Day 68

[from Sonic the Hedgehog Returns]

Sally retrieved a small clamshell computer device from her jacket pocket. This was NICOLE, a powerful sentient computer that she had been received shortly after her arrival at Knothole. She knew not who had sent it to her, or even who had built it; it had just arrived out of the blue one day, in a parcel addressed to her, and with a sticky label attached that read simply, "ROBOTNIK WILL FALL. THIS WILL HELP". In a dark time, those words had helped encourage her, and sure enough, NICOLE had proved to be an invaluable tool in the fight against Robotnik.

Sally opened up the device, holding it in the palm of one hand. The holographic projector in the bottom half of the shell activated with a soft whirr, projecting a six-inch hologram of NICOLE's AI interface from the base. This AI took the form of a female lynx, with tan fur streaked with black, wearing a purple, black and white sleeveless bodysuit. At first NICOLE had been simply an emotionless computer program, but in the ten years Sally had owned her, she seemed to have developed a full personality of her own.

"Good afternoon, Miss Sally," she said, bowing slightly in greeting. "How may I be of assistance?"

"I'd like you to analyze the plans that are on this flash drive," said Sally. "If you can, project a 3D hologram of them for us."

"Sounds simple enough," said NICOLE. Sally inserted the flash drive into a slot in the side of NICOLE's base, and waited a moment.

"That's odd," remarked NICOLE. "These files appear to be from Robotnik's servers, yet they are not encrypted."

"That's what we were just talking about as well," said Sally. "It's very strange."

"Yeah, yeah, we've established that," said Sonic impatiently, tapping his foot. "Let's just see what it is already!"

Sally sighed, rolling her eyes. Sonic may have been the most capable of all the Freedom Fighters, but his arrogance and impatience still drove the young princess to distraction. "Gosh, you can never even wait just five seconds, can you?" she said.

"Yeah, Sonic," said NICOLE, her demeanour changing markedly. "You need to learn to chillax." Sally sighed once more. For some reason, in spite of her usually perfect diction, NICOLE seemed to lapse into using Sonic's slang whenever she addressed him. Perhaps she had worked out that it was the best way to get through to him, or that he didn’t understand her usual technobabble. Or perhaps he had just shaken her in frustration one too many times.

Whatever the reason, it worked. Sonic managed to calm himself down. "Alright, sorry," he said. "Now, whenever you're ready…"

NICOLE nodded, and a moment later her holographic form fizzled away. Replacing it was a slowly-rotating hologram of a giant spherical object, the likes of which none of the Freedom Fighters had ever seen before. The front of it was decorated with a stylized facsimile of Robotnik's face, complete with moustache, and it was criss-crossed with numerous panel lines. Sally, curious, put NICOLE down on the ground so the other Freedom Fighters could get a better look at the large projected sphere.

"What is it?" asked Tails curiously.

"It's ugly, that's what it is," remarked Sonic, grimacing at the sight of Robotnik's metallic visage.

"Eez eet a bomb of some kind?" asked Antoine, tilting his head slightly.

NICOLE's voice issued forth from the hologram. "Judging by its specifications, it appears to be a heavily-armoured, and heavily-armed, aerial battle fortress," it said. "Its designated codename is "The Death Egg"."

"Aerial fortress?" repeated Sonic skeptically. "So this massive heap of junk can fly?"

"Apparently," said NICOLE. "However, I've crunched some numbers and I just don't see how I possibly could."

"Why?" asked Sally. "How big is it?"

"Its dry weight is estimated at some 450,000 tonnes," said NICOLE. "Its diameter is precisely two thousand, four hundred and thirty-six metres, and twenty-seven centimetres, or precisely-"

"Yeah, we get it, it's big," said Sonic. "So how's Buttnik gonna make it fly?"

"I don't know," admitted NICOLE. "The power source isn't specified."

"Really?" asked Sally, surprised. "That's strange."

"Indeed," said NICOLE. "There is, however, one other function of this fortress that should be taken into consideration. Observe."

The concave dishes that formed Robotnik's eyes suddenly began to light up, glowing with a powerful green energy. Then, two large holographic laser beams shot out of its eyes with a loud "pew", flying right over the sleeping Bunnie, who woke with a start. "Huh? What in tarnation-?" she cried, startled.

The rest of the Freedom Fighters were in awe of this kind of firepower. "My gosh…" breathed Sally. "Those lasers would be enough to destroy the entire Great Forest, let alone Knothole." She quickly composed herself. "We can't allow this thing to launch. We have to make sure it never gets off the ground. NICOLE, do the schematics say where the Death Egg is being constructed?"

"No," said NICOLE, "but its estimated completion date is one week from now."

"That's no time at all," said Sally. "We've got to find this thing, and fast. The quickest way will be from the air, and considering how big this thing is, its construction site shouldn't be too hard to spot." She turned to Rotor. "Rotor, is that new plane you and Tails were working on finished yet?"

"It is," said Rotor. "I suggest having Tails pilot it, since he's already familiar with the inner workings. I'd do it myself, but…" Rotor glanced down at his rotund figure. "…I can't exactly fit in the cockpit."

"Tails, can you fly this plane?" asked Sally.

"I'll do my best!" said Tails enthusiastically.

"Good," said Sally. "Go out there, and check all Robotnik's known manufacturing facilities. Report back here once you've found the Death Egg's construction site; don't try and shut it down yourself. We'll send in Sonic to take it down.

"Aye-aye, Princess Sally!" said Tails, saluting.