ARAAT4: Origins
folder
+S through Z › Sonic
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
22
Views:
6,487
Reviews:
45
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
+S through Z › Sonic
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
22
Views:
6,487
Reviews:
45
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own the Sonic The Hedgehog game series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Born Again
~~~
A Rose And A Thorn 4: Origins
Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651
~~~
Harley: If you didn’t read ARAAT1, 2 and 3, you will find that your brain melts quite rapidly. I’ll get quite angry with you if you start asking stupid questions like “Who is Mirage?” or say stupid things like “Where are all the Canon Characters?” or even tell me “But that’s not how Time Stones work!”
Froggy: Yeah, it’s not as if Harley didn’t TRY to rip Sonic CD off the Internet… Furthermore, if you don’t read this, you’ll get very confused when we get to ARAAT5. All the same, you deserve to be warned. So…
Harley: Do not read this fanfic if you don’t like:
· Original Characters getting a lot of screen-time
· Time Travel
· Extensive Mind-Fucking
Froggy: We had to put this fanfic back up all over again because some small-minded Troll flooded the review section. Your reviews will be gone. Sorry about that. But feel free to put them back up.
~~~
Chapter One: Born Again
Project Mirage fingered the Time Stone. She couldn't see it, of course. But it felt egg-shaped, grainy, and most of all, like a stone. This would be a one-way trip, she knew. She only had one chance, and she'd have to go the long way round to find out if she'd succeeded. Only now was she getting nervous, knowing that if she succeeded, there would still be no heroes welcome for her. Heaven knew how much would change. It might even end up much worse. That was why she was scared. That, and the fact that even if she stopped Espio from dying, he might not love her. It had been the pressure of fleeing for their lives that had brought them together, and if everything went to plan, they wouldn't have to...
To recap, Project Mirage was Professor Gerald Robotnik’s equivalent of putting his finger up to GUN and anybody else who might plan to use Shadow the Hedgehog for evil purposes. Her powers stemmed from the Master Emerald, and she could apparently cancel out all of Shadow’s attacks, although they’d never investigated this. And apart from her black fur, red highlights and white chest that Shadow sported, she looked very little like him.
She sported a thick, fluffy cat’s tail with a red patch at the end, circled by three Power Rings. She had thick, furry quills that hung down with the weight of fur rather than kinking up, retractable claws, and a flat, triangular nose. Oh, and she was technically female. Most of the women Sonic knew had curves in all the right places, or at least they had curves. Mirage was like a ruler with breasts. Sex appeal had not been high on Gerald’s priorities.
He had told her of the Time Stones and the mysterious Little Planet that they had come from in one of his exaggerated and embellished tales of his adventures and battles against Doctor Eggman. Like the Chaos Emeralds, there were seven of them, and when collected together, their full power was unleashed. The power to travel through time, to change past events.
And now, he was offering to help her. He was doing it for himself too, and the thought made her feel a little better. The idea of settling down terrified Sonic, but the fact that he hadn't even been given the choice infuriated him. His reasoning for this working was that Rouge wouldn't have lost the baby. Mirage knew she ought to tell him that he might not even have had sex with her in the first place if it changed as much as she hoped, but she had carefully avoided that point.
"Are you sure about this?" the hedgehog asked her, giving her one more chance to turn back. He was holding a few of the stones himself, looking over them, remembering his last encounter with the stones. At the time, he didn't fully appreciate what they could do, but now... he understood just how they could be abused.
Am I sure about this? Mirage thought, No. But I want the coin to come up heads, I want the dice to roll lucky 7, I am not sure, but I know what I want to do. "Yes," she said finally, pronouncing each word carefully, "I want to put right what I did wrong. I want to stop Ashura from hurting all those people. I want to stand up to him in time."
"Alright,” said Sonic with a nod, "Remember what I told you: concentrate on when you want to go. I've never done this off of that planet..." Sonic stepped up behind the hedgecat, "And be careful."
"I will see you in 56 years time," Mirage agreed, taking a deep breath, "I hope," she added.
Sonic sighed and moved closer to her, picking Mirage up into his arms. He knew that for the stones to work, the user of them had to be moving very fast... which was where he came in. Attaining the right speed was no problem for him. For her, that was a different story. He looked out at the city streets, nearly empty this early in the morning. Readying himself, the hedgehog took off, blasting across the pavement with the feline in tow.
