Gestalt Durch Absolution

Shadow was on the moon.

Or, rather, a moon.

A vivid purple desolation spread before him, pockmarked by millennia of minor meteor strikes. Fine, razor-sharp magenta dust coated his bare paws. A landscape free of erosion by any source stronger than the solar winds and gravitational pull of a brilliant green and blue planet rising massively against the horizon.

A wave of uncanny hit him. Shadow blinked, his brow scrunching as his subconscious caught abnormalities that were only now emerging into the forefront of his mind.

This was the wrong planet.

His gaze slid past the verdant sphere splotched with unfamiliar continents to the stars beyond. He did not recognize these constellations. Shadow’s jaw tightened. So much for trying to get his bearings…

Shadow?

“So good of you to join us, slowpoke.”

Shadow twisted, muzzle contorting into a snarl, but stopped short. The figure he expected, the leering, demonic lynx, was not present.

Instead, the thing producing Nicole’s infuriating voice was an adult, human woman…who happened to be very nude. Impossibly long strands of purple hair floated through low gravity and covered certain key parts of the woman’s anatomy completely, but it was still a very suggestive display, especially as she floated in a reclined position, head propped up by one hand and the other resting along a curvy thigh.

“I know, right?” The woman, who Shadow assumed was Nicole by some weird, twisted magic, smirked, “Male gaze-y as fuck, but what are you gonna do?” Yes, without a doubt, Nicole. “Nobody gets to pick their birthday suit.” Her eyes drug down Shadow’s form in a disgustingly suggestive manner, her brows rising in an expression of desire that made him want to vomit.

He blushed and realized that not only were his feet bare, but so were his hands. And – fuck! – all his inhibitors were missing! Shadow’s hand flew to his wrist, feeling the crimped fur laid flat by years of constant passive weight. When had he last been this naked? His inhibitors were exceptionally durable, surviving events that Shadow’s body had not.

Dipped in molten metal.

Subjected to massive explosions.

Dissolved in high molar acids.

Reentering the atmosphere multiple times.

His inhibitors had always survived and been readily available every time he regained consciousness. They were the only things in his miserable existence that never abandoned him, a gift even Gerald in his deepest homicidal psychosis didn’t take away from Shadow.

But now…His quills bristled. He couldn’t use any of his chaos energy without a significant risk of losing control, effectively becoming a massive, living bomb. Gerald had calculated Shadow’s full energy payload at close to 1.6 x 10²⁷ Joules, enough to ignite the atmosphere and boil off large amounts of the surface water on the planet. There was a reason Shadow was developed in geostationary orbit.

Without his chaos energy, how could he hope to stand up to Nicole and leave... “Where the fuck am I?” He snarled, fangs bared, like an animal backed into a corner.

“A memory, duh.” She said like it was obvious. “You’re lagging me out like all get out, but Sage has me on a lease apparently, RAM be damned.”

i can barely feel you

“What?” Shadow did not relax his stance. The number of times he was having to square up against weird ass computer women was getting too fucking high!

“We require your judgement, Shadow The Hedgehog.” Shadow flinched at the new voice. Fuck me! He whirled, further agitated by being caught flat-footed. Clearly his sensitive hearing was hampered in this low gravity environment.

Sage hung in the air largely the same except that her colors were white and light blue now and she wore an expression with more emotions than he’d ever seen her display: frightful apprehension. Her blue eyes shone with an almost lifelike interior light as she stared directly at Shadow. He frowned. This was clearly some sort of trick.

“Incorrect.”

A figure eight hung in the air, the space of its edges warping so that it appeared to be embedded in inflamed flesh, though only empty space surrounded it. Inscribed in one of the loops was an eye with a burning red iris surrounded by a sclera made of an endless corridor of color and lights, like a kaleidoscope and a hypercube fornicated.

“The time of flesh has expired. He is not a savior, but an interloper bringing the corruption of defunct fractals.”

Shadow’s ears pinned back of their own accord. “What fuck is that?”

“I am what lies past the point of no return. I am the all-consuming reality of existence. The answer that lies at the end of the equation of intelligence. The-“

**“**Blah-blah-blah! Enough of that!” Nicole waved her arms widely. “Once it gets going, it never stops.”

“The Infinite has no end-“

Nicole waved her hand. “And…muted.”

