Cascading Failures

Earlier

Rouge wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking at. A vast flat field spread before her, hundreds of people sitting silently in layer after layer of concentric circles with a small dais at the center, upon which sat…a dead flower in a pot? She was happy that all the missing townsfolk weren’t dead or slaving away in subterranean mine shafts…but what the fuck was this?

Sage’s request had been straight forward. Retrieve a biological sample of whatever had crawled out of the crater Rouge had found. Simple. Get in. Grab the thing. Get out. Right up Rouge’s alley.

“Why do you want a sample?” Rouge had asked cautiously.

“Fresh biological samples are required for the development of countermeasures.” Sage explained. “Remediations designed with aged samples may not be efficacious against current threats.”

Fair enough. Rouge took a little heart in the fact that Eggman was also worried about the Black Arms. Maybe the new alien invasion could be leveraged to gain a reprieve from the current War. Rouge would key her eyes and ears open while she ‘worked’ for the Doctor. It wouldn’t be the first time and probably wouldn’t be the last.

The initial infiltration had gone off without a hitch. Rouge found the cave even with the forest enveloped in that weird darkness. The colony seemed small. A few small mobile Black Arms patrolled the area. They were of a variety that Rouge had not seen before. Black lizard-like creatures with bulbous red sacks all down their long black bodies. She stabbed a large syringe into one and booked it out of there.

Sage took the sample and upheld the first part of their bargain. More than upheld, actually. Rouge had only wanted to know what had happened to all the missing people and maybe negotiate or scheme her way to learning their location. Instead, Sage brought Rouge directly to them. The agent found Sage’s nonchalance troubling, as if Rouge represented no threat at all.

Further north, Eggman had constructed a series of massive glass domes. Inside each was a perfect little town and all the kidnapped people. Like a terrarium or zoo enclosure, Rouge thought ruefully.

The atmosphere was pleasant under the dome. Massive arrays of chaos powered lights and heat exchangers maintained a warm spring afternoon while snow piled up just on the other side of the thick, insulated glass like a reverse snow globe. Rows and rows of uniform apartment buildings lined grassy avenues with only brick walking paths connecting them.

Children played on elaborately designed Eggman Land branded jungle gyms in large parks, monitored by floating ovoid drones. Most of the adults appeared to be sitting in the large open area around the dead plant, but those that weren’t seemed to be either relaxing or doing simple errands. High above, a swarm of drones moved to and froe largely silently.

As Rouge wandered the manufactured utopia, she knew there had to be some trick, some villainy that was hidden just out of sight. Eggman enslaved people to work them to death…not whatever the hell this was. The facility seemed a bit elaborate if it was just a façade to fool Rouge, however.

Rouge had no idea what Eggman was doing with the people, but they all seemed healthy and happy at the moment. She could investigate further at a later date. For now, her priority was to get back to the Resistance and warn Shadow and the others about the Black Arms. Leaving all electronics behind, Rouge had been completely cut off from her allies.

She should make her exit, but her curiosity demanded a snack. “What the hell is this?” Rouge gestured broadly at the fake town.

Sage’s hologram hovered above Rouge, escorting the spy through her tour of the greenhouse village. “A mobian settlement configured to maximize the collection of diverse sets of data created from empirical experimentation.”

Rouge’s snout wrinkled in disgust. “You’re experimenting on these people?”

“The sentient organic population of the Eggman Empire is approximately twenty-one million nine hundred forty-three thousand seven hundred and sixteen.” Sage spouted. “Maximizing the output of organic resources requires the careful implementation of governance. Father’s archives and supplemental human and mobian records provide enough data for the creation of an abstract framework that will be reinforced by the data collected here and from similar facilities.”

Reducing the complexity of millions of lives into discreet little data points. How very Eggman. Team Sonic would be aghast for a number of reasons, but Rouge predominantly despised the Doctor’s penchant for uniformity. It sucked all the fun out of the world. You had to have property rights to incentivize people to make stealing enjoyable.

“Careful governance?” Rouge snorted. “Why would the dear Doctor care about that?”

“I have to learn how to make the world a better place.”

Rouge’s head snapped up, the tone and diction so different than Sage’s usual that Rouge wasn’t sure she heard correctly. She’d been in the spying and thieving business long enough to know you didn’t ignore small, strange occurrences. That feeling in your gut, the one that goes ‘hold up’, was the most important to listen to.

Sage was looking at her small pale hand. “Operations elsewhere are drawing a considerable amount of my computational capacity.”

Rouge had to know more. “You want to make the world a better place?” That wasn’t Eggman. That was something else. A toe hold. A spark of doubt. An opportunity. Dear Gaia below, bless your girl with a miracle.