Mirage had to put every ounce of her trust into the blue hedgehog, that she wouldn't fall or trip or run into a wall or something, and that she would wake up 56 years ago on ARK. She thought of ARK, of the way it looked and smelt and felt and generally existed, the way the people talked and laughed and lived. It was getting closer. Closing her eyes was pointless, but she did it anyway. If she just reached out, she'd be there...
The stones sparked and glowed as he reached the right speed, ready to send the one who had called upon them through space and time. Trusting in them and the feline in his arms, Sonic let go. A sharp boom, a flash of light, and Mirage disappeared from existence. So did Sonic. So did everything else.
~~~
56 Years Ago...
Project Mirage could hear people's voices, muffled as if she was hearing them through water.
"…wait, we've got something..."
"...thought it was brain-dead..."
"...brain activity..."
She stopped in her thoughts. She was hearing them through water. She was… she was... she was...
Project Mirage opened her crimson red eyes, but the liquid she was suspended in was some sort of chemical bath, and it stung them, so she closed them again quickly, but not before she became aware of something very important…
She could see again.
“…not dreaming…”
“…waking up…”
"...open it..."
The fluid drained from the tube, and she slumped, opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry. But she could see again. There was a mask over her mouth and a tube down her throat, which she pulled out slowly and painfully. The next thing she noticed was that she felt… exhausted. As if breathing without the tube was a terrible effort. She was as weak as a day-old kitten. In fact, in a way she was a day old kitten.
As her vision cleared, she could see her body, and began to touch it slowly. Her scars were gone, all of them. She was no longer wearing her Emerald Shard. Her Power Rings had vanished. She had no fur, only a slight fuzziness. But there were little patches on her body where her fur had not yet grown. On her wrist there was a bare patch on which the serial number ‘119:14’ had been tattooed. There were little wires attached to other bare parts. She began to pull them out, an action intensely painful in itself. Moving even that tiny amount was a terrible effort too.
She opened her mouth to speak, and as her lungs began to work, she started to wail, gasping in deep breaths of air.
The tube opened, and she slumped forward onto the laboratory floor with a soft sigh, and tried to speak again. It hurt her throat to try. She was wet, and cold, and naked, and weak. So she did the only thing she was capable of - she continued to wail pitifully.
Mirage was vaguely aware of the scientists standing around her taking notes. She remembered this feeling - this feeling of utter helplessness. It was coming back to her, slowly. She looked down at her hands. Then she touched her eyes. It was like being born again. But she remembered too much. It was already occurring to her that this time travelling lark was a bad idea - more so than she'd thought before. She felt hands pick her up carefully and support her as somebody dried her with a towel. She tried for words again, "..." she managed. She could not speak. She knew words, but her voice was far too weak to vocalise much more than crude whimpers and grunts.
“She looks intelligent, doesn’t she?”
“Certainly self-aware. An excellent start.”
“…” Mirage tried again, “…?” A question without words.
There was a murmur of interest. A question. She had asked a question, or tried.
"Who are we?" somebody asked. She shook her head, “Who are you?” She nodded mutely. More interest. Basic body language. It wasn't that she didn't know, but the need to hear her own voice and ascertain her own existence was overwhelming, "You are Project Mirage, and this is the ARK. It is your birthplace and your home. We are your creators."
Mirage looked at the three scientists. Blank faces. All humans looked the same to her, except for the varying hairstyles and colours. She would be safe, just as long as she didn’t act too smart too soon. The scientists sat her down, a towel wrapped around her body. It occurred to her that she had never felt more alone in her life.
Keep your face expressionless. Keep your voice monotone. And do not tell anybody what you know. Even when you become capable of talking again. They will call you paranoid if you warn them, and they will call you crazy if you tell them the truth.
“…?” she asked again, “…h-h-hrrrrm… hum?”
“Your home,” the scientist repeated, “You will live here, train here, and be cared for here.”
“…?” she whimpered.
“All your questions will be answered when you are capable of asking them,” the scientist told her, “Your purpose will be made clear just as soon as you are strong enough to understand.”
Mirage croaked a feeble, wordless reply. She knew what she had to do. She just wasn’t sure how she was going to go about it.
“Put on the Power Rings right now.”
Mirage watched as rings were slipped onto her tail, three of them. Even as she watched, the rings tightened on her. They actually bit into her flesh, and she cried out, this time in pain.
“Are they too tight, sir?”
“They need to be tight, otherwise they won’t bond. It will become adjusted to the pain. As long as its blood flow isn’t cut off it will be fine. They’ll help to channel her strength, rather than it being unleashed randomly.”
