Eggman's Undersea Base - Full Report

[Garland]

In the submarine bay, Egg Pawns came to attention as the large ship docked, and the Eggmobile submarine followed close behind. Eggman stepped from his craft and turned as the doors opened on the other. He addressed Metal briefly. "I'll be in my research lab. Escort the lady to the mess hall, and afterward meet me there. I wish to hear all you have to tell about the other world." Eggman departed on foot, Egg Pawns heading to the Eggmobile to check it for maintenance.

[Jamie Lee]

Metal glanced up at the awaiting Eggman as he stepped away from the ship, now fully repaired, with Az behind him. "As you wish, my liege. I will be with you shortly." he answered. Then, glancing at Az, "Follow me." he turned and walked off in a different direction from Eggman.

After seeing Az off to the care of the Egg Pawns within the mess hall, Metal made his way to and entered the research lab.

"My liege, I have dropped the girl off as you requested."

[Garland]

Eggman sat in a comfortable chair, anticipating his robot's arrival. He nodded his approval at his entrance.
"Very good. Now, first things first. Were you able to successfully plant the tracking device on your charge?"

[Jamie Lee]

"Yes. He is unaware of it." Metal answered, before his eyes seemed to go half mast. "It has already proven itself necessary. As soon as we had docked at the mainland he immediately attempted to desert me."

He paused for a moment, seeming to recall something. "... On that note, I do not think he will be able to locate where I left the eggmobile on his own."

[Garland]

Eggman's mouth curled up in a smirk. "What a shame. I suppose that insolent whelp will be inconvenienced and have to find his own way home, then." The humor disappeared from Eggman's face, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Now, whatever data you retrieved from Mobius could be critical. History, geography, military and economic information, as well as profiles of important people and organizations would be useful. Do you have any of these?"

[Jamie Lee]

"I have information concerning all of that, in addition to access to communication frequencies of varying security, though my accessibility to those may no longer be trustworthy. I uploaded all of the information I obtained earlier as you requested."

[Garland]

"Very good. In that case, let's discuss. In your opinion, what will Julian do once he figures out how best to utilize the portals?"

[Jamie Lee]

Metal paused for a brief second as he considered the question. "Given the domination of his world and his... hospitality... as well as considering the sheer amount of firepower at his disposal, I would actually be surprised if he does not attempt to overthrow our world as his own.

The metallix folded his arms. "I met him while in my android mode after having been taken as a prisoner," his eyes gave a subtle annoyed flash, "I tried to speak to him rationally, but he was very... unreasonable. He tried to dispose of me after a brief interrogation."

[Garland]

"I expect as much. From what I've heard of him, he seems more ruthless than either myself or Nega. Our only option is to prepare for battle. Even if I didn't think he'd betray me at the drop of a hat, I would not share my rule with one such as him." Eggman paused for a moment. "In your opinion, what is the best option? Spearheading a pre-emptive assault, or waiting until we can counterattack in familiar territory?"

Eggman frowned, considering Metal's last statement. "It may be in my best interests to take extra precautions when meeting with Julian. It would be too suspicious to take a batallion of robots, but an entourage of my most skilled soldiers would likely be sufficient to at least facilitate escape in a worst case scenario."

[Jamie Lee]

"A counterattack may be wiser," Metal answered in thought, "We have a matter of quality versus quantity. Julian by far has us outnumbered in resources, however, I believe that our technology may be superior to his," he paused for a moment, "With, perhaps, the exception of a machine of his referred to as the roboticizer. Regardless, we would likely waste our resources to strike first, where they might better serve to keep Julian from gaining footholds here."

[Garland]

"I see. I'll be going over the data myself shortly and see what conclusion I can come to." Eggman rubbed his chin. "This Robotnik's made a lot of enemies, hasn't he? I almost have to wonder how many of his own would turn on him given the chance..."

[Jamie Lee]

Metal shrugged. "The only two sentient beings I am aware of are an alternate version of myself and an assistant named Snively, neither of whom I had the chance to meet. However..."

He seemed to trail off for a moment, his eyes dimming in thought. "The machine I mentioned. The roboticizer? As difficult as it may be to believe it... apparently has the ability to transform an organic creature into a robot," he paused for a moment, seemingly somewhat disturbed by this, "Normally it removes the ability for a subject to exert their free will over their body. However, I met someone whom claimed their programming had been altered to permit them otherwise."

And then he paused again, his eyes flickering a couple times before turning green as he emitted what sounded like a snicker. "Julian actually... tried to use that machine on me. I think I broke it."

[Garland]

Eggman began to smirk before suddenly stopping and raising an eyebrow. "Metal... Are you laughing?"

[Jamie Lee]

The metallix paused, his eyes immediately flickering back to red as he gave Eggman a puzzled look. "Um... What?"

