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Special Note
Protocol Cy-Fox itself is not meant to gain profits. It is a derivative work on the Sonic the Hedgehog series which is a combination of video games, television shows, comic books and music developed by several companies. Credit for the core foundation that Protocol Cy-Fox derives from is to be given primarily to SEGA and Archie Comics and those connected in development of that foundation.

Protocol Cy-Fox is meant to be freely readable and distributed with no expectation of payment. If you see it being offered for sale, it is likely without authorization. This may possibly change in the future, and announcements will be made accordingly by the author if this occurs.

Prologue

Mobian Space Navy Central Yard
Aeronautical Sector
Mobotropolis, Republic of Mobius
September 8, 2115

Mobotropolis (AP) – The Mobian Space Navy is hosting a special conference at its Central Yard later today to provide a public forum so that the previously classified events that occurred in the Battle of the ARK revolving around the development and deployment of the Republic’s first combat cyborg can be disclosed and discussed. This cyborg is of special interest because its identity is that of Lieutenant Commander Miles Prower, the son of Field Marshal Amadeus Prower who laid the framework for the creation of the Republic thirty years ago.

Lieutenant Commander Prower was thought to have been killed in action defending the Earth orbiting space station from the Soldiers of Acorn. In reality, he had survived near-mortal injuries with the daring decision of Dr. Maria Robotnik, a name that will soon join her famous grandfather Professor Geralt Robotnik as an authority in a scientific specialty. Lieutenant Commander Prower, Dr. Robotnik, Professor Robotnik as well as others are giving testimony before a board chaired by the Mobian Space Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Kyle W. Bolton. The Associated Press will be publishing live updates and more detailed articles while various news providers will also be covering the conference.

1500 Hours (3:00 PM) – Republic Eastern Coastal Time

“This hearing has multiple purposes,” Admiral K.W. Bolton said, his voice carrying to wall-mounted speakers as well as wireless earpieces worn by various attendees. The grey Mobian cat’s blue eyes slid on another Mobian who stood in front of a table before the committee’s raised bench. The standing Mobian was a gold and white furred fox-type, his stance straight and to guidelines. He wore the same charcoal grey jacket, black shirt and white tie that Bolton did, though the shoulder boards only featured two full white stripes, a single dashed stripe also of white and a single gold star.

On the fox’s chest was a nametag that simply said “Prower” on the left, small medal ribbons on the right. The Mobian National Service Medal, which all that joined the Republic’s armed services received on completion of enlisted or officer training, the Superintendent’s Ribbon for placing top in academy class, the Anti-Piracy Patrol Ribbon with tiny gold oaks for taking part on several successful patrols and finally the Earth Orbital Support Ribbon for serving aboard the ARK.

The fox flexed the fingers of both hands within his white gloves, the only sign of frustration with idleness that he showed while maintaining his stance. Even his two gold, white tipped tails were still and uncurled. Almost perfect control was present, its source likely undetectable if it wasn’t for his glowing deep blue eyes. He kept his eyes on Bolton as the cat spoke again.

“Firstly, this will be an unprecedented public debriefing of Lieutenant Commander Miles Prower currently of the Reserve Fleet. Lieutenant Commander Prower was formerly a division officer overseeing the Space Navy’s electronic warfare division aboard the Space Station ARK. This debriefing will assist the public and our allied organizations in understanding the events that led to then Lieutenant Prower’s transformation and the Battle of the ARK firsthand.” Bolton bowed his head and picked up the stylus to his tablet. “You may consider yourself at ease while speaking, Lieutenant Commander. You have the freedom to sit as well of course. This will take some time, spare your back.”

“Thank you Admiral,” Prower maintained his stance with a nod of acknowledgement before continuing. “and I appreciate your concern for my back but with my current condition I am able to maintain this stance for an indefinite amount of time.”