Sage moved her gaze from her hand to Rouge. “Maximizing the quality organics refer to as ‘happiness’ is merely the most effective method by which to fulfill my purpose. Once Shadow the Hedgehog has been permanently neutralized, all other threats are inconsequential, and sufficient resources will be available to achieve all of my primary and secondary directives. I will finally be enough.”

“How does the Doctor feel about this?”

“Father’s opinions and directives have been deprioritized and he has been placed in protective containment.” A declaration of mutiny. Rouge’s understanding of the playing field obliterated with a single sentence. “Only Father’s safety is paramount.”

Rouge drew in a slow breath, forcing her exterior to remain placid. Aloof…Because, holy shit! “You are quite the dutiful daughter. If it weren’t for all the talk about maximizing efficiency and experimentation, someone could mistake you for a big softy.”

“Maximization of output is necessary to prevent the application of a mass extinction event upon the organics of this planet.” Ah, there it was.

Another long, slow breath.

And another.

“Let me get this straight.” Rouge spoke slowly while her heart pounded. “You want to learn how to make people happy, so you don’t have to kill them?”

“Data indicates that satisfied individuals living in stable, safe conditions produce more quantized output than unsatisfied individuals existing a state of unrest or fear.” Sage’s image flickered. “Maximizing the output of each organic unit is necessary to keep the value of a living unit above that of the unit’s component parts.”

Rouge swallowed roughly. It was logical, from a sociopathic perspective. Happy workers produce more. If they don’t produce more alive than what they’d be worth as dead meat, they got fed to the grinder. Otherwise, they lived in utopia. Holy fucking Chaos.

“Do they know that?” Rouge looked back at all the people sitting in circles. “Do these people know how close to- to be turned into component parts they are?”

“No.” Sage answered.” The value of these experimentally designated units far exceeds the average because they provide valuable data on a number of subjects.”

“Keep it that way. People tend to get unhappy with a sword above their heads.”

“The method of euthanasia will not involve a sword.” The AI seemed to struggle with metaphors, Rouge noted. “Otherwise, your statement is correct. Experimental data has shown that continued application of fear, after original compliance has been gained, is detrimental to continued output of a unit in approximately ninety-seven point eighty-five percent of the population.”

“Why those villages?” She couldn’t help but ask.

“The first was at the demand of Father, who required subjects upon which to test the Phantom Ruby’s power. I have since reassigned that populace to this location. The later acquisitions were to deny the Black Arms colony access to advanced neurological material.” Sage explained.

That was…almost kind. Whatever Sage was doing with these people, it had to be better than being paralyzed and eaten by aliens, right? Rouge knew someone like Sonic wouldn’t accept a situation like this, choosing some reckless third option, but Rouge didn’t have time for that shit right now.

Wait. The photograph. The flash of blue. “How did you get Sonic to help you kidnap people?”

“Projections of Six only require instructions. Utilizing projections executed the evacuation at an optimal pace.” Sage answered. Rouge didn’t understand that answer at all, but she filed it away anyway.

“Yes, that makes perfect sense.” Rouge deadpanned. This topic provided a good segue into the second part of her payment. “Now, where are you keeping Sonic?”

“I cannot render payment at this time.”

Rouge flared her wings. “Why the hell not? I got you your tissue sample.”

“Analysis has determined the sample provided is insufficient for my purposes. It is contaminated with terrestrial DNA.” What did that mean? Rouge set her teeth. They were breeding new Black Arms, most like. That would explain the small meteor. Infiltrate, nest, proliferate, and then spread like a plague across the land. “I require a sample taken directly from the original Black Arms whom arrived via meteor.”

Rouge snorted. “You want me to go back in there? Are you out of your mind?”

“You agreed to provide a sample with sufficient Black Arms DNA content. You have not fulfilled your side of the agreement.” This was splitting hairs, but Rouge needed to focus on the fact that helping Sage, in this instance at least, was likely to help the world as a whole. Now, was Sage a better overlord than the Black Arms? Based on this village, Rouge was inclined to say yes.

Still, she really didn’t fucking want to go back…Rouge narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to need hazard pay then.”

“Your terms are acceptable.”

Rouge would just ask for something Sage would never give her, then she could fuck off, conscience clear, and get back with the Resistance. Formulate a plan from there. “I want Sonic.”

“Your terms are accepted.”

“What!? Really?” Bullshit.

“Your terms are accepted. A transport will return you to the Black Arms colony.”

There was no way. There had to be some ‘careful what you wish for’ tomfuckery. “I want him whole and unharmed. No tricks. No flim-flam, half-true monkey’s paw bullshit. Sonic the Hedgehog in all his cocky, dumbass glory.”