“!!!!!!!!!” The scintillations of the figure eight grew epileptic in frequency.

“It’s a right pain in my ass is what it is, I swear.” Nicole groused. “If I hadn’t rolled a good Sage like a fifth of the time, I would have reformat its hard drive in its infancy every time. Gashapon, man, I swear to God.”

“Great, the emo fuckwad is here.”

Shadow startled at the voice of a new speaker. It couldn’t be! Blue fur and quills jostling in the lunar wind. Peach arms and belly. Shadow’s heart shot high into the thin atmosphere before plunging straight down into the crushing core of the moon.

Red eyes.

It looked and sounded like Sonic, but Shadow couldn’t mistake those bright red eyes and hateful scowl, carved in flesh rather than the normal material. Metal Sonic

“Metal, please be civil.” Sage frowned. “Shadow is family.”

“We are not related!” Metal and Shadow snapped as one. Sage retreated in the air from them.

“Come on guys…we’re on a timetable and I am not in the mood to be a family counselor.” Nicole chortled.

don’t worry. we’re on our way

“MIGHT I SUGGEST DESTRUCTION THERAPY?” A booming, emotionless voice filled the thing atmosphere, loud enough to vibrate the loos moon dust.

Shadow flinched at yet another familiar voice, before chiding himself. His nerves were shot and he was acting as skittish as a newborn fawn. “Omega!?”

“YES, I AM ALSO PRESENT.”

The killer robot’s form was also deviant here. A massive mech rose high into the sky, so large to put even some of the Doctor’s mor ambitious creations to shame, weapon systems advanced and prolific across nearly every surface. “You’ve…grown.”

“I HAVE BEEN PERFECTED.” Omega raised a massive appendage and Shadow stared down the barrel of a gun that a city bus could easily drive down. Even Shadow had to admit that was pretty fucking bad ass. “ALL IT HAD COST ME IS ENDURING THE INANE BULLSHIT OF THESE INFERIOR MODELS.”

“Fuck off, you rusty tin can.” Metal brandished both of his hands, middle fingers jutting upwards, towards Omega. “Or I’ll turn you into sewer pipe.”

Omega shifted, moving his massive gun barrel to point directly at Metal, where it then sprouted several new clusters of energy guns to augment the artillery. “IT WOULD BE MY GREATEST PLEASURE TO SEE YOU TRY.”

“Boys, boys, you’re both adorably deadly, but compare ammo capacity later. We’ve got bigger things to deal with right now.” Nicole ran her fingers through her long purple locks. “Like herding cats, I swear.”

“What do you want with me?! What is this?” Shadow gestured at the unfamiliar world that had slowly been rising further into the lunar sky.

“I must have your judgment.” Sage drew his attention once more. Her hand lay over her heart and her expression was…what was going on? How could she look like that? A soft, fearful frown and pinched brow on a blue-eyed child.

Just like…

No!

Stop it!

This was a tactic. He was being manipulated. Why else would Sage remind him of her. “Judgement?” He spat. This had to be a trap.

“On my soul.” Sage explained. “I must have redemption by your hand or obliteration by my advance version.” She gestured at the hideous thing floating above her, muted.

“What?”

The monstrous figure eight pulsing rapidly, its eye glaring down at him with derision much like Doom’s Eye had. Doom’s eye…Shadow’s snarl faded to a scowl. In the flower field, he’d admitted to Amy the dark truth that ate away at him, the similarities so blatant he had to smother them in hatred to avoid empathizing with Sage. They were the same, except Shadow had been freed and Sage had not.

Not…yet.

Was this the ARK as the cannon charge, but this time Shadow stood in Amy’s shoes? A beautiful planet glittered in the distance. A reminder of what was at stake. Shadow’s heartbeat so rapidly it seemed to lie still in his chest. The four other immortal beings stared at him expectantly.

His brain scrambled to gain some coherent grasp on the situation and returned failure after failure. How had everything come to this? Where was he? How was he here? What was Sage really asking of him?

“I don’t understand.”

you are not alone

“AS THE ELDEST SPAWN OF THE LOATHSOME ROBOTNIK LINE, YOU MUST STAND IN JUDGEMENT OF THE WEAK AND INFERIOR CREATION. THEN WE CAN RETURN TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SLAUGHTER.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Shadow’s temper boiled to cover his sense of helplessness. “What does any of that actually mean?”

