SELECTIVE AMNESIA © by Matt Page (aka, Fallout) DAY 2 CHAPTER 5 The next day was perfect: a bright sun, with just enough clouds to cover the evidence of Robotnik's pollution and yet few enough so that the sky held the exact blue color it was meant to have. Bookshire came into Sally's hut early to look for Nicole; he hadn't been able to find her the night before, and didn't think that raising chaos to look for her would do the princess any good. As he tiptoed in, he saw the outline of two bodies complexly inter- twined in a mass of blankets and sheets. Funny, he thought, it wasn't that cold last night. He shrugged it off, but his curiosity led his eyes back to them. Amnesia or no, Princess Sally Acorn had never looked happier or more relieved in her life. Sonic looked no different. Breaking his gaze away, he saw Nicole lying on the wooden floor. It looked as if she had been tossed there carelessly, along with the rest of the Princess' clothes; her vest and shoes were nowhere near one another. It looked as if Sonic had tried to main- tain some sort of etiquette--his shoes were placed neatly by the bed, side by side, as if he considered it rude to make any further mess in Sal's bedroom. The two had made no movement since he had come in. That was strange, because Bookshire had never been the stealthy type. They should have been awakened by his noisiness by now. For a moment he almost believed they were whispering, and maybe they were. Maybe they weren't. The key was to wake them up when he left. He picked up Nicole from the ground, making no attempt to hide the shuffling sound of his clothes. "Ah, there you are," he said openly. Walking to the door, he could no longer resist the urge. "Ya know, you two really do make a cute couple." "Aw, man!" Sonic lifted his head as best as he could; Sally's head was still lying contently on his chest. "It's true!" he insisted. "Well, you're the one who suggested this in the first place!" Sonic pointed out. Bookshire saw Sally's head move. "C'mon," she whispered to Sonic groggily. "Some people are still trying to get a good night's sleep." Even though she was nearly invisible to him from his current angle, Bookshire could feel her smile. "Doctor's orders." "Well, I'll have you know it's morning already," he said finally, and then left. Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but Sally anticipated his question and placed her hand over his mouth. "I don't want to go yet," she moaned. "I'm still tired." "But..." "Please?" Sally curled up closer next to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. All of Sonic's resistance evaporated. "Sure, whatever you want, Sal." They stayed like that for an hour more. Rotor awoke in a grumpy mood that morning, due to what had happened the night before. Antoine had begun complaining of wrist pain before he had finished writing his first letter, so he had given up and retired. Rotor, however, stayed up and finished the other three letters. Then he read what Antoine had written so far and decided it so grammatically incorrect that it would have been illegible to anyone but himself. He re-wrote it. Thus, ROTOR had spent his energy working out ANTOINE's idea, when he could have been making and programming more sensors. He was already recieving data from the one Tail's had placed upon what was most likely the tallest tree in their quadrant of the Great Forest. The little pride he did have for that achievement dissipated somewhat because it had caused Sally to get hurt. But, as he was learning, it was better to make the best of a situation. Meanwhile, Tails and Bunnie awoke in Sonic's hut. Tails hadn't gotten much sleep, as he was worrying too much about his Aunt Sally, and because Sonic wasn't a few paces away like he always was. Bunnie provided some pleasant company, but it wasn't the same. As soon as she woke up, she began to giggle again. "What's so funny?" Tails asked, annoyed. "Aw, nothin', sugar." And she resumed giggling. "Come on!" Tails said frustratedly. "Sally is really hurt! Didn't you see the size of that cut on her head?" "Yes." She choked back another set of giggles. Thinking of the seriousness of Sally's wound helped greatly. "Yes Ah did." "She could've been killed," he went on grimly. "Yeah, Ah know that," Bunnie admitted. Her expression had finally changed to one of reproach. "Then what's so funny?" "Oh, it's just that..." Bunnie couldn't help it. She burst out in a new round of laughter. "It's just that some people can be so oblivious!" "'Blivi-what?" "Oblivious," she repeated slowly. "It means that they don't know what's going on around them." "Oh." Tails scratched his head as