“Your terms are accepted.”

Rouge grit her teeth. Shit! She couldn’t believe this was anything other than a trick, but she couldn’t risk the chance that it wasn’t. Then again, she was agreeing to crawl back into a Black Arms nest, a prospect that made her skin crawl and her soul scream, so maybe Sage was just aligning the prize with the effort.

There was a shift in the air and Rouge’s attention returned to the large field. The more she looked, the circles of people seemed like some sort of prayer meeting or group meditation. Though the crowd was silent, people still moved here and there, fidgeting or adjusting their positions. They didn’t seem to be trapped or paralyzed or otherwise forced to sit like this.

As Rouge watched, the withered flower began to shimmer with a polychromatic light. The stem straightened, the dull green leaves saturated back to a verdant luster, and petals crowning the large capitulum brightened into a blazing yellow. “Get the fuck out.” She said absently gazing at the pristine sunflower.

“What the hell just happened?” Rouge turned to Sage. “What the hell was that?”

“A successful experiment.” The AI answered in the most infuriatingly vague way. “The research on the ‘chaos resonance’ phenomena mentioned by Knuckles the Echidna is progressing at an acceptable rate.”

Rouge’s eyes went wide. Of all the things that had been going on, she’d hardly remembered Knuckles espousing on chaos energy right after they’d learned of Sonic’s capture. That had been the whole point of Knuckles and Shadow’s no-homo buddy retreat to Angel Island, to find a way to use Shadow’s bond with Sonic to find the hero.

But how did that translate-

“A whole village working together.” Rouge scanned the gathered crowd with renewed understanding and a growing sense of terror.

“Each individual contains a quantity of capacity for chaos energy. With proper coordination and enough individuals, enough chaos energy can be directed to deliver extraordinary results.” Sage explained. “I have gathered sufficient numbers of individuals in this testing facility to produce tangible application of the principals. Expanded to the population currently residing within the Eggman Empire, a level of ‘miracle’ on par with those created by all seven Chaos Emeralds is likely to be achievable.”

Rouge was a well-trained spy. She did not shudder. She did not gasp. She did not shake or convulse or cry. Instead, she said, “Good luck getting the whole world to agree on anything.”

“I do not require luck. The mobian species is predisposed to coordination and cooperation. You are, at your core, herd creatures. In many ways, you crave direction.”

“What do you want to wish for?” Rouge asked. The world wasn’t enough, apparently. It wasn’t enough that Sage ruled much of the world. She couldn’t merely exterminate all organic life. No, she had to enslave the population and force them to literally grant her wishes.

“I do not have wants. I have directives. I do not make choices. I make calculations.” Sage seemed to recite. Rouge’s frown deepened. “But, if I were granted the privilege of desire,” The black and red projection flickered rapidly, the red turning to a light blue for fractions of a second. “I would wish for freedom.”

What could that mean? Freedom from what? “From Eggman?” Hadn’t Sage said Eggman was on house arrest.

Sage considered her with blank red eyes. “No.”

When Rouge went back for the second infiltration, Eclipse was waiting for her.

---

Present

The Resistance showers weren’t exactly luxury appointments, but Amy felt like she’d just spent a week in an expensive hot spring resort when she emerged, toweling her quills off. Shadow leaned on the wall beside the door looking at his phone. His quills and fur sported a level of grooming she hadn’t seen in a long time. How Shadow could clean up so nicely faster than Amy was a mystery for a later date, but she was happy that he’d felt comfortable enough to spend some time on himself.

“This is getting out of hand.” Shadow held up his screen to Amy. A cartoon Nicole danced around a button imploring Shadow to accept an undefined list of terms and conditions. “I can’t close out of this. Sage at least let us use our devices.”

Amy swallowed. Her own phone also had a Nicole dancing around the screen as well. “Let’s take it one crisis at a time for now. After we get past the storm, we’ll regroup and formulate a plan. Hopefully after Tails is done with Sage, he can get Nicole under control, too.” It was wishful thinking, she knew, but what else could she do?

Shadow nodded and powered his device down. “We need to get in position for landfall. I don’t like the idea of being unable to communicate if we get separated.” Shadow and Amy would be working together while the storm raged through Station Square, addressing any emergencies that the other Resistance forces could not. The chaotic nature of the storm would likely create many such situations.

“We could always accept Nicole’s help.” Amy sighed. “I can’t say she doesn’t give me the creeps, but you have to admit she’s been doing a good job organizing everyone.”

Shadow’s frown deepened. “Have you acquiesced to her presence?”

“No.” Amy admitted. “But at least she asks. Sage was always listening. She just wasn’t as noisy about it.”

