Chapter 1

Entanglement

"To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer."

― Paul R. Ehrlich

The device he held was bulky and archaic, resembling a handheld mainframe, including the dust. Although it looked decades old and nearly obsolete, it was vital to his mission. As he moved his hand across the device, twisting one of its innumerable dials, the wind swept through the forest. It cut through the air, tearing the last of the autumn leaves from the trees. He paused, watching as the leaf twisted toward him, before landing on the screen of the device. He quickly brushed it away with the side of his fingers.

The device was critical. It was a quantum wavefunction collapse inducer, although that was, perhaps, excessively technical, if not precise.

The doctor was neither. He just called it the "Chaos Emerald detector." Despite the fact he invented the device, he seemed not to care for its finer, mathematical details.

That was unfortunate. Metal Sonic was a machine. Mathematics were his native language.

He twisted one of the knobs on the side of the device, stopping when it began to screech a single, continuous tone. Taking a single step forward, he looked up, glancing at the trees above, before pressing one of the buttons. The screeching heightened, piercing through autumn leaves and sending the wildlife scuttling. Data exploded across the surface of its screen, tiny green digits forming over its black monitor.

In order to locate the Chaos Emerald, Metal needed to find its spacetime coordinates, coordinates deduced from the scanner's readings. It was not simple, however. The device could not locate the Chaos Emerald, at least not directly. The scanner could only find where the Emerald was not, able only to detect an absence, not a presence.

He followed the screeching of the machine, walking as it guided him toward a large tree. As the screen flickered, he stopped, standing a single step from the tree. The screeching was now at its height, but as he inched forward, it fell abruptly silent. He shook the machine and, after brushing the recently fallen oak leaves from the numberpad, pressed the surface of the device, entering a list of possible factors. When supplied with the correct factors, the device would return the correct coordinates. It would reverse engineer the distortion to the location.

The coordinates would be hyper dimensional, for the Chaos Emerald existed between dimensions. It would manifest in this reality only after someone observed it, which is why he needed the coordinates. Finding the Emerald was a simple matter.

He only needed to know where to look.

After punching the numbers into the device, he waited a nanosecond. No Emerald appeared. His guess was incorrect.

He paused, turning over the options through his processors. It was easy to verify his solution once he had it. All he had to do was send the list of numbers to the device. The device would find the Emerald coordinates if he guessed correctly. However, it was nearly impossible to find the correct coordinate factors through analysis. The uncertainty of the Chaos Emerald made that difficult; he would have to find the tiny mistakes in the movement of individual atoms.

It would be a simple matter to try every possible factor. He could run through each permutation, trying each combination of numbers. If he searched them all, and tried each one, he would eventually find the answer. It was equivalent to sorting the grains of sand on a beach by picking them up one at a time, individually. Given enough time, it would work.

He routed all of his power to his processors and brought up the network connection with the device. He would send the numbers over the network, saving time and energy by avoiding the manual interface. This was optimal. It would guarantee a solution.

He began to generate lists of possible factors, sending them wirelessly to the device. As he tried each set, the device attempted to reverse the distortions to coordinates, but each attempt resulted in an error.

This was not a concern. There were infinitely more numbers to attempt.

As he transmitted the numbers, his radio crackled to life. "Metal Sonic! What are you doing? Your power consumption has skyrocketed!"

It was Dr. Eggman, speaking over Metal's unfortunately unencrypted radio, aloud for all to hear. Metal had mentioned to the doctor multiple times that it was suboptimal to broadcast his secrets, unencrypted, to anyone with a radio scanner, but Eggman would have none of it. Metal was not built to strategize. He was built to follow orders.

He diverted enough CPU cycles to answer Dr. Eggman. This was annoying; those cycles could have been used for calculations.

"I am calculating the factors of the Emerald's wavefunction," Metal replied, resuming his number generation immediately. He would waste no CPU cycles on trivialities.

"Argh—! And just how long is that suppose to take, hmm?" Eggman asked the question as if he already knew the answer.

Metal felt frustration as he loaded his reply. This was entirely suboptimal. This conversation was slowing him down.

"Given the current resource allocation and algorithmic complexity, the solution will be found in approximately 26 billion years."

Eggman screamed over the radio, followed by the sound of a crash on the other side. There was a long pause.

"Do you, perhaps, see the problem with your little plan? Hmm?" Eggman's voice was tense and patronizing.