After a few minutes, the pain had numbed to a dull ache. Mirage was vaguely aware of people sounding amazed. It didn’t faze her; she was used to people being amazed around her. What was slightly surprising was that they were amazed at something so pathetic.
After a few more minutes, she decided that she couldn’t do anything about anything in this condition, yawned, and fell asleep on the floor.
Careful hands picked her up and moved her to the living quarters of all successful experiments.
~~~
Three Days Later…
“Why is it female?” the Commander of GUN asked, “It’s cloned from a male so why did it turn out female?”
“Well, when we took Shadow’s DNA and tried to make a duplicate, after 13 failed attempts we couldn’t salvage the Y chromosome that would make her male. So we decided that it would be simpler - and cheaper - to make a female.”
“So, what are its abilities?” the Commander of GUN asked.
“Well,” Professor Gerald Robotnik looked at his notes, “Without the Master Emerald Shard, Project Mirage seems to have a very crude form of telepathic ability. She can transmit her emotions into the surrounding area, and she also can read a person’s emotions. Unfortunately without training it will never advance beyond the most basic state.”
“And with training?”
“Project Mirage could become a fully fledged level nine telepath - not unlike Ashura, but controllable. I have no doubt that the completed version of Project Shadow could learn similar skills.”
“We don’t have the time to train it. Or the resources,” the Commander frowned, “We can afford no further delays. Are you sure it can’t be a substitute for Project Shadow?”
Gerald writhed under the officer’s penetrative stare. Project Mirage was immortal, but she didn’t have a soul. Without a soul she couldn’t possibly be used to grant humans immortality; the end result would be like dressing a chimp in clothes and expecting it to walk and talk like a human. He couldn’t risk healing his granddaughter with her…
“Absolutely not,” he said, hoping his lie could pass unnoticed, “As I said, she needs training, and you need a soldier that requires minimal training. Project Shadow will fulfil that need. Furthermore, the powers she gains from the Master Emerald are mostly defensive.”
There was a pause, “How are her abilities right now?” the Commander asked him, “Did the Flash Learning Program work?”
“It’s too early to test the fighting program,” Gerald replied calmly, “Her muscles are still very weak. She won’t be able to fight yet. From previous experience I can guess that the knowledge of how to attack will be useless without experience of actual fights. But her motor skills are excellent - balance, hand-eye co-ordination, reflexes…”
“What about her intelligence?”
Gerald shook his head, “Her voice hasn’t reached full strength yet, and rushing it could destroy her ability to talk. But she is extremely intelligent. Her mental capacities are operating at a full adult level. She’s made from Project Shadow’s DNA, so while it’s too early to make a full analysis, I think we can assume he is going to be a physical and mental success.”
“Project Shadow isn’t even fully grown yet,” the Commander reminded him, “I’ve seen what you’re growing in that tube. It’s…”
“It’s not fully grown yet,” Professor Gerald said quickly, “All foetuses look a little odd. I’ve shown you an image of its predicted final appearance. It will look nothing like the Artificial Chaos, thanks to the volunteers I’ve found.”
“What about mental stability?” the Commander asked him, “So help me, if you’ve produced another damn Biolizard… do you have any idea how much the cover-up for that mess cost?” When Gerald didn’t answer, he continued, “Bottom line? If any of your new creations so much as looks at me funny, they are to be terminated.”
Gerald remained silent.
“And without hesitation!”
~~~
Another Week Later…
The speech therapist held up a flash card. Project Mirage squinted at it and cursed the way that the trip back in time had twisted up her memories. She concentrated.
“R-r-ring…” Her voice was still weak from being so recently hatched, but it was a lot stronger than it had been, as clipped and precise and lacking in contractions as ever.
“Close. It’s a Power Ring,” the scientist changed flash cards, “How about this one?”
“Jew… will… Jewel…”
“Very good, but it’s actually the Master Emerald.” Another card.
Mirage blinked, “Ark,” she said instantly.
“Yes, it’s the ARK. And it’s also home.”
“H… home?”
“Very, very good. And now, this one,” the scientist changed cards. There was a definite pause, “Project Mirage?”
Mirage stared at the picture of the Chao. Her frown shifted into a happy smile, as a vague awareness entered her mind. Oh, she remembered them… she always remembered them… they were in the darkness behind her eyes.
~~~
Harley: Anybody who’s ever watched Alien: Resurrection will know I’ve just ripped a scene from it, and it’s not the only place in this fanfic where you’ll find references. Hey, we’re on a space colony doing illegal research. What’s not to rip?