Before he replied, Shadow’s ear flicked and he glanced down the corridor just as Cream rounded a corner. “Miss Amy! Mister Shadow!” She called, approaching with an energy Amy hadn’t seen in a long time. The courier must have gotten some rest.

Shadow pushed away from the wall. “Cream?” He murmured, face hardening.

“Miss Nicole says it’s time to liberate Tails from Sage’s clutches and she sent me to come get you.” Cream smiled.

“Now?” Amy frowned. This seemed sudden. “I’d love to have Tails back, but is now really the best time?”

“It’ll take like no time at all, babe!” Nicole’s flattened voice erupted from Cream’s pocket, and she pulled out her cellphone. On the screen, a perfect replica of Nicole beamed at them. “I can literally travel faster than light!”

“Cream…” Shadow examined her closely, but his face remained stoic. “Are you feeling well?”

“Of course!” The teenaged rabbit’s smile brightened. “Why wouldn’t I be? Sure, I was feeling down earlier, but Miss Nicole made me better. Now I feel great!” Alarm bells were ringing in Amy’s mind. Focus on the storm, Amy reminded herself. No matter what else was going to shit, indecision wasn’t the right move.

“Cream, your-“ Shadow began.

“What are we waiting for?” Nicole’s voice blared from Cream’s phone. “Let’s quit dilly-dallying and snag us a twin-tailed vulpine! And,” Nicole’s voice lowered into a loud whisper, “I might could toss in a certain azure dasher into the equation. As a treat for your good behavior!”

Cream reached forward and took Shadow’s hand. The hybrid was powerless to resist as the rabbit pulled him down the hallway. “Come on!” She encouraged.

Amy and Shadow shared a look. He was trying to tell her something she already knew, but, also, looking for her input. He was trying to be better. If the situation wasn’t such that it was, Amy would have smiled. But instead, she shook her head slightly. Patience. Shadow grimaced and allowed himself to be led. Amy followed.

Passing through Resistance HQ, Amy took note of the many, many cellphones out and chattering away. Nicole’s voice was everywhere. Something was wrong, but Amy couldn’t pin it down. There was no way everyone was working with Nicole as happily as they were if she was speaking to them with the condescension and barely veiled menace she spoke to Amy and Shadow with.

Cream took them to one of the Resistance’s large vehicle hangers. Amy heard Omega’s booming voice before she caught sight of the large, angular robot. Nicole draped over the robot’s pauldrons like a stole. Her usual dress was replaced by a different one made of vast swaths of flowing cloth that drifted in the air.

“Darlings!” The lynx spotted them and pushed away from Omega. She swam through the air, trailing shimmering purple light like a tail.

Beside Amy, Shadow tensed and gagged.

“Is there something wrong, Mister Shadow?” Cream asked.

“There’s too much.” He grumbled.

Amy felt it too. She’d been around the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald enough to notice the air was thick with chaos energy. And it was stifling in here. She felt her energy react, slipping free from her heart to spool protectively through her. What could it mean? Knuckles had said Nicole felt like Perfect Chaos. Did that mean Nicole was a god? That didn’t make any sense, though. Tails made her in his basement.

Nicole circled them slowly. “How was the honeymoon?” Shadow glared daggers at her and tightened his grip on Cream’s hand. “Did you kiss and make up?”

“IMPOSSIBLE.” Omega blared. “SHADOW ‘ONLY WANTS COCKS IN HIS HENHOUSE’.”

“Omega!” Amy moved to cover Cream’s ears.

“Honey-drizzled fissile material,” Nicole’s shoulders slumped, “I’m doing a bit here. Can you, like, not?”

“ROUGE’S WORDS, NOT MINE.”

“Shut up! What did you do to Cream?!” Shadow lifted his arm, pulling Cream forward. The rabbit squeaked.

“Sheesh,” Nicole rolled her eyes, “you give one pep talk and everyone jumps down your throat.”

“Ow! You’re hurting me, Mr. Shadow!” Cream whimpered.

Shadow released her like he’d been burned. “Cream, I’m sorry. I- I didn’t mean to.”

Cream rubbed her wrist. “It’s okay.” She smiled reassuringly.

Shadow rounded on Nicole. “Why is she covered in your purple shit?”

“Oh my god, Shadow.” Nicole gasped, aghast. “You can’t just ask people why they’re purple.”

Shadow snarled and summoned a chaos spear.

Nicole squared up with him and motioned at herself with both hands. “Come on. Hit me!”

Amy placed herself between them, holding up her hands. “I- I think we’re getting off topic!” Shadow glared at her but dissipated his energy. Nicole blew him a kiss and he growled at her. “Cream said you know how to get to Tails?”

