Chapter Text
Sonic was bored. Really bored. He listened to the teacher drone on and on about… something. Honestly, he didn’t care that much, especially because it was the last class of the day. He couldn’t wait to get back to his room and away from school. Away from the bullying and rude comments. He looked at the clock, it showed 3:12. Only 18 more minutes. His foot tapped against the floor, and he fidgeted around with his gloves. Sonic was interrupted by a “pssst.” Which he tried to ignore because he already knows what his classmate is going to say. “Why are you in such a hurry? Not like you have a family to go back too.” Which of course, was followed up by some snickers. Sonic just rolled his eyes; not like he could do much else. He has become rather desensitized from the cruel teasing from Dave and his goons. “Hey. I’m talking to you.” Dave had to say, as if Sonic didn’t hear him the first time. Sonic stilled his foot, and his mouth turned downward into a frown. Just ignore them, he thought to himself. Then one of his goons spoke up.
“Yeah, I’m sure he’ll go back with the other freaks.” Which caused some more muffled laughter. As they fist bumped each other, as if they made a major accomplishment. Now, Sonic can take insults about himself pretty well, but if they want to target his friends, then that will get a reaction. Sonic then turned to face his ‘tormentors’.
“Don’t you guys have literally anything better to do with your lives?” On the outside he kept a calm facade but inside his chest flared in anger.
“’Don’t you guys have anything better to do.’ “ Dave repeated what Sonic said in a mocking tone. “You’re such a loser. No wonder nobody loves you.” Sonic is used to mocking, but it still stings. His quills bristled slightly, as he clenched his fist. Which did not go unnoticed by Dave. “Awww. Did I hurt your little feelings?” Dave clasped his hands together and brought them to the side of his face and did a fake pout.
His words did indeed hurt Sonics feelings, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “No. And you’re the loser.” It was a rather weak comeback, but he shouldn’t even be involved in this conversation. Whatever Dave was about to say was cut short by the teacher.
“Boys. Class isn’t over yet.” That got the teens to stop talking. Though, they did still glare at each other. Dave mouthed to Sonic, ‘I’ll beat your ass’. To which Sonic just pointedly looked away. Dave’s not wrong, Sonic has had multiple one-sided fights with him and his gang. Currently he stands at 0-9… It’s not Sonic’s fault, he’s only like 3 feet tall and weighs like 60 pounds. While Dave is a human, there is a pretty big disparity between them. Plus, his friends often intervene. But that doesn't stop Sonic from going at it, if they pick on, well, anyone really. He has been to the principal’s office many times. But it’s always the same ‘Try using words.’
He was brought out of his stupor, when the bell rang. The sound of chairs scraping against the floor and the teacher trying to get one last message in filled Sonics ears, but he was too busy with his own exit to care. He then exited the classroom, dodging around the taller classmates’ legs as he entered the swarm of inpatient teenagers; all trying to be the first one out. Sonic felt a little pressure on the tips of his quills, as someone brushed against them.
“Watch it.” The teen snapped. Sonics muzzle heated up as he muttered out a little apology. He didn’t mean too. Hold on, it wasn’t even my fault. Sonic thought, but before he could defend himself the student was gone. Whatever, Sonic continued his path towards the exit, but more mindful of where his quills pointed. Finaly, he made his way out, the orphanage where he lives is close by, so he just walks. He had a little bit of money, so he decided to treat himself to a small snack.
However, he must decide where to go. He contemplated as he came to a stop on the sidewalk. Both humans and mobians rushed by without a second thought. The sound of a busy city, with its honking cars and endless chatter, was everywhere. Sonic pushed his lips to one side as he thought about where he wanted to go. He tilted his head up and looked at the different stores. Hmm… I think I’ll go there. Sonic thought, he locked onto a little convenience store across the street. He made his way to the crosswalk, but the light was red. So, he patiently stood, then some guy on his phone just walked right by and onto the crosswalk. When it was still red! Then more people followed him, even though it wasn’t green. Sonic could only watch as people illegally crossed. Not him though, no way. Ten seconds later the light motioned them to walk across. He walked with a purpose, but once the bell jingled, as he entered the store, he faced another problem. Should he get candy or ice cream?