Froggy: You see what we mean by Original Characters getting lots of screen time? Most of the cast hasn’t even been born yet!
A Rose And A Thorn 4: Origins
Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651
~~~
Harley: If you didn’t read ARAAT1, 2 and 3, you will find that your brain melts quite rapidly. I’ll get quite angry with you if you start asking stupid questions like “Who is Mirage?” or say stupid things like “Where are all the Canon Characters?” or even tell me “But that’s not how Time Stones work!”
Froggy: Yeah, it’s not as if Harley didn’t TRY to rip Sonic CD off the Internet… Furthermore, if you don’t read this, you’ll get very confused when we get to ARAAT5. All the same, you deserve to be warned. So…
Harley: Do not read this fanfic if you don’t like:
· Original Characters getting a lot of screen-time
· Time Travel
· Extensive Mind-Fucking
Froggy: We had to put this fanfic back up all over again because some small-minded Troll flooded the review section. Your reviews will be gone. Sorry about that. But feel free to put them back up.
~~~
Chapter One: Born Again
Project Mirage fingered the Time Stone. She couldn't see it, of course. But it felt egg-shaped, grainy, and most of all, like a stone. This would be a one-way trip, she knew. She only had one chance, and she'd have to go the long way round to find out if she'd succeeded. Only now was she getting nervous, knowing that if she succeeded, there would still be no heroes welcome for her. Heaven knew how much would change. It might even end up much worse. That was why she was scared. That, and the fact that even if she stopped Espio from dying, he might not love her. It had been the pressure of fleeing for their lives that had brought them together, and if everything went to plan, they wouldn't have to...
To recap, Project Mirage was Professor Gerald Robotnik’s equivalent of putting his finger up to GUN and anybody else who might plan to use Shadow the Hedgehog for evil purposes. Her powers stemmed from the Master Emerald, and she could apparently cancel out all of Shadow’s attacks, although they’d never investigated this. And apart from her black fur, red highlights and white chest that Shadow sported, she looked very little like him.
She sported a thick, fluffy cat’s tail with a red patch at the end, circled by three Power Rings. She had thick, furry quills that hung down with the weight of fur rather than kinking up, retractable claws, and a flat, triangular nose. Oh, and she was technically female. Most of the women Sonic knew had curves in all the right places, or at least they had curves. Mirage was like a ruler with breasts. Sex appeal had not been high on Gerald’s priorities.
He had told her of the Time Stones and the mysterious Little Planet that they had come from in one of his exaggerated and embellished tales of his adventures and battles against Doctor Eggman. Like the Chaos Emeralds, there were seven of them, and when collected together, their full power was unleashed. The power to travel through time, to change past events.
And now, he was offering to help her. He was doing it for himself too, and the thought made her feel a little better. The idea of settling down terrified Sonic, but the fact that he hadn't even been given the choice infuriated him. His reasoning for this working was that Rouge wouldn't have lost the baby. Mirage knew she ought to tell him that he might not even have had sex with her in the first place if it changed as much as she hoped, but she had carefully avoided that point.
"Are you sure about this?" the hedgehog asked her, giving her one more chance to turn back. He was holding a few of the stones himself, looking over them, remembering his last encounter with the stones. At the time, he didn't fully appreciate what they could do, but now... he understood just how they could be abused.
Am I sure about this? Mirage thought, No. But I want the coin to come up heads, I want the dice to roll lucky 7, I am not sure, but I know what I want to do. "Yes," she said finally, pronouncing each word carefully, "I want to put right what I did wrong. I want to stop Ashura from hurting all those people. I want to stand up to him in time."
"Alright,” said Sonic with a nod, "Remember what I told you: concentrate on when you want to go. I've never done this off of that planet..." Sonic stepped up behind the hedgecat, "And be careful."
"I will see you in 56 years time," Mirage agreed, taking a deep breath, "I hope," she added.
Sonic sighed and moved closer to her, picking Mirage up into his arms. He knew that for the stones to work, the user of them had to be moving very fast... which was where he came in. Attaining the right speed was no problem for him. For her, that was a different story. He looked out at the city streets, nearly empty this early in the morning. Readying himself, the hedgehog took off, blasting across the pavement with the feline in tow.
Mirage had to put every ounce of her trust into the blue hedgehog, that she wouldn't fall or trip or run into a wall or something, and that she would wake up 56 years ago on ARK. She thought of ARK, of the way it looked and smelt and felt and generally existed, the way the people talked and laughed and lived. It was getting closer. Closing her eyes was pointless, but she did it anyway. If she just reached out, she'd be there...
