Me: It LIIIIIIIIVES! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *cough* Right. Anyway, YES, I am continuing! I have several reasons for taking so long, none of which you want to hear. However, during the course of my extended absence, I have rewritten this chapter at least four times, and figured out where I'm going with this story! WOOHOO!

Anyway, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Anyone know what a snoodleberry is? Anyone? No?

"Ow, hey!" Shari cried, tugging fruitlessly at the iron grip on her wrist. "Not so tight! I'm flesh and bone, here!"

The robot ignored her, dragging the protesting teen along the familiar corridors of Eggman's base. The last time Shari had been there, she'd been merely a passenger in Sonic's head. Now, she was a prisoner. Wonderful.

Sighing, Shari walked along beside her captor, not having much choice. This was one of the maintenance robots, the grey dome-shaped ones that never left the base. Her original captor, which resembled a metal hedgehog, had given her to it nearly an hour ago, ordering it to 'put her with the others'. This probably meant that the people she'd originally come to retrieve had been captured as well. Great.

On top of that, the robot had managed to inject her with something. At first, she'd thought it had been something to knock her out, but instead, she was wide awake.

"Look," she told her captor, "I'm not struggling anymore. Can you please loosen your grip? Hello?" The robot ignored her, as she expected, and she sighed. "Are we there yet?"

Five minutes later, the robot finally stopped. It turned and pressed a button on a nearby key pad, pausing as the door whirred open before shoving her inside. Shari staggered slightly, trying to catch her balance from the abrupt push as the door behind her shut.

Great. Now what? She sighed, folding her arms and peering around the room. It was small and boxlike, with white walls, a metal floor and a singular, flat light imbedded in the ceiling. One section of the wall protruded outward, making what looked like a bench.

Right. Now what was she supposed to do? Sit on the bench and wait to be interrogated? Shari rolled her eyes. At first, she'd thought Eggman was an evil genius. Now, it seemed he was just evil. Did he really think that after all that time with Sonic, she would just turn around and rat out on him? Seriously?

She stood there for a few more minutes, thinking. No. No, that couldn't be it, she decided. Eggman may be crazy, but he wasn't stupid. He must have other methods of getting information from her.

Methods like what?

At the thought, a chill went down her spine. Was it possible that he had a device capable of reading her mind? No…No way! It couldn't be…No. However, the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. After all, if Eggman was capable of combining her mind with Sonic's and Tayla's with Shadow's, then simply reading her mind…Well, it definitely fell into the realm of possibilities.

The thought made her feel light-headed, and she crossed the room to sink onto the bench. If she was right, and the others were here, then it was very possible that they'd already had their minds read. How much information had he gotten from them? Shari groaned, putting her head in her hands, remembering how dark some of the fanfiction had gotten.

If she was right, then Sonic and his friends were in big trouble.

She had to warn them. Quickly, Shari laid down and shut her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep. Minutes passed by, and she shifted uncomfortably. She felt restless, wide awake. Maybe it was adrenaline?

As she lay there on the cold, hard bench, time seemed to stand still. Still she waited, staring at the ceiling, tapping a finger against her hand. Feeling cramped, she rolled to one side, then to the other, then to her stomach. Time continued to pass, slowly and sluggishly.

After what felt like a good half-hour, she couldn't take it anymore. She was just too wide awake. Shari sighed, sitting up and leaning forward, elbows on her knees. It really didn't make any sense. She hadn't slept since this morning…Well, she supposed she had been knocked unconscious. Still, she felt like she'd just drunk six cups of coffee. She was almost…hyper.

As silence settled, Shari bit her lip, her situation slowly beginning to sink in. She was trapped. In a small room. With a lock. A prisoner. She'd never been a prisoner before…

She shook her head. Well, it would do her no good just sitting here. She frowned, looking around the room, probing it a second time for anything worthwhile, trying to keep her mind off the stunning lack of space. And the lock.

Finding nothing, she stood and began running her fingers along the walls, particularly where it connected with the ceiling. If she knew Eggman, he'd have some sort of camera that allowed him to keep an eye on her.

After a few minutes of poking and prodding, two cameras and a small speaker system were discovered. Unfortunately, the cameras seemed to be imbedded in the wall, but the speakers were connected by tiny screws.

Right. So, part one: remove the screws. Shari sat down and took off her shoe. Imbedded in the sole was a small compartment holding a tiny, keychain-sized screwdriver. In case of emergency, her father had said, grinning like an idiot when she'd discovered it a few years ago. At the time, little Shari had thought a secret compartment in her shoe was the coolest thing in the world.