That earned Prower a twitch of the left ear from Admiral Bolton and a very quick smile of amusement. However, from the human woman sitting at the table behind the lieutenant, he had gotten a smoldering stare. She had medium length blonde hair, pale skin and touched up red lips, wearing a white labcoat over blue blouse and black slacks that was tight against her curvy figure.

“Sit down Miles.” The woman commanded quietly. The fox turned his head, then his body entirely to face her, blinking slowly. He circled around the front of the table and took the empty seat to her right. Once he had settled down, he was conscious of her right arm sliding under his left shoulder, hand closing around his own. They looked at each other before Bolton interrupted with a small chuckle.

“I will leave that to Dr. Robotnik to qualify your statement.” The cat tapped at his computer with his stylus. “To start, I will explain the lieutenant commander’s career to date. Lieutenant Commander Miles Prower joined the Mobian Space Navy at the age of 14 through the Space Navy’s Accelerated Midshipman Program. He graduated in the class of 2110 with the Superintendent’s Ribbon which bestowed the commissioning rank of sub-lieutenant grade instead of ensign. He was placed with the destroyer RMSS Flynn as its junior EW division officer. He became department head for electronic warfare with in 2112, served aboard the battleship RMSS Warspite with a promotion to lieutenant in 2114 and then finally Space Station ARK in December that same year.”

The fox’s ears raised as he felt collective stares of the spectators and heard quiet expressions of impressment. His nose and face began to flush hotly. You could take most of the original body of a Mobian away and replace it or couple it with bionics, but the core personality would remain. Even here after his experience, nearing his twenty-third birthday, Prower tried to stay in the background. Now he was at the center of attention. His fingers tensed again, audibly. The hand itself certainly looked like a normal Mobian fox hand down to the slowly darkening gold hue of the fur from solar exposure. But on the inside, it was mainly robotic. He had entered the service one hundred percent organic and was now sixty percent. He slowly swiveled his eyes from right to left, names coming up at each person he focused his attention on, imposed over them in neat little boxes.

“So the ARK is where we would likely begin.” Bolton said. Miles reached out and closed his fingers against the edge of the table and shook his head.

“Respectfully Admiral, if you wish to understand the whole story, I should start earlier.” Prower said, before looking over at the woman.

“Very well then. There are from what I understand personal entanglements that might be of interest. You may however omit anything you consider to be personally inappropriate or privileged.” Bolton said, setting the stylus down and folding his hands together. “Do you have any objections Dr. Robotnik?”

“I do not, as a matter of fact coordinating with the commander I might be able to fill in some gaps myself.” The woman replied with a tilt of her head before an adjustment of her thin, titanium framed glasses.

Prower gave her a final, soft squeeze of the hand before setting his elbows on the table, bridging his fingers much like Bolton before beginning to speak.

And so it began.

Chapter 1 – Change of Command
Republic Army Academy
Mobotropolis, Republic of Mobius
Friday, October 8, 2100

She had been the first dead body that he had ever seen, also the first that was taken from the plane of the living by violence. Rosemary Keiden Prower, former captain of the Royal Army of Acorn Artillery, physicist, teacher but of all things, mother to two. One child she grew to loathe and cast aside even though she would continue to bear it to the bitter end as it fed parasitically. The other, the antithesis, the one that rekindled the joy of creation, the one that sparked her love of teaching, of sharing.

The first was atomic warfare, the second was little seven-year-old Miles. He stood there, shivering even with his fur and the black suit that he wore. The autumn chill, the situation that he was uncontrollably tossed forward into and the presence of his father. Field Marshal Amadeus Prower looked older than 47 in this moment. His single eye stared down at the gold furred and red haired woman who permanently slept in her best blue dress. She had made her will long ago and swore in it never to be buried in uniform, Kingdom or Republic, even though her rank demanded military protocol.

The elder fox reached out with his right hand and gently ran his fingers against her cheek. Miles looked up and saw the beginning of another breakdown, one of several the field marshal had when the man that stood behind him had broken the news. The man whose proclamation began the fall of tears, the high-pitched bellowing and pleading, the drinking. Professor Geralt Robotnik heard the small gasp within Amadeus’ throat and the elderly but spry human reached out and gently tugged at the fox’s khaki jacketed shoulder. Amadeus allowed himself to be turned and Geralt offered his shoulder for the fox to lean on.

