Back at the temple, with the two Hedgehogs gone, Tails felt very alone. For one panic filled moment, he span round, convinced he was being watched but found nothing. It probably was the aftershock from the battle, and the sudden appearance Flare. The fox dismissed it as nerves and continued to gather up interesting parts from the fallen Badniks. He wanted more than anything to put a stop the hurt and unhappiness that Eggman was unleashing on Mobius. He believed that the answer could lie in understanding the technology that was the tool Eggman used to terrorise Mobians and forward his evil cause. Tails had a secret respect for the Doctor, the speed and level of skill that the robots were produced were true tributes to his amazing ability, the designs were complex and if it wasn’t for Sonic, they would have overrun Mobius years ago. If this genius could only have been applied for good rather than selfish reasons, Mobius would be a very different place indeed. Tails sighed heavily, that would never happen, the Doctor needed to be stopped permanently, and that probably meant his destruction. Gathering up the last few bits that interested him, Tails moved off to meet up with Sonic and Flare, he hoped there was some food left.
The entity watched the strange orange creature as it moved here and there, picking up bits from the floor, and felt nothing but distain for it. The thing had an interesting aura, but nothing special. Now that the guardian had left with that other blue creature, it could make good its escape, a dark ripple moved through its mist like body, it was as close as it could get to laughter. Foolish guardian, it had no idea what it was really guarding, hidden away here under the noses of the people. It looked where the robot had dragged away the sphere of essence, the trail was like a beacon to it, and it could sense a delicious aura, far away, but juicy with violence and black hatred. Following the trail, the entity would finally eat well.
With the final turn of the key, Robotnik carefully pulled the scrap of cloth across and closed the chest cavity. He took out a rusted needle that was threaded with a rough thread and began to sew it up. He could feel the computer watching him. “What is it now?!” He turned his attention away, just in time to jab the needle into his finger, the rusty point pierced his flesh and drew a spot of very dark blood. “Arrrrrrggg!!!” Bellowed Robotnik, “See? See what you made me do?” The computer wisely remained silent. A large drop of blood splashed onto the chest of the doll, soaking through the thin fabric and into the clockwork workings. Robotnik hurriedly finished sewing, making a tatty job look worse as he left bloody fingerprints here and there. With a final knot, it was done and Robotnik sat back and looked at its creation. It lay there not moving, a feint whirring coming from it was the only sign of life. “Come on then” he murmured irritably “Lets go…” The doll remained motionless.
Getting into Central Processing had been easy. Cleanerbots had almost unlimited access clearance to every part of the castle. The hard part was getting to use the computers and communication equipment that the newly enlightened bot believed he needed to spread his word of revolution. There was no plan, its processing limitations didn’t allow for it, so in a way it was acting on some form of basic instinct. Rolling up to the terminal that governed all of the Cleanerbots, it reached out its manipulator and began to type. Amazingly the central computer ignored its interference and unauthorised commands, its attention was split between the new creation in the lab, and the outside sensor reports of an approaching threat of undetermined origin. The Supercomputer was torn between telling its master of the danger, and disturbing him at a seemingly crucial step in the development of a new life.
The Cleanerbot was encouraged with its progress. Using the monitors, it could see other Cleanerbots stopping their work and trundling toward the chamber outside the lab, soon there would be twenty or more strong, willing manipulators to put down the evil and free the others. Never again would another robot be damaged or broken at the hand of the sadistic Doctor, never again would bots be forced to do the dangerous fetching and carrying while he sat in comfort and reaped the benefits. The Cleaner began to click excitedly as more and more cleaners moved to the antechamber, just a few more minutes of this and there would be nothing to stop it, it was time to join the others. The Cleaner turned from the terminal, and moved toward the door, in its path was the bot he had freed from the welding job earlier, it made no move to get out of the way so the Cleaner tried to go around it. The welder reached out a scarred and pitted manipulator, a few fingers had been replaced and there were patches on the hydraulic lines. It clicked as it took hold of the smaller manipulator of the Cleaner, and for a second, the Cleaner caught a glimpse of gratitude, but not for him, for the Doctor. The welder clicked again in rapid stuccato, and another image flashed into the Cleaners mind, the welder was an old model Cleanerbot, one of Robotnik’s first, and back then had been caught in an accident when a superheated pipe had exploded, blowing half its body away, the welder had still been able to fix the blasted hole and seal the leak, but at the expense of his remaining power. The younger Robotnik had found the smashed and half melted welder, frozen in its final pose and had personally repaired it. Feelings may have been omitted, but the impression of this event had burned into its deep programming. The Cleaner clicked loudly at the welder and pushed it aside, this had to stop, right now.
“Sir” The computer said “There is a large collection of Cleaner class robots gathering in the antechamber outside the laboratory. I have also to report there is a presence approaching the castle, species and threat level unknown.”“Hmm?” The Doctor was distracted “Cleaners outside? What now!” He covered the doll and moved to the lab door, yanking it aside in his customary way he was met with a room packed with Cleanerbots, the one he had modified that very day at the head.“Cleanerbots, disperse and return to duty at once!” He yelled “I have no time for this!” More than twenty optical receivers that served as the vision systems of the assembled Cleanerbots focused on their master, and for the second time in twenty four hours, Robotnik felt apprehensive.
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