She now used the little screwdriver to remove the speakers from the wall. If she was lucky, there would be a mess of wires behind it, some for the speaker, but most for much more important purposes. Like the security system. Unfortunately, it was most likely that the wires were offset by some sort of paneling. But she had to do something.

Shari made quick work of the screws, then began to dig the screwdriver into the dry paint attaching the speakers to the wall.

Her need to work wasn't just a distraction, though. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this restless. She felt more awake then she had in weeks, and was hyper aware of everything around her. Ever little sound or smell seemed amplified. Just what had that robot injected her with?

Don't think about it.

After a bit more digging, the speaker finally popped out of the wall. It was thin, and about the length and width of your average football. Shari carefully pulled it back, peering behind it at the mess of wires. Yes! Jackpot! There was no way he needed that many wires for one measly speaker.

Right. Now for part two. The teen carefully disconnected the speaker, then worked on separating and identifying the wiring. She had learned, in her many years of working with computers, that cutting random wires tended to make things blow up in your face. Unfortunately, identification took quite some time, and was really next to impossible seeing as the wires were all the same color! Honestly, no creativity!

Needless to say, it was a little over an hour later that Shari finally felt confident enough to cut a wire. Unfortunately, it slipped from her fingers, strait back into the rest which happened to be identical in shape and size, and she had to start all over. Drat.

Four hours and seven attempts later, the crucial wire had once again buried itself. Shari took a deep, calming breath, stepped back, and screamed. Now considerably calmed down, she decided, wisely, to take a break.

…

…

…Okay, her break was over. She needed to keep busy. After thinking a moment, Shari decided to focus on disconnecting the little cameras, which was really what she should've done in the first place.

She frowned at the little things, each on opposite corners of the room. They had no visible screws or wires, and seemed to be apart of the wall itself. How was she supposed to remove them? After thinking a moment, Shari picked up the discarded speaker, walked up to one of the cameras, and started smashing it. The little camera dented quite easily, and was soon nothing but a crumpled mess scrunched into the wall.

Shari frowned. On second thought, she probably should've gone a bit easier with the smashing. Now she couldn't use any of its pieces. Oh well, that's why there were two.

She had just crossed over to the second camera, planning to only hit it enough to dislodge it, when a voice suddenly echoed through the room.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

Shari jumped, startled. That…that was another prisoner! She whirled around, trying to pinpoint the location of the voice. There! The camera! She must have dislodged something when she smashed it.

"Yes!" she replied immediately. "Yes, someone's here!"

"Oh, thank god!" The voice replied. "I thought I was alone in here." A pause. "Did…Did the robots bring you too?"

Shari hesitated, her mind racing. If this prisoner…then…what if…It took her a few seconds to realize she'd been asked a question. "What? Oh, yeah, yeah they did. Hey listen, is there anyone else in there with you?"

The reply was deadpan. "You do know what 'alone' means, right?"

"Right! Right…Sorry." Shari muttered, thumping her head against the wall. Her mind was still rather frazzled from her five hour battle with the wiring. She sighed and tried again. "I meant…well, I guess I did mean that. Hmm….Oh, uh, have you tried contacting anyone else?"

"You mean other than screaming bloody murder for the first hour or so? Nope. Not at all."

Shari bit her lip, thinking again. The only reason she was able to talk to this person was because she dislodged the camera in her room. For some reason, that connected the two rooms…Wait a minute.

"Where are you anyway?" she asked, then listed for a reply.

"You tell me," the voice answered dryly. "Four walls, a ceiling and a floor, little bench-y thing, door…"

Okay, so their rooms were pretty much the same. "I don't suppose you have any cameras in your room?"

"Actually, I'm talking through one right now…You are human, right? Not some crazy computer program?"

Shari grinned. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm real. What's your name anyway?"

"Christina. You?"

"Shari."

"A pleasure. Listen, I don't suppose you know what the heck is going on here?"

"A bit. I do know that there's probably someone else here with us."

"Wait, how much is a bit?" Christina demanded. "Because I don't know squat."

Shari bit her lip, thinking the threat looming over their heads and the time she'd already wasted. "Later. Right now, we need to focus on contacting the others. Try and knock off the other camera."

"Hey, who put you in charge anyway?"

"Experience," Shari replied shortly, reaching back into the mess of wires to once again locate the security controls. "When the camera is gone, you should be able to talk to someone." Her eyes narrowed in grim determination. "Tell them to be ready to run. Help is on the way."