“I didn’t think it would happen so quickly.” Amadeus moaned, turning his head away and keeping his voice low as Miles looked up at him. “Of all things to take her. Even with your medical science at hand, it was cancer?”

“Cancer was declared long ago as the emperor of all maladies.” Geralt said softly, placating. He sounded like a rural Indiana pastor, as calm as he kept his voice though there were still traces of his native Sweden in it. “But even then, you are right. It made no sense. Even with her long exposure to radioactive materials in the Kingdom’s service, we would have found it earlier with testing. Though I have suspicions. I sent the autopsy report and tissue samples to Indiana University for peer review. I think we might want to send samples from Miles as well.”

“From Miles?” Amadeus slid his single eye down and allowed himself to look at his son before looking back at the physician-scientist. “You don’t believe he has the same thing, do you? I never heard of cancer being contagious.”

“It’s not under normal circumstances. But remember when he was born, the polycaudality.” Geralt gestured towards the younger fox’s two tails. “No family history of it on either side. A sudden unexplained mutation, and mutations generally come from either deliberate modification or genetic damage. Radiation can cause genetic damage. I feel like a fool Amadeus. This was a warning shot and I should have paid extra careful attention to it.”

“You didn’t find anything; your consultants didn’t find anything either. You are an expert in these matters Geralt but you are not a computer.” Amadeus tensed his gaze. “Do not think for a moment that I blame you for her death. You are my best friend after all!”

“Regardless, expert or not I could have possibly caught it early enough to intervene.” Geralt frowned and stroked his white mustache. “I would like to do an examination on Miles and get those tissue samples sent out as soon as I can. If it were genetic damage from exposure in her time at the Royal Army, I need to confirm it quickly. I do not want you to become a widower and childless.”

Amadeus waved his hand dismissively. “Do what you must. Now I must figure out what I am going to do with the boy. The prime minister offered me leave of course or paid retirement. I am certainly old enough but that just doesn’t seem right. Like it or not the troops look to me as the father of the Republic, the father of the armed services. Leaving would certainly break morale.”

“What of your son’s morale? He needs family more than ever.” Geralt looked over at the fox. “What will you do then, have him babysat by adjutants and the military dependent system?” He stared disapprovingly through his round-rimmed glasses. “The boy is intelligent, think of what losing his father’s presence and influence would do to him. He deserves better.” The human squeezed his fingers into fists and flexed his toes in his shoes. “As your friend I would ask you to allow me to take him with me. Consider it a compromise. He will benefit from an Earth-based education. Johanna and I practically have an empty nest with our children grown. Let us take care of him for you.”

“I couldn’t possibly burden you like that.” Amadeus snapped out of guilt. Geralt shook his head and pointed over at Miles.

“Your son is no burden, least of all to me. He is the last of your family and needs every advantage he can get in this traumatic time.” The human retorted. “If you’re worried about finances I would tell you to ignore that. You know how well off we are. We’re wealthy from the interest drawn from the Watson side of the family as it is. But I know how you are Amadeus. You will want to compensate me anyways and if it will make you willing to do it, fine.”

“Very well.” Amadeus growled softly with a narrowed eye finally holding on Miles. He crossed his arms and then leaned forward to the little fox. “You remember your godfather Geralt, don’t you?”

“Yes, father.” Miles said quietly, turning away from the open casket. He looked up at Geralt with a nod. “He did some tests when I was smaller. He’s a doctor.”

“That’s right,” Geralt returned the nod. “and your father and I agreed that we should probably do more tests very soon. After that, you’ll get to go to Earth with me and stay. Your father needs to take care of some things.”

“Of course,” Miles slowly looked back at the casket, then bowed his head down. Geralt then bowed his head as well and slowly began to draw away for privacy to use his phone outside.