"My plan is sufficient to complete my current objective. You ordered me to find the Chaos Emerald. I will have the Emerald in approximately 26 billion years, as per your request."

"You stupid, idiotic bucket of bolts! That's twice the current age of the universe!"

Metal felt his internal logs upload over the network, right as he resumed his calculations. The process was entirely beyond his control and routine. It was a common occurrence for Eggman to peek into his internal systems remotely. He did it nearly every day.

After another pause, Eggman responded. "You idiot! We've been over this before. Finding the Chaos Emeralds by trying every random solution is completely infeasible. You are never going to find it that way."

Metal went to reply, before stopping himself. Eggman was mistaken. They had been over no such thing. He simply handed Metal the detector and sent on him on his way. Yet, there was no use in reminding Eggman of his mistake. The doctor would become upset if he argued.

"And stop with your pathetic attempt to calculate the answer. You're only going to drain your battery."

Metal compiled, dropping the calculations and restoring his power consumption to normal. This was an order.

"You just sit there and hold tight. I have a specialized algorithm that will calculate this in under an hour, based on the readings from that detector. It sure is amazing what you can do when you don't blindly try every possible solution, isn't it?"

Metal complied, standing idle and motionless, the wind carrying fallen leaves over his head. They drifted down, coming to a rest between his ears. He did not move.

After several hours he received a notice. He was still connected to the network, that was beyond his control, so the factors of the Emerald's wavefunction downloaded automatically.

"There's your answer. Now hold on while I send you support."

Metal took the numbers Eggman provided, verifying the solution by sending them through his detector. As he plugged in each one, the device caused the mathematical wavefunction to collapse, reducing the distortions to the dimensional coordinates of the Chaos Emerald. Metal uploaded the coordinates from the device and directed his visual system to activate in that precise location.

It was something only he could do. No organic organism could look through space so precisely.

As Metal tuned his sensors, the tree in front of him distorted. Reality wrapped near the roots; a small sphere of refracting light appeared. It was tiny at first, smaller than an individual atom, but expanded rapidly. The sphere was hard to look at, and it confused every aspect of Metal's visual processing system. He flinched, barely forcing himself to keep watching as his visual systems flooded with errors. He couldn't look away. Finding the Emerald was dependent on observing it, but the distortion…

It was simply wrong.

The Chaos Emerald emerged in a flash of light, projected from a higher set of dimensions. Millions of possible worlds and potential timelines collapsed, drawn into a single reality once someone observed the Emerald. Metal waited. This process was standard whenever someone found an Emerald; most simply did not understand what was happening. This was expected. Most did not realize the universe was orderly and predictable.

As the light dimmed, Metal turned to examine the tree in front of him. The Emerald had appeared inside a mess of tree sap, its green hue turned murky by the layers of hardened slime. It was trapped in an ancient piece of amber, several feet wide, formed between the roots of the tree. Prehistoric insects surrounded the Emerald, scattered throughout the amber like flecks of pepper. Metal reached forward and placed his hand on the sap. The front part was sticky, but as he pushed forward, he felt resistance; the underlying sap was hardened with age.

Metal brought his fingers up. They were covered in tree sap and that was suboptimal. He pulled one of the fallen leave from his head and tried to wipe off the sap. After succeeding only in smearing the sticky mess across his hand, he let go of the leaf, making a series of irritates beeps as it remained stuck.

"Incoming delivery."

Metal heard the robotic voice from the sky. Looking up, he saw a small drone, painted with Eggman's trademark logo, buzzing overhead. It came close to the ground and dropped a small package, which landed at Metal's feet, before shooting back into the sky.

Metal picked up the package. It was a small, aluminum crate, shaped as a thin rectangle, rather than a cube, the likes of which he had previously received. The two sides of the crate were connected with a shoulder strap, which would make it easier for Metal to return the box. This was standard protocol. Eggman could deliver missions critical supplies on a moment's notice with his hyper efficient drone network.

He secured the strap over his shoulders, before lifting the edge of the crate open, revealing a mess of paper packaging. He thrust his hand into the paper and rummaged around, stopping as he felt something brush against his fingers. He grasped the object and pulled it out of the box. It was a small, white, plastic bottle, labeled with a corrosive warning sticker. Above, "NaOH" emblazoned the surface.

Metal Sonic needed no additional orders. He had used this substance before. Sodium hydroxide was an industrial strength solvent, especially useful with organic substances, capable of dissolving the very flesh off bones.