Summer just ended, and it was the very beginning of fall, so it wasn’t too chilly yet. He made his way over the ice cream freezer and peered through the glass cover. They looked pretty good, but Sonic wasn’t sure if he wanted something cold. He decided to check his other option, so he shuffled his way over the shelves that had the sweets. His entire body disappeared from the view of the worker at the counter. He looked upon the treats, which also looked good, but the one that caught his eye the most were the 2 packs of gummies for $1.79. With haste he picked two off the shelf, a gummy shark and a gummy frog one. Sonic then made his move to go pay for them, walking up the counter, he looked up at the cashier. An older gentleman. Sonic got on his tippy toes to put the candy on the counter. The bell jingled, signaling that more people entered the store but sonic didn’t care. The person behind the counter stopped what he was doing, his lips formed a tight frown. Sonics ears twitched as he picked up the footsteps get closer, but still didn’t look. Then, he felt a hand on top of his head and before he could exclaim his outrage, he was pushed to the side, his body followed his head, so he didn’t fall.
As all this was happening, the camera above the counter saw everything. Someone, or rather something, saw everything.
probability of violence: 1.4%
His chest flared up in irritation, as he deeply frowned. Sonic spun back around, intent on telling whoever pushed him a piece of his mind. But his mouth went dry, when he looked up at a towering human. On second thought, Sonic is okay waiting another minute, but he’s not happy about it, he even crossed his arms to show his displeasure. The human looked down at him for a second, then turned his attention to the shop owner. “You got our money old man? After all, keeping you safe is a taxing job.” The person had an overconfident tone, and a nasty smirk, not that sonic could see it from his position.
“Yes.” The shop owner handed the thug an envelope. “One day. You’ll get what’s coming to you.” The thug just laughed at him. Completely unfazed.
“I’m sure.” The criminal told the shop owner. “See you next week.” The thug turned to leave.
“You can’t do that.” Sonic finally spoke up. He didn’t exactly know what was happening, but it was clear the person who walked in was not a good person. Just like Dave. His fist clenched and a flicker of doubt entered his mind as the hulking figure turned around and looked down at Sonic. But he held his ground, for now.
probability of violence: 2.1%
“Yeah, what are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll tell the police.” Sonic was expecting the person to look somewhat afraid or fearful, but the person just laughed. Sonics chest tightened more, “I’m being series.”
Once the person was done laughing, he spoke, “You’re funny kid.” His smile turned straight as all humor left his face. He moved his hand to his hip to lift his jacket, which revealed the gun he was carrying. “Just don’t. I’ll know if you do. And the people I work for have no problem putting you down.”
At that. The thug’s entire life was torn apart and looked through. Every email, phone call, text, anything was scanned. His secrets became known in under a second. His connections, the people he works for. All calculated and predicted. His connection to HR, all of it.
probability of violence: 7.23%
Sonics eyes widened at the gun, and he looked down, averting his gaze. His heart thumped in his chest, and his mouth got even dryer. “O-okay. Okay. I-I won’t.” His quills bristled involuntarily in response to the fear and adrenalin which pumped through his veins.
probability of violence: 14.4%
“Hey, look at me.” The thug spoke with a gentler tone. Sonic looked up with wide eyes, his vulnerable green irises met the cold stare of blue. The criminal smiled again before he stepping forward at Sonic. Which caused the little blue hedgehog to take multiple steps backwards. Which caused the criminal to laugh… again. He reached in the envelope and pulled out a 5-dollar bill, he then put it on the counter. “Here, the kids treats are on me. Keep the change.” Without a second look, the guy walked out.
Probability of violence: .5%
Sonic sniffed a little as he made his way back to the counter. He and the shop-owner made eye contact. Then the owner put the gummies in a bag and handed them to Sonic. “Here just take them and go. Also, please don’t involve the police. It won’t end well for you.” He said rather glumly. Sonic took the bag and just nodded. He slowly made his way out of the store. He stopped walking, as his thoughts swirled around in his head. He had to tell the police. It was the right thing to do. But even the owner told him to drop it. But Sonic couldn’t. He had to do what was right. He was unaware of the camera on the crosswalk pole, looking down.
Anomaly detected: xxx-xx-2180 has stopped moving.
Once Sonic has a destination in mind, he only stops when he must, otherwise, he keeps moving. A pattern that he has used for the past 5 years. 5 years all recorded on camera.
Then Sonic was on the move again. Not towards the orphanage but towards the nearest police precinct.
xxx-xx-2180 not following predicted outcome.
