Day 126

[from Street Racer]

The girl raised her hands high in the air, scanning the start line to make sure that all the competitors were ready. A moment later, her arms sliced downwards through the air, and the four cars screamed into life in an explosion of torque and tyre smoke as the race began. The cars accelerated straight past her and roared off towards the first corner, leaving nothing in their wake except a faint haze of smoke and a set of jet-black tyre marks on the worn asphalt.

Tristan and T-Bone had gotten the best starts off the line, with Alyssa just behind, and Michael already a car's length behind as they reached the first bend, a 45-degree right-hander. Since the run to the first bend had been so short, and the angle of the corner was so shallow, the drivers merely had to lift off the throttle to make it through on this occasion. Tristan had the inside line, and so had the fastest route through the corner, with T-Bone forced out wide. As they headed down the long straight, Tristan was ahead.

Halfway down the straight, the group encountered a traffic car heading in the same direction. All four spotted it in more than enough time to scramble out of the way, roaring past as they carried on. Some nights the traffic was worse than others; on nights when the roads were totally gridlocked, racing was impossible. Rumour had it that the city government were considering intentionally causing traffic jams at night, as a last-resort method of preventing street races from taking place. Tonight, however, the traffic seemed nice and sparse. Perfect for racing.

The next corner was a 90-degree right-hander, at a four-way intersection. Corners at intersections were tricky, as there was always the risk of meeting a traffic car coming the other way as you rounded the corner, and you wouldn't see them coming until it was too late. Some street racers liked to throw the back end out and drift round corners like this, giving them greater visibility and more of a chance of dodging any such cars. Tristan's car wasn't set up for drifting, though, so instead he simply braked hard and steered the car normally through the corner, taking a sweeping racing line just like a professional driver would use. Behind him he could hear a squealing of tyres as Alyssa customarily drifted round the corner, though on this occasion it was perfectly safe; the straight beyond was entirely deserted.

This nest straight had a little left-hand kink towards the end, leading into another 90-degree right-hander. If you positioned your car carefully as it went through the kink, you could cut down the angle of the right-hander and carry a lot more speed through it. However, as he approached the kink, Tristan noticed a traffic car heading through the right-hander in the opposite direction, turning onto the straight he was coming down. It was going to be right in the middle of the corner as he went through it, messing up his racing line.

Tristan made sure to keep well out of the way of the traffic car as he braked for the right-hander, but had to take a much wider line than he would have liked. This, coupled with the straight-line speed of T-Bone's Corvette, meant that T-Bone was just able to poke his nose in front as they raced down the next straight. What was more, T-Bone now had the inside line for the next set of corners, at a large roundabout.

Undeterred, Tristan braked late and attempted an overtake around the outside as they turned right onto the roundabout. T-Bone, however, misjudged the corner and oversteered wide, sliding into the side of Tristan's car. Tristan's right-hand wing mirror was smashed off, the bodywork scratched slightly. An easy fix, and nothing worth worrying about. Unlike a lot of other street racers, Tristan wasn't particularly bothered about cosmetic damage to his car: it was mechanical damage that worried him.

The drivers came upon the first exit remarkably quickly, and were almost flat-out as they turned through it, emerging onto a short straight before a left-hander. T-Bone held a marginal lead now, but Tristan had the inside line for the next corner. Once again he braked late, forcing T-Bone wide. This time T-Bone was forced to mount the pavement, narrowly missing a lamp-post and having to slow down to avoid crashing into the buildings adjacent to the street. Now the advantage was back with Tristan, and Alyssa was right on T-Bone's heel. Michael was still at the roundabout, having already fallen some way behind the leading three.

Dodging round another traffic car, the group made its way through another right-hander, then another. Now they were immediately confronted with the track's most difficult feature - two sweeping 180-degree bends, first a left-hander, then a right-hander that brought them back to the finish line. Tristan felt sure that his car's superior handling would give him the advantage here, and sure enough he was able to brake a little later than T-Bone or Alyssa and gently feather the throttle as he made his way round the corner, keeping his speed up.

