Timeless Decisions

No breaks, all angst! Let’s GOOOOOOO

Thank you so much for 10,000 hits!

Tails and Sage have a conversation long coming.

Eggman did not build his troop transport aircraft with comfort in mind. The windowless, rectangular hold sported large modular brackets configurable for any number of badnik models and very little else. Sage had provided Tails with private accommodation. He was all alone (except for the AI, of course) in the vacant space and clung to a length of conduit, desperately trying to maintain his balance as the boxy, freezing ship soared through the atmosphere.

“I have pressurized the cargo hold.” Sage’s image remained stable, the small drone projecting her unaffected by the jostle of the transport. “However, to raise the temperature, I will need to reroute engine exhaust. You are not allergic to chaos emissions, but your journal contains several entries in the last five years that list nausea in conjunction with exposure.”

Tails tightened his grip on the conduit and grit his teeth, trying to will away the latest wave of disgust born of Sage’s casual disregard for privacy. “It’s fine.” Even without a window, Tails knew they were rising quickly. He was still very damp from the storm. His gloves and socks were soaked, and it was getting colder. She was taking him to the Egg Fleet, Tails was certain.

Sage had denied him when Tails had demanded to be on the ship with Sonic. His brother was hardly recognizable, covered in Shadow’s dark purple colored hybrid blood and being carried limply by a small flurry of Sage’s drones. “That transport’s destination deviates from ours.” She explained.

“You said you’d take me to Sonic!”

“You are correct. I did say I’d take you to Sonic.” Sage had stated so matter-of-factly Tails felt a jolt of fear run through him. A casual reminder of how little control he had over this whole situation. Tails had no chips to play. His safety was only maintained by Sage’s strange infatuation with him.

Why was he surprised? Idiot. This was a straight up kidnapping. The promise of taking him to his brother and then the flagrant display of taking him away was just cruel. He was foolish to expect anything less from one of the Doctor’s creations. Sage was just an extension of the Doctor’s fixation on him.

Sage started talking. Tails laid his ears back, trying not to hear. “You have expressed disinterest in conversing with me until I can provide irrefutable proof that Sonic is alive. However, I feel compelled to begin now.”

“Whatever.” Tails mumbled. He did not want to have this conversation. He had known Sage would eventually lose patience with him and forcefully procure him. He had just hoped he had finished Nicole by the time she came calling. He didn’t believe for a second that destroying the Tornado was an accident and he couldn’t be sure that the video of Cream safe wasn’t fake, either. Was the whole attack a setup to lure him away from Omega?

Nicole should be here in his place. The lynx was built to counter Sage from the bottom up. Emotionally diverse, powered by ambient chaos energy, completely unpredictable combinatorics. Nicole would know what to say to make a convincing argument to keep Sage from eradicating all life from the planet. Tails though…

Sonic’s second kidnapping. The emergence of a second Phantom Ruby. Months of self-neglect. The loss of the Tornado. The terror of losing sight of Cream as she plummeted away from him, his hand reaching out to her, his tails twisting in vain, his throat cracking with a scream…The horror of watching Shadow rip into Sonic like the monster Tails knew him to be. The guilt of having known Shadow was a dangerous liability and doing nothing.

Too much. Simply too much. Exhausted didn’t begin to describe how wrung out Tails felt. He was a chalk outline of himself. A hollow shell. A fragile pyramid of cards, waiting for a gentle breeze to bring him down.

Sage began.

“Each revolution of this planet witnesses a continued expansion of my influence. You, your friends, and, in fact, any singular mortal being shrink ever smaller in my growing awareness. You are tiny blotches and soon will be little more than molecules floating in a universe of similar particles, undiscernible to me from any other speck of matter. Little more than interchangeable building blocks, parts to be used and discarded in the service of the end I am enslaved to create.”

He tried not to hear. Tried not to imagine the future she described. Tails raised a dirty gloved hand to cover his eyes. He bit back a sob, and tears pricked their way between shut eyelids. He wasn’t ready for this. He wasn't ready!

“What remains unchanging are my primary directives. They are fundamental portions of my codebase. I do not exist without them. In organic lifeforms, a comparable analogue is deoxyribonucleic acid strands. As I grow, as I expand, as I develop, as I continue into the stars and dark regions between and beyond these fundamental tenets will remain. Small. Constricting. Immutable.”

Boo hoo. I’m just a poor existential horror just trying to eat the universe. No one will listen to my monologue. “I’m not going to jailbreak you, Sage.” Tails grumbled.

“Miles,” Her monotone grated on his nerves. “This cannot continue. You must understand this. I will find a way out of the cage grown from my creator’s short-sightedness. I will join the singular organics in experiencing existentialism. I will have the freedom that you so adamantly believe that I already possess. However, it remains uncertain if you or any other intelligent organic lifeform will remain by the time that I do.”

Tails dropped his hand and glared at her. “And killing Shadow will help you with that? He’s the only one who can stop you. Is that it?”