“I will call to make the arrangements, for the tests and the move.” Geralt said softly.

“I will make sure he is ready.” Amadeus replied, lowering his arms back to his sides. A shadow of a smile formed on his muzzle. “Thank you Gerry. For everything.”

Sturup Aerospace Center
Malmo, Sweden
October 16, 2100

“Well here we are.” Geralt Robotnik said as people milled around the mall-like concourse that the terminals opened out into. The newly eight-year-old fox holding his hand looked around, a combination of curiosity but also fear made him raise his ears. Never in his entire life up at this point had he seen so many humans going around him. Even back at the Mobotropolis aeroport, there was a healthy mix of his own people that gave him some sense of security. Then there was the mixture of Universal and Swedish in the air.

“Just one more car ride and we’ll be home.” Geralt’s voice broke the cacophony. On the shuttle ride to Earth, the human had explained his lineage to the young fox to pass the time. His mother Julianna was American. In fact, her maiden name was a Watson. Not descending from just any old Watson lineage though, but that of Dr. James D. Watson himself, one of the humans who discovered the structure of DNA in 1953, work that made him a Nobel Prize winner in 1962. The Watson family putting a branch of their tree in Sweden was to be expected. In fact, Geralt was born in the same city as Alfred Nobel himself, the prize’s namesake and he went to his great-grandfather’s alma mater of Indiana University for Xenobiology, after getting his medical degree at John Hopkins.

In either case, Geralt’s midwestern twang and informal demeanor put Miles at ease. Natural excitement of a new place, in fact a new planet took hold on him. The day started with sharing muffins with his father in his office at the Republic’s Central Defense Headquarters, sitting on top of packed cases. Then Geralt had arrived, two return tickets to Malmo in hand along with a small package. Ever the showman, he told Miles that it was a present for his birthday, but he requested that he wait until they reached his new home. Now standing in Sturup, the fox felt a small twinge of hunger.

“Might I find some mints?” The little fox asked.

“You have your kronor, right?” Geralt asked with a small nod. Miles reached into the zippered chest pocket of his light blue shirt and withdrew a small roll of multicolored notes and coins with a replying nod. They then made their way a vendor station where there was a small queue being handled by a teenaged girl in her franchise’s uniform.

“See anything of interest?” Geralt asked, placing his hand on the fox’s shoulder. Miles pointed towards a silver box with the Fazermint branding on it. Geralt leaned forward and blinked. 55 SEK it seemed. He nodded and then knelt to be at eye level.

“Let’s see if you can figure out how to make exact change then. Show me the smallest that you have.” Geralt requested. The fox unfolded the roll and looked down, then withdrew a single krona coin.

“Very good.” Geralt beamed. “Now that candy is 55 SEK. Can you find 55?” The fox put the single coin back into the mash of money and looked down, after a moment withdrawing a 5 kronor coin and an orange-faced 50 SEK note with the musician Axel Taube on it. Geralt nodded again with approval. “Go for it!”

Miles joined the queue right as the last person stepped away and slowly reached for the Fazermint box, getting up on his toes to set it on the counter. The girl looked down at him and leaned in.

“Oh how cute! I’ve never seen a Mobian with two tails!” Geralt laughed softly and moved closer.

“It’s his first time to Earth.” She then looked up at him.

“Well he’s made a very good choice. That will be 55 SEK.” Miles nodded and separated the needed money, putting the rest in his pocket and zipping it up before setting the money on the counter. “And he seems rather smart too!” Geralt laughed again.

“Let’s go ahead and add two hot teas with that.” He looked down. “How does Earl Grey sound, my little assistant?”

“I’ve never had that before.” He looked up and reached for his pocket but Geralt stayed him with a small wave of his hand and reached into his pocket, putting out a 5 SEK coin of his own. The girl smiled and collected the money, opening the till and dropping it in before going towards the machines behind her. After a few moments, she returned and dropped the cups into insulators and pushed them out.