All three drivers took a wider line through the first of the hairpins, staying out of the oncoming lanes for fear of meeting a car coming the other way. This proved to be a sensible move, for as Tristan exited the corner he met a car going the other way, entering the hairpin he had just left. He and the two drivers behind him were well clear of it, and swiftly turned their attentions to the right-hand hairpin. This time the inside line was away from the oncoming lanes, and the drivers were able to take the turn at a more favourable speed.

Exiting the second hairpin brought them onto the start/finish straight, with the other street racers gathered at the side of the road to watch. Lien waved excitedly to Tristan as he accelerated over the line to start the second of the four laps. Tristan did not notice her, his eyes remaining on the road in front of him. He needed to focus. On these tight streets, with traffic all around, you couldn't lower your concentration for even a second. A single mistake here could cost you a lot more than just the race.

Day 125

[from StarLight]

A short while and a lot of staring later, Amaya had purchased two hamburger meals from a local fast food joint, and had managed to fly up to the roof of a local skyscraper so she and Kage could eat in solace, while the youkai explained exactly what was going on.

"Okay, start from the beginning," said Amaya. "Who are you?"

"M' name ith Kage, nyum~" said the youkai through a mouthful of hamburger, before swallowing. "I'm a youkai, from another world parallel to yours. Say, what did you say this thing was called again? It's delicious, nyaa~"

"It's a hamburger," said Amaya. "Do you not have hamburgers in your dimension?"

"They didn't have 'em here either, when I first came here," said Kage. "But then, I guess that was a while ago now, nyaa~"

"A while ago?" repeated Amaya. "How long exactly were you trapped in this thing?"

Kage thought it over for a moment while chewing another mouthful of hamburger. "I'm not good with math, nyaa~" she concluded finally. "What's 2015 take away 1643?"

Amaya tried to work it out in her head for a moment, gave up, and consulted her smartphone's calculator app instead. "372," she said finally. "No way! You were in there for almost four centuries?!"

"Apparently," said Kage through another mouthful of hamburger. "Man, I can't tell you how good it feels to be outta that thing~"

"How did you get in here, anyway?" asked Amaya, holding up the wand in her hand. "And also… what is it? How come it turned me into a magical girl when I picked it up?"

"It's called an Emblem, nyaa~" said Kage. "It's a mystical object, forged from the energy that flows through our world. It's what allowed me to travel to this one, nyaa~" Kage picked up her vanilla milkshake, took a sip and scowled. "The hell is this?"

"It's a milkshake," said Amaya. "Did you not have those either?"

"It tastes awful, nyaa~" said Kage. "Don't you have beer in this time period?"

"Well, we do, but they don't sell it at fast food restaurants," said Amaya. "And I'm a minor, so I can't buy beer anyway."

"No beer?" asked Kage, looking terribly disappointed. "What kind of awful future is this, nyaa~?"

Amaya opened her mouth to reply, then realized they were getting rather off-topic. "We can discuss that later," she said. "Back on topic… you say this thing is full of energy?"

"Yep," said Kage. "It's called chi. That chi is now flowing through you, giving you extraordinary power. It's what changed your clothes too, nyaa~ The clothes symbolize... something or other, I dunno. Can't remember. It's been however many years you said, I've forgotten a few things." The youkai shamelessly stuffed the last of her hamburger into her mouth.

"But you still remember how you ended up sealed inside it, right?" asked Amaya.

"Of course," said Kage. "I'll never forget that. You see, I came to this world with a friend, to protect you humans from monsters coming from another world. Not our world, another one."

"There's a third world?" asked Amaya.

"Yeah," said Kage. "It's not a great place, nyaa~ So anyway, using the powers of our Emblems, we fought together to keep the old Mitsuzawa safe from the rampaging monsters. But then things turned sour." Kage's expression, which had previously been carefree, now grew bitter and resentful.