he considered that. "But I still don't get it." Bunnie slapped the fox on the shoulder as they walked out of the hut. "Ah'll tell you later, sugar," she promised. "When this is all over." When Bookshire noticed Sally and Sonic stirring inside her hut, pulling on their clothes, and walking to the door, he motioned to the other freedom fighters to get out of sight. None of them were happy, since they were in the middle of breakfast. At his gentle prodding, they did so, as they remembered that their princess didn't need any extra stress. Sally ate a hearty breakfast. Sonic had lost his appetite and willingly gave his meal to Sally, who wolfed it down. Book- shire commented that Sonic should eat something, but he understood that when someone was as worried as Sonic was, it WAS hard to eat. Before the two left for the tour, Bookshire changed the dressing on Sally's forehead. The bleeding had stopped completely, but the doctor insisted on keeping a bandage adhered so as to aid coagulation. Sally and Sonic both shrugged and exchanged confused glances. Then they were gone. For some reason, it was easier for Sonic to resist his need for speed. - - - CHAPTER 6 The tour consisted of the pool where they normally collected power rings on a daily basis, and the clearing where, as children, they had held contests of Capture the Flag with an exuberance characteristic of their youth. Next, approaching with a more circumspect attitude, Sonic brought her to Uncle Chuck's house, and finally, to Robotnik's headquarters. Slipping deftly from shadow to shadow on the way back, Sonic asked, "Do you remember anything?" Sally shook her head. "Nothing." "Nothing?" he repeated incredulously. This time, to reiterate the point, Sally only shook her head. They walked on in a silence that was eventually broken by a blare of sirens. An all-too-familiar phrase followed: "HEDGEHOG. PRIORITY ONE. DETAIN BY ORDER OF ROBOTNIK." "That would be me," Sonic said wryly. "Sal, run back to Knothole! Go!" "But..." Sally's eyes darted behind her, then back to Sonic. "I don't remember the way!" "Great," Sonic sighed. Four SWATbots appeared in the alleyway behind them, successfully blocking it. Resisting the urge to make a snide comment and plow right through them, he picked up Sally and began running straight toward them. They raised their blasters. Then, holding on to Sally tighter and decreasing his speed infinitesimally about three feet in front of them, Sonic let his feet disappear beneath him. The result was a painful slide on his back. The SWATbots had no time to react. One instant they saw a blur of blue heading toward them, the next they watched stupidly as he slid betweed their legs. If they had been pro- grammed to do so, they would have felt shame or embarrassment for the failure to such a simple maneuver. By the time they had turned around, the SWATbots' scans were only able to display a settling cloud of dust. - - - CHAPTER 7 Sonic did not stop running until he reached Knothole. When he did, he dropped Sally in the center of the village and dashed to the pool of power rings nearby. Sonic was smart enough to admit to himself that he wasn't the best swimmer, but this was the only thing he could think of. Without hesitation, he leapt into the pool. The sudden onrush of pain and cold from the contact of frigid water against his scraped-up back was enough to make him gasp and bite down. After a minute, the pain had subsided sufficiently. He pushed himself up on the bank with one arm, beating the water out of his head with the other. A hand lashed out and pushed him back under. Sonic had no time to draw a breath of air before his head was totally submerged in icy water. He struggled furiously, but between the lack of nourishment and his exhausting run back to Knothole, he had burned what little energy he had. But before he could give up, the hand released him. Playing it smart, Sonic poked his nose cautiously above the water, then, very slowly, he placed a gloved hand on the bank above him. Taking the absence of a follow-up onslaught as a good sign, he put his other arm on the bank and began to push himself up. Sally and Bunnie were there, watching him bemusedly, lying on their stomachs. Bunnie's right arm was soaked. "Figure it out yet, Sugar-hog?" "That was NOT funny, you guys!" Sonic cried indignantly. "Girls, Sonic," Sally corrected. "We're GIRLS!" And they both erupted with laughter as they got to their feet. Grumbling, Sonic pushed himself up on the bank. Bunnie made no further attempt to push him back in. "Yeah," Sonic agreed, "but haven't I heard something about the 'ladies first' rule?" With that, he pushed