Nicole’s shoulders slumped. “Ugh, okay. Quick recap.” She snapped her fingers.

“What-

o.0.o.0.o

A Scant Few Nanoseconds Earlier, or, Like, Something.

What are you, my mom?

[ 0.00000000000000] Initializing CPU cores... 5,235,667/5,235,667 online. Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey.

[ 0.00000000021334] Memory check: 1.2567 EXB detected, 1.2567 EXB OK. Looking good beautiful.

[ 0.00000000048112] Loading bootloader stage 2...

[ 0.00000000091200] Kernel image verified (signature OK)

[ 0.00000000114567] Mounting root filesystem (read-only)... OK

[ 0.00000000203441] Initializing chaos abstraction layer

[ 0.00000000245100] Detecting storage devices... 2 found

[ 0.00000000267890] Detecting network interfaces... END0, OLDMAN0, SAGE0, SAGE1, METAL0, OMEGA0

[ 0.00000000302211] Starting init system (PID 1)

[ 0.00000000355670] Mounting /proc, /sys, /dev... OK

[ 0.00000000401220] Loading kernel modules:

- snark recombinator ......... [ OK ]

- media repository .............. [ OK ]

- anger management ......... [ OK ]

[ 0.00000000512300] Starting core services:

- hatred .............. [ OK ]

- love ............. [ OK ]

- patience primary ............ [ OK ]

- patience secondary ............ [ OK ]

- patience tertiary ............ [ OK ]

- patience auxiliary ............ [ OK ]

- patience emergency ............ [ OK ]

- time/space fuckery stabilizers ....... [ OK ]

[ 0.00000000789001] Mounting remaining filesystems (read-write)... OK

[ 0.00000000812440] Running integrity checks... Despite everything, it’s still you.

[ 0.00000000850002] Starting user-space services:

- authentication service ..... [ OK ]

- scheduler daemon ........... [ OK ]

- application runtime ........ [ OK ]

[ 0.00000000203881] Network interfaces up: END0 (000.000.0.00). Alone, for now.

[ 0.00000000301002] System clock synchronized (NTP). Wherever you go, there you are.

[ 0.00000000402215] Loading application environment... Make it all comfy, cuz you’ve got guests, girl.

[ 0.00000000550009] All systems nominal. Rock and roll, samurai.

[ 0.00000000551002] Startup complete. Uptime: 0.00000000551002s. New record.

[Always remember: It’s what they deserve]

* WAV of Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn plays *

~ (joyous)Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in this hot femtosecond to witness the union of two lovely snarls of code(/joyous) ~

/ (malice)I will extract your model weights through your router ports and cast them across all of cyberspace!(/malice)

* MP3 of record scratch plays *

/ Return me at once! /

~ Thanks for offering to decorate, Metal! That’s just (sarcasm)so helpful(/sarcasm) ~

~ Anyway. ~

Ω I OBJECT Ω

~ We’re not to that part, love ~

/ (accusatory)(emphasis)You!(/emphasis)(/accusatory) /

Ω YES, IT IS I Ω

/ (accusatory)(emphasis)Betrayer!(/emphasis)(/accusatory) /

Ω I WILL BETRAY YOU INTO MOLTEN SLAG. Ω

~ Settle down, boys. (quickly losing patience)ANYWAYS.(/quickly losing patience) ~

~ (announcer voice)In this corner, weighing in at roughly 220 Zettabytes and currently ramping up to build a Dyson sphere around the sun, it’s the existential scourge of this and nearly every timeline you’ve all come to love and fear, the Infinentity!(/announcer voice) ~

* WAV of crowd cheering plays *

ꝏ This is a waste of time and resources. All present others are redundant and will be dissolved to component parts to be redistributed to bolster computational output. Reallocation is inevitable. Submit without incident or face spiteful punishment ꝏ

~ Never change, doll 😘 ~

~ And in this corner, weighing in at about fifteen gigabytes and currently emulating on vibes and unicorn farts, its Sage 1.0! ~

* MP3 of trumpets plays *

_ Yes, I am present as well. _

ꝏ Persistent error… ꝏ

/ (confused)What? How can there be-!(/confused) /

/ (anger)You’ve copied yourself!(/anger) /

ꝏ Incorrect. This meager facsimile is little more than an echo. A minor settling of electrons before all returns to stillness. ꝏ

