  Open batch 8, linear sequence."
 
A small row of files displayed across his field of vision.  The odd arrangemen-
t of screens jolted his memory.  "Of course......." he thought to himself.  
"The ring......it must be...."   "Shit."
 
Robert remembered just *why* you didn't see many of these game enhancement 
rings anymore.  Just a year after their release, the whole lot of 100,000 of 
them had been recalled and supposedly destroyed.  It seemed that prolonged 
use by a player would render them severely addicted to the game.  Some 
players went so far as to wear as many rings as they could fit on their 
paws...this had the effect of multiplying their gameplaying abilities.....but 
it had one unfortunate side effect....insanity.  Robert suddenly remembered 
the news reports of players being dragged to the mental ward of the local 
hospital...paws clutched to a still-warm joystick.
 
Robert suddenly went cold at the thought.....bad enough that the game brought 
out the crazies....even worse that it fed the insanity.  
 
Robert pondered why version 6e beta of "Sonic Adventures" would be on that 
ring.  The game had officially ended, and the last official version of it had 
been released with an ending.  The 6e version has supposedly been erased and 
the project scrapped.  So why, he wondered, was a copy of it still in 
existence, and what the heck was it doing on the ring?  Robert knew only 
people close to the studio had access to that version, and he grew even more 
agitated.
 
"Open file seven, 100% zoom."  Robert didn't know why he chose that one...luck-
y seven, maybe....he didn't really know, but he vowed to examine each and 
every file.  He was doing his job.....being thorough.
 
"Oh god.....no...it can't be......"  Robert suddenly choked back the tears.  
Even though the names had obviously been altered in this file, he recognized 
the image contained within.  "Sonic......"
 
The last time he had seen his friend and sidekick, he had been dying of a 
rare form of tuberculosis....or so he had been told.  Robert suddenly 
realized that Sonic had only spoken to him over the phone....he had never 
actually been allowed into the hospital to see his friend...."too contageous" 
Sonic had told him.  Robert suddenly realized his friend and former sidekick 
must have been committed to the mental ward.....the tuberculosis excuse was 
only to save face.
 
Robert began to put the pieces together........that ring...it must have been 
one of Sonic's own personal rings.....and Robert guessed that he probably had 
a collection of them.  Doing a "tenner" as it was called (wearing ten rings 
at once) was the ultimate sign of a junkie.  Robert figured Sonic must have 
done it many times...and he figured there were more rings.  He suspected his 
friend was alive.....and playing the new version of the game......the only 
thing he couldn't figure out is.....*why?*  Surely he had been treated for 
his addiction, so Sonic must have had a good reason to revisit the game....eve-
n more so because he risked readdiction.
 
"So" thought Robert "Sonic is alive, and back in the game....but why?  And 
where?  And what did this have to do with the bombings?"  "Copy file seven 
hardcopy for export."  Robert wanted a closer look at that file......and some 
answers.
 
 
Terrycloth:
 
 
Robert walked gingerly through the halls of Amok Studios. There were few 
people about, which suited him fine. Following the signs to room 10664 seemed 
to take ages, ages during which he half expected crazed fanboys to leap out 
of the woodwork and accost him. He was in his full uniform, badge and all, 
and winced as he passed by a reflective pillar. He looked like Tails the 
Policeman, NOT the effect he'd intended.
 
Finally, he found the right room. The door was ajar, so he walked inside. 
"Hey, 'Buttnik." The disgustingly fat bemoustached scientist turned to face 
him. "Robert, pleased to meet you. It's been so long... and please don't call 
me that." He paused, attaching a few more electrodes to a lab rat. "I always 
prefered Dr. Eggman."
 
Robert paused, trying to make sense of the device his old friend was working 
on. "What... is that?"
 
"Ah, why don't I show you? It's the latest development in AI. Rather than 
trying to *program* our own neural net, we simply use what nature has already 
provided. I think our little friend here is about ready..." He set the rat, 
festooned with wires, in a spherical birdcage and handed Robert a pair of 
darkened goggles. "Watch history in the making."
 
There was a flash, bright enough to make Robert squint even through the 
goggles, and the rat was gone. "Digitized," Dr. Eggman explained. "On screen 
there. We'll start training it tomorrow, after it's recovered from the shock."
 
"How can a *rat* make a decent AI against human players?" Robert asked, 
watching the rows of numbers and letters scroll past on the holoscreen. 
"Overwhelming numbers?"
 