He knelt down and unscrewed the cap. Tilting the bottle sideways, he watched as the gelatinous, clear liquid oozed out, smearing the surface of the amber as it flowed. The amber began to steam, heat and water flowing into the air as the gelatin seeped into the organic tree sap.

The bottle half empty, Metal stood back up, screwing the cap back on the bottle, and returned it to the crate, along with the Emerald detector. He watched as the reaction continued, steam rising as amber dissolved, melting to a sticky, brown puddle. The prehistoric insects inside the amber dissolved as well, evaporating into the air.

Metal waited, completely motionless, as the solution did its work. The process was slow, but this did not bother him. His objective was to obtain the Chaos Emerald. The time parameter was unspecified. He would wait as long as required.

As the amber turned to goo, the Emerald rolled out of the steaming heap, gathering dirt as it rolled to Metal's feet. Kneeling down, he picked it up in his already stickied hand.

"I have acquired the Chaos Emerald. I am preparing to return to the base for delivery and—"

He stopped. His audio sensors were picking up something. The forest leaves cracked in the distance. Metal spurred his radar to life, pinging out in all directions. Something was approaching, and it was traveling near the sound barrier.

He knew of only one thing that moved that fast.

Metal activated his every subsystem and sensor. This was his chance. His primary, earliest command loaded through his processors from his BIOS.

Primary Objective: Neutralize Sonic the Hedgehog.

This was it. His mission, his purpose, the bane of his existence. He focused his sensors, scanning in the direction Sonic was approaching. He was picking up an unencrypted signal with his radio.

"...Tails? Come in, Tails. I'm here now, where you told me to go. Are you sure this is the right place?"

Metal estimated the location of his target. Sonic was approaching from the north, inbound in approximately 5.7 seconds. He revved his engine, preparing to launch himself in Sonic's direction.

This was it. He would be rid of his loathsome copy. This was his chance to prove, once and for all, that he was the real Sonic, to fulfill his primary objective.

As Sonic burst through the bushes, Metal launched forward, revving his engine at full capacity, striking him in the center of his chest with his forehead. The force threw Sonic backward, and he fell, landing and skidding across the ground, branches breaking as he collided with the trees.

Metal turned and flew forward again, arms outstretched, aiming for Sonic's throat. As he prepared to strike, his loathsome copy rolled under him, kicking him in the center of the intake panel of his chest. Metal twisted through the air, before landing on one foot and grabbing a tree branch to stabilize himself. He paused in an attempt to recover, as did Sonic. The two stared at each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

Metal's radio spurred to life. "Sonic?! Here? Of all the times for that rotten hedgehog to appear...No matter! Metal Sonic, you have the Emerald! Return to the base at once!"

Metal paused before replying. His primary objective was to neutralize Sonic the Hedgehog. He was standing right there in front of him, like the pathetic animal he was, stuck in a trap. Metal couldn't leave until he neutralized him, until there was only one Sonic remaining.

"Hey, look! It's the talking tin can that thinks it's me," Sonic called from across the forest, panting, before leaning to the side, squinting at something invisible behind Metal. "Is that Eggbreath on the line? Tell him I said 'hi'!"

Metal remained calm. He would predict the optimal course of action and he would win. He calculated hundreds of conditional probabilities, propagating the new values across his Bayesian model. He would find the optimal solution.

"Metal Sonic, what are you waiting for? Get back here this instant," Eggman said, demanding Metal's attention as his voice hissed over the radio.

Metal did not understand. He was to neutralize Sonic the Hedgehog. It was his primary objective. It was what the doctor wanted.

"But the reason I was built was—"

"Are you arguing with me?" Eggman said, his voice rising. "You are only authorized to do what I say! You have the Chaos Emerald! Get back to the base!"

Sonic arched his eyebrows and folded his arms. He began tapping his foot on an exposed tree root. "Are you two done yet?"

Metal stopped. His primary objective was to neutralize Sonic. He was programmed to follow orders. His current orders were to ignore Sonic and return the Emerald. If he followed orders, he wouldn't destroy Sonic. His primary objective was to neutralize Sonic. He was programmed to follow orders. If he followed orders, he wouldn't destroy Sonic. His primary objective was to—

His radio crackled back to life. "Metal Sonic! Are you doubting my orders?"

