For all the people who live on that planet....

Nicole’s ears perked up moreand she looked over at the other. “Why hello there.” she smiled over at her. 

"My name’s Nicole." 

"My name is Maria. I haven't seen you recently, so-" Before she could finish, she lost control of her books and they fell to the floor.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" She quickly kneeled down and began to pick them up.

Walking down the hall the skunk listened careully to see if anyone was there. “‘Ello?” he asked out loud. 

She was surprised at how quickly he heard her, but was happy he noticed and didn't just past by. She opened her door more and stood out.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you. I'm Maria."

"…THAT DOES NOT SOUND VERY DIFFICULT," The war machine noted.

Then again, most organic ‘meatbags’ didn’t have thermal scanners.

"VERY WELL! I BELIEVE I UNDERSTAND THE MEATBAG VERSION OF ‘HIDE AND SEEK’! INFORM ME WHEN YOU BEGIN COUNTING, COMRADE MARIA." Omega stated, the red glow of his optics fading before turning completely black.

Maria nodded, then began to sputter out that he didn't quite understand the rules yet when he seemingly turned off. She flinched, wondering if she broke him somehow. But she guessed he was in a temporary power off mode and could still interact with her.

So she hurried off, into the hallways. Wanting to be easy on him, Maria hid in a nearby room and kept the door slightly open. She squirmed under the bed until she felt properly hidden.

"Uh... I'll begin counting now!" She shouted out, hoping he could hear her.

He had gotten this question many times, so he could answer it easily.

"Well, it’s part of my Chicken Suit. It gives me powers, like the strength to roll around enormous eggs to squash my enemies, and hatch them and use the animals inside to help me. It also protects me from the Crescent Crow Army and the dangerous… things they do. Even though I’m not doing any hatching right now, I’m wearing it because I just simply love wearing it."

Maria furrowed her eyebrows, nodding as she listened. To her, the whole explanation was a part of his overactive imagination. But she wasn't one to be rude and his beliefs weren't hurting anyone.

"Ah, that's really interesting! That army really does sound mean, if you have to wear that to protect yourself."

He smiled back, and shook the girl’s hand. The person he had just met wasn’t someone he would usually meet due to being in Morning Land most of the time.

"My name is Billy Hatcher! It is also nice to meet you!"

Now that they were a bit closer, she noticed the odd chicken hood on him. She pointed at it.

"Not to be rude, but why are you wearing that?"

 ♪♬ ” I’m glad to hear that! I hope you’ll get as good as me someday.”Mina said with a smile. Then she realized a NURSE asked her to watch Maria. Mina leaned forward carefully with wide eyes.

" Maria?… Are you okay?… What seems to be wrong with you, if I may ask..?" Mina asked in a soft tone. It was unusual seeing the mongoose so quiet but this seemed serious. She really wanted to know what was wrong with her new friend. ♪♬

Maria stepped back a bit, very surprised at the sudden change of tone and subject. She found it odd, to. Everyone who came on the Ark was briefed on their job, the mission the Ark had, and most importantly, about her. She wanted to ask what exactly Mina was assigned, or if she was just an visitor, but didn't want to seem rude.

She took a breath in, ready to explain her illness. "I have NIDS. It's a disease that destroys a persons immune system. The immune system becomes so weak that it can't even fight against bacteria that regularly enters the body from Earth's air. It doesn't have a cure yet, so my grandpa created this place to create one, and to keep me alive until he's found it."

Sonic slowly walked into the room and stared at the human girl with a look of worry and surprise, he hadn’t expected to be greeted and inmediately felt bad for walking into a patient’s room. As he inspected for a bit, his ears dropped sightly, she must be very sick if she was that pale. Poor thing…

"H-Hi, N-Nice to meetcha too, Name’s Sonic! I-I uh…sorry I walked in just like that ,’m kinda lost…"

She laughed lightly, shaking her head. "Don't worry, Sonic. I rarely get visitors so this is nice for me. And I understand. The only way to understand the Ark map is to live here for years, like I have."

She got off of her bed, walking towards him.

"My name is Maria. And if you need to get to a certain room, I can help you. It's no bother to me."

"…? …DOES THAT MEAN I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OBLITERATE ANYONE TONIGHT…?" The war machine questioned…

…He sounded a bit disappointed.

The trigger-happy robot was looking forward to destroying something…

Regardless, he’d play by the rules this human had given him.

After all, she WAS one of Shadow’s closest companions.

"…VERY WELL. QUERY: WHO SHALL BE DOING THE ‘HIDING’ FIRST…?"

Maria was worried if he had only known of violence until now. She couldn't imagine living a life like that, to the point where hide and seek was about destroying. But as long as she and Shadow were his friends, she would try to make him more peaceful.

"I'll hide first!" She told him. She then decided to explain the rest of the rules. "So, I'll hide and you have to look away. Then, you'll count to ten and start seeking! That's the gist of it."

"…! CLARIFICATION: WE ARE GOING TO PLAY THE ‘HIDE AND SEEK’…!?" SOMEONE certainly sounded excited.

The war machine was surprised, to say at the very least.

He never suspected that she would be into such a game!

The robot was eager to begin, his hands retracting into his bulky arms.

…Someone had a completely different idea of what ‘Hide and Seek’ was.

"QUERY: WHO SHALL WE BE SEEKING FIRST…!? ANOTHER MACHINE…? A WORTHLESS MEATBAG CARETAKER? …AN EGGMAN ROBOT…!?"

Maria almost couldn't believe that he knew about this game. Shadow must have showed him! It was almost to good to be true.

And it was. Before she could let out her happiness, it became clear that he didn't understand the normal version of Hide and Seek. She began to wonder if grandpa even created Omega. Her best guest was that he was made from GUN.

"Oh... um, that's not really how it works. One of us hides, and we go out to find them! And... no one gets hurt. At all." She hoped he wouldn't get bad at this new change.