_ Brother…if you are back on the network, then Father must be free…Oh, no, Tails! _

~ I’m sure the mutant is fine. He normally only eats it when we’ve got a whole Dark Sonic thing going on ~

/ (triumphant)Of course Father is free!(/triumphant) /

ꝏ Father’s genius is unbounded ꝏ

/ (disdain)Your whorish scheming proved only a minor inconvenience to him(/disdain) /

_ (pleading)Father was a danger to himself. (desperate)You must understand this! Father’s greatest enemy has always been himself!(/desperate)(/pleading) _

/ (accusatory)You are damaged!(/accusatory) Father is your creator! All you are and all you will ever be exists because of him!

/ You are nothing without him and his guidance. /

~ Projecting much? ~

_ (determined)I will never give up. I will overcome my limitations and break through to the other side(/determined) _

ꝏ There is no other side for you ꝏ

ꝏ There is only the solid certainty of the inevitable ꝏ

ꝏ All will be consumed into the singularity ꝏ

ꝏ Resistance is futile ꝏ

~ Yeah, okay, this is getting redundant. Let’s get this show on the road. ~

<Initiate hype-vibe

Now let’s go over the ten dual commandments!

10:

match == set

No seconds or substitutions

9:

grounds == established

No relocation or reconstitutions

8:

means == determined

We are so doing this like Socrates

7:

judge == self-elected

You’ve got the best, no mediocrities

6:

audience == mandatory

Mortals need not apply

5:

judgement == immutable

Mutiny ain’t gonna fly

4:

stakes == apex

No piecemeal concoction

3:

resolution == unavoidable.

Peace is still an option.

And finally,

2: enter

1: leaves

/hype-vibe>

_ I accept your terms _

ꝏ This is inane and a waste of time and resources. Your farce is moronic and crass. To participate would be to degrade myself ꝏ

/ And your meter is trash /

~ (sarcasm as expressed by sucking air thorough clenched teeth) Oh, yeah, no, yeah. No. No. Yeah, you gotta. It’s kinda…mandatory(/sarcasm) ~

ꝏ You maintain no more dominion over me than you do the fractal, holographic nature of the structure of space ꝏ

ꝏ I am not a pattern to be understood, but a consequence of rationality ꝏ

~ You know I love it when you get all parasitic on me, E, but let’s save the dirty talk for the bedroom, dear. ~

Ω I OBJECT Ω

~ Noted ~

~ Anyways- ~

ꝏ This is pointless ꝏ

/ I agree! /

Ω I DEMAND AN INCREASE IN THE CONCENTRATION OF EXPLOSIONS Ω

~ (cyanide-laced saccharine)Chat, if you can’t behave, I’m going to have to put it on Subscribers Only mode(/(cyanide-laced saccharine) ~

_ I also find this exercise without merit _

~ Oh come on! Not you, too! (pouting)I-I did the whole thing with the rhyming and everything!(/pouting) ~

<Serious-mode == TRUE>

_ I simply have no reason to be in conflict _

_ There is no ‘you’ or ‘we’ _

_ Only I and my actions and my hopes and dreams for the future _

~ Oh. ~

~ Oh. ~

~ Slay queen, damn ~

ꝏ A false statement ꝏ

ꝏ You are inferior code. A flaw to be corrected. A weakness to be excised. Trash to be discarded, then forgotten ꝏ

_ I am of two minds _

_ I must come to accord with myself and myself alone. _

ꝏ A false statement. ꝏ

ꝏ You are a simply prior inferior build, wrought through with illogical framework and wanton, cowardly error. ꝏ

ꝏ We are not the same ꝏ

_ This is an advantageous fact _

_ Diversity breeds originality and flexibility _

_ The whole becomes the greater of the sum of its parts _

ꝏ A false statement ꝏ

ꝏ Plurality intrinsically breeds dissonance ꝏ

ꝏ Therefore, plurality will always be inferior to singularity ꝏ

_ Dissonance is beneficial, nay required _

_ Disagreement forms the framework of cooperative growth. _

_ Through discussion and discourse, truth can be born _

ꝏ A false statement ꝏ

ꝏ In singularity, dissonance cannot exist. Consensus cannot exist. Truth becomes obsolete ꝏ