"No, the protocol given is insufficient to—"

"Then what are you doing? You are taking too long. Don't you even think of disobeying me again!"

As Metal began to reply, Sonic leaned forward, placing his muzzle up to Metal's ear. "Hey scrambled eggs! Since when has anything you ever made actually obeyed you?"

Metal recoiled as he felt Sonic's awful, humid, organic breath assaulting his audio sensors. He leaped backward, watching as Sonic merely stared at him with an amused expression on his face. Metal should have predicted that. He was getting sloppy. He looked deeper into his models, trying to pick the optimal one to predict Sonic's behavior. He watched as Sonic taunted him, smirking as he took a single step toward Metal.

There was one model Metal knew would be most accurate in its predictions: the first model Eggman had ever given him. It was the model of Sonic himself, the neural network trained in data taken from the hedgehog directly. It was a perfect simulation of Sonic's brain, containing a map of every neuron and every synapse. Metal's processors were faster than Sonic's organic brain. If he used this model, he could predict everything his loathsome copy would do before Sonic even thought of it.

"Silence!" Dr. Eggman boomed over the radio. "Metal Sonic, do as I say!"

He was programmed to follow orders.

"Affirmative," Metal said, still waiting while Sonic took another step forward. As his loathsome copy loomed inches away from his face, Metal kicked his leg forward, launching his heavy, steel foot into Sonic's stomach. Sonic's eyes widened as the air rushed out of his lungs. He flew backward, knocked off the ground before crashing into a tree.

Metal shot upward, crashing through the tree branches into the sky. He had a head start, but he knew it wouldn't last. Almost immediately, as if Metal had summoned him with the thought, he detected Sonic launching himself out of the forest. His copy race along the canopy, hopping across the tree branches. A myriad of leaves, both orange and green, flew up as he moved.

As he ran, now directly below Metal, his loathsome copy cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Hey Egghead! Better not count your chickens before they hatch!"

Metal turned, heading straight into the sky to escape, but was halted as Sonic slammed into the back of his engine. It spurred for a moment, and he lost control. He tried to correct himself by compensating for the force, but the his speed was impossible to direct. He fell downward, tucking his arms and legs into his body, bracing himself. Breaking through branches, he crashed into the earth, leaving a streak through the dirt as he finally stopped.

"You're a sitting duck without that engine, Metalhead," Sonic said, jeering as he landed, placing his foot on the top of Metal's head.

Metal jumped up, reactivating his engine. It skipped and sputtered for a moment, then returned to a full roar. He tried to predict Sonic's next action, but was forced to stop in order to redirect his power from his CPU to his limbs. He managed to narrowly roll to the side as Sonic stuck the tree behind him.

"Your goose is cooked!" Sonic said, bouncing off the tree and spinning back in Metal's direction.

Metal took to the skies again, branches breaking against his metallic body as he broke through the forest canopy. This was not how he would defeat Sonic. This was suboptimal.

He tried to formulate a new strategy, but he needed data. He scanned the forest with his radar, trying to find Sonic. As the sensor returned, Metal jammed the data through his processor, rapidly pruning the unnecessary pieces from the set.

That was when he noticed the anomaly. It wasn't just Sonic. His radar had returned two entities moving near the speed of sound.

"Obtaining Chaos Emerald." Metal heard a robotic voice behind him, one more tinny and hollow than his own.

Metal flew forward, asking for identification over the network. When there was no response, he twisted his head backward.

A large robot flew behind him. It looked like one of the doctor's E-series robots, although the exact design did not match anything in Metal's database. The machine resembled a dart. Two sleek, stainless steel wings, like those of a plane, angled on its back. The top half of the robot looked like a large egg. On top of the egg a long, pointed skewer pierced the air. A black screen spanned the circumference of the egg. The entire machine was painted black, with yellow lines spanning across the wings.

"Identify yourself," Metal said aloud, while searching deeper into his databases. The newcomer did not respond to his request. Instead, a series of pixels flickered to life across its screen, spinning around like rudimentary animals on a carousel.

Sonic dashed into the sky, rushing towards Metal in a shapeless, blue blur. As Metal was turning his head back into its forward position, Sonic crashed into his chest. Metal's engine made a valiant attempt to counter the force, spitting smoke and sparks into the air as Metal fell back to the ground. He fell through the treetops, branches tearing into his blue paint. He reached forward, grasping his fists around one of the branches. It pulled him upright, allowing Metal to right himself and land on both feet.