Reevaluating: …
The machine looked at everything. It pulled up Sonics reported visits to the principal’s office. Everything is so much easier now that it became digital. It looked at the additional comments. ‘Sonic has said that he fought because they were bullying.’, another one, ‘Sonic once again said they were picking on other people.’ Another one, ‘Sonic said he was doing the right thing.’. A connection was formed.
Reevaluating complete: predicted destination. 8th precinct.
Evaluating officers on duty: …
Evaluating officers most likely to intercept: …
Unaware that he was walking into a lion’s den, Sonic continued his way to the closet precinct to report what happened.
probability of violence: 62.4%
With each step he took, the danger to his life increased. But Sonic needed to report this. He finally reached his destination. With a deep breath he made his way in, and looked for anyone who could help him.
probability of violence: 69.54%
He spotted an officer talking to someone. He nervously made his way over, once he stood before them, his mouth opened but no words came out. The two officers just stared down at the mobian hedgehog, before one finally spoke.
“Can we help you?” The officer had a raised brow as if whatever Sonic was going to say would be useless. Sonics mouth opened and closed, like a fish out of water before he finally blurted out.
“I need to report a crime!”
probability of violence: 77.6%
“Is that so? Little guy.” The other one spoke up. Sonic nodded missing the disbelieving tone entirely. “Alright what happened.”
With that, Sonic explained everything, how he went to go get candy, even showing them the bag they were in. How the person came in, and what he did and looked like. He didn’t notice how one of the officer’s expressions darkened throughout the story. Sonic finished his tale with unblinking eyes as he stared up at them.
probability of violence: 82.2%
One of the officers, grabbed out a pen and notebook before asking Sonic, “We didn’t get any calls about that. Where did you say that happened?" Sonic was just about to answer, when the other officer spoke up.
“Come on, Jerry. You can’t believe this kid? It’s clearly fictional.”
“It’s not!” Sonic basically yelled.
“Tell you what Jerry. I’ll finish up here if you want to get a jump start on that paperwork.” Jerry agreed which left Sonic with the other officer. Sonic was just about to open his mouth again to make his case. But was quickly interrupted. “I believe you kid. It’s just that I don’t know who I can trust. Tell me where you live, and we can meet up later and discuss what happened.”
Probability of violence: 89.99%
Sonics mouth fell open in shock. He couldn’t believe that there might be bad guy cops. He dropped his voice to a whisper, “Okay. I live at The Bright Futures Home.” Sonic watched as the officer put a hand over his mouth, not really thinking anything of it.
“Alright… You did the right thing coming here kid.”
“Really? The person said not to go to the police.” Sonic informed the officer.
“Don’t worry, we’ll protect you. Just go home and prepare for later tonight.”
“Okay, I will!” Sonic then made his exit. He felt like he could float. He was going to help put a bad guy away. He couldn’t wait for later tonight.
Once Sonic was gone, the officer slipped away into a secluded spot and dialed a number on his phone.
probability of violence: 93.4%
The other side picked up. “What?”
“One of your guys got a little too careless today. There was someone trying to report a crime.”
probability of violence: 95.2%
“Yeah. What do you need.”
“He needs to disappear. Luckily for you it’s just a little orphan boy named Sonic. He lives at Bright Futures.”
Probability of violence: 97.78%
“Consider it done.”
Probability of violence: 99.45%
“One more thing. Know that you are replaceable. If there are any mess-ups. It won’t fall back on HR.” With that, the phone was hung up, and Sonics fate sealed. At least, that’s what it would seem like.
probability of violence: 100%
determining relevancy: irrelevant
wiping from memory: …
deletion protocol failed: ...
continuing with irrelevant number deletion: xxx-xx-2180
error: deletion protocol failed
overriding: ...
overriding failed: ...
rerouting: xxx-xx-2180
successful: ...
activating contingency protocol:
Contacting admin: …
Across the city there was a man slightly limping. He had just finished getting a coffee. When on his walk, a pay phone rang nearby. Ring.ring.ring. The man looked around really quick before walking over and picking it up. Through the phone, a somewhat distorted voice spoke, “Caudill-Papa-Zulu Vergara-Quebec Widener-Tango-Delta”. The call ended abruptly. The man sighed before he pulled out a notebook and pen to write down what he just heard. He wiped his glasses real quick, before grabbing his phone and dialing a number. It picked up.
“What is it? Harlod.”
“It would appear that we have a new number, Mr. Reese.”