The Perils of Online Dating

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Aneela already had a game up when he logged onto the computer. He watched her play the AI at one of their favorite games, the chess game. "I was practicing until you got here. I got off early tonight." She typed at him. "Did you have a good day?" She asked rapidly.

"I did. You will not believe what my boss did today." Robotnik quipped. It was fun talking about himself in the third person. It was refreshing to hear someone willing to be frank with him. He watched her play, waiting for the game to end so he could take the second spot.

Aneela gave him an emotion with a finger stroking it's chin quizzically. "Really? What did he do today?" She asked as she put the computer in checkmate. "Warning, I'm getting better. I will beat you one day."

He sent back a laughing face and replied. "He made me go with him and his godson to take food to a poor orphanage in the city."

"Really?" Was the abrupt response. "That's the last thing I expect to hear. What happened? Did he fall and hit his head?"

Robotnik thought about the answer. "He heard about them from his godson. Apparently, the boy had a visit from his fiance who is friends with the matron of the orphanage. She had tried getting help from her friends in the Freedom Fighters but apparently, they refused. Said they would only help if the matron would allow the children to be raised into resistance members themselves."

"Oh? And she didn't want to join the resistance? Even if it meant getting help? Would that have been so bad? To know the children would one day be able to fight to defend themselves against such tyranny?" She asked him.

"The woman is an old woodchuck. She wants those children to be able to just be children. Children shouldn't grow up knowing they'll have to one day fight." He said, finding it was something he believed. Something he hated about the resistance he fought against. "And refusing to help her because she wouldn't promise those children to their service in the future is just as bad as anything he could do to them. Oh, you don't agree with us? You deserve to rot. They're not on his side, they are in fact the children of his victims, but he is helping them where Queen Aleena's people are not."

Several minutes passed as they played in awkward silence. Robotnik hated this idea that everything was just his fault. Yeah, he was starting to understand that he was an asshole but surely the other side held culpability.

Finally the ... appeared before she responded. "You're right... that is just as bad. And if he's going to help them, then that is good. Maybe some people can surprise you but you said he heard about it from his godson who heard about it from his fiance? That's quite a trail there."

Robotnik thought about it. "I don't know too much about it. I'm only an employee of course. But they were engaged when I started working here."

"And how is your godson doing? You said he's engaged too." She asked. "I hope things are better today."

"Yes, much better. We spent part of the day together. I had to tell them what I witnessed though damn it, I should have gotten pictures." He laughed at his own joke. He wanted to tell her it was him, him who did it. He wanted to tell her who he was and get to know her beyond this computer screen.

They talked and played the night away until Robotnik realized the effort of the day had worn on him. He bid goodnight to Aneela, promising to meet again the next evening.

The next day, Sonia got ready for another day in paradise. But she was surprised to see her brothers were up before she was.

"Hey Sonia, good thing you went to bed early last night," Sonic said. "Mom sent us a message. She said there's an orphanage that needs help. One in the heart of the city. She said it's in major disrepair and they're very hungry."