"The humans were ungrateful, nyaa~. We were fighting to save their lives on a regular basis, but they didn't appreciate all the hard work we were putting in for them. They started forcing us to do all kinds of dumb favours for them, like cleaning their houses and stuff. We became their maids, rather than their saviours. One day, I put my foot down and said, "I won't be a slave to humanity any more, nyaa~!" But they'd already brainwashed my friend into serving them. So she turned on me, and sealed me inside my Emblem."

"That's horrible!" said Amaya.

"I know," said Kage. "I'd love to get my revenge on her, but sadly, I wouldn't have the first idea where to find her any more, nyaa~ And in any case, I can't. The moment you touched my Emblem, all my powers passed to you. Now I'm bound to you eternally as your familiar. Don't expect me to wait on you hand and foot, but feel free to use the Emblem's power for whatever, I don't really care, nyaa~"

Amaya looked down at the Emblem, and started to think. Revenge… that's right. With the power of this Emblem, I could get my revenge on everyone who's ever wronged me. My father, who abandoned me… my mother, who ignores and neglects me… that guy from GameStop who refused to sell me Black Ops 2… I could get back at all of them using this. No, more than that…

An image of White Star ran through Amaya's mind. She remembered how the entire town had stopped to gaze in wonderment at the magical girl, and how nobody had been able to talk about anything else ever since. She remembered the way everyone had been staring at her as she walked down the high street. And slowly, the plan began to formulate in her mind. Slowly, a twisted grin formed on Amaya's face. "I have it," she said. "I know just what to do with this power."

Amaya turned to face Kage, a serious look on her face. "I'll avenge you, Kage," she said. "I'll find your youkai friend and crush them. I'll find all those who have wronged us both, and crush them. Nobody will be able to ignore me any longer, now that I have this power. They'll be forced to pay attention to me, just like they all pay attention to that idiot White Star!"

Kage, who had been thoroughly enjoying Amaya's rant up to this point, suddenly choked on a mouthful of French fries. "Wait a minute… did you just say White Star?" she asked.

Day 124

[from Project Sky]

As I get closer to the girl, I start to get a better look at her. She's relatively beautiful, with long mahogany-brown hair and brown eyes. Like most commoners, she wears a standard un-dyed tunic that extends down to her knees, and wooden sandals. In the olden days her tunic might have extended to her ankle, and perhaps had a hood attached to it, but in this new floating continent, materials are scarce. Though modesty still needs to be preserved, there are simply not the resources for clothes to be made any larger or fancier than they need to be. Hand-me-downs are also common; the clothes on my back were once my father's.

She looks over as I approach, looking up at me. "Hello, traveller," she says. "Can I help you with something?"

I nod, and tell her I'm looking for information about the Ruin. I want to know how to reverse it, and fix this world. Her smile fades a little; it is, after all, rather a serious subject.

"I see," says the girl. "The Ruin, you say… I have heard of it, but I don't know anything about it. Our elder might know, though. Shall I take you to him?" I nod, and the girl stands up, shaking the excess moisture off her hands. "Okay. Follow me." She makes her way back towards the road and I follow behind, my pegasus walking alongside me.

"Is this your first time in Harford?" she asks, and I nod. "I thought so. Where have you come from?" I tell her the name of my colony. "Ah. That's a few colonies over, isn't? It must have taken you a while to get here." Not really, I tell her, and she nods.

"My name is Elizabeth Coulson Liland," she says. "Liland" is the name of the country Harford would once have been part of, back before the ruin. My home colony, too, would have been part of Liland. In the wake of the Ruin, many people adopted their countries of origin as part of their name. The elder told me it was their way of holding on to their national pride, and remembering the nations they were once a part of but have now ceased to be. This tradition has now become established throughout the continent.

