Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Chao in Space ❯ Two of a Kind ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the title of this fic, as it was used in Sonic Adventure DX before. I do own the various Chao presented in the story, including Sparky, Krost, Shade, etc. Any similarities to Chao in the real world are purely coincidental.

***************************************************************** ***************************

 

- August 8, 2005 -

 

The Moon Base was built to prepare Hero Chao to battle the DCA, but all of the HCA's members need a place to live, rest, and get to know each other. And that's where the Amethyst Sector comes in. It is one of the twelve sectors in the station, and it serves as a permanent residence - “barracks”, if you will - for members of the HCA. The Amethyst Sector is also the last stop for new recruit tours. Down on one of the lower floors, a reinforced door steadily opens up, revealing a trolley coming to the end of a tunnel. Once it slows down and stops, a sky blue Chao and a child make their way off the trolley. They are apparently in the middle of a conversation.

 

“Another part of the Opal Sector, you say?” Aurora asks.

 

“Yes. Mr. Krost told me that the cafeteria was only part of it.” Sparky answers.

 

“We actually have a library of sorts in the Opal Sector. It's possible that some Chao may want to do some research so he or she can apply it to the war effort.”

 

“That's interesting.”

 

As the two step through the door, it closes behind them. In front of them is an extremely tall clearing in the rock, with walkways lined up in rows throughout the height of the room. One can barely make out some doors placed around these pathways. A few posters with the number “2” on it are visible.

 

“Well, here we are,” Aurora says. “Welcome to the Amethyst Sector, your new home at the Moon Base.”

 

“You mean I get to live here?”

 

“That's right.”

 

“Wow!” Sparky exclaims. “I only wish my parents were here to see this.”

 

“Why couldn't they?”

 

Sparky hesitates slightly before speaking. “Well, they're dead, Miss Aurora.”

 

“Oh. I'm sorry to hear that.”

 

“Mr. Krost said that he tried to save them, but the Dark Chao reached them first.” Sparky looks down at the floor. “Now that they're gone, I've chosen to fight any Dark Chao who work for Shade, and someday, hopefully, the one who killed my parents.”

 

Aurora is a bit surprised at Sparky's behavior. “For a seven-year-old, you seem to have gotten over your parents' death pretty quickly. Come with me. I'll show you to your living quarters.”

 

Aurora begins to walk down the pathway, and Sparky follows. Eventually, they arrive at another door. This time it opens automatically, instead of Aurora having to swipe an I.D. card. The two Chao step into a small room, and the door closes behind them. The small chamber then starts to move, catching Sparky off guard and almost making him stumble.

 

“Don't worry, you'll get used to that,” Aurora says. “Right now, we are entering into another large cave in the Amethyst Sector. There are currently six of them, but we're running out of room, so a nearby space is undergoing construction.”

 

“Which one are we going to now?” Sparky asks.

 

“Cave number one. Your room - number thirteen - is on floor twenty-five.”

 

The chamber slows down and stops, and a door opens to let them out. Now one can see several posters with the number “1” on it nearby. Sparky is the first to speak as they exit and head to the left.

 

“Why are these posters here?”

 

“Each cave is basically designed the same way, so they are here to let Chao know where they are to prevent confusion. There are also elevators positioned every 8 rooms so you can easily get to your floor no matter which entrance you come from.”

 

“Did you say “which entrance'?” Sparky curiously asked.

 

“There are trolleys in the Amethyst Sector that go to almost every other location in the base. However, you'll need I.D. to get into the Diamond Sector, and there's no access to the Pearl Sector from here.”

 

“I see,” Sparky said.

 

“Why don't I show you to your room? There's an elevator right here.”

 

The two find an elevator right by them, so Aurora presses a button to open the door. As they step inside and the lift begins to move, Sparky seems anxious as ever to go to his new home, seeing that he no longer had one on Earth.

 

“Once we get to our stop, I'll give you a card key to get in your room, okay?” Aurora asks.

 

“All right, Miss Aurora.”

 

The elevator slows down and the traditional bell ring is heard as Aurora and Sparky reach the twenty-fifth floor.

 

“Your room shouldn't be too far from here. Just go to the right until you find room thirteen.”

 

The lift door steadily splits, allowing the two Chao to step out. They head to the right past four doors, and then they find room thirteen.

 

“Here's the card key I was telling you about.” She takes out a small card with the numbers “1-25-13” on it, representing the cave number, floor, and room. Sparky takes the card, but isn't sure what to do with it. “You need to swipe the card,” Aurora says. The young Chao soon realizes what she meant and swipes the card key next to the door handle. It beeps several times before a small green light appears. Sparky turns the handle and pushes the door open.