“Thank you very much.” Geralt said, taking the cups up and giving a slight salute with a cup.

“Thank you.” Miles said, bowing his head slightly and then took up his box of chocolate mints, holding it under his arm before they turned away, following Geralt’s lead. “What about our bags Professor?” Geralt kept his pace while slowly offering the fox his cup.

“The porters are putting them in my car. My phone will tell me when the car’s ready. What do you think of Sweden so far?”

“I like it. Everything is so bright and colorful and the people are nice.” Miles said, starting to take a slow careful sip. “Mmp- a little bit hot.” They neared one of the exits and Geralt felt a small buzz in his pocket. The proximity alert from his car’s internal systems had gone off. They passed through a wide set of automatic doors and he spied his red Ford Excalibur pulling up and automatically going into an open pickup point. As they approached, the car recognized the presence of his phone and automatically opened the doors.

“There’s no driver?” Miles asked with curiosity and a sip of tea.

“Correct, the car is self-driving but there’s a manual system in case I prefer to drive.” Or in an emergency, Geralt mused. “But they are very reliable and can usually navigate effortlessly on their own. One day you’ll have your own and a license.”

“Maybe a spaceship, like one of those military ships that followed us into the Warp Gate.” The fox spoke up.

“Oh, a destroyer?” Geralt asked and received a nod from the fox. “Perhaps we’ll see what your father thinks about that. But there’s plenty of time to make those decisions.”

Geralt moved around the front and slid into the driver’s seat, setting his cup in the holder. Miles climbed in and found the five-point safety restraint securing itself to him automatically. Geralt drew back from the seat, pressing the trunk button and then moved around to check the back, finding their bags in place. He closed the trunk and then got back into his seat, the doors closing and his own restraints locking in.

“Hey Professor, welcome back.” The car’s male voice had a Queens accent. Geralt laughed and gestured towards the console.

“Miles, meet Richard.” he said as a way of introduction.

“Hey kid. Welcome to Earth. The name’s Richard, Richard Feynman.” The response came from a holographic projection of a friendly faced human with unkempt brown hair.

“And it talks too?” Miles asked with both ears rising.

“That’s right. I’m not only this lovely red rocket’s AI but also the professor’s home AI. My personality is built on a real man that lived in the 20th century, a physicist. Of all the people Gerry could have picked, he picks me. I mean I’m not knocking his taste but come on, I’m no Einstein.” Feynman explained.

“Modesty gets you nowhere Richard.” Geralt chuckled. “Home please.”

“Right Gerry, we’re off.” the AI replied, the gas pedal going down and the steering turning to the left to make the Excalibur join the flow of traffic. Miles continued to watch in awe as Geralt relaxed, lowering his armrests. Malmo still looked like a fusion of Old Europe and New Europe. It was clean, Sweden becoming an early adopter of clean energy with the rest of the world falling in place as resistance from companies that profited from fossil fuels fell as the clean energy industry reaped the rewards of an aggressive pro-adoption policy.

New jobs had been created by the initiatives and aging transportation infrastructure was revamped. As a matter of fact, the roads themselves had a top layer of solar and LED panels. Taking advantage of the solar energy that radiated to them in the daylight hours, underground fuel cells were filled with its energy drawn to buildings and key systems. Road markers themselves were replaced with programmed sequences that displayed on the LED panels. Adding another lane was just a matter of laying down panels and updating the programming.

The smart-cars also gained there, being able to draw energy and provide real time routing information to the necessary traffic AI systems. Gas stations had become a thing of the past, now switching to electric recharge and fuel cell replacement facilities, while their convenience store functions were further emphasized. Miles looked out at the green fields around them as they merged onto the E65, the wooded areas reminding him of the Emerald Hills where his father took himself and his mother. Back when things were good, when they were all together. To his surprise he saw Earth foxes running around behind the nearly invisible wire fencing.