Elizabeth asks for my name, and I tell her. "It's nice to meet you," she says. I tell her it's nice to meet her too. We fall silent for a moment as we head up the road, making our way towards a bridge leading to another island of the colony. Looking into the distance, I notice that the shimmering blue lines I spotted on my approach seem to be emanating from a tower on the adjacent island. I decide to ask Elizabeth about them.

"Those?" she says. "Those are the Skylines. They're a magical transport system that allow you to travel to far-away colonies in the blink of an eye. Only the larger colonies are linked, though, which is why you wouldn't have seen them before. If you can't find what you're looking for here, then you may want to use the Skyline to travel to another large colony quickly. A word of advice, though: always send your pegasus through first. If you go through first, it might not follow after you. Does that make sense?" I nod. "Okay. You can get to the Skyline through that tower. It's free for anyone to use, and it's perfectly safe, so don't worry." I nod again.

Now that I'm at street level, Harford seems even bigger than it did while I was flying over it. The clock tower, positioned over on an island to my left, has to be the tallest structure I've ever seen. Even at this distance, I can clearly make out that it's 2:36pm. I can also see some heavy clouds on the horizon: it's going to rain later on. None of the colonies I've visited so far are high up enough that they actually touch the clouds, though I have heard of colonies far away that are tall enough to do so. For a moment, I can't help wondering what it would feel like to be inside a cloud, then I dismiss the thought as inane. I'm here for a reason, and I should concentrate on that.

Soon, we're crossing the stone bridge that leads to the next island. The stone feels very sturdy beneath my feet, and it's almost impossible to tell that I am actually on a bridge and not still on land. As we walk, we pass a man walking in the other direction, carrying a bundle of straw. My pegasus looks wistfully at it, as though craving it. I gently remind my pegasus that it only ate a couple of hours ago, and Elizabeth lets out a high-pitched giggle. "I guess the flight here must have made it hungry again," she says. I have to concede that she's probably right. Having to barter for pegasus food as well as my own food can be a bother at times, but if not for my pegasus, I would never have been able to reach this far. Having it is certainly worth it in the long-term.

After a few more minutes of walking, we reach a large stone house with a neatly-kept garden in front. "This is the elder's house," says Elizabeth. "Shall I look after your pegasus while you go inside and talk to him?" I agree to this, and hand over the reins before heading inside the elder's house. I've already talked to several elders who knew nothing about the Ruin, but perhaps Harford's will have more to tell me.

Day 123

[from Akita no Akumu]

ESCAPE (CHANGE THE FUTURE)

If you could see the future,
Tell me, what would you see?
And if you long to change it all,
Then would you walk with me?
I'll tell you all my secrets,
I'll tell you all my fears,
And we can make a different fate:
The future starts right here

We cannot escape
Our destinies and our fates
We will not embrace what is to come
We will change the future

I've seen the buildings crumble,
I've seen the people die
Soon they'll stand in the promised land
In a castle in the sky
But I can change their futures
I can make things right
And now I hope you'll stand with me
As I begin the fight

We cannot escape
Our destinies and our fates
We will not embrace what is to come
We will change the future

They say this cannot happen,
They say it's all a lie
For although we're sure what lies in store,
We don't know the reasons why
But I don't want attention,
No, I do not want fame,
Though maybe in a thousand years
The world will know our names

Can you see what I see?
I can see the lightning
You may not believe me, no
But you'll be the one who cries for help, and
You'll be the one I save

We cannot escape
Our destinies and our fates
We will not embrace what is to come
We will change the future

We will change the future

We will change the future

Day 122

[from Vanishing Point]

As the guard took another step forward, Kiyoko instinctively began to shrink back against the wall of the broom cupboard. As she did so, her foot accidentally kicked a bucket, upsetting it and knocking over the mop that had been inside, sending it clattering hard to the floor. The noise seemed to fill the entire room, deafening her. If that had not given her away, her instinctive gasp of horror upon realizing the situation definitely had. The effeminate guard gasped in response, his reaction merely confirming what she already knew. She had been rumbled. It was over. There was nothing more she could do except stand there, trembling from head to foot, sweat pouring down her face and tears of regret welling up in her eyes as she waited to accept her inevitable fate…

BANG.

