Chaos Bond

The Works of Eggman's Hands

Tails and Zooey's house was a quaint little cottage that he had been living in ever since he turned sixteen, deciding that it was that bit more practical that he move his home closer to his primary laboratory which had appropriately been dubbed by friends as 'The Workshop'. 

Many would agree that it was a prime spot, nestled on the private coastline of the Mystic Ruins, one of the planet's more beautiful and historical locations. Tourists often visited the Mystic Ruins to photograph the old Echidna buildings and to go on tours around the Mystic Jungle but Tails' Workshop was safely hidden away where it couldn't be easily found. The coastline was perfect place to keep and fly his planes (two of which were snugly stored in the underground hangers behind the waterfall which were within walking distance of the Workshop) and the good soil and sunny properties of the area were ideal in raising an energetic Seedian child.

It was also the ideal place to allow a disoriented robot to adjust to a new life without being overwhelmed with the bustle of the planet's busy cities.

Gamma wasn't sure where Tails had gone to but he wasn't particularly worried. Zooey, who had come to think of this reformed Badnik as another lovable Omega, had told him that Tails often had to dash out to visit friends and help with problems or deal with other repairs but he promised to be back for supper.

Rosemary had gone back inside to help her soon to be step-mother with the washing up (she liked to dry the cups) and Gamma was left outside to watch the summer sky turn golden in the evening sun. A little later on, he poked his head inside and actually asked Zooey for permission to go for a walk, earning him a smile and the assurance that he could do what he liked now that he was a free bot. 

That had filled Gamma up with a sensation that Omega had told him was often referred to as, "the warm fuzzies". 

So off the old E-Series went, wandering off down the footpath along a vaguely familiar route towards the main tourist area of the Mystic Ruins where the train station was, still looking up at the dusky sky to see if Angel Island could be spotted, recalling that it could often be seen floating overhead. 

Yes, there it was. Majestic and somewhat ethereal to look at in this light. 

Gamma waited until the last train to Station Square had departed with the remainder of the tourists before climbing up higher on the cliffs to get a better view of the ocean and the floating isle. A Flicky came and landed on his shoulder and Gamma felt as though he could have burst with pride.

"You here to look at Angel Island too?" spoke a voice to his side. Gamma did not recognise the voice, nor did he even notice that he had any company besides the bird. 

The lady was a slim Echidna, dressed in grey, sat casually on a rock. She didn't look to be as red in colour as Knuckles was but there was no mistaking her species. She hadn't been looking at the robot when she had addressed him and even when Gamma turned to acknowledged her, she kept her gaze fixed on the very island in question. Her voice was soft but sounded deeper than that of Blaze's. 

"Greetings. Who are you?" asked Gamma, hoping his own robotic voice did not sound rude with the lack of emotion he was unable to convey. He decided to put on his 'friendly optics' to compensate for this. 

"Shade," answered the Echidna, glancing briefly in his direction but probably not looking closely enough to appreciate the 'friendly optics'. "You're Gamma, right? Shadow told me about you."

"Correct. I am E-102 Gamma." 

Another name and face he decided to commit to his memory files. He could dimly recall that Shadow the Hedgehog had mentioned someone by the name of Shade but, at the time, Gamma had recently downloaded his 'Thesaurus Mod' program and had therefore thought that the darker furred hedgehog had merely been using another version of his own name, seeing as 'shadow' and 'shade' were very similar and had practically the same definition.