It could become a problem (Ch. 4: Day 2 pt. II)

Mie · Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:16 pm

Tabitha seemed relatively ignorant of Rock's poor driving; if anything, her approach sped as the van lurched awkwardly out of sight. The explosion in the distance, however, did manage to stutter the cat's focus, drawing a quick, concerned glance in the general direction of the fuss and hubbub. That was just long enough for someone who distinctly wasn't there prior to arrive, plodding conspicuously inside the hospital ahead of the trio.

"Oh, no," was all the response or warning either the hedgehog or the unicorn would get before the tawny feline took off, making a mad dash for the naive, two-tailed "robot." As quick as she was, however, the kit had had too much of a head start to not beat her inside; she skid to a stop in between the Egg Pawns, exchanging a brief, somewhat frantic gaze between the two.

"Um!" greeted the cat abruptly, holding an index finger aloft. She had nothing even resembling a plan. "I... need help."

This much was obvious.

NPC · Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:19 am

The two robots had very nearly managed to miss the fox striding past them. They watched passively as he walked past, and returned to guard position, staring into the middle distance.

It was a testament to the dynamic programming of their otherwise completely crippled AI that the sight of the very short pawn triggered a feeling of unease in their programming.

They looked at each other. One of them took a half-step after the fox. Sanity routines—tiny pieces of programming designed to watch for logic errors or corrupt data in the Egg Pawn's thoughts—worked over-time to work out the problem they were confronted with as the two fluffy tails trailed out behind the clearly Eggman–Industries-Produced head. The Egg Pawn felt that the alarming discrepancy in the situation warranted very direct intervention. It felt, on some deep, subconscious level, in the miles and miles of intricate, amorphous code that made up its AI—in the twinkling, glittering binary DNA that comprised its intelligence—it felt, it was to say, in its soul, that it ought to say something.

"H'uhhrr," said the Egg Pawn.

Then the cat interrupted. The Egg Pawn emitted a surprised gonk noise and turned around. The two robots stared down at the cat, blankly. Their stamped-metal faces were permanently fixed in expressions of amusement, but in this context, and at the angle the Tabitha was looking from, they looked slightly bewildered.

psikeout · Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:32 pm

Meanwhile, somewhere down the road...

"That's a lotta fire."

Rock was squinting into his rear view mirror, watching the ongoing chain of explosions and pillars of flame climbing into the sky far behind them.

"I mean, that's... that's goin' pretty high. That's a lot of fire."

"It is a lot of fire," agreed the other monkey in a how 'bout that sort of way, sitting backwards in her seat as she peered over the top of the headrest.

"But..." Jam frowned confusedly, turning in her seat to leer at the driver. "You're here."

Rock blinked a couple times, looking between the road and his passenger intermittently.

"... Heh, yeah," he belatedly laughed as he caught the implication.

He glanced in the mirror again just in time to actually see an entire building crookedly fall to its foundation, spilling dust and debris throughout the streets.

"... Do we care?"

That actually produced an incredulous, sputtering half-guffaw, serving as a vessel to a most emphatic, "No."

Sheff · Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:07 pm

What could have been an easily controlled procedure of entering the hospital was now gradually degrading, in the hedgehog's eyes, to a chaotic mess. With flaming debris descending and an even more flaming building taking up some of the barely visible horizon, it was as if their luck was taking a turn for the worse. Or maybe it was for betterment. With all this going around them, it may just give them a chance to get in and out without barely a trace. Yet that didn't truly deter from the fact Tails had appeared to make the move first.

Muttering a few profanities under his breath at the sight of the fox, he marched up behind Tabitha as she addressed the robots. He stood in silence a mere foot behind her as the robots just gave their inexpressive stares. This was going nowhere.

So, without saying a word, Geoff brushed past the cat and began to enter the building, glancing out of the corner of his eye to one of the guards.

NPC · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:54 pm

The Egg Pawns, focused on Tabitha, didn't give Geoff a second look. Granted, they probably wouldn't have, anyway. Judging by all the verifiable Average Folk sitting all over the lobby, it was a public building.

Rouge was nowhere to be seen anymore, though. She had long since been carted through a door into some surely maze-like corridor. (It was a hospital, after all. Hospitals are always designed by diabolical madmen even without Eggman in power.)

However, one robot did seem to take note of the meandering hedgehog: the aforementioned receptionist.

"Can I help you?" it asked in a tone that suggested it didn't really care to help him at all.

Mie · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:47 pm

Never was there a more apt definition of "deer in the headlights" than Tabitha was right then. Her brain registered too late that Tails would be fine; none of the vastly incompetent Egg-robots seemed to think anything of his apparently keen disguise, and now with the attention of the two regrettably armed Egg Pawns fully on her, she was left with no other choice but to improvise.

