The Blue Blur

ACT 1: Mystery Creature

The light from a desk lamp provides a small study with dim illumination. Enough for a man to get things ready. This man is in his early thirties. He has fading hair on its way to going extinct, and a large orange mustache. He's skinny from the torso up, but he has a belly that shows no sign of getting smaller.

This man sits down at said desk. He opens a drawer to his left, and digs in it until he pulls out a vile full of purple liquid. He holds it up to his eyes so he can get a good look at it. A proud smile grows across his face. He places the vile carefully onto his desk.

He turns to his right next, his attention now set on a cage. Inside of the cage is a baby hedgehog. The man leans over as much as he can without getting out of his seat, and he grabs the cage. The hedgehog moves around anxiously, unaware of what is going on.

"Come here, my furry friend." The man mummers in a low voice.

He pulls the cage up to his desk. Next, he grabs a needle and opens the back of it. He grabs the purple vile, pops the top open, and pours all of its content into the needle. Once the vile is empty, he tosses it into a nearby trash can.

He pulls a key from his left pocket and opens the cage. Before the hedgehog can go anywhere, the man grabs it roughly. He can tell the animal is desperate to get away, but this only amuses him. In one swift motion, he jams the needle into the side of the defenseless animal. He empties the content of the needle, unfazed by the animal's cries of pain.

Once he's done, he sits the needle down. His eyes focus on the hedgehog as if they are looking for any immediate side effects.

"You're going to change history, little fella." He says in a low voice. "How funny is it that such a puny little creature such as yourself will serve as humanity's big leap forward."

The man shifts his gaze to the closed door to his personal study once he hears footsteps nearing it. He quickly places the hedgehog back in its cage, and he closes the door to it. The door to his study swings open, and a man that looks to be in his fifties with dwindling grey hair, wrinkles all over his face, and much-needed glasses walks in. The blue business suit he wore would be viewed by a stranger as purely professional. However, to the people in this building, it represents power. The top man.

"We need to talk, Ivo Robotnik." Says the man in a tone that doesn't try to hide his anger. Robotnik fakes a smile.

"Mr. Fisher!" Says Robotnik in an ingenuine cheerful voice. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You are late to the deadline again." He says through gritted teeth. "When I hired a genius such as yourself, I expected results. But instead, it's been nothing but failure after failure for the last six months!"

Robotnik tries not to sound angry, but insulting his skills is something most people don't walk away from.

"I've been trying, sir." He responds, his voice starting to rise. "But maybe you shouldn't provide your employees with such limited resources. Rome wasn't built in a day... let alone an entire robot army."

Mr. Fisher's expression somehow looks angrier.

"Didn't you say you say you'd find your own power source-?"

"I have." Interrupts Robotnik. "Me and my team have done something governmental scientists thought not possible. Plasma... one of the five stages of matter. You're familiar with it, aren't you?"

Mr. Fisher looks at Robotnik.

"I'll take that as a no." He says with a grin. "Plasma is a gas mixture that contains a mix of free electrons and positively charged ions that roam around. It reacts to electromagnetic fields and conducts electricity. This unstable power can be found in things like lightning, stars, and nuclear bombs."