***

"I'm concerned," said Cobra, looking down into her mug of tea. "The last I heard from her, there was a guard chasing her. There was a loud bang, and then I haven't heard anything since. I don't think it was a gunshot, but… what if it was? What if she was shot, Kamui?"

Cobra and the detective were currently sat at a low table in the living room, wondering exactly what was happening over at Shinsuke HQ. The cup in her hands was the final result of her tea experiment - she liked her tea strong, and with no milk or sugar. That information no longer seemed important now.

Kamui's face was also concerned, but he was trying to keep calm. "We don't know that yet," he said, "but I have to admit, what you heard - and aren't hearing now - is pretty disturbing. But for now, all we can do is sit here and have faith that she's fine, and she'll get that data back to us."

"And how long are we supposed to do that for?" asked Cobra, getting agitated. "How long are we supposed to just sit and wait while our friend is in that building, captured or even killed? We have to do something!"

Kamui sighed, rubbing his temple. "I know," he said. "But we can't just barge straight in there. We need to think of a plan first, otherwise we'll just get ourselves killed."

Cobra let out an angry sigh. "You're right," she said bitterly. "God dammit. Well… we still can't wait forever. I'll give her until morning, and if she still hasn't come back, or responded or anything, then we go in. Sound fair?"

Kamui nodded. "Yeah. I'll let Hanako know."

***

Hanako, meanwhile, was sitting on the stairs, on the phone to her mother, who naturally was rather concerned that her daughter hadn't come home for almost 48 hours. Hanako was trying her best to reassure her that everything was okay.

"No, really, mom, I'm fine!" she said. "It's just that some stuff happened, and it's kinda bad, so I'm staying with some friends for a while until it all gets sorted out. It's nothing really."

"What kind of stuff?" asked Hanako's mother. "What is it that you're not telling me?"

"I can't tell you what I'm not telling you," said Hanako. "That's why I'm not telling you it."

"But why not?" asked Hanako's mother.

"Let's just say it could get all of you in serious trouble if you got involved," said Hanako. "Please just believe me: I wanna tell you, but I really can't!"

Hanako's mother sighed. "Okay, I'll trust you for now. You're old enough to look after yourself for a while at least. But could you at least tell me where you are, so I can come visit you? I'm sure Tetsuya and your father will want to see you as well."

"Okay, sure. I-"

"COME QUICK, YOU GUYS!" Cobra suddenly bellowed from the living room. "IT'S KIYOKO!"

Hanako, startled, promptly dropped the phone, while Kamui rushed into the living room. Sure enough, there was Kiyoko, staggering up the front drive towards the house. She didn't seem to be hurt, but she was clearly exhausted. As Hanako quickly made her excuses and ended the phone call, Kamui quickly opened the front door for Kiyoko, who staggered inside and slumped straight into Kamui's arms.

"Where have you been, Kiyoko?" asked Cobra. "We were so worried about you, we thought you'd been captured! What happened?"

Kiyoko let out a half-sigh, half-yawn, gazing bleary-eyed at the sofa. "I just wanna sleep…" she mumbled.

"Alright," said Kamui, slowly guiding her over to the sofa. "You've had a long, hard day. You can tell us all about it in the morning. Oh… but did you get the data?"

Kiyoko nodded sleepily, slipped a hand into her pocket, and pulled out the memory stick, which she gave to Kamui. "Thanks," said the detective. "We'll take a look at this in the morning. For now, I think we could all use some rest after today."

Kiyoko nodded again. She climbed onto the sofa, curling up on the seat, and was asleep within seconds. "Let's leave her to rest," said Cobra quietly. "She deserves it, after everything she's done today."

"Why?" asked Hanako, who had remained completely oblivious to all these goings-on. "What happened over at Shinsuke HQ?"