Her dinner plate-sized eyes skittered back and forth from one to the other, as her teeth worried her lower lip, and precious seconds ticked away.

"U-um..."

But not too many. Much to her horror, something came out: "IsawSonic!"

In her hapless desperation to at least be a good distraction, she blurted out the first thing to enter her mind, well before she could think about it, and certainly before she could stop herself. Not that the robots would attuned to such things, but she actually looked a little nauseous.

Sheff · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 11:22 pm

Geoff, silently grinning upon his success of entering without conflict (maybe they were just all overreacting to the chances of being accused for betrayal of the Eggman Empire), stiffened the moment the receptionist addressed him. He relaxed as he noted the tone, not to mention the other meandering commoners that were within the lobby anyway. He pretty much fit right in.

"Um... yes, actually," responded the hedgehog, hoping that the robots in the vicinity would continue with their complete uselessness of his real intentions. Geoff quickly dug up a name from his memory.

"I'm here to see a... a patient." He cleared his throat, trying to restrain any more pauses. "Her name is Rouge. I... uh... heard news she was brought in..."

Brought in two minutes ago, genius.

This might not end well.

"...anyway, I was wondering if you could tell me which room she's in. See if I can drop by."

The hedgehog threw a quick glance over his shoulder to check on Tabitha's status, and seeing her still preoccupied with the robot guards, he turned back to the receptionist. Guess it was up to him for the moment.

Kazz · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 11:33 pm

Rodolf became more and more internally exasperated as the series of events played out; first Tails waltzed on in, Tabitha was confronting the robots, and Geoff decided to stroll on in after Tails. He found himself muttering a low "She's insane." yet again as he watched Tabitha's course of action-- and the distraction she decided to use under pressure.

Well. If Geoff was going to handle the inside, and if Tabby had already gotten herself into this situation... he may as well at least try to back her up and help out a bit.

Stupid hero complex.

The unicorn trotted his way over next to the cat, and suddenly feigned being out of breath.
"She's right!" he said, and pointed one finger in the exact opposite direction from whence they had come-- where they had found the wreckage, that is to say. (He could only hope to heaven and back that if Sonic had been a part of that wreck at all, he had chose to run off in any other direction.)
"Running away from the ship that got shot down! We only caught a glimpse of him, but..."

The unusually-enthused tone in which he spoke was kind of odd, coming from him.

NPC · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:18 pm

"... She was just brought in two minutes ago," said the robot suspiciously, precisely vocalizing the hedgehog's dread-filled thoughts. It leered at him over the counter. "What's your relation to the patient, hm?" It seemed to be looking him over, but it was hard to tell when the entirety of the thing's head looked like little more than a nurse's cap.

Meanwhile, the Egg Pawns bounced, and jockeyed for proximity and position, and shoved, and pushed their faces straight at Tabitha and Rodolf, and utterly flipped their bolts at this valuable and patently false revelation of Sonic's appearance.

"WHERE." It was a flat, but utterly excited electronic blurt from the closest one. The second one soon shoved the first one out of the way to more precisely, and more hastily, ask, "WHICH WAY!"

Mie · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:32 pm

It was hard not to look too relieved or elated by the apparent success of her improvisation, but the striped sand cat did her best (which, given her lousy poker face, and near inability to fib, didn't about to much). She flashed the unicorn a grateful smile over her shoulder as the sentinels bumbled about, too excited over such improbable news, but very nearly panicked again when they suddenly turned on her, pressing for more information. But, hey, off-the-cuff seemed to work well before, so...

"He went that way--hhghk!"

Her pointing finger flew dramatically in a completely random direction, only to jerk back towards her face, slapping over her mouth along with her other hand. Dread and remorse filled Tabitha's aghast face (what remained visible, anyway), but the damage was done. She had, haplessly, unfortunately, and completely unintentionally pointed

right.

at.

Geoff.

NPC · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:42 pm

"!"

Both Egg Pawns lashed their bodies around to face the target.

The glow of their round, little optics seemed to diminish and concentrate, almost as if they were narrowing their eyes. What could have possibly been going through their minds as they stared at a tall, lanky, green hedgehog that was clearly not Sonic? The following is the silent transcript of their thoughts (if you can call them that).

"Green? Sonic the Hedgehog is blue. But Sonic has been yellow before. Modifying database: Sonic can turn green (?!)"

...

"Tall. He is so tall. But if he can change color, maybe he can shapeshift, too! (?!?!?!)"

...

"He is wearing clothes. Sonic the Hedgehog does not wear clothes. But if he can change color and shapeshift, maybe he can wear clothes! (?!?!?!?!?!?!)"

