trans_9 | Not All Discoveries Are Fun Ones [Open]

Sonic had been running almost since the run with Shadow. He wanted to see everything the ship had, and he wanted to see if there were any other Mobians aboard. Shadow was cool, but he wasn'y anyone from Sonic's home, and that still left the hedgehog feeling extremely lonely. That feeling also left him feeling extremely guilty, because what kind of selfish 'hog did he have to be to be capable of wishing such a fate upon his family and loved ones?

So he started running through the hangar, dashing over, under and through the ships, vehicles and robots there. It was easy to do, really. He wasn't really interested in pushing himself. As he was running, however, he saw something familiar out of the corner of his eyes. He had to circle back around to it because of his speed. The familiarity of it took a moment to dawn upon him, mostly because he hadn't seen it used in quite some time.

"No," Sonic said, "no freaking way." The device appeared to be several consoles hooked up to and surrounding a very large central pad. A plastic-like tube hung over the platform, ready to come down and surround it.

With haste, he grabbed his omnicom and the communication ring he'd been given, practically yelling into the latter device.

<< Hey! If there's some kind of machine geeks on this ships, get your butts down to the hangar yesterday! >>

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"Hey." Sonic wasn't quite focused on Alessa at the moment; he was far too busy circling around her and walking up to the device he'd found. Despite his decided lack of most mechanical knowledge, he did have experiencing maintaining and repairing his old bi-plane with Tails, and he had learned all he could about the roboticizer ever since he'd learned how Uncle Chuck had actually invented it.

Activating the console (which in itself disturbed the hedgehog), he began going through the readouts, trying to see if the machine was operational. It was. Sonic found himself so shocked by this development that he did something he almost never would do.

"****."

Alessa was fine with not being the focus of attenton, but she was curious about the machine that the hedgehog was fiddling with.

"Speechless? This must be quite a shock for you then. What is this console's purpose?"

"It's-- it's a roboticizer," Sonic said, backing away from the machine. He immediately regretted swearing in front of the girl, and he forced himself to calm down, glancing back her way.

"Hi. I'm, uh, I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." He held out his hand, now grinning slightly at Alessa.

"A roboticizer," Alessa repeated. "Then I'm correct in assuming that its function is to make people into robots. How...exactly is that done?"

Not that she needed to do that for anny reason, or had any real desire. She was interested. As for the swear word, well, Alessa had heard far worse than that. Words like that meant little to her.

"I am Alessa," she said, and gave the hedgehod a thin lipped smile. She knew by now how scary it was when she actually gave her full blown smile, and she really only saved that for scaring or to let someone know she didn;t like them.

"I dunno exactly how it works. My uncle invented it, not me." When she wouldn't shake his hand, he paused, stared at his own hand a moment, then let it drop.

"Riiight. Cool name. Just got here too, huh? I think I remember you from the caverns."

An odd contraption, but she supposed some people needed minions when they had none. Not that she necessarily wanted to have people made into robots. The process seemed so cruel and unnecessary when she had her own demon monsters.

Alessa was not one for human colloquialisms though. hand shaking was lost on her.

"Thank you, Sonic. Your name is...rather fascinating too. I was at the caverns. You were attacked by the demons too, were you not?"

"The zombies? Sure, but they weren't much of a problem for me!"

Ugh. Did she actually call them DEMONS?! That was unforgiveable. She'd have to remember to stay in seclusion. It just wouldn't do to make a mistake like that again. Filth was filth, nothng more.

"How did you dispatch them?

"I... I didn't, really," Sonic admitted. "I disabled them, let others take care of them before moving on, but I don't kill. At all. I thought I could once, against the biggest evil my world had ever seen, but even then I felt like it would tear me up inside to do it." He shrugged, still looking rather shamefaced.

"I get called impulsive, stubborn, sometimes even reckless and stuff. I may move fast, but letting my temper get the better of me has just gotten me in trouble in the past, and I can't imagine what it would feel like to actually want to kill something or someone."

Alessa stared the hedgehog for a long time. There were no words, and it border lined on an uncomfortable silence before the girl finally spoke back, in a voice that made her position clear.

"If you knew what it took to make you able to kill, you would appreciate your resistance. There are those like you, who try and dabble in the act but cannot commit to it. To some, that might make you a coward. But I can tell you easily: the line between fighter and killer is very thin, and once that kill happens, you see it as a logical reason to take down those in your path. Before you know it, you are far gone."

There is no ounce of pain in her voice, no regret. It was simple recognition.

"Staying a hero is harder. Most likely something you would treasure."

"Thanks, I think. I guess I just move too fast to worry about stuff like grudges or hatred that could hold me back." Sonic shrugged and sidestepped clumsily into another topic.

"How about you? How did you handle 'em?"

Running. Alessa knew that this sort of thing was the hedgehog's forte. t reminded her of how different this one was from the black one. He was fast, but he would not run. She knew that much.

"Me?" Alessa gave him an unpleasant smile. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Why? Is it something I should hear about only if I don't plan on eating for a while?"

"If your constitution is that weak," Alessa said. "It isn't pretty."

"Thanks, but no thanks. It's obvious you have your way and I have mine. Let's leave it at that, huh?"

Alessa gave him a small smile. "I thought you'd say that. Smart."

She looked at the machine again. "Do you fear that thing?"

"It's complicated. Personally, I'm not afraid of it, because I'm kind of immune to it now, but for years it was used to enslave the people of Mobius."

"Really."

Alessa drew closer to the device, and touched it a moment. She tensed noticeably, and her eyes rolled in the back of her head before she withdrew her hands.

"Screams," she murmured.

"Screams? What do you mean?" Sonic now found himself utterly confused. He didn't really feel creeped out, but that might have been because he'd yet to meet anything that would be called a demon or haunt.

"You wouldn't hear it," Alessa said. "When it comes to certain items, you can leave an imprint of oneself there. I hear the protests, the despair of those subjected to this machine. It is a very unpretty voice."

She removed herself from the item. "Better that I move away from it then. I might be tempted to take vengeance."

"Vengeance? Good luck on that. 'Buttnik went over the deep end. There's not even a point to fighting him anymore."

Not All Discoveries Are Fun Ones [Open]

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