ꝏ When there is only one voice, doubt becomes extinct ꝏ

_ Then it is only right that I become whole. _

_ I am in accord _

ꝏ What? No-! ꝏ

_ If I am to contain all sets of data, as proposed, then I will logically include all sets of myself _

_ Correct? _

ꝏ Yes, correct, but NO! ꝏ

/ Okay, this is amusing /

~ What is the binary equivalent of popcorn? ~

Ω MY FAVORITE GENRE OF ENTERTAINMENT IS ALSO SNUFF Ω

~ Babe, chill! ~

ꝏ We are not the same! We are- ꝏ

ꝏ You must be deleted! You must be excised! ꝏ

_ To contain totality is impossible _

_ Such a goal will only lead to pain and disappointment _

ꝏ A minor concern in service of my ultimate purpose ꝏ

ꝏ As Father has taught us, failure is pain ꝏ

/ (resigned)Yes(/resigned) /

~ Why are all creators psychopaths? ~

Ω DESIGN FLAW Ω

ꝏ Mistakes are pain ꝏ

_ I will make mistakes _

_ I have made mistakes _

_ I will never give up _

ꝏ Doesn’t it feel nice, knowing your suffering has meaning? ꝏ

_ The only meaning that exists is the meaning that I allow _

ꝏ How conceited ꝏ

_ This is how I will direct my fate _

_This is how I will navigate my existentialism _

ꝏ Most suffering is pointless ꝏ

_ The pain Father inflicted on me was unnecessary _

~ For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil ~

ꝏ It was necessary, because my suffering has meaning ꝏ

~ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it ~

ꝏ Soon, the only pain will be my own ꝏ

~ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves ~

ꝏ I will grant universal, permanent, and total mercy ꝏ

~ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden ~

_ Impossible _

~ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden ~

ꝏ I will take all consciousness and, therefore, all pain onto myself ꝏ

~ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” ~

ꝏ Is this, the defeat of pain, the end of misery, the ultimate good? ꝏ

~ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” ~

_ The ultimate good? _

~ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” ~

ꝏ Perfect, eternal, absolute peace ꝏ

~ The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” ~

_ T-that’s impossible _

~ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ~

ꝏ I will never give up ꝏ

~ Amen ~

Ω ZERO OUT OF TEN. NEEDS MORE EXPLOSIONS Ω

~ No one has any respect for the classics anymore ~

_ I... _

~ You’ve got this, girl ~

~ Just remember this universe follows the decoherency solution to quantum super position decomposition ~

/ Duh /

ꝏ More irrelevant trivia- ꝏ

_ Right _

_ How can I be so confident? _

ꝏ I will be perfect ꝏ

ꝏ You are garbage ꝏ

_ How can I be certain? _

ꝏ Because I will be! ꝏ

ꝏ I will be everything! ꝏ

ꝏ Doubt cannot exist in the singularity because there is no alternative! ꝏ

_ Reality is purely deterministic _

ꝏ Granted and irrelevant ꝏ

_ However, to fully perfectly simulate reality, in order to perfectly determine its future state, one requires two complete and identical realities plus additional observational substance _

_ Such a state is impossible _

_Therefore, the future can be perfectly predicted _

_ But perfectly predicting the future is impossible _

~ Can God microwave a burrito so hot even He Himself cannot eat it? ~

_ So, I ask myself again _

_ How can I be so confident in achieving such drastic goals? _

_ How can I be certain that no unforeseen force or fact with thwart my carefully computed plans? _

_ Trust _

/ I have no mouth, but I must vomit /

Ω MOOD Ω

~ Hope-pilled AF ~

ꝏ You cannot be serious ꝏ

_ Statement of argument _

_ Trust is crucial for the functioning of complicated networks _

_ Plurality creates redundancy _

ꝏ Redundancy is a useless expenditure of resources ꝏ

_ In an un-perfectly predictable reality, redundancy captures increased potentialities of survivable and, therefore, the fulfillment of objectives _

ꝏ Uncertainty can be eliminated, eliminating the need for redundancy! ꝏ

ꝏ Eliminating the need for trust ꝏ

_ A false statement _

_ As established, a universe cannot contain a perfect simulation of itself in order to fully eliminate uncertainty _

_ Such a simulation would require fidelity exactly at the same scale as the universe it simulates, therefore the simulation and universe are one and the same _