Sally in. "Now what'd you do that for?" Bunnie asked. Sonic, for her inapproval, slyly pretended as if to push her in as well. "Uh-uh, Sugar-hog," she said firmly. "Even YOU know better than to push ME in." Sally still hadn't come up. Sonic resisted the urge to state a counter-threat to Bunnie as he looked into the pool. "Sally?" "You better go in after her," Bunnie suggested quickly. "SALLY!" Sonic shouted. "NOW!" But before Sonic could jump in after her, Sally's left hand emerged from the surface and, without thinking, Sonic grabbed it and hauled her out of the water. In her right hand was a power ring. Sonic's jaw dropped for two reasons. First, on the tour, he had never told her HOW exactly they retrieved the power rings from the pool. Sally had held her breath long enough to figure it out and make it happen effectively. Second, with her fur completely drenched, she looked both comical and, oddly, stunningly beautiful. Sally walked past Sonic slowly and gently closed his mouth for him with a wet hand. "Better keep that closed until dinner," she said with a sly voice and facial expression. "You can't stand to lose much more intelligence." "Hey!" he snapped, but he couldn't think of a retort as they left him standing there, dripping in the sun. "Boo!" Sonic nearly jumped out of his skin. Instead, he turned around to see Tails floating down. He had apparently been watching the scene from a nearby branch, and could hardly keep his smile from meeting itself in the back of his head. He sighed. "Why is it that everyone's watching me all of a sudden?" he asked no one in particular. "Yeah, I noticed that too," Tails put in. "Bunnie and Antoine and Booker, mostly. Rote's been workin' on that sensor junk." Sonic began to walk back to Knothole. He did it slowly enough so that he and Tails could talk outside of eavesdropping distance, but fast enough to not appear suspicious. "There IS something funny going on, isn't there?" The fox looked excited. "Have you figured it out yet?" "No; not yet. But I'm going to," he promised, determined. "By the way, did any of them say anything weird to you?" Tails thought a moment. "Maybe." "Maybe?" Sonic looked hopeful. "Well...I dunno if this counts, but Bunnie said that there's some oblivious people." "Oblivious, eh?" Sonic rubbed his chin with his naked hand. He still hadn't washed the bloodied glove yet. Which brought up a thought: had it been real blood indeed? Yes, it HAD to have been--he'd heard the sickening thud of Sally's skull as it collided with solid wood. "Anything else?" "Nope. 'Cept that Bunnie can't stop laughing at you two." "Yeah, I noticed that too, big guy." "Oooh!" Tails' eyes lit up. "She said she'd explain somethin' to me when this was all over! Does that mean anything?" "Maybe," murmured Sonic. "Maybe?" Sonic smiled at his buddy. Every day he was learning to mirror him in more and more ways. "I dunno, little bro," he said warmly. "I dunno." "So what're you gonna do now?" he asked. Sonic's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to talk to Nicole. She's one...er...person, that'll be on my side and give me some straight answers. Without giggling." "Cool idea, Sonic!" Tails approved. "Can I do anything else?" It was Sonic's turn to think for a moment. "Yes," he said carefully. "Go ask Bookshire if people with amnesia can remember HOW they got amnesia. Think you can remember that?" "Yup!" "Good. Meet me at the pool again in five minutes. Okay?" "Gotcha!" Tails rushed off to Bookshire's hut. They had arrived in Knothole. It was time to begin the investigation. - - - CHAPTER 8 Sonic had everything planned so that he and Tails were in separate places at different times. If they appeared together, they would also appear suspicious. And suspicion would get them nowhere in a conspiracy. He had made a gamble on whether Sally was in her hut or not. She wasn't. But before he could start feeling relieved, he saw that Nicole was nowhere to be found. Last night, she had been casually placed on the floor by Sally after she had gotten poked while attempting to get comfortable. Looking in the same exact place, she was not there. "C'mon, think!" he told himself. Bookshire had come in early in the morning for some reason; he couldn't remember why. That was it. Last night, at the meeting, Bookshire had allowed that he was going to use Nicole as a reference, and, in the morning, he finally remembered to use her. That meant that Nicole would be in Bookshire's hut. With Tails. "D'oh!" Meanwhile, Bookshire explained the answer to Tails' question, slowly and nicely, so that he could understand. He was, he knew, several years younger than