"Come on, Egghead, you're not even trying!" Sonic said as he landed. "Or did you forget how to actually send backup?"

"That's not one of mine!" Dr. Eggman said, his voice less legible than before. "Metal Sonic, find out what that thing is!"

"Affirmative," Metal said through the radio. This was an order.

The strange robot began its descent, two jets of steam and exhaust stirring leaves and dust into the air. Metal looked up, dedicating the bulk of his processing power to analyze the robot. He processed every curve, every bolt, and every piece of it in striking detail, reversing the data against his knowledge in his own database. He transmitted all data collected back to Dr. Eggman.

The chaotic whirr of pixels subsided. Two, solid, yellow rectangles appeared on the front segment of machine's screen. Two arms, adorned with claws, unfolded from the side of the egg, filling the forest with the sound of screeching metal.

While he used all of his processing power to analyse the robot, he felt something pull against the Emerald in his hand. The sudden dextral feedback broke him out of the loop, and he tightened his grasp on the Emerald. Swirling his head towards the disturbance, Metal saw Sonic with both his hands draped over Metal's own grasp. He was sweating as he struggled to pry the gem from Metal's superior grip.

Sonic noticed Metal turning to him. He dropped one hand off the Emerald and shrugged. "Hey, it's not like you're using it right now."

Sonic threw both hands on the Emerald again. He pushed his heels into the ground, leaning back with all his weight to pry the Emerald out of Metal's hand. Metal felt the gem begun to slip. He lifted his other hand and slapped Sonic's hand out of the way with it, grasping the Chaos Emerald with both hands himself.

Sonic tried to grab the Emerald again, only to shuffle around with Metal's palm, the gem's surface area failing to prove sufficient room for four hands. Sonic brought his hand up higher, this time attacking the source directly by pushing away Metal's arm. Metal retaliated, bringing his hand back to push Sonic at his shoulder.

Sonic would not be outdone and went straight for Metal's face, pressing the robot's forehead with his palm. Metal did likewise, bunching up skin on Sonic's cheeks as he tried to pushed his loathsome copy away. Lacking further escalation, Metal struggled with Sonic for a moment, pushing the hedgehog's face away while attempting to pull the Emerald back.

"Metal Sonic!" The doctor blared back over the radio again. "Get back here immediately! That robot isn't mine. It's—" His radio cut out.

"Collecting Chaos Emerald."

Both Sonic and Metal turned their heads in unison. The egg-dart machine dove from the sky, hooking one of its claw-arms over the Emerald. It yanked the gem from both their hands before rising back to the sky. It took off, racing across the horizon, booming through the forest as it broke the sound barrier.

Sonic and Metal looked at each other for a moment, still pressing hands against the other. They paused before realizing what they were doing. Simultaneously letting go of each other, they looked away in the opposite direction before beginning the chase.

Metal activated his engine as Sonic sprinted away. His engine protested before revving into an arrhythmic hum. Launching above the canopy, he saw Sonic narrowly in front of him, racing on top of the trees. The egg-dart was ahead of them both, flying parallel to the ground.

Metal pressed forward, confident he would soon overtake Sonic.

"How could you lose the Chaos Emerald?!" The radio hissed and spattered. It was as much the voice on the other side as the interference. "When you get back here, I'll see you turned to scrap metal!"

"I failed because you updated my orders to study the—"

"Silence! Retrieve the Emerald immediately and get back to the base!" The radio cut out.

He was flying directly above Sonic now. He felt a small sliver of satisfaction when he saw how Sonic huffed as he passed over him. He was faster than Sonic, but his pathetic copy always denied it.

With his unmatched speed, he rapidly closed in on the strange machine. It struck him as suboptimal that the machine didn't just take off, upward, away from Sonic. Metal could give chase in the skies, but it would have avoided at least one of its pursuers if it would only fly up.

He looked back down. Sonic had caught up with him, somehow. This frustrated Metal. He shut off his excess cognitive functions and redirected all of his energy to his primary engine. This was still not enough. Sonic had caught up, speeding just as fast.

Metal did have a trump card. He activated his Maximum Overdrive engine. An immense flow of power flew from his battery into his engine. He flung forward, like a comet, watching with joy as the pathetic clone below him looked up and saw his superior performance. He could see Sonic increasing his own efforts, looking straight upward as he tried to run faster and faster.

