The Robotic Endgame

XXI. Mega Man

I woke up exactly seven hours after I shut my systems down. I blinked, surprised that I hadn't rebooted to alarms blaring in my head. Instead, Sonic was sleeping peacefully, his body rising and falling evenly.

I got off the bed and left the room, being as quiet as possible. But even when I bashed my metal foot against the bed, he just turned over and started snoring softly. He must have been so exhausted that he could have slept through anything.

After leaving the room, I went to the room with the computer, surprised to see that Tails was still working. Dr. Linde was awake and helping him, even though it was about five in the morning. Maybe even earlier.

I went about helping them out, gathering things that they needed to build this device. It was just a small chip, but it was very complex. I didn't really understand what they were doing myself. After a while, I just watched as they discussed things and painstakingly carefully made this chip. There was a lot of waiting anxiously, wondering if they would actually be able to create something that would turn Roll and Tempo back to normal with just a small blast. Or as Sonic liked to call it, a big lemon.

"I think it's done," Tails finally said. It had been about two hours since I had gotten up, and it was now six-thirty. I was itching to go to the next ruins, but Sonic and Sally needed sleep. "Let me see your blaster," Tails ordered.

I changed to my armor, turning my blaster so it didn't look like I was trying to shoot him. He opened up a small slot and pushed the chip in, my systems warning me of a potential breech. I ran a virus check to make it stop, which, of course, showed there was nothing wrong with what he had put in my blaster.

"Any shot you that hits a robot should change it back to original," Tails explained. "I can't promise that it will change any robot whose loyalties lie with Wily, but... it should work on your friends. And Shadow. That's what took the most time was trying to figure out how to combat the shards. The hard part of that will be getting a shot in on him."

"I can't thank you enough," I smiled. "Seriously, if this thing works, it will help us turn the world back to normal."

"Your technology is so different from ours that after a while, I wasn't sure I could pull it off," Tails added. "It went a lot faster when Dr. Linde came in and helped."

Dr. Linde smiled. "You really are a genius. But even geniuses need sleep."

"Right," Tails said, walking off with a yawn. "Thanks for letting me use your stuff!"

I turned to Dr. Linde after he walked off, changing out of my armor. "Is he really a prodigy? Or were you just humoring him?"

"I've never seen anyone quite like him," Dr. Linde said. "He has the confidence and attitude of a child, but the mind of Dr. Light and I combined. I almost wish I could keep him here."

I chuckled. "I don't think Sonic would appreciate you trying to steal his best friend."

Dr. Linde shook her head. "They complement each other perfectly. It's amazing, really."

"I agree," I replied, thinking about how Sonic had made sure Tails was okay in the last ruins. That still touched my non-existent heart. "Is there anything I can do for you while we wait for the others to wake up?"

"You don't have to do that for me," Dr. Linde said. "Wouldn't you just rather sit and relax?"

"It would be nice to do something other than fight and worry," I told her. "I would rather do something that was my original purpose."

"I'll be honest, without Tempo, this whole house is a mess." Dr. Linde sighed. "If you could clean my lab, that would be great. I made quite a mess just before Tempo left, and what Tails and I just added to it didn't help."