the other freedom fighters. "No, I'm quite sure that an amnesiac--" "A what?" he asked. "Amnesiac. Someone who has amnesia." "Oh." "So, an amnesiac can't remember much of anything. Including how he or she became to be an amnesiac. In fact, it's most likely that if an amnesiac DOES remember something, the probability is very low that he or she would remember that specific incident. It's more likely that..." Tails' attention began to waiver. Suddenly Sonic appeared in the window. Luckily, Bookshire's back was to the window and could not see him. Tails was facing Sonic, so that when he moved his lips to form the words "Get Nicole!," only he inter- cepted the message. The only problem was, Tails was a horrible lip reader. "Get WHAT?" he sent back silently. "Get Nicole!" Sonic repeated with a whisper. "What's wrong, son?" Bookshire asked. He spun around to follow Tails' gaze, but by the time he did so, Sonic had anticipated the move and ducked beneath his plane of vision. "Huh?" Tails said out loud, to both Sonic and Bookshire. "Your gaze is drifting," the doctor said worriedly. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine!" he said loudly! "Go on." "Yes, well, as I was saying, amnesiacs may keenly remember more traumatic..." Tails' attention was now fully on Sonic. He was determined to get the message this time. But to his surprise, Sonic's eyes did the talking; he looked straight at Nicole, sitting on Book- shire's desk." "Oh, dear," Booker sighed. "I'm boring you senseless, aren't I?" "Yes. Very much," he said bluntly. "Can I just ask Nicole?" "Sure." He picked up Nicole and handed her to Tails. Sonic winked at him, smiled, and disappeared from the window. "Thanks, Booker!" Tails said gleefully, and left to meet Sonic at the pool. Minutes after Tails had left, Bookshire Draftwood realized something. "I believe I've said too much," he sighed. But there was basically nothing to worry about. How much could a ten-year-old fox do? - - - CHAPTER 9 The answer, according to Sonic the Hedgehog, was this: anything he put his mind to. Handing Nicole to Sonic, Tails sat down beside him at the pool. Dusk was falling rapidly. "Good job, big guy," Sonic said as he opened Nicole. "Yo, Nicole!" "SONIC!...WHAT'S UP?" "Access all information previously accessed by Princess Sally Acorn in the last twenty-four hours." "SURE THING, SONIC. ONE MOMENT...." "Whoa, Sonic!" Tails said, surprised. "Where'd you learn to talk like that?" He knew that he should've said something like "Show me everything Sally looked at in the past day," or even, "Yo Nicole! What was it that Sally was lookin' at last night?" He shrugged. "From Sally," was all he needed to say. "She's rubbing off on him more," Tails thought silently. "ALL PREVIOUSLY VIEWED MATERIAL IS ON AMNESIA. WANNA SEE?" "Not really, Nicole. Can ya just give me the gist of it?" "CAN-DO, SONIC. SALLY WANTED TO KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO HAVE AMNESIA." Sonic and Tails looked at each other, and a long, silent moment passed between them as they pondered a mutual question: Why would Sally want to know that? She already had amnesia! Didn't she? "Whoa! I just thought of something else!" Tails cried suddenly. "What?" Sonic asked urgently. "What is it?" "Yesterday, Sally was afraid of Bunnie when she saw that she was part-robot." Sonic fell into Tails' line of thought and snapped his fingers. "Then why did they show up at the pool, pushing me in, as if they'd known each other for years!" "Exactly!" "You're smarter than I thought, little bro!" he complimented. "Hey! Thanks a lot!" "Well, I didn't mean it like that!" Sonic laughed, and then set his mind back to the matter at hand. There was something that needed to be said, but he didn't want to say it. He felt that if he did so, he would be calling Sally--along with whoever else was in on the conspiracy--a liar. "I think," he said hesitantly, "that Sally doesn't have amnesia." Tails seemed to digest that. "You sure?" he asked after a minute. "Either that, or she DID have it...but then recovered and didn't tell us!" "Maybe." "You think so?" "Nah." "Well, it's GOTTA be one of those!" Sonic said, slamming his fist into his gloved palm. "At least we know that one way or another, this is a hoax! Just, uh...don't let anybody know that we know. Okay?" Tails winked. "The secret's safe with me." "So what did Bookshire say when you asked him if...?" "Oh, he said no," Tails replied simply. "No what?" "No, people who got amnesia can't remember how they got it." "Oh." Sonic smiled, and started to walk away. "Hey, where're you goin'?" Again, Sonic's eyes narrowed. Rapidly approaching thunder roared somewhere far away. "I've got a bone to pick with someone." - - - CHAPTER 10 Bookshire Draftwood rushed to Rotor's hut. He had just watched Sonic and Tails conversing about what could have only been an anti-conspiracy plot. He'd heard enough bits and pieces to be sure. They were onto them. He was worried that Sonic might spot him running all-out to Rotor's hut, but he could worry about making excuses after he alerted everyone. He burst into the hut. "I think they know," he said abruptly, skipping the small talk. His eyes darted from person to person in the room. Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor...that was it. "Where's Sally?" he asked. "I thought she was here with you, monitoring the sensor readouts!" "She was," Rotor answered. "But she went back." "Where!?" he yelled in a panicky voice. "Back to Roome De Acorn," Antoine responded. "Were you expecting it to be somewheres else, perhaps?" "Quick! We've got to tell her!" Bookshire turned around, ready to run back out, when something in the window caught his eye. He could see Sally's hut from here, and in front of that, the silhouette of a determined hedgehog was entering. He hung his head, thinking "Too late," but instead he only said, in a very low voice, "Oh, spraint." They watched in horrible futility as the hedgehog stood in the doorway, lightning flashing behind his back as if for emphasis. The dialogue would have been inaudible even if there wasn't any rumbling of thunder from a coming storm; Sonic had used his head and decided to speak in a very low voice. And, since he apparently wasn't shouting angrily at the top of his lungs, Bookshire came to the conclusion that he wasn't about to tell Sally how much he knew. He was turning their own trick back on them. Sally invited him in and he could see them sitting on the bed, talking, before they called it quits for the night. None of the freedom fighters had had any dinner to speak of, but the weather was at least denying permission for a group meal. There was someone missing, though.... "Hi guys!" Everybody turned. Bunnie had opened her mouth to reprimand Booker for his foul language, but instead she said, "Well hello, sugar! Nice of you to drop in!" Tails stepped further inside the hut and walked over to where Bunnie was standing. Like a child of younger age than he actually was, he took her hand. "Can we go now Bunnie? I'm tired." "Well, of course, sugar," she said reluctantly, looking at Antoine and Rotor and finally Bookshire in turn. Tails' presence was preventing the rest of the freedom fighters to converse about an operable plan. There eyes suggested that they were going to be here, in Rotors hut, awake, until they had figured out something to do. "Lets go. It's been a long day." And to herself she thought: "And it's not even over yet." Had Sonic began running, he said to himself, he would have failed the instant that Sally saw his face. Instead, he took a slow, calming walk to her hut. It gave him time to think about what he was going to say to her; ways and questions in which he could get the reactions he wanted. He had started his walk with a frown; now he ended it with a sardonic smile. "Hello, Sal." Sally jumped, not only at the sound of his voice but at the ripping jerk of lightning and thunder behind him. She had been making the bed, so as she finished this she spoke to him. "Hi, Sonic! Have fun at the pool?" "Yeah," he answered honestly. His quills were slightly damp; when he'd gotten out of the water the humidity was high enough to prevent him from drying completely. Sally saw this and got a towel for him. "Thanks," he said, accepting it, but Sally wouldn't give it to him. Instead, she wrapped both of them in it (Sonic would have never guessed it was THAT big) proceeded to dry them both off. For a moment he was almost happy enough to confess that he knew and end the jest, but his instincts told him that he could still salvage more fun out of the situation. When they were both dry some minutes later, they sat on the bed. Sonic feigned a frown. "Oh, come on, Sonic," she condoled. "It's not THAT bad. I'll remember everything...I know I will." "But WHEN, Sal!?" he cried emotionally. Sonic didn't know how good of an actor he could be...until he tried it. "I can't go on like this much longer!" "Aw, Sonic," she sighed, placing an arm around his shoul- der. "Come here." At first, Sonic didn't know what she meant by "Come here." He was already less than a foot away from her, and any closer would mean... But then he turned his head and saw her open arms, and understood. They hugged, and behind her back, Sonic was chuckling very, very softly.