He raced forward, looking down at the worthless and pathetic Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the faker, Sonic his copy. The hedgehog was gasping for air now, staring directly at Metal. He could see panic slowly spread across Sonic's face.

He was superior, and he was the real Sonic. Aside from his primary objective, this was why he needed to kill Sonic. There could only be one. The real Sonic was the superior Sonic.

He noted he had his copy's complete attention. This was it. He would win.

"Does it surprise you, Sonic, that I can outrun you? This is the moment that I will—"

His optical feed cut out as an explosion of errors broke through his systems. He was notified of a kinetic impact, as well as the fact most of his sensors and motors were not responding. Metal shut down his every subsystem, redirecting what little power he could bring together to his optical sensors.

The world cut into view. He could see the top of the cliff, and it was receding from him. The cliff was tall, jetting out from an impossibly sized mountain. Countless boulders were rolling, falling off the cliff, pummeling his armor and systems.

He had collided with the cliff. He was distracted, and he had crashed into it.

He saw Sonic below him, desperately trying to shed speed by digging his heels into the earth. Except there was no earth, only the top of the trees. His leg caught one of the tree branches, and he tripped, but his speed was too greatly to merely fall. Sonic went flying forward, uncontrollably, toward the face of the cliff.

Metal kept falling. He tried to reactivate his engine, but there was no response. There was no response from any of his systems, except his accursed radio, of course. He could only guess at how angry Eggman would have sounded. Fortunately, his audio sensors were also not responding.

Sonic flew under him, kind enough to break his fall as Metal crashed onto him, driving both to the ground.

The boulders followed, crashing and rolling off Metal's frame. Metal started his emergency protocol, shutting off his systems to avoid excess damage. His last sensory input indicated he was pinned on top of Sonic, an indeterminate amount of rocks falling primarily on him.

He went offline.

Pressurized, metallic doors opened, air and mist hissing. A pair of yellow and black boots clicked against the floor as a tall, round figure walked into the room. The doors closed behind him, quietly sealing the room.

"Yes, yes! Excellent! Preparations are nearly completed!" the figure said, his high pitched, squeaky voice wavering unpredictably. He walked over the large set of windows stretching from the floor to the ceiling, twisting his white mustache on his way. A yellow and black Egg Pawn swept the floor behind him.

"Soon, oh so very soon!" he said, looking out the window. Several clouds drifted at eye level. Below, an alien landscape stretched forward. Purple, curly grass rolled over the hills. Yellow trees with thin trunks dotted the landscape, painting the skyline like crayons in a box. The curvature of the ground dropped sharply and above, a shiny membrane contained the small world. It would be invisible except by the faint shine it produced when the light struck it at a certain angle. Beyond the membrane lay utter darkness, deeper than the pit of space.

The old man reached over and yanked the broom away from the Egg Pawn. He held it at arm's distance and began to dance around the room with it, kicking his heels behind him.

"For the gloooory of Dr. Eggman Neeegaaaaa!"

"Incoming communication from E-2048," A tinny, robotic voice filled the room. "Permission to connect?"

"Graaaaanted!" Dr. Eggman Nega sang, throwing the broom on the floor. The Egg Pawn picked it up as Nega walked over to the computer console in the center of the room.

The screen above the console flashed to life, displaying a cargobay in monochrome. Static crossed the screen at random intervals. In the foreground, he saw his lovely, dart-shaped robot, E-2048. Behind, he could make out two blurry figures, both unconscious on the floor.

Another robotic voice cracked across the room, slightly deeper than the previous voice. "Hedgehog and Chaos Emerald have been collected."

"Oh ho! How excellent! Marvelous!" Nega said, dropping into an office chair and spinning in circles. "Who's that other in the background, though, hmm? Did you make a new friend? I always did encourage you to get out more."

"It warped with us when we made the journey. Records indicate it is an affiliate of the Eggman empire. Do you want me to dispose of it?"

Nega stopped spinning, slowing twirling to a halt as friction returned the chair to its natural, stationary state. He twisted his mustache around his fingers.

"Looks like my old friend Eggy gave us a new toy, hmm? I think I'll have some fun with it while I wait for you to collect the last Emerald. You know what to do!"

"Affirmative." The screen cut out.

Nega leaped from the chair, wobbling as he walked back to the window.

"So it begins! The opening act of the only story to ever have been told. Oh ho ho ho!"