The stones sparked and glowed as he reached the right speed, ready to send the one who had called upon them through space and time. Trusting in them and the feline in his arms, Sonic let go. A sharp boom, a flash of light, and Mirage disappeared from existence. So did Sonic. So did everything else.
~~~
56 Years Ago...
Project Mirage could hear people's voices, muffled as if she was hearing them through water.
"…wait, we've got something..."
"...thought it was brain-dead..."
"...brain activity..."
She stopped in her thoughts. She was hearing them through water. She was… she was... she was...
Project Mirage opened her crimson red eyes, but the liquid she was suspended in was some sort of chemical bath, and it stung them, so she closed them again quickly, but not before she became aware of something very important…
She could see again.
“…not dreaming…”
“…waking up…”
"...open it..."
The fluid drained from the tube, and she slumped, opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry. But she could see again. There was a mask over her mouth and a tube down her throat, which she pulled out slowly and painfully. The next thing she noticed was that she felt… exhausted. As if breathing without the tube was a terrible effort. She was as weak as a day-old kitten. In fact, in a way she was a day old kitten.
As her vision cleared, she could see her body, and began to touch it slowly. Her scars were gone, all of them. She was no longer wearing her Emerald Shard. Her Power Rings had vanished. She had no fur, only a slight fuzziness. But there were little patches on her body where her fur had not yet grown. On her wrist there was a bare patch on which the serial number ‘119:14’ had been tattooed. There were little wires attached to other bare parts. She began to pull them out, an action intensely painful in itself. Moving even that tiny amount was a terrible effort too.
She opened her mouth to speak, and as her lungs began to work, she started to wail, gasping in deep breaths of air.
The tube opened, and she slumped forward onto the laboratory floor with a soft sigh, and tried to speak again. It hurt her throat to try. She was wet, and cold, and naked, and weak. So she did the only thing she was capable of - she continued to wail pitifully.
Mirage was vaguely aware of the scientists standing around her taking notes. She remembered this feeling - this feeling of utter helplessness. It was coming back to her, slowly. She looked down at her hands. Then she touched her eyes. It was like being born again. But she remembered too much. It was already occurring to her that this time travelling lark was a bad idea - more so than she'd thought before. She felt hands pick her up carefully and support her as somebody dried her with a towel. She tried for words again, "..." she managed. She could not speak. She knew words, but her voice was far too weak to vocalise much more than crude whimpers and grunts.
“She looks intelligent, doesn’t she?”
“Certainly self-aware. An excellent start.”
“…” Mirage tried again, “…?” A question without words.
There was a murmur of interest. A question. She had asked a question, or tried.
"Who are we?" somebody asked. She shook her head, “Who are you?” She nodded mutely. More interest. Basic body language. It wasn't that she didn't know, but the need to hear her own voice and ascertain her own existence was overwhelming, "You are Project Mirage, and this is the ARK. It is your birthplace and your home. We are your creators."
Mirage looked at the three scientists. Blank faces. All humans looked the same to her, except for the varying hairstyles and colours. She would be safe, just as long as she didn’t act too smart too soon. The scientists sat her down, a towel wrapped around her body. It occurred to her that she had never felt more alone in her life.
Keep your face expressionless. Keep your voice monotone. And do not tell anybody what you know. Even when you become capable of talking again. They will call you paranoid if you warn them, and they will call you crazy if you tell them the truth.
“…?” she asked again, “…h-h-hrrrrm… hum?”
“Your home,” the scientist repeated, “You will live here, train here, and be cared for here.”
“…?” she whimpered.
“All your questions will be answered when you are capable of asking them,” the scientist told her, “Your purpose will be made clear just as soon as you are strong enough to understand.”
Mirage croaked a feeble, wordless reply. She knew what she had to do. She just wasn’t sure how she was going to go about it.
“Put on the Power Rings right now.”
Mirage watched as rings were slipped onto her tail, three of them. Even as she watched, the rings tightened on her. They actually bit into her flesh, and she cried out, this time in pain.
“Are they too tight, sir?”
“They need to be tight, otherwise they won’t bond. It will become adjusted to the pain. As long as its blood flow isn’t cut off it will be fine. They’ll help to channel her strength, rather than it being unleashed randomly.”
After a few minutes, the pain had numbed to a dull ache. Mirage was vaguely aware of people sounding amazed. It didn’t faze her; she was used to people being amazed around her. What was slightly surprising was that they were amazed at something so pathetic.