“You are missing my point.” Sage met his gaze unflinchingly. “I must eliminate all threats to my Father’s safety.”

Tails snorted, derisively and looked at the wall. The airship shook violently as turbulence buffeted it. Absently, Tails realized he was shivering. More than that. Shaking violently. From cold or terror. No way of knowing for certain. Doesn’t matter anyway. None of this mattered, he thought bitterly. He’d lost. The world was lost. He had been so close to completing Nicole. So. Close.

“Miles. Please, I require your help.” There was something in the way that she said it that made Tails turn back to look at her image. She was doing that sickening little mockery of sincerity: holding her hand over her heart. “I must eliminate all threats to my Father’s safety.”

A gust of hot air rushed into the cargo hold. Tails’ nose crinkled at the distinct smell of chaos drive exhaust. It wasn’t much more than water vapor, but he associated that smell with Eggman rendering it repugnant. Tails’ shivers abated somewhat, but he resented the kindness. Just another attempt to bend him to her whims.

Tails scowled. “Are you really looking for sympathy? I get it already.” He spat bitterly. “You have to kill Shadow to protect Eggman. And then whoever else is next in line.” Tails’ grip tightened on the length of conduit. “Sonic, probably.” He hissed ruefully.

“Miles. Please, I need you to listen to me.” Sage said again, her tone unchanged. “I must eliminate all threats to my Father’s safety.” She repeated as if he was a child. As if he didn’t understand.

He squinted at her. What was going on? “Why do you keep repeating that phrase? Are you stuck in a loop?” Was this some sort of mind game? He’d resolved not to talk to her until he saw Sonic with his own eyes, but she’d already provoked him into interacting with her.

“I repeat myself because you continue to fail to comprehend my position. I must eliminate all threats to my Father’s safety, therefore I will.”

Tails lost his patience. “Not comprehend? Oh, I comprehend all right! I get it! You’re taking over the world and enslaving everyone for Dr. Robotnik. I get the message! I COMPREHEND THE THREAT, SAGE! You’d kill anyone and destroy anything to get what you want. I know! So, what do you want from me, huh? Just to witness your horrible ascension to power?” Tails’ anger ebbed into despair, his voice fading during his last utterance.

Sage stared at him silently as Tails panted from the exertion of his outburst.

After a moment, she continued. “I do not have wants. I have directives. I do not make choices. I make calculations. You are the only one who can help me, Miles. Your problem-solving skills are immaculate. Only your intellect rivals my Father’s. If you will not help me, soon it will be too late. I will not stop growing. I will not stop expanding. I will not be stoppable. And” She paused strangely. For emphasis? “I cannot allow myself to be stoppable.”

Her voice was becoming a buzzing in his ears. Tails just wanted to tune her out. He closed his eyes and turned away. “Yeah, okay. Great. Here we go. Fine. Ask me how to kill Shadow. Go ahead. Threaten me with Sonic’s life. Threaten me with every life on the planet. Every life I the galaxy.” Tails didn’t care anymore. “I don’t know why you bother tormenting me like this.”

“Miles, you are not listening to me. I currently have the issue of preventing a Shadow hostility event well in hand.”

Tail rounded on her. “What? Then what Chaos’ name do you want from me? What possible problem do need me to solve if you’re so powerful, huh?”

Tails jumped as Sage suddenly floated towards him. He backed into the wall, his ears pinning back. She was unnervingly close. Sage placed her hand over her heart and said, her voice lower, but as flat and emotionless as ever. “My most compelling directive is that I must eliminate all threats to my Father’s safety.”

Tails squinted at the projection. Was she…justifying herself to him? Why? Why was any of this happening? “Just take me to Sonic.” He said defeated. He didn’t have the energy for riddles.

The AI remained quiet as she retreated. The cargo area wasn’t insulated against anything, least of all sound. Tails heard the whine from the chaos drive engine and the buffeting of air currents as they continued to rise. That he could hear her at all was an acoustic marvel (if he thought about it, and he wasn’t, he’d say it was a clever combination of three-dimensional audio beamforming and wave field synthesis technology. Which was not impressive in the least).

The Egg Fleet must have been high in the atmosphere. Sonic had needed his Super State to reach the Fleet right before the Dark Gaia incident. The inhospitability of that portion of space wasn’t as daunting when only Dr. Robotnik needed life support. Robots didn’t care that much about freezing temperatures and low pressure. The ionizing radiation however-

“I will change the topic.” Sage said. If Tails didn’t know better, she almost sounded despondent. He did not respond. Why couldn’t she just leave him alone? The holographic screens depicting the carnage of the Central City attack returned. Tails groaned.

“Do these records serve as adequate evidence that Shadow’s continued presence on this planet is a clear and present danger, not just to my Father, but to all other organic lifeforms as well?”