"I'll tell you once we're up in our room," said Cobra. "Let's go."

"Does that mean I get the single bed tonight?" asked Hanako, as the three of them ascended the staircase.

"Sure," said Cobra.

"Yay!" said Hanako excitedly.

"Quiet, you idiot!" hissed Cobra. "Kiyoko's asleep."

"Oh yeah," whispered Hanako sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Well, I'm glad to see that she's safe," said Kamui. "I wonder what actually did happen…"

***

BANG.

Kiyoko flinched instinctively at the noise before realizing it was merely the door of the broom cupboard slamming shut again. As she stood there, bewildered and terrified, she heard the guard's voice coming from the other side of the door. "This floor's clear. Over."

"Are you sure?" came the reply. "Did you check everywhere?"

"Yeah, I checked every inch," said the guard. "She's not on this floor." Kiyoko didn't hear the rest of their conversation, nor the guard's footsteps moving away afterwards, for at that precise moment, she breathed a sigh of relief and fainted, turning visible again as she collapsing to the floor of the broom cupboard with a thump.

It was only a few minutes before Kiyoko regained consciousness. Her immediate thought was to peek through the door of the broom cupboard, to check if it was okay to exit, before realizing that the security team may still be sweeping the building. If they weren't, then the employees may have already started filtering back into the building, and even if they couldn't see her, they could still see the door opening and closing by itself. She couldn't hear any footsteps outside, but she didn't want to take the risk, so she decided to simply remain in the cupboard, quiet as a mouse, until she was absolutely sure that it was safe to exit.

By the time the security search had ended, and the corridor had once more filled up with employees and emptied, it was almost sunset. Kiyoko opened the door a crack and peeked through to confirm that it was safe to leave, then turned invisible again and finally made her way back out into the corridor. As a Shinsuke employee made their way towards the elevator on her way home, Kiyoko followed her, slipping inside the elevator behind her and resting her back against the wall, barely restraining from letting out a sigh of relief as the mechanical doors began to close behind her. She was safe.

Day 121

[from Space Hunter]

Aurelia's ship exited warp speed in the Kappa system. According to Dr. Sanara, the first component of the cure could be found on the planet Kappa-2. There was nothing specific regarding the planet or its inhabitants that would potentially affect this mission; however, space pirates were known to be operating in the area, so Aurelia would have to be careful. As the princess of another star system, she and her ship would command a very high price on the black market.

As she assumed manual control of the ship once more, Aurelia checked the ship's thrust vectors to make sure it was properly on course, then contacted Dr. Sanara via the ship's comms device. "I've emerged in the Kappa system," she said. "I'm on route to Kappa-2 now. Everything looks good; there shouldn't be any problems from here on out."

"Well, there's always the pirates to be worried about," said Dr. Sanara, a little warily. "Your ship isn't well-armed, is it, my lady?"

"Right now it isn't armed at all," said Princess Aurelia. This was a craft built for speed and luxury. Its only weapons were two photon blasters in the nose cone, and those wouldn't bother anything larger than a fighter. In any case, they had been deactivated ever since her crash-landing on Sigma-2, and she had so far chosen not to repair them. She had been hoping she wouldn't need them. "However, I do still have my plasma shields, and the ship's armour is pretty tough. Even if I can't out-manoeuvre them, I can still take a few…"

Aurelia paused, her voice petering out. She thought she had heard a rattling sound coming from the cargo bay. It was impossible that any space pirates had infiltrated the ship, so unless it was just her imagination…

"Is something wrong, my lady?" asked Dr. Sanara.

"I thought I heard something coming from the cargo bay," said Aurelia, glancing over her shoulder.

"Space pirates?" asked Dr. Sanara.

"No, that's impossible," said Aurelia. "There's no way they could have gotten on board."

"Then a stowaway?" asked Dr. Sanara. "Someone from Sigma-2?"

"That's the only explanation I can think of," said Aurelia. "I'll go check it out."

