Launch Base Zone

[Gerald Robotnik]

“What do you mean by that?!” Gerald shouted, as he looked over towards Rose.

Rose, still looking dazed answered back. “Mean by what?”

“Those factories you were talking about? What kind of living conditions are you giving them?!”

“Why do you care? They’re just stupid people!”

Gerald’s blood started to boil, and it showed. For the first time they would see Gerald mad. His brows deeply furrowed as his mouth frowned deeply. He stood up, and looked towards Rose, a fire in his eyes that were hidden behind his glasses.

“Allow me to give you a hint…” He began quite menacingly, “What was the gilded ages like for orphans around that time…”

[Rose Fox]

Rose rolled her eyes. “What does child labor have to do with this?!”

“Well it certainly has a lot to do with me!” Gerald snapped, as he pointed his thumb at himself.

Rose looked at him dumbfounded. She blinked; she didn’t expect to hear that at all. She darted her eyes back and forth, before looking over to Robotnik.

“Uhh…doc?” She didn’t know what to say, nor did she really know why she called out to him.

[Dr. Robotnik]

Robotnik briefly made eye contact with Rose, before he returned his gaze to Gerald. This time though, he didn't appear so confused like with Gerald's other outbursts. He was starting to notice a pattern as to when his mentor seemed to get upset.

"You seem to have something against factories. I remember how you acted when you saw the inside of this ship for the first time, and now you're doing it again with Rose bringing them up. Did something...happen to you involving a factory?"

The doctor said this as if he were a medical doctor, like a psychologist. He didn't carry any hint of anger or irritation. It was more like curiosity.

[Gerald Robotnik]

“It’s not so much the factories as it is how the people –in- those factories are treated.” Gerald corrected still not looking very pleasant. “I also question why you don’t know, but I can probably see why.”

He let out a hard sigh placing his hands over his eyes, trying to calm down.

“Many things happened to be involving a factory.” Gerald began wearily. “ I worked in one for a small time in my life.”

[Rose Fox]

Rose rolled her eyes as she folded her arms. “Big whoop, how bad is working in a factory as a grown adult?”

“I started when I was four.”

Rose looked a little shocked. “Oh…”

“-Working eighteen hours a day-”


“Oohhh….Child labor. Industrial revolution…”

(Even Rose thinks that goes a little too far…for her own reasons

[Dr. Robotnik]

The doctor merely shrugged when Gerald brought up having children work in the factories.

"So you worked in a factory when you were little. So what? I make our children work in the factories from when they're six and they work there for most of the day. I don't see what the problem is. It keeps them off the streets and out of trouble, and trains them to be productive citizens for later in life. I expect all who live in my domain to work just as hard as I do at advancing the Empire's goals."

He said all of this as if it were the most normal thing in the world, like it was just the way things had always been and the way they should be.

[Gerald Robotnik]

A part of Gerald snapped when he heard that. That had been the same kind of argument given by those who ran the factories, or who were wealthy enough to never experience it. It felt like he had been snapped through the heart.

“How can you just say that?!” Gerald exclaimed, clearly upset. “Do you realize the kind of pain those kids go through? Kids can’t work that way- they’re kids! It doesn’t teach them to be more productive, all it does is provide nightmares! Do you realize the things I’ve seen as a child? I’ve seen limbs dismembered from digits to arms! Most kids who grow in adults don’t live past thirty as they’re lungs blacken from all the toxins they’ve breathed in!-”

All the time his voice rose, as well as his face slowly becoming more enraged.

“I saw one of my best friends die- first hand; falling into a furnace and being burned alive. And do you want to know who notice? Me. Just me. No one else cared, but me. I’ve had nightmares ever since that plague me even to now. What kind of empire is it when not even the people that build it aren’t important? You might as well be ruler of an abandoned anthill. You-….you-.”

And literally now, something –did- snap. For him, it felt like he had blacked out mysteriously. But yet, he still stood. His face got colder, his voice changed to wear it sounded like a darker version of the older Gerald. His gaze turned like ice, like it tried to pierce through the Doctor.

“You insolate, spoiled child!” he sneered, “I –told- Harold not to put you on a pedestal, but I can see that he did! Damn boy, he never listens to me.”

[Rose Fox]

Rose blinked. She noticed the sudden change in Gerald’s demeanor.

“Harold? Who the hell is Harold?” She looked over towards the Doctor with a confused look on her face. “Doc, what’s going on?”

[Dr. Robotnik]

"Harold...is my father," Robotnik said, very softly. "Gerald's son. He helped me get to where I am today."

This whole talk clearly seemed to have done a big number on Gerald's psyche, not to mention Robotnik himself. It greatly disturbed him that his idol didn't approve one little bit of all the things he was doing right now. Bringing him here was a mistake, and Gerald seemed to just be getting closer and closer to violence the longer he had him here. He looked like he'd reached a peak in his anger too, and Robotnik did not want to see what would happen after this.

Perhaps now it was time to bring this to an end before it got out of hand, so that they could all relax a bit. The doctor pressed a button on his communicator as he kept an eye on Gerald.

"Yes... Could you please remove Gerald to the brig? Do be gentle with him. He's been through a lot today."

A nearby doorway smoothly slid open, as two SWATbots stepped forward and gingerly tried to grapple Gerald.

[Gerald Robotnik]

Brig? He didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into, but being in another cell was the first thing to avoid. He’d have to act, and quick.

“What? I’m confused…”

He lightened his expression to dumbfound, looking around the room. He would stop and stare at Robotnik like a deer in the headlights. As the Swatbots would try to grab onto his arm, he lifted his right hand up to his face. When this happened his face suddenly morphed into bewilderment (which was actually genuine). He looked down at his nose and proceeded to rub his finger across the bottom of his nose. When he finally realized what was no longer there, he gasped.

“My mustache!” He exclaimed in surprise now bringing his hand up to his head. “What happened to--”

He stopped in mid-sentence, giving another bewildered look. He rubbed his fingers through his scalp, before grabbing one of his bangs and pulling it down into his face.

“….When did I grow my hair back?!”