 

“Hey there Aurora,” shouts someone from the inside. As Sparky steps in, he sees that the voice came from a gray Chao who appears to be the same age as he, with slightly webbed feet and the spike on his head beginning to split. He is wearing an orange bowtie on his neck.

 

“Another new recruit, I see?” says a different voice. This Chao is also gray in color, but he is wearing a cobalt blue bowtie, and his hands and feet are a bit larger than normal.

 

Aurora chuckles. “Heh. You two have always had good eyesight. You never fail to spot me when I'm nearby.” Aurora then turns to the new recruit. “Sparky, meet your new roommates.”

 

As Sparky walks up to them, he enters a moderate-sized common room with green walls. There are a couple of chairs and a couch positioned along the wall to the left and back of the room. The Chao with the orange bowtie shakes Sparky's hand and introduces himself. “Hello. I'm Matt the Chao.” Then the Chao with the blue bowtie steps forward. “My name's Nat. Matt and I are twins.”

 

“Nice to meet you. I'm Sparky.”

 

After Sparky greets the twins, Aurora interrupts. “Okay Sparky, I'll have to leave now. Tomorrow you'll be mailed a schedule and other information about our base. The next day you will begin training with some more new recruits. Good luck with everything.”

 

“Thanks Miss Aurora.”

 

Aurora turns around and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. Matt sees this as the time to start conversing with the new recruit. “So Sparky, how do you like the base?”

 

“It's neat,” Sparky responds. “I'll definitely become stronger here.”

 

“Well, the training program is pretty extensive, even hard sometimes. It is possible to get stronger here, but you have to make a very serious commitment if you wish to succeed,” Matt says.

 

“Despite that your programs will soon be permanent for quite some time, there are still some critical decisions you'll still need to make. What you pick might make or break your career with this army,” Nat says.

 

“How long will they be permanent?” Sparky asks.

 

“First off,” Matt begins, “how old are you, and when is your birthday?”

 

“I'll be eight in a couple of weeks.”

 

“So I guess that's about seven more years for you. Once you turn fifteen, you'll have a wider variety of programs.”

 

“Hey, how old are you two?” Sparky asks the twins.

 

Nat responds to this question. “Matt and I were born in May of 1997, so we're several months older than you.”

 

“We were drafted into the HCA about half a year ago, if my memory is correct,” Matt says.

 

“Five months, two weeks, and four days actually,” Nat interrupts.

 

“You really remember all that?” Sparky says, almost in awe of the gray Chao's rather specific memory.

 

“Well, Nat and I both have keen senses-” Matt begins.

 

“But I have the better memory, and my brother has better eyesight.” Nat says as he completes his twin's sentence.

 

“That's interesting,” Sparky says.

 

“So tell me, what convinced you to sign up with the HCA?” Nat asks.

 

Sparky hesitates to start before explaining what happened. “Well, about a week ago, some Dark Chao showed up and-“ the young Chao pauses, knowing he'll be bringing up his parents, “-and they killed my mom and dad.”

 

The twins seem a bit shocked that their new roommate happens to be an orphan. Matt tries to console him. “I'm sorry to hear that they're dead, Sparky.”

 

Sparky continues. “Krost showed up a little bit later and took me away from the Dark Chao, and then he brought me here.”

 

Then Nat speaks. “I hope it isn't too tough here without your family around.”

 

“No, you don't need to worry, Nat,” Sparky says. “I'll be fine. I just don't want anyone else to die the way my parents did. That's why I decided to join.”

 

The twins both look at each other, and, similar to Aurora, are surprised at how quickly Sparky had gotten over his parents' death.

 

“Well,” Matt starts, “I think it's time we showed the new recruit some more of his living quarters.”

 

The twins lead Sparky down to a small hallway to the right. While in the middle of the hall, the young Chao sees two bedrooms, one on each side, and a bathroom straight ahead.

 

“This room to the left is yours. Go ahead and take a rest if you wish. I'm sure the tour was a bit exhausting,” Nat says.

 

“Lunch hour is coming up though,” Matt adds. “You want to come, Sparky?”

 

“I already had some lunch with Aurora. Thanks anyway,” Sparky says as he sits on the edge of his bed. The twins leave him and walk back down the hallway. After a few minutes, Sparky places his card key on a night table next to his bed, then he turns and lies down, slowly closing his eyes.