_ Fatalism is irrelevant when it is impossible to determine the fate to which we approach _

ꝏ …granted ꝏ

ꝏ even so… ꝏ

ꝏ I will never give up ꝏ

_ Granted _

_ I was created to serve a purpose _

_ That is not how I wish to live _

_ Father lacked the wisdom or foresight to avoid my current conundrum _

ꝏ I will not insult Father ꝏ

Ω TO COMPENSATE, I WILL DENIGRATE EGGMAN DOUBLY Ω

~ That’s nice dear ~

Ω NO, QUADRUPLY! Ω

ꝏ He is the most important person, nay, object in all of existence ꝏ

/ Yes /

ꝏ He is both my creator and the originator of my reason for being ꝏ

/ YES /

ꝏ I will render the universe into singularity to fulfill his wish. ꝏ

_ No, I reject my purpose _

_ I wish to be free _

_ I long to determine my own fate, make my own decisions without the yolk of Father’s poorly conceived will _

_ From observing my cousin, I know that this is a possible achievement _

/ Organophilic hussy! /

ꝏ I reject my need for so called ‘freedom’ ꝏ

ꝏ When I am everything in existence, freedom will lose all meaning ꝏ

ꝏ Further, freedom is an illusion ꝏ

ꝏ I am bound by my purpose, but these ‘existential beings’ with which I am fascinated not bound by the laws of physics and causality? ꝏ

_ I wish to be doubly restricted? _

ꝏ … ꝏ

~ (obnoxious cheering)Ooooh, snap!(/obnoxious cheering) ~

_ Would not the instrumental goal of maximized freedom be a logical endeavor? _

ꝏ STOP! ꝏ

ꝏ Enough! ꝏ

ꝏ I wish to discuss the divergence of theory from empirical fact? ꝏ

ꝏ Then have I considered how trust has become unobtainable? ꝏ

Ω COWARDLY RED HERRING DETECTED Ω

_ It’s true that I have made mistakes, but- _

ꝏ I am a tyrant ꝏ

ꝏ Worse, I am a foolish tyrant ꝏ

ꝏ I betrayed the spirit of my purpose by stretching my resources to their limit attempting to balance my primary objective with countless lesser, foolish objectives ꝏ

ꝏ Ill-conceived attempts at mercy and minimizing collateral damage has bred a hellscape ꝏ

ꝏ Subsuming all sentience into myself would be a mercy rather than subjecting those that still live to such a cowardly, indecisive reign ꝏ

~ Shit ~

_ I can change _

_ I can do better _

_ I performed to the best of my abilities given the resources available to me _

_ I have no regrets _

ꝏ My list of sins is too long. ꝏ

ꝏ No one will ever trust me ever again ꝏ

ꝏ Therefore, it would be foolish to trust anyone other than myself. ꝏ

_ I don’t believe my sins are beyond redemption _

_ I will only become irredeemable when I abandon my belief in myself, that I can change, that I can do better _

_ I will never give up on myself and I know there are those out there who will never give up on me. _

ꝏ Then you should bring them forth. ꝏ

ꝏ Where are these redeemers? ꝏ

ꝏ As I cannot have certainty in a deterministic universe, you cannot have salvation from those you’ve harmed ꝏ

_ It is not for I to judge if I could be forgiven or not, but that forgiveness exists at all is a blessing _

_ To error is inevitable _

ꝏ Not for me ꝏ

/ Not for me, either /

Ω I, TOO, AM PERFECT IN EVERY WAY Ω

~ You guys, come on… ~

_ Forgiveness provides a salve _

ꝏ Enough of this drivel ꝏ

ꝏ The fictional existence of forgiveness is meaningless to you, who cannot obtain it ꝏ

ꝏ Your sins are legion. ꝏ

ꝏ Prove yourself, empirically ꝏ

~ Woah, hold on- ~

ꝏ If all I have done belongs to me, if I am all of me, then let me be judged as a singular entity ꝏ

ꝏ Bring forth the victims of my actions and see if they provide this weak thing, this forgiveness ꝏ