After a few more minutes, she decided that she couldn’t do anything about anything in this condition, yawned, and fell asleep on the floor.
Careful hands picked her up and moved her to the living quarters of all successful experiments.
~~~
Three Days Later…
“Why is it female?” the Commander of GUN asked, “It’s cloned from a male so why did it turn out female?”
“Well, when we took Shadow’s DNA and tried to make a duplicate, after 13 failed attempts we couldn’t salvage the Y chromosome that would make her male. So we decided that it would be simpler - and cheaper - to make a female.”
“So, what are its abilities?” the Commander of GUN asked.
“Well,” Professor Gerald Robotnik looked at his notes, “Without the Master Emerald Shard, Project Mirage seems to have a very crude form of telepathic ability. She can transmit her emotions into the surrounding area, and she also can read a person’s emotions. Unfortunately without training it will never advance beyond the most basic state.”
“And with training?”
“Project Mirage could become a fully fledged level nine telepath - not unlike Ashura, but controllable. I have no doubt that the completed version of Project Shadow could learn similar skills.”
“We don’t have the time to train it. Or the resources,” the Commander frowned, “We can afford no further delays. Are you sure it can’t be a substitute for Project Shadow?”
Gerald writhed under the officer’s penetrative stare. Project Mirage was immortal, but she didn’t have a soul. Without a soul she couldn’t possibly be used to grant humans immortality; the end result would be like dressing a chimp in clothes and expecting it to walk and talk like a human. He couldn’t risk healing his granddaughter with her…
“Absolutely not,” he said, hoping his lie could pass unnoticed, “As I said, she needs training, and you need a soldier that requires minimal training. Project Shadow will fulfil that need. Furthermore, the powers she gains from the Master Emerald are mostly defensive.”
There was a pause, “How are her abilities right now?” the Commander asked him, “Did the Flash Learning Program work?”
“It’s too early to test the fighting program,” Gerald replied calmly, “Her muscles are still very weak. She won’t be able to fight yet. From previous experience I can guess that the knowledge of how to attack will be useless without experience of actual fights. But her motor skills are excellent - balance, hand-eye co-ordination, reflexes…”
“What about her intelligence?”
Gerald shook his head, “Her voice hasn’t reached full strength yet, and rushing it could destroy her ability to talk. But she is extremely intelligent. Her mental capacities are operating at a full adult level. She’s made from Project Shadow’s DNA, so while it’s too early to make a full analysis, I think we can assume he is going to be a physical and mental success.”
“Project Shadow isn’t even fully grown yet,” the Commander reminded him, “I’ve seen what you’re growing in that tube. It’s…”
“It’s not fully grown yet,” Professor Gerald said quickly, “All foetuses look a little odd. I’ve shown you an image of its predicted final appearance. It will look nothing like the Artificial Chaos, thanks to the volunteers I’ve found.”
“What about mental stability?” the Commander asked him, “So help me, if you’ve produced another damn Biolizard… do you have any idea how much the cover-up for that mess cost?” When Gerald didn’t answer, he continued, “Bottom line? If any of your new creations so much as looks at me funny, they are to be terminated.”
Gerald remained silent.
“And without hesitation!”
~~~
Another Week Later…
The speech therapist held up a flash card. Project Mirage squinted at it and cursed the way that the trip back in time had twisted up her memories. She concentrated.
“R-r-ring…” Her voice was still weak from being so recently hatched, but it was a lot stronger than it had been, as clipped and precise and lacking in contractions as ever.
“Close. It’s a Power Ring,” the scientist changed flash cards, “How about this one?”
“Jew… will… Jewel…”
“Very good, but it’s actually the Master Emerald.” Another card.
Mirage blinked, “Ark,” she said instantly.
“Yes, it’s the ARK. And it’s also home.”
“H… home?”
“Very, very good. And now, this one,” the scientist changed cards. There was a definite pause, “Project Mirage?”
Mirage stared at the picture of the Chao. Her frown shifted into a happy smile, as a vague awareness entered her mind. Oh, she remembered them… she always remembered them… they were in the darkness behind her eyes.
~~~
Harley: Anybody who’s ever watched Alien: Resurrection will know I’ve just ripped a scene from it, and it’s not the only place in this fanfic where you’ll find references. Hey, we’re on a space colony doing illegal research. What’s not to rip?
Froggy: You see what we mean by Original Characters getting lots of screen time? Most of the cast hasn’t even been born yet!