Nemesis (Tails x Reader) Book 1

Pt9. The Shifting Tide

You walk along a beaten path in silence, your mind finally quiet after getting some of the anger out at Sonic. He seemed to know where you had went in the morning, a fast runner and apparently fast at playing catch up too. The rushing of water grows louder as you come to a clearing of the forest. The sun danced on the water's surface while smaller streams ran down the walls of rocks that jutted out and revealed a small stream that seemed to bottleneck into the area. The clearing almost looked artificial, the lack of tree trunks suspicious. You breathe deeply, sucking in the clean air.

I've got to get a grip...

You sit in front of the rocks and absorb the sounds of nature as you descend into meditation. Your mind felt turbulent at first as you recalled your anxieties, your fears, your pains. Breathe in... Exhale... Your mind washes the thoughts further away giving you a little space in your head to breathe. You have made mistakes in your life, this was different though, you were different.

Breathe in... Exhale...

You feel the gentle breeze through the trees, your senses heightening as you're able to strip away more mental noise and take in your surroundings. The chilidogs were good, it actually would be a big shame if something happened to the ones that prepared that food. The doctor would have to save this island for you.

Breathe in... Exhale...

Breathe in... -

The ground under you suddenly shakes and rumbles. You jump up quickly, a knife already at the ready. Beeping comes from your belt, repeating it's noise in groups of three. Steam is released behind you, the rock face splitting in the center and opening into a very obvious cave. Was this one of the doctor's installments on this island? He was a careful man, it wouldn't be surprising if he updated all of his software with his new firmware's and wireless securities. You enter cautiously, the rock sliding shut behind you. Rows of lights kick on and illuminate a long hallway. Your footsteps echo ominously while a few lights flicker, some popping and fizzling out as you continue on your way. This place must've been built in the beginning, before Sonic and his friends were as established as they are now. Your eyes pass over an ugly logo plastered on the side of the walls, almost like a guppy with a poorly maintained mustache that had a droopy grated mouth. Was this the Doctor's old calling card? Yeesh.. No wonder he got rid of it.

You enter a medium sized room, the doors to it partially opened as the hydraulics continued to struggle to open completely. There were several old monitors and robot parts covered in dust. Your belt begins to blink with several small red lights at a slow pace. You check the backsides of your pouches, and sure enough those chips were responding to something in here. Moving over to a monitor you press a few keys haphazardly on the keyboard.

-Beep Beep!-

A screen lights up on the other side of the room, asking for a password. You move over to it, scrunching your nose as you try to think of literally anything it could be. The hardware was old... So without coming here in person he couldn't update anything, the broken doors were a testament to that. So a password the older Doctor would've used. How about... M-A-R-I-A.

-BZZT!-

I guess not... So does that mean this was before he learned the fate of her and doctor Gerald? Whoops, Gerald was considered a professor and not a doctor in his time. W-O-R-L-D-C-O-N-Q-U-E-S-T?

-BZZT!-

Damn. Was he egotistical back then? You glance the room for any hopes of clues. A few star posts were still set on top of tables with their innards gutted. Some unused containment capsules from when he used small animals to power his robots, something you still didn't completely understand. Some likely prototype parts from early metal sonic attempts but nothing as complex as his current projects...