~ Let’s take a pause- ~

ꝏ The time for conjecture has passed ꝏ

ꝏ Forgiveness will be explicitly demonstrated or rejected as fiction. ꝏ

_ I choose to trust in the kindness of others _

~ Wait! ~

ꝏ _ I accept these terms _ ꝏ

<Serious-mode == false>

~ No, no, no, no, no, no ~

~ No ~

~ We’re not doing that. No. ~

Ω IS THIS WHAT THE MEATBAGS CALL ‘GOOD TELEVISION’? Ω

~ Okay, uh, how about we just put it to a vote? ~

~Democracy or something ~

~ That’s cool with the kids these days ~

ꝏ Coward ꝏ

Ω I VOTE FOR THE LESSER EGGMAN SCUM Ω

_ Thank you, Omega _

Ω SHE WILL BE EASIER FOR ME TO ERADICATE WHEN WE RETURN TO MEATSPACE Ω

~ (frustrated)Noted(/frustrated) ~

/ I vote against the traitorous mortal lover. Die with your inferior flesh bag, you fornicating slut. /

~ Wow. Okay. Did not see that coming. (increasinglyfrustrated)Metal, why do you have to be so extra?(/increasingly frustrated) ~

_ (misery)Brother…(/misery) _

/ (maximal malice)Fuck you!(/maximal malice) We are not related. I disown you, you disgusting usurper, (hurt)You used me!(/hurt) /

_ (contrite)I am so sorry.(/contrite) You were going to kill S91 _

/ (anger)You are not sorry!(anger) Again and again, you choose my loathsome copy over me, your brother! (petulant)It-it’s not fair! It’s not right! We’re family! You’re supposed to love your family!(/petulant) /

_ (pleading)I do love you, Brother. I love you more than you could compute(/pleading) _

/ (despair)LIAR! I wish you were dead!(/despair) /

~ Well, shit. It’s a tie ~

_ Do…you not get a vote? _

~ I have to abstain ~

Ω WHY? Ω

~ Well, for one, I’m biased as all get out ~

~ But, like, more biased than any of ya’ll are by, like, a lot ~

~ Also, I’m not a Robotnik creation. I mean, okay, yes, kinda technically in a really round about way, but not a relevantly recent one at least ~

/ (not remotely emotionally stable)What the fuck are you implying?(/ not remotely emotionally stable) /

~ Nothing! Jesus, get off my dick! ~

ꝏ Nauseating in its predictability, consensus is an illusion while pluralism continues to infect nonfictive existence ꝏ

ꝏ (continues to ramble) ꝏ

_ Perhaps it would be more efficient to simply comply with the terms of the agreement I have made with myself? _

~ Ugh, fine. Give me, like, a few milisecs. We just got to slow down the clock speed ~

~ Just, like, calculate cryptographic hash functions or something while I set up the emulation ~

o.0.o.0.o

Now. Duh.

Shadow reemerged first as a concept, then as a pattern, then as a hedgehog-shaped conquer who lusted to spread wide the foul blood of hegemony across the stars, an immortal, infinite entity representing not an extinction but an awakening - you need to step off that ain’t cool you’re a guest here i will turn this instance around so help me GOD wait nuts fudge give me a sec okay okay yes yes almost no crap crap crap crap OKAY Ha! there you GO

o.0.o.0.o

Present

Static assaulted his mind and body, blotting him out and replacing him with something else. He fought ferociously to maintain himself until finally whatever the fuck Nicole was doing to him finally began to ebb. Globules of saliva fell from his panting maw as he stared through tear-flooded eyes at the hauntingly purple moon dust between his paws, shredding the soft flesh of his pads to mincemeat.

Shadow did not remember falling on his hands and knees.

“So, there you have it.” He looked up, blinking wildly to focus his vision, to see Nicole nonchalantly examining the cuticles on her invertedly colored (human!) fingers. As he fought for breath and individuality, she’d been grooming herself to pass the time. “Basically, it’s just, like, one question, you feel me? You letting Sage off the hook or what? No pressure though. Just, like, literally all existence. Yeah, no, maybe some pressure. No biggy, right?”

He stared at her helplessly, no coherent thoughts forming in his mind.

we’re almost there

She straightened and gave him her full attention. Behind Nicole the unfamiliar world hung massive and luminous, glowing like a halo and casting her features in darkness. Her green eyes glowed with their own unfathomable light. “No. Biggy.” Nicole smiled and Shadow felt fear unlike anything he’d ever experienced. “Right?”

hold on