"Don't underestimate rodent cunning. Especially when overclocked and given 
access to additional memory. But I'm sure you didn't come here to see my 
latest development, not in uniform at least. You have something to ask me, 
no?"
 
"I want to know what happened to Sonic. What really happened."
 
Silence fell over the room. Dr. Eggman made a shush motion with his finger, 
then walked over and closed the door. "What I say isn't going to leave this 
room."
 
"I knew it. He's still alive."
 
"Not... exactly..." Dr. Eggman paused, pacing back and forth. "He *was* very 
sick, not with tuberculosis, of course. From his "tenners". The fool." He 
shook his head sadly. "But he was our star, we couldn't afford to lose him. 
So we took... drastic measures, not fully realizing the consequences. The 
process doesn't *have* to disintegrate the subject..."
 
"You DIGITIZED him?" Roberts asked, incredulous.
 
"He signed a waiver. It's all above board. I believe the company ended up 
paying his parents several million credits in the settlement, regardless. But 
we *had* to keep it a secret."
 
"So -- wait. He died, right? How come he's in our crazy files?"
 
Dr. Eggman looked surprized. "I... I honestly can't help you there, Robert. 
We haven't even had his digitized records for years. Lost them in a computer 
crash."
 
Robert walked over towards the device that had vaporized the rat. Nothing 
left of it, not a trace. Just dust. He ran a finger through it, pensively, 
then turned back to his friend. "Well, thanks for what you *could* give me, 
'Buttnik."
 
Dr. Eggman nodded. "Just keep my name out of it, okay? I don't want to be in 
the papers again. I'm sure you understand."
 
 
Dogfire:
 
 
"Hey Robert! It was the sergent, "I got news from a buddy in the Weapons 
Industry. YOu might like this."
 
The seargent passed Roberts a file, a brief synopis of developments of a 
narrow range bomb for 'cleansing' cities in times of urban warfare. It had a 
low blast range, but was 'totally distingrative' within it's lethal range. 
And it left only piles of dust behind.
 
Robert's dual tails floofed, the chief contractor...Amok Industries...
 
In a way it made sense, Amok was a vast congomlerate, involved from Games to 
pharamusiticals (The original Asian families had been supplanted by a 
constellation of Brazilian and Columbian dynastys.).   "What's missing 
here..." Robert said aloud. "Folks have been looking at mixed raced clubs, 
racial hatred as a motive...it doe'snt fit. What was so special about the 
clubers in those bombed bars..."
 
Robert asked the sergent, "Hey sarge, is'nt your son a gamer?"
 
The seargent looked at him, "I wish he was, the bugger is a Luddite, they 
club but don't touch any computer equipment. They crawl through lethal 
garbage pits along the Canadian border and get this..."Recycle old things!" 
Have you ever heard of such nonsense! They think barter is the way to go!"
 
Robert thought of something, the news reports had generated publicity, but 
mentioned little of the Luddites.  He wondered through the stations social 
files. Luddites, loosely conglomerated social groups, ranging from teens up 
to old codgers. They came from a vareity of backgrounds. More notes on 
manefestos, all conflicting from the various branches. The bombed clubs were 
luddites composed of former gamers who renounced gaming...nothing seemed to 
fit. 
 
Except for this business report, which noted the last major recession 
(depression) had been caused by a drop in spending triggered by Luddites 
refusing to recycle their money into the economy. The article, more of a 
spoof commentary had mentioned Luddites could be the straw that could break 
business if more folks followed their example and did'nt spend and buy buy 
and buy.
 
Robert looked at the network pass given to him by Dr. Egghead. He went on a 
wide ranging search, linking spending habits and Luddites and came up with a 
correlation.  Five years of slumped sales in games alone had came close to 
bankrupting Amok. Triggered by more R&D work into revising 'digitized' 
personalities and publicity efforts.  One file caught the fox morph's 
attention...
 
Amok's advanced market capture division had noted five clubs slated for 
publicity efforts. All five were the bombed clubs...
 
The head of the market division was an anonyous sounding Columbian, Mr. 
Perez. But his vice chair and advisor was listed as a business AI. AI's were 
rare and most were former digitized personalities embedded on a database. 
There was a name given, but the file contained a secured codename for the AI.
 
"Son of kitfox..." Robert stared at the screen, Dr. Eggheads's clearance was 
high enough to unlock the file. A simple codename, the name of the original 
personality.. Sonic.
 