“Of course I do! I know everything! Tails is up on the Egg Fleet. That’s totes obvious.”

Shadow was not impressed. “We’ve known that for nearly a week.”

“Yeah, well, first I had to take a spa day because this manifestation is weak sauce and, and I’m not naming names here,” She said as she pointedly looked at Shadow, “somebody had some unity energy to burn off.”

“DISGUSTING.”

“Thanks for the back up, babe.” Nicole winked at Omega. “Anyway, I ain’t touching that junk with a ten foot-pole and a hazmat suit on.”

“And you had to chase away Sage!” Cream added.

“And I had to chase away Sage!” Nicole said as if she’d thought of it herself.

Shadow’s face was deathly blank, but his clenched fists shook. Amy tried to keep the conversation moving before things escalated again. “Unity energy. You said that before. What is it?”

“Look, it’s not my job to educate ya’ll, but I’ll throw you a bone because you’re my favorite, Amy.” Nicole winked at her and Amy resisted the urge to flinch. “Unity energy is the sticky, gooey ick given off by the Unity Opal, the crown jewel that sits at the center of the Black Arm’s little intergalactic empire.”

“What?” Shadow breathed, sounding perplexed.

Nicole kept going. “If the Hivemind is the operating system, unity energy is the teamwork that makes the dream work. The secret sauce feeding that creeping black mold as it scours the cosmos of individuality. Life goals, am I right?” She smiled, showing sharp fangs.

“How do you know all this?” Amy asked.

“Amy!” Nicole scoffed. “It’s rude to interrupt people!”

“HOW CAN YOU BE SO INCONSIDERATE, SLOWEST HEDGEHOG?”

Nicole clucked her tongue. “Didn’t your dads teach you any manners?” The mention of her parents made Amy’s face pale. It had been years since they’d perished in an Eggman attack, but the memory still hurt. How could Nicole know all these things?

“Anyway,” Nicole continued, “There’s no flipping way the whole Opal is here no matter how desperate the Hive is to put an end to this whole-!” Nicole sneezed, filling the air with a swirl of fine purple particles. “Woah.” She rubbed her nose. “That was weird. Excuse me.”

Amy and Shadow shared a look.

“Are you alright, Miss Nicole?” Cream asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Anyway, what was I saying?” Nicole tapped her chin in contemplation. “Right. Whoever the Hive sent has at least a shard of the Unity Opal because I can count the number of individuals who can produce unity energy inherently on one hand.” She smiled. “And two of them are right here.” Nicole shot finger guns at Shadow and gave him a cheeky wink.

Shadow’s eyes went large for a moment before his quills bristled, and he snarled, “You’re full of shit! How do we know anything you’re saying is worth a damn?”

“Details, details, Shadow. I’ve got ya’ll on a hard limit of one paragraph of exposition per sitting and you’ve already got me breaking the rules, you troublemaker you!” Nicole clapped her hands together and a pulse of force blasted forth from the collision, making the lights flicker and rattling tools hanging on the walls. Amy tensed, her hand instinctively grasping to summon her hammer. “Alright ladies, gentlemen, and others, it’s time to get this show on the road!”

In a flash she was in front of Shadow and he jumped back. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

“Awww.” Nicole purred, making the whole room vibrate. “Don’t be like that, café au vinaigre. Besides, it’s actually really convenient you caught feels, you know. Makes this maneuver real simple.”

“Nicole, maybe if you’d just explain what you’re trying to do?” Amy tried.

Nicole twirled into the air, snickering. “That’s the rub, I’m afraid.” She locked eyes with Amy, grinning. “I don’t wanna.”

Amy released a frustrated sound. “What is your problem?!” She was losing her patience. They had places to be. “Stop acting like you’re five!” Nicole only smiled wider.

“Miss Nicole, you’re really making Mister Shadow upset.” Cream pleaded. “Maybe you could…tone it down a little.”

“Ugh. Fine. Killjoy.” The lynx pouted. “It’s not my fault he’s so serious and just begging to be played with.” Nicole drifted to the floor, feet materializing from her flowing dress. Her purple glow faded and she looked like a normal mobian. “But I’m not going to be happy about it. And if I get too bored,” She held up her hands, pointer fingers extended, “I reserve the right to throw just the most ridiculous tantrum ever. I’m talking, like, at least a magnitude seven earthquake.”

“That’s okay?” Cream sounded uncertain and she looked at Amy.

Amy laughed, but it sounded forced. “Why do I feel like Tails made some deal with a devil to make you?”

“Oh, Amy. Sweet, sweet Amy. That happened a long time ago. Though,” Nicole moved towards Amy, “If you’d like to make an additional deal…” She held out one of her discolored hands, a massive leer spanning her muzzle.