Hurry, Sonic.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Glowing red eyes observed the scene before them through one of the few working monitors. The newest prisoner had tried to sleep, perhaps to contact her rescuer. It was futile, though. The shot of adrenaline the Sweeper had administered would keep her awake for at least a day. After that, the drugs in her food would do the trick.

…

Master would not approve.

At the thought, he quickly refocused his optics on the repairs. He knew he could locate the offending microchip, given time. It was irritatingly small, but he could sense it, closing in on him. It was like an internal cage, restraining his actions. It wasn't very difficult to pinpoint the it's location. It was simply difficult to remove it without shutting himself down.

A subtle feeling of hopelessness prompted his eyes to once again return to the monitor. The human child was still working on the wires, as though she could somehow understand them. Perhaps before, she might've had a chance, but now…

He wondered a moment why the…Corruption wasn't stopping her. Perhaps she amused It.

Why did It need them? For what purpose? For a moment, he stilled, again attempting to create a mental link with the main network, sneak past the firewalls, pry open the file…

Pain shot through him, and he stiffened, waiting for it to pass. That was another thing the Corruption had given him. Discomfort. He wondered how long it would be before he could feel. Feel. Physically, at least. The emotions had already done their work.

Fear. That was his least favorite. Anger. This one he didn't mind as much. Unfortunately, anger prompted irrational behavior. That could have him shut down. Permanently.

A rush of data invaded his system. He doubled over, optics wide, as another spasm shook him. Fire churned at his center, creeping through mechanical limbs. It was happening too fast, too frequent. He had to slow it down, somehow.

Metal hand gripping the table for support, he pulled himself off the ground, back into the chair, to once again observe the girl. As he did so, an idea made it's way into his mechanical mind. Another foreign emotion accompanied it. A strangely pleasant emotion. The first he had reason to hold onto.

Hope.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Shari carefully nudged a wire. "What about this one?"

There was a short pause, and then, "Uh, I think that's the speakers."

The teen frowned. "You sure?"

"No. But it just started crackling."

Darn it. She nudged another. "And now?"

"That's the lights again."

Shari sighed, squinting her eyes. Why did all of these wires have to be the same color, anyway? Were his robots colorblind or something? No…They probably didn't even need color. The robots could just trace the electric current, or whatever. She grumbled in annoyance, fiddling with another wire.

The videogames and shows made it seem like Robotnik was big on style. He never did the same thing twice…which was really quite impressive when you thought about it. And he seemed to have this ridiculous obsession with the colors red and yellow. So far, though everything had the annoying tendency of being identical, and his favorite colors were apparently white and grey. Joy.

"Wait, wait! Go back!"

Shari jumped slightly as Christina's voice broke her train of thought. The wires fumbled from her fingers. Dang it… "What was it?" she called back, trying to relocate the wires. "What did you see?"

"I thought…No, never mind. It was nothing."

Shari frowned, pausing. "What was nothing?"

"It was the cameras. They moved, just for a second…"

She nodded. "Right. Okay, I could use that. Thanks."

"But what about the door?" Christina demanded.

"I'm working on it," Shari replied, irritable. "And anyway, the doors will be useless if there's just going to be a robot on the other side. I've got to disengage the security first!"

She sighed again. She'd been working on these wires for another strait hour. Christina had already contacted who she could from her end, and had passed the word on to be ready, but Shari was beginning to have her doubts that she could to anything. These wires didn't make any sense!

Suddenly, a cry rang from out in the hall, muffled by the doorway.

Both girls froze.

"Hey, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, yeah! Shhh!" Shari shushed her, listening intently. What was that? Another prisoner?

The was a moment of silence, followed by more sounds of struggling, and then, "Ahhrg! Let go of me you oversized dishwasher!"

Shari's eyes widened. She knew that voice! Before she could stop herself, she was yelling through the door. "Tayla! Tayla, over here!"

Oh, right. Because she totally has control over where she's going. Real smart, Shari.

There was a short pause as the struggling suddenly stopped. "Shari? Shari! Ohmigosh, what are you doing here? Ow! That hurt, you ninny!" The struggling continued. "Shari! Shari geditoffofme! OFF!"

"You will decease speaking to the prisoner."

"The prisoner? I am the prisoner! I can speak to whoever I-HEY! Put me down! I'm not a-oof!-a flipping beanbag! Let!" Clang! "Go!" Clang! "Of!" Clang!"My-Ow. Hey! I'm upside down, you -"

THUD.

Shari winced she heard Tayla unceremoniously dumped into the room beside hers. Right. Dislodging was overrated. She turned, retrieved the dented speaker, and smashed the remaining camera into tiny little pieces. In a moment, Tayla's voice filtered through.