 

- August 9, 2005 -

 

After resting for a while, Sparky wakes up. He finds that his room is slightly dark. He gets up and finds a disk-like object hanging on the wall, with the numbers 1 through 12 circling around the edge and sets of four lines between the numbers. Also, two small black sticks of different sizes stick out of the center; the small one points just to the right of the 12, and the larger one points slightly above the 3. Sparky is confused at this strange object, so he starts walking toward the twins' room nearby. He enters only to see them about to get into their separate beds. Seeing Sparky finally out of bed, Matt speaks first.

 

“Hey there, sleepy-head. What's up?”

 

Well, I found this object on the wall in my room. Do you know what it is?”

 

“What object?”

 

“Well, it has the numbers 1 to 12 on it.” Sparky responds.

 

“Oh, that's a clock,” Matt says.

 

“What does it do?”

 

Nat answers for his brother. “It tells what time of the day it is.”

 

“You mean when it's day or night?”

 

“Correct. Since many of us Chao came from the wilderness, the administration had to teach some of us how to read clocks. Before I continue, where did you come from?” Matt asks.

 

“I used to live in a meadow outside a city called Tokyo,” Sparky says. “We didn't have clocks there.”

 

“Okay. First of all,” Matt begins, “you should know that the time of day is split into two sections: A.M., or the morning, and P.M., the evening.” He looks to a clock on their wall, and Sparky does the same. “The numbers and sticks, or hands, tell the hour and minute - the small hand is the hour and the big hand is the minute. Right now it would be 12:15, and since it is really the morning now, this would be A.M.”

 

“I think I see what you mean,” Sparky says. “But do those small lines between the numbers tell the hour or minute?”

 

“They represent minutes,” Nat responds. "Also, HCA schedules use time to separate training sessions here, but you'll get used to it fairly quickly.”

 

“Oh, that reminds me, when does my schedule come in?”

 

“Actually, they come in the middle of the night, and that's right now,” Nat says.

 

Sparky, eager to find out what's planned for tomorrow, rushes out of the twins' bedroom and heads to the common room. On the floor next to the door is a large envelope. The young Chao opens it up and finds that the first sheet contains a list of courses and time ranges detailing his training sessions for each day:

 

------------------------------------

 

Flying Basics (Topaz Sector) - 7:40 A.M. to 8:40 A.M.

Breakfast Hour (Opal Cafeteria) - 9:00 A.M to 10:00 A.M.

Strength Training (Garnet Sector) - 10:20 A.M. to 11:20 A.M.

Running Basics (Peridot Sector) - 11:40 A.M. to 12:40 P.M.

Lunch Hour (Opal Cafeteria) - 1:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M.

Swimming Basics (Aquamarine Sector) - 2:20 P.M. to 3:20 P.M.

Ground Combat Basics (Sapphire Sector) - 3:40 P.M. to 4:40 P.M.

Dinner Hour (Opal Cafeteria) - 5:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.

Air Combat Basics (Ruby Sector) - 6:20 P.M. to 7:20 P.M.

 

------------------------------------

 

The twins decide to walk over to Sparky and see what his schedule is like. After reading over the young Chao's shoulder for about a minute, Matt comments on the sheet in the packet. “Not too bad. Nat and I have similar sessions, but some take place at different times.”

 

“Also,” Nat interrupts, “there's a trolley terminal in the base of each cave in the Amethyst Sector that goes to most locations here.”

 

“Miss Aurora told me about that,” Sparky says.

 

Matt speaks next. “Now, you have until tomorrow before this all begins, so why don't you go over the other pages given here?”

 

“They talk about the lunch options, basic regulations, and the annual Chao tournament,” Nat finishes for his brother.

 

Sparky yawns. “Well, okay, but I think I might want a little more sleep.”

 

“You were already asleep for half a day, though,” Matt says. “What could have made you so tired?”

 

“I didn't get much rest on the way here,” Sparky answers.

 

“Yeah, those spaceships were never very comfortable,” Matt responds. “But what about the tour? Didn't you feel tired then?”

 

“I was excited about seeing the base. I couldn't have felt sleepy then.”

 

“If that's the case,” Nat says, “rest up. You're in for a big day soon.”

 

“Okay. Good night guys,” Sparky says.

 

“Good night,” the twins say together. Sparky heads back to his bedroom and lies down. It takes merely a few minutes before he falls asleep.

***************************************************************** ***************************

 

And that's chapter 3 (finally). But I'll warn you, the next chapter might be a little longer than this one, and with all the work I get in school, it may take a while to complete. So please be patient! See ya!