"Okay," said Dr. Sanara. "Be careful… and remember to turn on the autopilot while you're not in the cockpit."

Aurelia, who was already halfway out of her seat, abruptly re-engaged the autopilot, letting the ship steer itself for a moment while she investigated the cargo bay. She didn't really see the point in this, as they were in the middle of open space and there was no chance they would hit anything. Apparently it was so that evasive manoeuvres could be conducted in case of a sudden ambush, but Aurelia doubted that the autopilot would be much use in a situation such as that.

Drawing the primitive handgun General Pereira had given her for self-defence purposes, Princess Aurelia slowly made her way back through the ship, towards the cargo hold. If anyone was inside, they must have somehow snuck in while it was being loaded. The only way in during flight was through a airtight door, and like all the doors on the ship, it would only open if a sensor detected someone with the appropriate clearance level was approaching. In other words, the doors would only open for Princess Aurelia and the most trusted of royal staff.

Sure enough, as Aurelia approached the door, the sensor detected the security information encoded in the insignia of her jumpsuit, and the door slid open to allow her access. Stepping inside the cargo bay, Aurelia held the firearm at her side, her hands shaking a little. There was no chance of the bullets going straight through the wall and causing an explosive decompression, so she didn't have to worry about missing. But it was hitting that she was more worried about. She had set out on this mission to save lives, and she didn't want to end any, certainly not innocent ones.

Aurelia quickly swept the perimeter, checking behind the boxes of supplies that had been loaded into the bay. At first, there seemed to be nobody there. Then, Aurelia noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Slowly, cautiously, she turned round, looking up at the ceiling.

There was something on the ceiling. Before she could properly tell what it was, Aurelia squealed, raised the primitive pistol, and fired.

Day 120

[from Sonic the Hedgehog Returns]

"Alright, Sal, I'm inside the Death Egg," said Sonic. "Told ya I wouldn't get blown off~"

Sally sighed. Even during a crucial mission he couldn't stop with the wisecracks. "Okay, good. Now for the hard part: you'll need to stay still for a minute so Rotor can synchronize your position data with the Death Egg schematics, and work out the fastest route to the generator room."

"And how long will that take?" asked Sonic, who was already starting to get a little impatient.

"I don't know," said Sally, "but it's shouldn't take more than a minute. I'll let you know as soon as we have the route ready."

"Alright," said Sonic, "but if any SWATbots show up, I'm taking off."

Sally opened up NICOLE, placing her gently on the floor. "What do you require, Princess Sally?" asked the holographic lynx.

"I need you to project the Death Egg's schematics again for me," said Sally. "This time, highlight the generator room in red. We're going to feed you Sonic's positional data; highlight that in blue for me. Then, give me the fastest route to the generator room from Sonic's current position."

"Affirmative." The lynx projection disappeared, to be replaced with the Death Egg's three-dimensional schematics. A small room in the exact centre glowed bright red. This, it seemed, was their goal. Rotor wirelessly beamed Sonic's positional co-ordinates to NICOLE, and by cross-referencing them with the Death Egg's co-ordinates, she was able to mark him on the map with extreme precision. As expected, he was currently at the very edge of the Death Egg, and his blue positional dot seemed to be jittering slightly. This was either because the Death Egg's relentless march towards the Great Forest was complicating the calculations, or simply because Sonic was already so bored that he was running round in circles to relieve himself. Sally, having known Sonic for most of her life, figured it was probably the latter.

After a further moment, a green trail began to snake its way through the Death Egg in the direction of the generator room. It certainly wasn't as-the-Buzzbomber-flies, but since Sonic would be the one traversing it, it probably wouldn't take him any time at all. Sally zoomed in on the schematics with a wave of her hand, focusing them on Sonic's location. "Okay, we've got the path ready," she said.

"Took you long enough," said Sonic. "So, which way do I go?"

"Head straight forwards, then take the third right," said Sally.