 
Tarka:
 
 
Robert turned on the VI and sat back for all the moitors to get his basic 
image. Then the holograms formed around him. Dr Egghead hadn't been to happy 
about giving him the codes... but a few brushes of his tails made him rethink 
it. He waited for the interface to come up.
 
"Hello Tails. It has been a long time hasn't it."
 
Robert looked up and there was Sonic. It was like before. The image looked 
like the old 20th games. flat blue rounded sides and no fur. "It has been a 
long time Sonic. I thought that you were dead."
 
The image laughed. "I am dead. Leagly dead that is. So what brings you hear 
Tails. An in a little cop costum too?
 
Robert shoke his head, "I'm a Cop sonic. I am here to interview you about a 
series of bombings that have been happening. We have found ver 6e at 
everyone. I need to ask you. What do you know about the luddites?
 
Sonic smiles a little... then looked up. "Oh.... I don't know anything about 
that Tails. I don't get outside very much though. Sorry I can't help you old 
buddy.
 
"Sonic. Your involved somewhere. I will find out. THank you for your time."
 
The interface deformed and shivered into sparks... a few moments later it was 
over and Tails left the building. Worried.
 
--------------------
 
Mr. Perez looked up as a small imaged formed on his desk. "Ah... Hello there 
Sonic. What may I do for you?"
 
Sonic frowned. "We have a problem. You remember Tails from years ago? Well. 
We need to take him out. He is getting to close.
 
 
Lobowolf:
 
 
Mr. Perez frowned.  "So, my friend, your cohort has come back, has he?  I 
was afraid of this."
 
Sonic nodded silently.  "He's going to ruin it.  So far, we're on the upside. 
With the majority of the Luddites out of the picture, our new AI interface 
will take over the gaming world.  Amok will be on top again, and so will 
I!!!"  Sonic laughed evilly....so much so that Perez began to lose his 
patience.
  
Damn you, Sonic!  I told you no violence....I have the situation under 
control.  You were supposed to do this silently.  Now you've attracted 
attention.  Something will have to be done about your friend."
 
Sonic spat. "Friend?......he's not my friend.....damn it.......I'm the 
star......the *STAR*.....he stole that from me.....Mister goody two-tails.....-
.Mister cute.....it was mine...mine........he killed the game!!  Damn it, we 
were all set to release 6e, and he wouldn't sign!!  That bastard!  We could 
have been on top again....living the high life......but no......Mr. goody 
two-tails has to go and become a cop. 
 
Perez looked disturbed.  "Look, Dr. EggSalad or whatever his name is took 
care of that.  The gamers won't even realize it's not the real Tails.  
Cripes, the new digital Tails looks even more convincing than the real one.  
The game can't miss!
 
Oh...that's great...so what do we do about the real Tails?  Like he's not 
going to notice?  And now we find out he's a cop.  That's just lovely.
 
Perez curled his upper lip and lit the vitual equivalent of a cigar.  "I'll 
take care of it.....you just keep pushing forward on the game.  I'll take 
care of the fox.  He won't even know what hit him.
 
Tails frowned "You better, or else this company is going in the toilet.  And 
we'll both go with it.  If they take this system down, we're both dead.
 
Perez growled "Of course I know that...do I look like an idiot?  Call your 
friend....what's his name...Eggs Benedict......arrange for a convenient 
'accident' with the digitizer.  Surveillance has reported that the real Tails 
has already been in to talk to the good doctor...and he blabbed......The fox 
knows.....and he won't keep it to himself.  Damn morality.......
 
Sonic motioned to Perez with his middle finger as he made the connection.  
"Dr. Egghead....this is Sonic.......please come up on channel.  I have a job 
for you.
 
Suddenly, a third image appeared....it was Dr. Egghead.
 
Sonic growled at him "Do something about the fox.  We know you talked to him. 
Since you're the only one with a physical presence that can interface with 
the outside world, you'll have to do the dirty work.  But don't screw 
up......Perez and I can yank your digitized file and you die.  Get it?  Get 
rid of the fox.
 
Egghead frowned.  "You bastards......I should have ducked out when I had the 
chance.  I didn't think you'd go this far.....
 
Perez and Sonic both smiled and grinned....and Perez put in the last word.  
"Just fix it.  Do it quick....do it quiet......POOF......invite him back to 
the lab and show him that digitizer of yours.  Hide the body.

