Sonic X : Planet Zero

A Broken Family

In a small town located in San Francisco, Caitlin Thomas lived with her mom Wendy. She was 19 years old and constantly reminisced about her childhood days when her father was still around. Her dad, Victor Thomas, was a well-known inventor. He would always talk about the planets and galaxies with his daughter. Caitlin was only 6 years old when he went missing one day. Mr. Thomas had worked for days on his newest invention which was an interdimensional portal that would allow him to travel anywhere he wanted. After the project was finished, he tested it out to see if it would work. He told his wife and daughter that he would only be gone for a few days. However, the days and months had passed by, and they hadn't heard back from him again since.

Ever since her father disappeared, life had become difficult for both Caitlin and her mom. She had been studying from home as her mom didn't have a job and couldn't afford to take her to an actual public school. Wendy had grown quite protective over her daughter as well, as she was worried that she would lose her in the way that they had lost Mr. Thomas.

On a warm Sunday afternoon, Caitlin sat at the kitchen table as her mother had just finished cooking dinner. She was very eager to tell her mom about the plan that she had been working on. Mentioning her dad was a hard topic, but she figured it was time to let her mom in on her secret.

"Mom...Do you ever wonder how life would be if dad was still here with us? I still remember everything he has taught me even to this day."

Mrs. Thomas went quiet for a moment, her head facing down.

"Yes dear...all the time I think about him."

She set her plate down gently on the table.

"Look sweetie, I know we both miss your dad but...I'm sorry to say...I don't think he's ever coming back."

She was trying her hardest to hold back tears as she confessed her thoughts towards her husband possibly being gone forever.

"I mean it's been over 13 years, he could be dead for all we know!"

Mrs. Thomas felt awful saying these sentences to her daughter, but she was now becoming a young adult and figured it was time for her to face reality.

"Well who says we can't try and find him on our own?" the young girl suggested.

Her mom then choked on her food a little bit.

"Wait what are you talking about?"

"I've been spending these last two years formulating a plan on how to find him. I've even been looking at his old blueprints to try and help me. We will just use his old interdimensional portal to go and look for him."

"Are you serious right now young lady? We can't go hunting down for your father. We can't travel to different dimensions. There is no such thing!"

"It's okay mom. I think I know what I am doing. I double crossed checked all my plans to make sure everything goes out smoothly."

The young girl was quite confident in explaining her long-thought out plan, but Mrs. Thomas was just not having any of it.

"Please Caitlin, for the safety of both of us. I already lost your father. I can't lose you as well."

Caitlin sadly nodded her head and decided to just leave the conversation at that.

After lunch, she walked up to her room sulking. All her hopes had been drifting away as her mom denied her plans and ideas.

She took a quick glance at all the notes she had piled up on her desk. Everything that her dad had taught her, it couldn't all go to waste. She then stood up and put her foot down.

"No. I will not give up."

She started packing all her necessities into one bag, and then stormed off to the storage room where her dad's old dimensional portal was located. She lifted the covering off of it and wiped off all the dust. She gave it a nice polishing so that it can look brand new again. The machine hadn't been used for almost 20 years, so she figured that it needed to be charged for a good amount of time. As the machine was charging up again, she decided to take an early rest in the evening so that she can wake up and be prepared to head out for later in the night.

It was now after midnight, and Mrs. Thomas was fast asleep. Caitlin walked into her room and set a note on her bedside table. The note read:

"Hey mom. I'll be out on a field trip which lasts for the whole weekend. Don't worry, the school will be providing housing for us to stay in. I already packed my own food and clothes to take with me on the trip. Love you so much!"

Caitlin felt bad about lying to her mom, but she knew it was the only way that she could go forth with her plan.

She then headed back to the storage room and tried testing out the machine to see if it finally works. She turned on the switch, but nothing happened as yet. It took about 5 seconds for the machine to reboot. All the lights at the top turned on one by one. Finally, a large portal emerged fully within the machine. To her astonishment, it actually worked! The final step was for her to enter the code into the machine. She was hesitant to step into the portal but knew this was her one chance of trying to find her dad, so ultimately, she walked into the portal with full confidence.