Sally's Hut: It Sucks Being In Charge

[Leda]

Between that hare being a jerk, the newbies causing a ruckus, and having to find a new home for all of Rotor's junk, Sally's patience had worn a little thin. Buuuut... That kind of stress went along with being a leader, whether she liked it or not. The princess stalked off to her hut to gather her composure and flopped onto her bed.

Aaaand winced. She forgot she'd left Nicole there when she left again.

Rolling her eyes, Sally opened up her compact computer and leaned back against her pillows. "Nicole, boot up the holo-map of Knothole, emphasis on the hutrows. Mark all unoccupied units and list their current uses. And remind me to nag Rotor to either build himself another storage shed or stop being such a packrat."

"Yes, Sally. Initializing," came the soft reply from her computer, and the small screen began to flicker. Before long a transparent map of the village had shown up just above the PDA, which quickly zoomed in and began marking several notes off.

There was a knock on her door. Sitting up in her bed, the princess casually called, "It's open!" without taking her eyes off the screen.

[DB]

Aaand one of the newbies poked his head in. "Er, hey there, glad I found you... kinda had to wander around a bit. Ever heard of a robot called... uh... jellyjamsoultaker or something before? Kills grass with his feet, that sort of thing?"

[Mage's Brother]

Stk pushes open the door widely watching it swing open. Then he catches it, and swings it closed. Then opens it again. Then closes it again. "How does this work exactly. The master had one, but I never thought about it."

[Leda]

Sally arched an eyebrow at the newcomer following Dash. "I.... can't say I have," she answered after a moment. Rising from her bed, Nicole in tow, the ground squirrel watched StK play with her door. This day was certainly full of unusual characters. "It's a door," she said, closing it resolutely before he worked it off its hinges. "You use it to get past walls without having to break them." Did I just actually explain what a door is for? "Um, may I help you?"

[DB]

The tenrec scratched an ear and frowned. He really wanted to go back to bed, but it would probably be rude to just ditch the weird robot in Sally's lap then run off.

"Uhm... yeah, he doesn't seem to know much. He thought my hut was an aquarium."

[Mage's Brother]

Stk fumbles his fingers together, looking around at all the strange objects around the room. he sees the bed and makes a noise of exclamation. "!!! You have one too!" He walks over to the bed expectantly, and pushes down on it a bit. "Yours is much more soft than masters though. is it broken? If we fid some stones we can make it hard again."

[Leda]

"Egh..." Sally grimaced and shut Nicole's screen, causing the hologram to disappear, and crossed over to StK's side. "Um, thank you, but my bed is quite fine the way it is." Then, a little more firmly, "Is there something you needed help with? Can you tell me your name, where you're from...?"

[Mage's Brother]

He looks at Sally. "I'm JAMProject Soultaker. And a burrowing mammal informed me I should come here and speak with a Princess Sally Acorn. He didn't say what about. Just that you'd need to see me."

Stk looks around aimlessly. The sun is shining outside. "Can we talk outside? The sun is out."

Stk without even waiting for a response goes, and very proudly opens the door, then steps out into the sunlight, wilting patches of grass with each step. Thenspreads his wings which angle themselves to the sun.

[Leda]

"...." Okay, mental note to keep this guy out of the garden. Sally cleared her throat and gave a tug at Dash's arm as the pair exited the hut after StK. "Find Sonic of Bunnie for me," she said through gritted teeth, her voice lowered a bit. Releasing Dash, the princess made her way to the dirt path, trying to lead StK away from the foliage. "I'm Sally Acorn. Um..." She wasn't exactly sure how to go about this. "Could you please tell me who your master is that you keep referencing?"

[Mage's Brother]

"I....never really knew his name. Just Master. He's dead now. But I'm having difficulty accepting it." Stk thinks back to the cave....it started to make sense. Why the master never ate. Why he always slept. He had been dead. "I think I've been feeding a corpse for over a hundred years." Stk has just now come to this realization.

[DB]

So now he was a go-fer. Oh well, it was probably the least he could do for their kindess. And besides that, this was an order from the princess... even though she didn't want to be treated as a princess. Kind of messed with his head really, but whatever.

"Yeah, sure, I'll get on that then."

And with that he jogged off to find either of the two Sally mentioned.

[Leda]

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Sally replied softly, her expression a little more grave. She took a moment to gaze over his metallic shell; she had assumed he'd had a run-in with a roboticizer, but now suspected this master of his had built him from scratch. "I noticed the way the grass wilts beneath your feet... Do you know what the purpose of your design is?"

[Mage's Brother]

As if it were only natural, he replied. "Energy extraction. Typically solar, lunar, or from life-force energy. I am the Soultaker. I drain life, I take souls." He smiles vaguely. He felt like a Parrot. That was what his master had said and he was repeating it.

You are the Soultaker. You drain life, you take Souls. You bring them back to me. That is all. Don't EVER touch me either. Ever.

[Leda]

"...I... see...." This promised to be a huge problem. If left to his own devices, this Soultaker person would end up killing everything just by being there. There had to be something that could be done... She needed to speak to Rotor, or Uncle Chuck would be even better. But that'd mean taking StK along, which could be bad... or leaving him alone, which could be worse.