[Garland]

And Eggman's eyebrow failed to come down for another few seconds. "Very well. In any case, do you have any concerns of your own to voice?"

[Jamie Lee]

The metallix's puzzled look, however, remained. His behavior since the incident with that roboticizer had been bothering him. Laughter. He had laughed? That was what the strange energetic feeling he kept getting was?

He looked down at the floor, then back up at Eggman and blinked. No. That couldn't be right. Sure, he knew the basic definition of what the word meant and he could usually work out its context when someone did it, but he hadn't yet developed the capacity to feel such things for himself. Had he? No, of course not. Obviously that roboticizer must have...

"... I believe that machine may have done something to me." he said, folding his arms and turning to the side. "It overloaded attempting to accept me and caused an... odd reaction... ..." his head tilted to one side as he recalled it. Eyes flickering a few times and he staved off that energetic feeling as it tried to return. "... None of my diagnostic scans have shown any anomalies."

[Garland]

"Hmm... That's very strange. Though it is notable that the cause of your being able to feel emotions at all has eluded me for quite some time." Eggman rubbed his chin and looked at Metal. "Do you feel you are in any danger? I can't make an assessment if your diagnostics have turned up no errors."

[Jamie Lee]

"I... am not sure?"

Metal shook his head slightly, probing his mind quickly for a means to change the subject, "My Liege, I do not think it would be wise for you to meet Julian in person, with or without an entourage."

[Garland]

"Perhaps... but this isn't something I want to risk. We need every edge we can get against Julian. He would plan on stabbing us in the back, but if we can gain his trust, we might be able to do it first. And I think it would seem suspicious to not even dignify him with a face to face encounter." Eggman paused. "Of course, if I sent a decoy in it would be less dangerous. But I would doubt anyone would want to volunteer."

[Jamie Lee]

Metal contemplated to himself at the suggestion of a decoy. The thought made him uncomfortable, but... well, there was no reason why he couldn't do just that, was there?

"I could." he muttered quietly.

[Garland]

"That carries its own set of risks with it. I'll have to give more thought to the matter." Eggman lowered his voice, somewhere between annoyed and amused. "It would appear I have some homework to do..." He then shook his head. "Do you have anything else to comment on?"

[Jamie Lee]

Metal thought about that for a moment. There was something he'd been wondering about for awhile...

"Actually, I have a question," he said, looking up at the doctor curiously. "You have met my counterpart. What is he like?"

[Garland]

"Hmm." Eggman rubbed his chin. "That's an interesting question... How shall I put this... He's an arrogant, petulant, disrespectful and violent pest who betrayed our agreement at the first opportunity and destroyed Ishnt, who was to accompany him to Robotropolis. He directly insulted and threatened me." Eggman paused a moment before continuing. "And I will destroy him."

[Jamie Lee]

Hoookay not exactly the answer Metal had hoped to hear. His eyes dimmed and he seemed to cringe ever so slightly. "Perhaps I should assume one of my other forms for now."

In that same instant he liquefied and reshaped.

Merce coughed into his fist. "Are you entirely sure Ishnt was destroyed? When I arrived in Mobius all of my connections here failed."

[Garland]

Eggman raised an eyebrow at Metal's shift. "Don't be so nervous. You don't look quite like him, anyway. There's one thing I forgot to mention about your counterpart... His cleanliness was atrocious. He was entirely caked with grime!"

Eggman stopped to consider Metal's suggestion. "His Eggmobile certainly crashed from several miles in the air as a result of your counterpart's treachery. I would think that no one could survive that, but as I myself have emerged from situations most people would consider 'certain death' unscathed, I suppose there is a possibility he's still functioning... Even so, if he arrived in Mobius without his Eggmobile, I'm not sure how he could return without pure luck. That is, assuming that there even is a stable portal in Mobius..."

[Jamie Lee]

"... You have not seen Robotroplis. Everything is caked in grime and trash. You cannot even tell what time of day it is looking at the sky because the smog is so dense."

He pondered over the latter statements for a moment. "I myself returned back here due to an immense sized portal that had appeared by... Oh," he paused in realization, "That is something else worth noting. Angel Island has been transported to Mobius."

[Garland]

Eggman nodded and turned to a computer, bringing up a map. "A large, relatively stable portal appeared in Angel Island airspace not long ago. I have no idea how long it will be until it deteriorates and disappears, but at the very least for the time being, there is a stable portal to Mobius. Getting back from there is another matter entirely. I assume this anomaly has something to do with the Master Emerald... I would like to study this before it vanishes." Eggman turned back to face Metal. "On that note, I have a job for you. I would like you to go retrieve the Chaos Emerald I am holding in the Pumpkin Hill base. In the meantime, I plan to make a little trip... But first I have some things to take care of."

[Jamie Lee]

"Yes, my Liege," the android said, giving a small bow to Eggman and then turning and walking off.