The Egg Pawns silently reeled with their own observations and powerful reasoning abilities. Filled with amazement and wonderment, they immediately drew their bazookas from their back and began to fire rockets directly at the front desk of the hospital.

Sheff · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:03 pm

Geoff only blinked at the receptionist at first, realizing she was literally speaking his mind.

"Well... er... we're-"

Cue strange vocal noise back at the entrance.

Already a bit tense from his and the others' attempt to go under the radar, his head jerked around to observe what in the world Tabitha was doing now. She was already having a tough enough time getting in when he himself had managed to walk on by, so he wouldn't be surprise if she was in more trouble than any of them desired. The lifting barrels of two bazookas was the only answer he got.

There was barely a moment for him even to widen his eyes before he jerked to the side, throwing his body as far as he could as the rockets were launched. He felt the force as the projectiles erupted into heat and broken metal behind him, but he was already rolling away upon impact with the floor. Fingers dug into the tile as he clawed his way back onto his feet, launching himself forward into a desperate sprint... right back to the front door.

There was no confusion on his face, only determination to eliminate the threat as he began a side to side stepping pattern. Why their cover (the minimal amount there had been) was suddenly blown was a mystery to him, but now he was preoccupied in throwing off the robots aim. At least the hedgehog was managing to make his kamikaze charge threatening, both arms pulling back as they formed into crystalline pikes. It would only be a moment before he leaped forward and attempt to make a couple robot shish kebabs.

Kazz · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:27 pm

"..."

Rodolf paused and just stared at Tabitha for a second as soon as the Egg Pawns turned their backs. His expression was a distinct, wordless really?. He didn't even seem angry so much as he was incredulous (and a bit confused by the Egg Pawns' ... wonderful... powers of perception, if the fact that they began firing at the hedgehog was any indication). The unicorn snapped back to reality as they began to fire.
He seemed to be on the same train of thought as Geoff on the front of making robot-kebabs, but he cut the middleman out in terms of an instrument with which to do it.

That is to say that that Rodolf suddenly smashed his head, horn-first, in a standing headbutt into the nearer (out of two) robot's back back. He may not have had the inertia he would maybe have liked to build up to get a good horn-toss going, but it would have to do. As though to make up for the lack of room or time in which to charge, he struck out with one foot, aiming in the rather general vicinity of the robot's lower extremities.

This was one way to get in, he supposed.

NPC · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:53 pm

Hedgehog, 1; receptionist, 0. A score? No. There was literally one hedgehog and zero receptionists remaining following the collision of rockets and front desk. Oh well.

The Egg Pawns were not quick to fire again, fortunately. Rodolf's sharp, horned jab was piercing enough to just barely hit critical depth inside his target, rupturing whatever containment equipment held the small-animal power source inside, causing it to burst violently and release its forcefield-held prisoner, a lone Picky. Yes, Eggman had returned to using animals even for newer robots like Egg Pawns.

This pop and boom stumbled the other Pawn long enough to give Geoff a window to return and counterattack as well. Egg Pawns were fairly heavily armored as far as Eggman 'bots went, and his stoney crystal was not quite as sharp as Rodolf's nigh-impervious horn, but a couple repeated applications were enough to punch a hole and finish the job similarly.

It goes without saying that, by this time, people were screaming and scrambling, and an alarm was going off. Sirens could be heard distantly down the street outside.

Diluss · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 11:05 pm

Tails mooched down the hallway, his robotic helmet-face making him look like a novelty bobble-head as he sidled in as robotic manner as possible. He assumed his disguise was working. The explosions that rattled the walls of the corridor behind him only re-enforced his opinion of the elaborate costume he had employed.

They'd never even noticed him. They'd noticed the other people, though.

The people who had come with him, he assumed, were intensely wanted freedom fighters who had been holed up in the yellow desert to avoid capture. It explained why the hospital guard attacked them so fast. He appreciated their help, but they shouldn't have come with him. He hoped they were okay, but he had a mission:

Find Rouge.

Really, though, Tails was sure that they were OK. The fact that they had, as a band of plucky rebels, survived this long in Eggman's post-Sonic empire meant they must be extremely competent and in no way in any danger whatsoever.

He stalked up to an intersection and peered around. A sole robot in the distance buffed a patch of the floor with a built-in buffer that appeared to comprise most of the robot's body. The whirring was the only sound in this part of the hall.

Except for the explosions, of course.

He looked at the signs around the hall.

ER DIRECT
ER PROCESSING
IMAGING

THEATRES A B
BIOHAZARD PROCESSING

LINEN
EGGDUCATION! ENTERTAINMENT.

He carefully set off down the hallway that appeared to be the least boring and creepy, and down which the bat appeared most likely to have been taken.

It could become a problem (Ch. 4: Day 2 pt. II)

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