Well, time to try something far-fetched but worth a shot. "Is there any way you can disable that function?"

[Mage's Brother]

"Of course there is." He didn't smile. In fact he frowned slightly.

[Lans]

From outside the roar of a sonic boom could be heared approaching. Sonic was still on the other side of the village, but at the speed he was booking it, he'd be there in a few seconds.

[Leda]

Sonic's booms were unmistakable, and Sally glanced quickly in the direction they originated. That was good news, at least, but she still had a balancing act ahead of her. Taking a deep breath, the princess carefully asked, "Would you mind shutting it off at least for the next few minutes? Not to impune the work of your master; it's very brilliant work. I'm just concerned for the safety of the residents here." She followed it up with a reassuring smile.

[Mage's Brother]

"No...it's not brilliant work, its sadistic. You don't understand. For me to shut off my primary function is the equivalent of you shutting off your heart. If I sever the mechanism, I die. For good. I'm sorrry but I won't shut down now." Stk faces the other way.

[Lans]

Sonic slid to a halt in front of the two, tearing up twin skidmarks in Sally's front yard. "Hey Sal...." he blinked as he looked at STK, "..and really creepy vibes person." He suddenly zipped over next to Sally, "Yo Sal, who's he?"

[Leda]

Sally held her chin with a disconcerted sigh. "I see... That's probably going to create a problem, on both sides... But you know, I wouldn't sell your master short. To be able to create a device that can absorb the very essence of life requires utmost brilliance, whether the intended purpose is sadistic or benevolent. Even Dr. Robotnik, however evil he may be, has a respectable intellect..."

The princess involuntarily braced herself against the whip of the air as Sonic zipped onto the scene. A smile, less forced than the last, overtook her face as she hugged him. "Sonic, I'm glad you're back!!" As she straightened up, though, her eyes clearly communicated that there was a biiig problem on their hands. Nodding over her shoulder at StK, she said with a slightly clenched jaw, "We have another guest. His name is the Soultaker."

[Mage's Brother]

Stk felt very....sad. He was not inherently cruel. He always thought he had been careful. But hs master's fear of being touched. Maybe it had affected his electronic brain a bit. He had been made to absorb energies. And here he was, suddenly concerned for the well being of himself and others. He didn't want to hurt anyone. No not really. He had been made just for that. He had been made a thief, made to take what wasn't his. He didn't deserve a soul.

Weapons do not get souls of there own. They can only take those of others.

Maybe it would be better to shut down. For good. But though that was for the best, he refused to. REFUSED to. He was sill alive. He was still his own person. And as long as he lived, he wouldn't let anyoe take that away. If it came to it, he'd just have to go find outwho would accept him for what he is. Get a new master so to speak.

[Lans]

"Soul...taker?" Yeesh, could the guy have a LESS creepy name? Heck the dud elooked like a robot too. Wait, robot!

"Sal! We got a message from Uncle Chuck, wanting us to check out some lab of Robotnik's, so while you were busy I went to go check it out by myself!"

[Jamie Lee]

And a minute or two later a certain rabbot being followed by a certain tenrec walked up. "Hey Sally-Girl, what's this Ah'm hearing about--" she paused when she caught sight of StK. "... Wow."

[DB]

And the tenrec... yawned. Too much in one day, really. Not only that but he was hungry too, but he'd been ignoring that in favor of wanting to get some rest. Of course now it couldn't be ignored- but niether could anything else going on. Caught between what he wanted to do and what he should do. Bother.

"I found Bunnie, is there anything else you need?"

[Leda]

The message from Uncle Chuck caught Sally's attention. Messages weren't usually exchanged to ask about the weather; they were limited to serious matters. "Okay..." the princess said without really thinking about it. Actually, things weren't okay; things were becoming more and more of a juggling act.

Which is why she was so happy to see Bunnie and Dash approaching. "Hey, you guys! Perfect timing. Thank you, Dash." Sally excused herself and walked forward to greet them, lowering her voice a little as she spoke. "Bunnie, I need a favor," she said. "Sonic's just gotten some important information that I need to go over with him, but we have another visitor..." The ground squirrel paused for a second to word her thoughts properly. "He hasn't been aggressive, but he absorbs life energy. I'm not comfortable leaving him to himself. Could you please keep an eye on him for me?"

[Mage's Brother]

He shifts his weight slightly. Readjusting his angle to the sun.

[Lans]

Sonic just sped inside to wait for Sally, already digging the camera out of his backpack.

[Jamie Lee]

Bunnie looked StK over, ears wilting a little. "Sure thing, hon."

[Leda]

"Thank you Bunnie, I really owe you one!!" Reaching forward to hug the rabbit, Sally added just above a whisper, "Keep him on the beaten path."

That taken care of, Sally jogged back over to her hut after Sonic. Securely closing the door behind her, the princess's face twisted in anger as she unexpectedly whacked the speedy hedgehog upside the head. "You went to Robotropolis ALONE?! What were you thinking??"

[DB]

Dash looked over StK once more and started to walk off now that the robot Wasn't His Problem™, until once again realizing midstride he had no idea where he was going. So he returned back to Bunnie's side. "Do you know where someone would get something to eat around here? ... or where my hut is?" He scratched an ear.