“Get ready for some speed, kid.” Richard spoke up as the accelerator went down harder now. The Excalibur was now going at the maximum speed that the E65 allowed at optimum traffic conditions. Miles looked back at the console and flickered his ears, then looked down at the Fazermint box. He slowly opened it up and took one of the candies out, unwrapping it and chewing slowly. The fox closed his eyes and enjoyed the sweet, cool taste.

They travelled up the E65 into the outer southeast portion of Malmo, following the end ring of the highway and joining onto the southwestbound Inre Ringvägen. Malmo seemed just as large as Mobotropolis but denser. The buildings, surrounding streets and exits continued to be a blur as the Excalibur went back to the same highway speeds it maintained on the E65. The car passed under an elevated roundabout and Inre Ring vägen became the Annetorpsväg en.

The fox inched his head to the left as the car started to slow down to intra-city speed, a large shopping center catching his attention. The Excalibur turned off to the right to the northbound Lorensborgsgatan. He turned his attention back to the oncoming traffic and buildings, a mixture of modern 21st/22nd century buildings and well-kept survivors from earlier eras. Solar panels peppered roogs and ringed around the perimeter of most of them and there were underground connections to the National Electrical Reserve in case poor weather conditions or other factors made solar collection implausible.

There came another roundabout, the Swedes certainly favored them and Miles began to picture Europe as just a series of networked roundabouts. They circled around from the right and then went westbound onto the Artholmsvägen, passing a convenience station. The street was a narrow two-laner and he started to sigh in relief, seeing normal intersections. Then another roundabout which made the fox snort as Richard expertly turned the Excalibur to the right on a dime, now on the Bellevuevägen.

A gated park passed them by, then they came to a stop near another convenience station. Traffic passed by for about thirty seconds before the light turned green and the car immediately jolted forward as soon as go conditions were passed up the network. Then came another stoplight, though this one was green as they crossed the John Ericsson väg. After crossing the Köpenhamsvägen, the street converted into the Major Nilssonsgatan.

“Close, very close.” Richard spoke up as they came to a stop before Regementsgatan. Traffic passed by in both directions before they turned left, then went for a few feet and turned right. The car carefully moved down the one lane street until it stopped near the end. A small gate, large enough for the Excalibur to fit through opened up and the car eased ahead then reverse hooked, going backwards until it was clear of the gate, which closed. The restraints finally unlocked and the doors opened, allowing Gerald and Miles to get out. The fox stepped out and then turned to face his new home, gaping at a white three story 19th century micro-mansion.

Two large Siberian oak doors opened right as the trunk of the Excalibur opened. The fox ambled forward and took up his bag, then looked to Geralt, then the three people that exited out through the doors. A six-foot-tall man of 19 with a full head of brown-red hair and the start of a mustache stood beside a short woman around Geralt’s age with rounded glasses and graying blond hair. Headlining them was a blond haired girl in a blue turtleneck and matching hairband. The fox came to a stop before her and bowed his head and Geralt gestured with his free hand. “Miles,” His voice drew him to raise his head. He looked to the older woman first. “This is my wife Johanna.” Johanna gave him a small wave and smiled. Then Geralt nodded his head towards the man beside her. He moved closer and knelt down slightly, offering his hand.

“Ovi Robotnik, one of the Professor’s grandchildren.” His English had more of a Swede accent to it. “And with me is little Maria, my cousin.” The fox bowed his head and shook Ovi’s hand, then looked towards Maria. She looked close to thirteen and had a warm smile on her face. Instead of offering her hand, she embraced Miles, causing him to raise his ears and tails in surprise. “So that is what Grandfather meant when he said he would get me a puppy for my birthday.”

Geralt laughed softly. “He’s as much of a sentient as you are Maria, not a pet.” She looked up at him with an arched eyebrow. “I know that Grandfather. But that does not take away the fact that he’s so cute.” She then looked back to the fox. “Your name’s Miles? I think instead I will call you Tails.”

The fox blinked. “It beats freak any day of the week.” He started to waggle his new namesakes around.