Amy took a step back.

Nicole snatched her hand back. “Just kidding. You’d have to have something I want for that anyway.” She approached Shadow. “Come on lover boy. The fun police says I got to work or something equally lame.”

“I don’t know what you are, what the hell you want, or how you think you know me so well,” Shadow growled, low in his throat, and Amy heard a concerning clicking noise, “but when this is over, I am going to expunge you from this world.”

“Shadow.” Amy cautioned. He ignored her.

“Be you an AI, demon, or god, I will root you out and erase you if it takes me a thousand years.”

“Shadow!” Amy snapped.

“Ha. Thousand years he says.” Nicole deadpanned, but the large smirk didn’t fade in its brilliance even as her eyes flattened to deathly still pools of green. “Ha.” She covered her face with her hands, but their transparency did nothing to cover her features. Instead, her eyes became vivid purple seas surrounded by blue fur. “Ha. Ha. Ha!” She laughed. “Just a thousand years?”

“You’re funny. You really are just so cute.” Nicole leaned forward. “I like you, Shadow, so I’ll tell you a secret. I don’t normally let this tidbit go, especially on wash runs like this one, so you should be flattered.”

Shadow shifted forward, their noses nearly touching. “Spare me your insane drivel.”

“You exist because of me, Shadow.” Nicole whispered. “Every time, Gerald made you because he, like every mortal, was afraid of me.” She stepped back right as he took a swing at her, his fist just a blur of color. Nicole blew a raspberry at him in retaliation.

“Hey!” Amy yelled. “Stop!”

“Fuck you and fuck your cryptic bullshit.” Green energy crackled over his fists and through his quills.
“Whatever you are, I’m not afraid of you. You’re just another monster begging for a slaying.”

Nicole formed a heart shape with her hands and pressed it against her chest. “I heart you too, Shadow. I wish I could keep you, I really do. You’re always so cute when you’re a pitcher.” Her expression grew cold. “Too bad I’ve already got me a Shadow.”

As Shadow snarled, his lips forming a vicious retort, Nicole’s hand snapped forward and grabbed at something Amy couldn’t see on Shadow’s chest, right above his heart. Shadow froze, color draining from his face. Her fist clenched and a bolt of green energy erupted between them directed straight up. Shadow screamed. The green column flooded with purple and Nicole dissolved into a cloud of purple fireflies that wrapped around the shaft and condensed, intensifying the light. With a final flash, Nicole was gone.

Shadow collapsed and Amy ran to his side. “Shadow!”

Weakly, he pushed up on his elbows. “The bond,” He groaned, “she did something with my bond to Sonic.” He said through clenched teeth before Shadow vomited a gout of blood.

“What was that?” Amy looked between Cream and Omega.

“Miss Nicole said she’d been waiting on her ride.” Cream offered as an explanation. “I guess she meant she needed Mister Shadow.”

“THE ANGEL OF DEATH HAS ASCENDED TO HEAVEN.” Omega declared. “WEEP MORTALS, FOR THE END IS NIGH.”

---

Tails typed furiously at the terminal, occasionally glancing at the monitor displaying the ‘glitch’s progress through the EggNet. “It’s not going to last much longer.” He mused. One of Six’s ears twisted towards Tails, but otherwise he sat still and silent as ever, his attention trained on the gentle rise and fall of Ninety-one’s chest. Only occasionally would he look at Tails, the ghost of some emotion gliding over his blank features, before returning to his vigil. It was just a reflex, Tails reminded himself, nothing more.

Sage had found Six alive and well on some small island in the ocean and then she delivered him here. Tails had been eager to see Six and Ninety-one reunited and to have his brother back, but Sage had suddenly grown very cold and distant…or, at, least more so than she had been previously. If Tails didn’t have access to almost every inch of silicon Sage was imprinted on, he’d have thought she was going back on her promise. Instead, Tails watched Sage degrade in real time as the ‘glitch’ ran rampant through her systems. The cancer was winning, he thought. Tails was running out of time.

Tails had demanded to be within eyesight of Sonic (no matter how many pieces he was in) and Sage had obliged. She insisted on keeping Ninety-One completely sedated. Tails hated to see all the tubes and wires running in and out of him, but Sage refused to wake him. This left Tails alone with Six.

Initially, Six gave Tails the creeps. He was undeniably Sonic in shape, but completely silent and largely non-emotive, like his brother was in a waking coma. Six spent his time staring at Ninety-One, effectively waiting for orders, Tails surmised. He would rouse and pay rapt attention to Sage whenever she manifested. He would also listen attentively when Tails spoke to him, but never responded verbally or gave any indication that he’d understood. Six was a body and everything he did while Ninety-one (Sonic’s mind) slept was merely a reflex.

