Chapter Text
Winter…
A time that seemed to only get colder and colder each time it passed by. Hunkering down those who were here for a chance at staying warm. The queer, mingled stench of the ocean, the cold, and machinery was only familiar to frozen dwellers who have made themselves home in this icy tundra. This place was as hostile as ever in the winter, but it was home. As home as it ever could be.
Cold winds howled outside. The only sound out for miles except for the casual bustle from the small group who had been stationed there for months on end. Those winds used to keep them up at night, but now they were a sweet lullaby. It was hard not to fall asleep without them now.
“Ah, look who’s finally up.” An upbeat voice echoed through the room, directed at the red echidna who tiredly sauntered in.
“Yeah, yeah. Good morning to you, asshole.” The echidna grumbled back. He was familiar with this hedgehog; Sonic, the tech lead on the site. One would call him lazy, if only his work wasn’t somehow always done way ahead of time.
“Ah, as harsh as the winter winds. Love to see it.” He replied. The echidna rolled his eyes as he walked past.
“Oh, don’t be so rude to him, Sonic.” A pink hedgehog scolded. Then she turned to the echidna with a cheery smile. “Good morning Knuckles!” The echidna—Knuckles— merely grunted and made his way to the kitchen, making the pink hedgehog furrow her brow huff in response.
He grasped himself a tray, piling whatever espio had cooked for the day onto it. He didn’t care what it was as long as it was edible, and thankfully their head cook, Espio, was good at what he did.
“Ey, drifter.” Sonic perked up again, obviously directed at the echidna. It was a nickname Knuckles had grown to be called by him and him alone. “Amy has been handing out card readings. C’mon and join us.”
“Oh, yeah! That could be fun!” Amy added, smiling with glee.
“I’m not into that superstitious junk…” Knuckles muttered.
Amy pouted. “Aw, come on Knuckles. Please, please, pleeeaaase?” She leaned closer to him with the biggest and wettest puppy eyes you could ever see come from a hedgehog.
“Yeah. C’mon knucklehead. Give it a whirl. Or are you scared of a little fun?” Sonic teased.
Knuckles groaned, begrudgingly slapping his tray against the table and taking a seat across from the pink hedgehog. “Fine. As long as you guys leave me alone afterwards so I can eat in peace…”
Amy practically bounced in her chair, already shuffling the tarot deck she always brought with her in her hands. Admittedly, her happy face made Knuckles feel a little less like crap than he usually did right now.
“What kind of reading would you like?” She asked. “A two-card spread? Three-card spread?”
He crossed his arms and leaned in his chair. “I don’t care. You do whatever.”
Amy let out a hum of thought as she looked at him. Those smile lines across her face, pinching the corners of her eyes and indicating how obviously cheery she always was. The only lines Knuckles had were the bags under his eyes, made from stress and fatigue over the years.
“How about a simple reading of your past, present, and future?” She said. Knuckles just shrugged in agreement.
She slipped three cards from the deck and set each one face down on the table in front of them. After cracking her knuckles, she revealed the first one representing his past; The Wheel of Fortune, upright.
“Hmm… it looks like you had a significant change happen in your life, something that was inevitable to happen.” She said, her fingers gently touching the corners of the card.
Knuckles furrowed his brow, visibly looking agitated from her words. His expression didn’t go unnoticed by the two hedgehogs sat across him. Though Amy’s reaction was more respectful and subtle, compared to Sonic, who, of course, decided to run his mouth.
“Little to close to home, eh Knux?”
Knuckles shot him a glare, growling as his response. Amy cleared her throat to gain his attention again. Though at this point she would usually press for further information, she knew Knuckles was a pretty private guy, so she didn’t pry any further than he was willing to share. She swiftly flipped over another card for his present; The Chariot, reversed.
“You seem to be having difficulty with something. Having no direction or control on the matter.” She paused, noticing how agitated he was getting. Still, she continued, albeit a bit anxiously. “… it…. It’s frustrating you and—“
Slamming his hands on the table, Knuckles stood and began angrily marching away. Amy jumped a bit at the sudden loud noise. “W-Wait! Where are you going? I haven’t finished your reading yet!”
“Yeah, don’t you want to know about your future, bud?” Sonic butted in and received a swift punch in the arm, paired with a scowl from Amy.
“No! I already said I don’t care about that superstitious junk! All it is is just giving vague answers that anyone can relate to!” Knuckles huffed and continued his marching. “I’m leaving!”
“W-Wuh… What about your food?” Amy shouted out at him, lifting up his tray.
“IM NOT HUNGRY!” He shouted back. He was already past the cafeteria doors, making his way to his room. Unless someone needed his help moving something or operating heavy machinery, he didn’t bother seeing what work needed to be done. He was just the muscle after all. Thats what he signed up for. That’s all he ever will be out here. He was stuck.