"Got it." Glad to finally be able to get going, Sonic zoomed off down the corridor in front of him. He counted the right-hand pathways under his breath, then quickly turned down the third one he encountered. "Okay, now what?"

"Take the next left," said Sally.

"Right," said Sonic, as he took the left.

"No, left," said Sally. "Then right."

"Right," said Sonic, as he took the right.

"Now there should be a staircase coming up-"

"Already halfway down it," said Sonic.

"Of course you are," said Sally wearily. It wasn't easy directing someone who could move faster than you could speak. "Now just go straight on for a while."

"You got it, Sal," said Sonic. A couple of Badniks noticed Sonic approaching, but Sonic simply tore straight through them with a Spin Dash and kept going without missing a beat.

***

A short time later, Sonic found himself brought to a halt by a closed door. "This doesn’t look like the generator room," Sonic remarked.

"That's because it isn't," said Sally. "You have to go through this room to get to it. Be careful, Sonic: Robotnik's not going to let you into the generator room that easily. I don't know what kind of dastardly traps might be lurking on the other side of that door, but you'll need to-"

Sally was cut off by a deafening clang as Sonic impatiently Spin Dashed straight through the steel door, knocking it off its hinges. "Or you could just barge straight in like an idiot," muttered Sally sardonically, "that works too."

The room beyond seemed to be almost entirely empty, save for a lone figure located at the opposite end, guarding the only exit. Sonic took one look at the figure and immediately did a double-take. "What the-"

The figure standing before him was a large metallic facsimile of himself, at least a foot taller and constructed entirely of thick silvery steel. Its eyes glowed a menacing orange as it locked its gaze on the real Sonic stood before it.

"Well, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Sonic remarked.

"HEDGEHOG DETECTED." said the machine, in a harsh robotic voice. "ELIMINATE."

"What was that?" asked Sally warily. "Sonic, what's going on?"

"We've got a bit of a problem," said Sonic, as the machine started to rev up a version of Sonic's own Spin Dash. As the curled-up machine launched itself at him, its metallic spikes gleaming dangerously, Sonic leapt out of the way just in time and the robot was sent hurtling straight through the open doorway and into the corridors. Sonic watched on with some amusement. "Looks like Buttnik forgot to install the brakes on that thing," he quipped.

"What just happened?" asked Sally. "Are you alright, Sonic?"

"Looks like Buttnik's built some kind of metal version of me to guard the generator," said Sonic. "I think I lost it, though."

"A robotic version of you?" Sally made a noise over the radio that rather sounded like a suppressed giggle. "I dare say it must be an improvement over the original."

"Hey!" said Sonic, feeling rather insulting. "Who's the one bustin' his rear end to try and save you guys?"

"You're right, I'm sorry," said Sally, suppressing another giggle. "It makes a change from robotic versions of himself, at any rate. Well then, if it's safe, head towards the generator and shut it down."

"You got it, Sal," said Sonic. "Let's do this!" Spin Dashing through the door at the other end, Sonic suddenly found himself on a set of narrow walkways spanning an enormous chasm. This was the central ventilation chamber of the Death Egg, with the generator room suspended in the centre. The ceiling had to have been at least a hundred metres above him, and the floor at least a hundred metres below. All that separated him from a gruesome demise was a metre-high railing made of rather flimsy-looking metal. "This can't be safe," said Sonic.

"That's probably the idea," said Sally. "Be careful, Sonic."

Sonic nodded, and made his way across the walkways as fast as he dared. If he went too fast, the resulting vibrations would rip the thin metal sheets beneath his feet to pieces. Ultimately, however, he made it to the door of the generator room, which seemed surprisingly small, and forced his way inside.

As he entered the generator room, Sonic approached the apparatus and was suddenly taken aback. He had been expecting a large tangle of complex machinery, and generators as large as houses. What he saw instead was like nothing he had ever seen before, and it completely stumped him. "This is the Death Egg's power source…?" he exclaimed.