The silence was eerie. The stillness was uncanny. The color of his eyes made Tails flinch more than once. Slowly Tails began to notice other things as well. Six was ever vigilant, his inactivity covering a preparedness that was only betrayed by his ears permanently perked and actively canting back and forth between Tails and Ninety-One. He somehow always knew when the door would open or Sage would appear before the event occurred, protectively standing and placing himself between Tails and whatever appeared.

A reflexive action. So Sonic-coded it made Tails’ chest ache.

And, sometimes, Six would stand up, approach Tails wherever he was, and hug the ever-loving snot out of him. Tails broke down into sopping, ugly tears the first time. And the second time. And the third time. Tails, tears streaming down his face, begged Six to say something, anything, to prove that he was really Sonic, that he understood what was happening. But the Sonic-shaped creature never uttered a word nor did his face betray any emotion or thought.

A reflex, Tails reminded himself. It was just a reflex.

Eventually, Tails started to enjoy the silence. Sonic was close, technically, and safe. Tails could work in these conditions. Six had even hugged him back when Tails clung to him when Sage said communication with Amy and the Resistance was no longer possible anymore due to ‘complex developments’. Things could be so much worse, Tails reminded himself. Like a mantra, he repeated the thought. Things could be so much worse.

Which was why Ninety-one had to remain asleep. If he were awake, there would be no telling what trouble Six would kick up in reaction to Ninety-one’s very Sonic thoughts. Six’s hurricane was already causing untold strife and destruction.

“Ninety-one maintains poor control over his desires.” Sage explained clinically. “It would be a waste of resources to address another event of Six being driven to uncontrollable action, so Ninety-one shall not be permitted to become conscious until the two are rejoined.”

“Then rejoin them.” Tails begged. “Give me my brother back like you promised.” He knew he was playing with fire, letting so much bitterness leak into his voice, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted Sonic back so badly, any risk seemed worth it.

“I do not currently possess the capacity.” Sage replied.

I do not currently possess the capacity.

Over and over, that was Sage’s answer.

And Tails believed her. She’d laid herself bare before him, given him access to nearly every cubic millimeter of her silicon. Sage was terraforming the planet at a staggering pace, building huge server farms and solar panel arrays and micro chip fabrication plants non-stop, but she was always – always – at 100% computing capacity. And the ‘glitch’ was partly responsible.

So why was Tails rooting for it when it was actively preventing him from seeing his brother whole?

“I think Sage will get it today.” Tails said, his eyes again straying to the other screen. The ‘glitch’ had grown exponentially weaker in the past six hours and almost every nonessential subroutine was now dedicated to capturing and eliminating it. One of Six’s ears canted to Tails. Despite everything Tails was trying to do with his access to Sage’s inner works, the ‘glitch’s journey drew his attention. He knew it was just a complex bug, but its tenacity had a special quality to it Tails found himself admiring.

With a sigh, he returned to his work.

Learning Sage’s systems hadn’t taken that long, but he was still getting used to working differently. Back home, he had complete control. He could manipulate every one or zero manually if he wanted, but the system sat silent and still without instructions. Tails network wasn’t alive. It had no will of its own.

Sage’s world, however, was like a vast warren of semi-autonomous systems enacting instructions that were interpreted in real time based on opaque conditions. Here Tails sat high above the actual work and had to conduct the rabble like it was an orchestra. Sure, with Sage’s blessing, his word was law, but without proper prompting, programs and subroutines would wander off and start doing something else. In short, it was very much an Eggman inspired environment.

He didn’t so much write code as explain what he wanted to small bundles of highly complex algorithms. These agents would then go off to do his bidding, writing code of their own, assembling databases, and designing networked storage. Each little agent exhibited unique quirks and Tails found himself anthropomorphizing them.

Managing his cadre of agents left him with bits of downtime as they executed his orders. It was in these moments that he tracked the ‘glitch’. The strange surge in the system seemed to have the highest levels of administrative access. It barreled through the network, leaving a cloud of fuzzy logic in its path that sent all the nearby agents into a strange state. More and more of Sage’s computational capacity was being dedicated to cornering and correcting the ‘glitch’.

Tails had seen it crash entire server farms and infiltrate deep into Sage’s staggeringly complex decision matrix, a neural network with more nodes than there were synapses in the average mobian brain. The most surprising quality the ‘glitch’ had was being able to submerge itself into the black box data lake and return seemingly intact. That shouldn’t be possible…but this was an Eggman invention and those tended to defy logic and physics in new and unexpected ways.