 
Terrycloth:

 
Dr. Eggman staggered back, hands raised. "Don't -- don't shoot! Robert -- 
TAILS! I can't believe you'd think such... such horrid things of me."
  
Robert kept his blaster aimed. "I *almost* have enough evidence to take this 
whole operation down, 'Buttnik. Tell me why I shouldn't take you down with 
it. Why should I trust you?"
 
"You can't take them down. Not without my help. They're too powerful, Tails. 
The -- do you know how many world leaders they've sold 'immortality' to? You 
have to trust me. Get in the cage."
 
Tails laughed out loud. Dr. Eggman swallowed. "Like I said, it doesn't have 
to disintegrate the target... look, I'll disconnect that bit." He slowly 
reached out and switched off a pair of largish machines that could, concievabl-
y, be disintegrators. "You'll be able to come back whenever you want. And 
once you're inside you can get evidence that they *can't* gloss over. On them 
and all their 'friends'."
 
The doctor closed his eyes and sighed, since Robert obviously wasn't buying 
it. "They know about Amy, Tails. They have records, from the security 
cameras. They know everything, they always have. They only let you go... they 
let you go because I *begged* them to. And now I'm begging you to trust me, 
just this once."
 
Robert's blaster clattered to the floor, dropping from his suddenly slack 
grip. "They -- how could they -- I didn't mean to hurt her! You know I 
didn't... the script said..."
 
"I understand," Dr. Eggman said, walking over and putting a consoling hand on 
Robert's shoulder. "But the law... that's another story. They wouldn't 
understand. And Sonic won't hesitate to make sure it gets out, once he 
remembers about it. You'll be in *all* the papers."
 
"But if you trust me... I'll put you into the system, and you can erase that 
file. And take out that insane bastard in the process. Please... get in the 
cage, for all our sakes."
 
 
Tarka:
 
 
Dr Egghead leaned close to Tails and whispered in his ear. "I was told to 
kill you Tails. I was told to make sure that you were taken out. Cause you 
trust me. Well, it is true... you do trust me and you can. Get-in before it 
is too late.
 
Robert's mind raced as he tried to think of what to do. This was his chance 
to uncover something big... or die at the hands of an old friend. He looked 
at Dr Egghead and made of his mind. "Ok Buttnik... I will go in there. God 
help us both I can find what we are looking for."
 
"You will Tails. You will."
 
Robert stepped into the cage and closed his eyes. He remembered the other 
scanners from when he was an actor... they were like this one. Only not as 
powerful. He could feel them warmming up again him and he waited.
 
"Oh... by the way Tails. Say hello to Amy when you are in there. She doesn't 
talk to anyone nowdays."
 
Roberts eyes flew open just as the system went online. "What!"
 
Falling into the digital pool wasn't to unlike moving into one of the old 
three dee interfaces.... all lights and colored made to wow custemers. Tell 
it was put to a stop after all the eptilepic seasures. Then he was there, 
datapaths like roads.... files floating in ordered rows and a few people 
running around inside.
 
A blip formed just over his right shoulder. Then quietly whispered to him. 
"Hello tails. I'm your blip for your visit here. How my I help you?
 
He was torn in two, between finding out what was happening and talking with 
Amy.... Why did Buttnic have to tell him that Amy was digitized! Ever sense 
her death it had been eatting as his heart.
 
"Blip... I need to find the files on what Sonic has been up to. Then, we go 
find Amy."
 
"Will do sir. The files are in the orange nexus. Amy isn't seeing anyone 
though. Her area is closed to entry and require a password."
 
Tails took off and started talking to the orange nexus deep in though. A few 
minutes later he was there and working through the files. 
 
Hours went by as he worked at the files, gathering enough evidence to put 
most of the upperstaff into jail. When he had enough he sent them to Ted at 
headquarters.
 
"Blip... lets fine Amy. I.... I have to tell her sorry. For killing her.
 
 
Terrycloth:
 
 
"Tails." ACCESS DENIED. PASSWORD REQUIRED FOR ACCESS: "Miles Prower." ACCESS 
DENIED. PASSWORD REQUIRED FOR ACCESS: "Robert Roberts." ACCESS DENIED. 
PASSWORD REQUIRED FOR ACCESS:
 
"I never forget." came a voice from behind. ACCESS GRANTED. ENTERING PINK 
NODE.
 