"Yeah, you'd better run! Your mother was a toaster!"

"Tayla!" Shari called, then laughed as the insult registered. Man, it was good to hear her voice! Her internal celebration was cut short rather violently as a point was suddenly brought to mind. "Tayla, what are you doing here? Weren't you with Shadow? How did they get to you?" Shari demanded, panicking. If this thing was strong enough to fight off Shadow…

"They cheated!" Tayla cried indignantly.

Shari blinked. "What?"

"They took me while I was sleeping! That is just rude!"

"…What?"

Tayla sighed. "Well, Shadsy an' I went to go watch the stars again 'cause I was bored and I had thirteen satellites and four shooting stars and Shadsy only found nine satellites but he saw six shooting stars only I think he made the last one up because I didn't see anything, the little cheater!" She took a deep breath. "Anyway, we left my body on the couch and I think the robot took it because I woke up and everything was all shiny and metal only the stupid robot was carrying me upside-down so I was really confused at first and all the blood was rushing to my head and everything was fuzzy and I yelled at it and it didn't listen to me because it was a big meanie and then it threw me in here and now I'm with you!" A pause. "You got it?"

Shari grinned. "Yeah, I got it."

"Good. 'Cause now I'm confused. Where was I?"

"I believe you were insulting the robot's mother."

"Oh, right, the toaster. Well, it's gone now…So, how'd they get you?"

Shari frowned at the memory. "I was going to meet the newcomers, remember? They must've got there before me…"

"Speaking of newcomers…," Christina interjected from the other camera. Shari jumped, banging her nose on Tayla's camera in the process. Ow.

"Oh, right, sorry." She glanced between the two cameras, feeling a little odd. "Uh…Well, Christina, this is my best friend, Tayla. Tayla, this is the newcomer, Christina."

I'm introducing cameras.

"Hi, Christina!" Tayla called cheerfully. "I like your name!"

"Uh, thanks, I guess…"

"You're welcome! You know, I once had a teacher with the name Christina. A nice teacher. She fed us peas and oranges and threatened us with a hockey stick. I told it wouldn't work 'cause my dog is much worse than her hockey stick, but apparently she learned this kung-fu thingy that- "

As Tayla jabbered away, Shari took a moment to grin. After being alone for several hours in a small white cell, it was nice to have some company. She shook her head. Right. Back to business. "Tayla," she called, interrupting a rather vivid description of poodlezilla. "Had anyone gone to look for me?"

"-Eats tables and shower hose thingies and-What? No, not yet. I don't think anyone knew you were gone."

Shari processed this, then opened her mouth to speak again.

"Okay, that's it," Christina interrupted, sounding fed up. "You guys obviouslyknow what's going on here and I want to know now! Why do you keep calling me a newcomer? I got here before you! And who the heck names someone Shadow? What are we, in a videogame?"

Shari blinked. "Well…hmm…How to answer that…"

"What is going on? You've been leaving me out since-"

"Wait," Shari interrupted, standing completely still as her mind suddenly registered something. "You just…How could you not know…Do-Do you know about fanfiction?"

"…What?"

" . It's this website…" She trailed off, feeling light-headed.

"What does a website have to do with my question?"

Shari wasn't listening. She slowly sat down, connections zigzagging in her head. How could Christina not know fanfiction? It was impossible! The only reason they were here was because…Wait…What if Robotnic didn't take them for their fanficiton knowledge? She frowned. Well, then what were they really here for? What did Eggman need with a couple of teenagers? Unless…

Unless they'd got it all wrong.

Shari jumped, startled out of her thoughts, at the sound of something hissing. She watched in muted wonder as the door in front of her slowly whirred open, clicking as it locked in place.

"Shari? Shari did you do that?"

"Shari! My door just opened! Did you find the wire?"

The two voices were just white noise in her ears. Her complete focus was on the glowing red eyes glaring down at her, on the metallic arms, legs, torso…Her eyes widened in recognition. The two froze there for a moment, staring at each other.

Then Sonic's most dangerous enemy stepped into the room.

The door gave a slight hiss as it shut.

Me: I've already began the next chapter, just so you know. Oh! AND I'm now accepting Beta requests! YAY!

Oh, and apparently my friends have a habit of giving my random words meaning. 'Foofy' is a little chibi character that appears in the backround of one friend's artwork. And 'snoodleberry' has been hereby dubbed a yogurt. Drat. Now I'll have to think of something else.

Anyway, your reviews are my inspiration! I missed you all and I'm looking forward to hearing from you! So, TYPE-ITH!

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