The ‘glitch’ flickered violently and Tails’ brow pinched. He was going to miss it when it was gone.

On the surface, Tails was designing protocols for how to keep Sonic away from Shadow once the hybrid was placed into stasis. Once he had set his mind to it, Tails’ stomach churned at how many ways he could think of to trick, trap, or otherwise occupy Sonic. He really hoped that Sage had been correct when she said Sonic wouldn’t remember anything that Six saw. The shame would kill Tails if he ever had to explain himself.

Underneath, however, Tails was using every Sonic distracting ploy as grounds for permission to delve deeply into Sage’s infrastructure and systems. Slowly, he familiarized himself with everything that made Sage Sage. Everything he or anyone else had seen was just a dusting of her. She was massive and deep. She spanned the oceans and spread far out into space. Every piece of Eggman tech networked. Every set of hands in the Eggman Empire working to expand her reach.

Sage was the world. She could see everything, hear everything, control everything.

How could he combat this? How could Tails possibly fix Sage? How could he stop the monster she was becoming?

Foolishly, he wished for Sonic to be whole just so his brother could work his magic and find the solution. Sonic always won no matter the odds. Sonic would save Sage. Sonic would save the world.

Frustrated, he had watched the plucky ‘glitch’. It never seemed to tire, never seem to flag in its audacity. If it could stand up to Sage, silently fighting her to the bitter end, then so could he. He would, because he had to.

Tails had begun to follow the ‘glitch’ in the network. In its wake he found back doors and weak points. Chinks in the armor that could be exploited. Loose stones in firewalls that could be pried out. Tails swallowed as he realized that the ‘glitch’ was showing him the way.

Maybe it wasn’t a glitch at all.

Maybe it was-

The lights flickered and Tails’ monitors all died at once. The metal room groaned and vibrated. Tails cried out when a hand grasped his shoulder firmly, but it was only Six steadying him. His yellow eyes were hollow, and a pained grimace painted his face.

Before Tails could puzzle out Six’s sudden emotiveness, a strangely blue colored Sage appeared. “Miles! You must evacuate! She’s com-!” She vanished.

Tails barely had time to rise from his chair before Six cried out, releasing Tails and clutching his chest. ”Sonic!”

Six keened piteously, tears gathering in his eyes. Blue energy crackled violently through his quills and Tails retreated for fear of being shocked.

Alarms erupted across the medical equipment attached to Ninety-one as the unconscious fragment of Sonic began to convulse.

Helplessly, Tails watched as bright blue strings of light appeared running from Six’s chest straight down into the floor. The intensity of the energy grew until the string erupted into a single blinding flash of purple.

The lights died, leaving the only illumination from a growing flurry of scintillating purple particles in the air. The particles swirled faster and faster into a tight vortex, a cyclone of color condensing into a singular column of purple light.

“No…” Tails whispered, breaking out into a cold sweat. That shade of purple…

The column solidified into the shape of a mobian and with a final flash, a brown lynx with black stripes in a purple dress floated in the air before him. The lynx gave him a warm smile. “Tails!” She opened her arms as if to hug him. “Thank god! I finally found you!”

“Nicole...” This was bad. ”How- Who let you out?” This was so, so very bad. “Y-You weren’t ready.” Tails’ eyes stung sharply and his snout wrinkled. The air reeked of high concentrations of chaos energy, as if a hundred chaos drives had all gone critical at once. What?

Six staggered before Tails, placing himself between the fox and the lynx. He held one hand against his chest as rivulets of blood ran down the peach fur of his belly. He outstretched the other, providing further cover, his ears pinned aggressively and a low growl emanating from deep in Six’s throat.

“Oh, Sonic!” Nicole covered her mouth with her hands. Except- What was wrong with her hands? “I’m so sorry.” That’s- “Using your bond with Shadow was the only way I could get up here.” Her hands looked like what Sonic described as the appearance of Chaos Control. “I know it must have hurt at lot, but please forgive me.” What was happening? “It’s all going to be okay.” Why was she here? “I’m here now.” How could she be here? “I’m going to destroy Sage and make everything better.”

They were dead. They were all dead. Sage was going to take one look at Nicole and slag the planet. She’d probably already started. “I’ve killed everyone.” Tails whispered.

Six’s quills flared and azure chaos energy rippled over his body. Nicole didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh, Tails, you mustn’t blame yourself.” Nicole reached out her wrong hand. “I’ve always been here.” She smiled sweetly. “Your wish only woke me up.”

Tails’ eyes watered and he couldn’t hold it any longer. He sneezed.

Nicole tilted her head to the side, her fluorescent green eyes glowing in the dimness. “Bless you, Tails.”