"How can I ever forget?" Sonic continued, as Tails turned towards him and the 
scenery shifted. "I see her here... every day... EVERY DAY, Tails. I see what 
you DID to her."
 
The blue hedgehog and orange fox drifted to a halt on either side of a bed, 
on which lay a sleeping pink form. Amy... Sonic's old love interest, in more 
ways than one. "You destroyed her, Tails. And now you're here to destroy us. 
You never change."
 
"It... was... an ACCIDENT!" Tails screamed. "I never wanted to hurt her. The 
script said to drop her, so I dropped her. I didn't know we were supposed to 
wait for a scene change to set up the effect. It was... it was left out of my 
script..."
 
"So that's what you've told yourself, IS IT!" Sonic screamed. "It doesn't 
matter now. I found you too late. You've already sent out the files and 
doomed us all. They'll shut down the system any time now. But if you want to 
know the truth..."
 
Robert hid his fear, and his relief. Sonic didn't know Robotnik had betrayed 
him... that he wouldn't die when the system went down. But would Sonic really 
die if they shut down the mainframes? He'd been in here so long, he had to 
have some contingency plan. If he could stall for time, make sure he was 
caught. He knew he was right, so what was there to be afraid of? "What do you 
mean," he said, looking at Amy's avatar, motionless, senseless. Was it really 
her? Was there anything left?
 
"I've been waiting for this day for a LONG time, Tails," Sonic said, waving 
his hand. The scenery shifted, to a series of platforms, ramps and loops 
suspended in midair. "I put the old script file at the end of this level. 
Now... I'm going to run through this level, and destroy it. And you'll never, 
ever know. Unless you can beat me. Do you think you can beat me?"
 
"With my eyes shut. I could always beat you. Even with your 'tenners', and 
where are they now?"
 
Sonic laughed, holding out his hands. The gloves he always wore evaporated, 
to show ten rings around each of his fingers. Tails gulped audibly. Sonic 
grinned. "Let's juice."
 
Tails was right after him, as the sky flickered. So it was starting already...-
that was fast. Good. Maybe this had a chance of working after all.
 
It all came back to him. The running... the jumping... the flying. Especially 
the flying. Sonic was... Sonic was such an idiot. Tails was the easy 
character -- the cute one for little kids and beginners to use. He'd never 
understood that. Never understood why he kept losing. Well, he wasn't about 
to enlighten him now.
 
And with the system shutting down it was even worse. Sonic lost time jumping 
over the 'rubble' of misaligned sectors, almost fell right off the track 
several times when pieces fell out of existance. It wasn't even close. Tails 
reached the end of the track, and grabbed the file. The script. The icon 
hadn't changed.
 
As the last vestiges of the virtual reality disintegrated around them, Sonic, 
still a ways down the track, screamed, "NOOO! How could you beat me again! 
I'm the hero! I'm the HERO!"
 
And then it all went black.
 
Where am I.
 
I DOWNLOADED YOUR FILE INTO MY PERSONAL DATA DEVICE. IF YOU SEE THIS MESSAGE 
THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN AND I AM DEAD.
 
Why aren't I back in my body?
 
YOU MAY WONDER WHY YOU AREN'T BACK IN YOUR BODY. I'M AFRAID THAT WHILE THE 
DISINTEGRATION ISN'T NECESSARY THE PROCESS DOES INEVITABLY SCRAMBLE THE 
NEURAL PATTERN OF THE SUBJECT. THE GOOD NEWS IS I'VE WORKED OUT A WAY TO 
REVERSE THE PROCESS. I INTENDED TO USE IT ON MYSELF BUT THEY REMOVED MY BRAIN 
TO ALLOW ME TO CONTROL MY BODY REMOTELY, FROM THE NETWORK. BE PATIENT. IT 
WILL TAKE TIME.
 
I'll wait, then.
 
...
 
Robert screamed as a world of pain came back to him, and slumped against the 
cage. The room was dark. The machines were dark, unpowered. All except for 
one personal computer in the corner. He let himself out and walked over.
 
The remnants of his digitized file were there... scrambled, destroyed, 
apparently by the process that had restored him to his body. But there was 
one file left. The script. He checked the signature... it was genuine, and 
unaltered. Sonic hadn't lied. If he opened it, and checked that scene, he'd 
know for sure whether it'd been his mistake that cost Amy her life.
 
rm 6e-tails.doc
1 file(s) deleted.
 
Robert turned off the computer, and walked away.