Stuck in this small facility. Stuck in the middle of nowhere. Stuck with these people he grew to know, but frankly didn’t care much about. He didn’t think of them as family, not a whole lot at least. At most, friends. Maybe acquaintances. He was never good with people.
Before he knew it, he was on the ground, having ran into something on his way to his room. A tall and rather wealthy man by the name of Chris Thorndyke. He was always so curious about the world and what it had to offer. It was no wonder this guy ended up with a degree in biology.
That’s what he always told people at least, but it was no lie. In fact, his family owned this little site out here near the north. It was how he got this job. How privileged he was, sure. But he always made sure that anyone who wanted to sign up was paid and treated just as fairly as anyone else. That’s how he was raised. Well, as much as a wealthy person such as him could’ve been raised.
“Woah! You okay there Knuckles?” He said, extending his hand out for him to take.
Knuckles sighed, allowing to be helped up onto his feet. “Yeah. I’m alright.”
Chris chuckled, slipping his rather heavy clipboard under his arm. “Suppose both of us are a little scatterbrained if we managed to run into each other like that, huh?”
God this guy, why did he always have to be so chipper? “Yeah.” Knuckles mumbled with a sigh, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Anything I gotta do today?”
A questioned hum exited Chris’ throat and he flipped through the never ending amount of pages he had compiled in that clipboard of his. The ammount of pages there was almost like a book in of itself. It was like it was the only thing he used to keep track of everything. “Um, I don’t think so. I think most of the stuff going on today is just lab, so you should be all good to go unless we need the heavier equipment. You’ll know if we’ll need your help.”
“Great.” Said knuckles, walking past him. “I can do nothing and nap all day.”
“You can still join us, you know. You could learn a few things, hang out. Maybe have some snacks on the job?”
Knuckles waved him off, still headed towards the cabins. “Sorry Chris. But all I’m looking for is my head being connected against my pillow. Radio me if I’m needed.”
“Uh, alright. Take care.” And Chris turned and walked towards the cafeteria.
A hard sigh came from knuckles again, loosening his chest that always felt tight. He was back in his cabin before he knew it, his face hitting that cold, hard pillow he’d come to tolerate. It was funny how this less than comfortable bed always felt so plush when he was tired enough— which was most of the time here.
All of this had become a routine for him. It was hard not to get into a routine out here, actually. Eat, work, sleep, get up. After a while you get used to it, maybe your work would be finished before the day was over and you could rest more often. But then it will be another addition to that daily routine. Forever going to that rhythmic beat like a ticking clock.
Tick… Tick… Tick…
That ticking clock next to his bed sounded almost like an odd lullaby. Another familiar sound he had grown used to over the long, dragging days up North.
All he remembers. All he’s familiar with. A ticking clock.
…The day went by as usual. And as usual, Knuckles was only needed once or twice to load up and put away the machinery. He didn’t mind it. He could do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day. Which is what he did— what he wanted to do. The only pain he endured was getting out of bed and being forced into the cold of the northern day. But with only a single groan, he always got up and did his job like he was supposed to.
“Knuckles! Knuckles we have a situation out in lab! We need you over here, now!”
Knuckles groaned at the voice that crackled through his portable radio, disrupting his sleep. He had half a mind to shut it off and fall back into slumber at this ungodly hour, but he knew he would get in trouble if he did. Chris was a nice man, but he wasn’t that forgiving.
A groan came out of him when he sat up in bed, rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes the best he could before he picked up the radio from his desk and held it to his mouth. “Shut up. I’m coming…” he mumbled, stuffing it into his pocket and finally getting out of his bed.
With slow, tired steps, he made his way from his room and down the hall. He shivered at how cold it was. What on earth was so important that he needed to get up before the sun did? Granted, the sun didn’t come up till at least 8 am now, but still.
Faint hushed murmurs grew loud enough for him to hear down the hall. What was going on? Were they planning something? Knowing this bunch, most likely. It better not be some kind of surprise party. He always hated those.
He let out a loud enough yawn to let his presence be known. The hushed voices grew quiet at the sound, waiting for the echidna to turn the corner. Strangely, it didn’t seem like they were hushed because they were about to surprise them. No. It seemed like it was for something different.
“Alright…” Knuckles sighed, finally turning the corner and stepping into the lab. “What in hell is so important that you got me up so… early…?”
The sight in front of him was… well, a sight. Something not even he could have thought of seeing when he walked through that doorway. There. Lying flat on the table. Was something that one could only really describe as otherworldly.
A figure. Small. Thin. Just barely resembling a hedgehog in looks. It’s fur still damp and cold from being buried under snow and ice that eroded after who knows how many years.
It wasn’t from this place, that was for sure. But what it really was… What do you call something like that other than, well..
Alien.