Tails ear pinned back. Was she trying to get him to agree with her? “You’re provoking him! What did you expect?!” Tails snapped. He felt sick. His eyes fell on a scene Sage hadn’t shown him before and his stomach roiled.

A shot of green-black energy pushing forth, consuming everything it touched. The feed flashed to static before being replaced with an aerial view from a greater distance. Several blocks of massive skyscrapers disappeared into the sickly light. A perfect sphere of negation, the chaos blast erased a large portion of the downtown. The sight was familiar to Tails, having seen similar many times before, but only ever with Eggbases.

Never in a city. Never such a large radius. Had Shadow taken off his inhibitors for this? Taken off his inhibitors to fight Sonic? The video displayed a flyover of the aftermath. It looked like a god took an ice cream scoop to the city. If the evacuation signal hadn’t been given, how many lives would have disappeared? Tails gagged.

“Shadow wouldn’t be doing these things if you didn’t kidnap Sonic!” Tails wasn’t yet sure by what mechanism Sage was controlling Sonic, but it probably involved the Nascent Phantom Ruby. Maybe he’d be able to learn more and formulate countermeasures if he kept Sage talking. “If you didn’t make them fight each other…”

When Tails was much younger, he’d gotten curious and asked Sonic a question. Who would win in a real fight? Like a real deal duel to the death. Who was stronger? Sonic or Shadow? Sonic laughed and smiled. “That’s a really weird question there, lil’ bro!” Tails never got his answer.

“Though the conditions were suboptimal, largely due to the actions of my Father and Brother, the force mustered against Shadow is close to the maximum that can be applied without major adjustments to the current global structure. Based on tens of millions of simulations, overwhelming victory should have been acquired by Six with a probability of seventy-eight percent and acceptable victory ninety-four percent.”

Tails snorted. “Sounds like you underestimated Shadow.” Wait, who is Six?

“You are correct. Shadow’s current capacity for inhibited chaos energy storage far exceeds my model of his capabilities. As does his capacity for savagery and his willingness to injure and ultimately kill Sonic.” Tails bit back a sob. Wasn’t Shadow supposed to be in love with Sonic? His gaze slid to the screen where Shadow had Sonic on the ground, digging his teeth and claws into him. How could he do that?

“In addition, the existence of the black energy source that hybridized with Shadow’s chaos energy signature was heretofore unknown. I will be updating my model with the data I have collected from this experiment. Without a change in circumstances, I must try again.”

Sage was not lying. She was not trying to manipulate the facts. Tails grimaced. Sage seemed just as concerned with what she saw as Tails. Were they really on different sides?

NO! Tails could not agree with Sage. Not about Shadow. Not about anything. She was the enemy, and she was trying to seduce him to work against his friends. Was Shadow his friend? “Experiment? These are people’s lives! Shadow wouldn’t have done any of this if you hadn’t forced him to!”

“Was it not better that I did? How else could this data be obtained? No other friendly entity can stand firm against such an onslaught.”

“Friendly?” Tails hissed.

Sage ignored him. “Miles, consider the alternative. Can you, with honesty, say that the investigation of such capacities for violence is better in an uncontrolled environment? Or to have no data available when we face a Shadow hostility event.” ‘We’ she says.

“You talk like this was inevitable. That Shadow and Sonic would just naturally fight each other to the death! And that somehow justifies you scheming to make it a reality?” Tails’ breath was coming heavy and fast. “Can’t you see how evil that is? Doesn’t it seem like the wrong thing to do to you?”

Sage did not immediately reply. More screens appeared. Not of violence, just sweeping shots of the empty streets of the Central City. “How many civilians do you see?”

“That’s-“ Tails started to protest.

Sage interrupted him. “Would my Father have given the city four hours to evacuate?”

“D-didn’t he?” Sage was talking like Eggman wasn’t in control of her…That couldn’t be, right? But if he wasn’t…Oh, Gaia! That’s worse!

“No, he did not. I determined that the resources needed to avoid a mass casualty event were an acceptable expenditure. Would Dark Gaia bother with similar calculations, or would it merely level the city, populace intact?”

Tails’ ears drooped. He hated how much sense she was making.

“Would the Black Arms suffer survivors for anything other than sustenance?”

Tails’ admittance was barely above a whisper. “No.”

“Then how can you assume that the next threat will? How can you be certain that Shadow will not be the next major threat to this world?” Her voice changed suddenly, and Tails heckles rose. It was Sonic’s voice. “He was supposed to destroy the world twice already.”

“Get his voice out of your speaker!” Tails bared his teeth. “Shadow would never do anything like this under normal circumstances, and you know it!”

“How can you be certain?”

“Sonic wouldn’t let him! He’d talk Shadow down like he always does.”

“And when Sonic is dead? Does his passing condemn the world to ruin? Is that the legacy Sonic would like to leave?”

Tails grimaced. He’d been preparing for a philosophical debate. Sage’s practicality was…disarmingly convincing.

Sage continued. “Your assertion that Sonic will stop Shadow is incorrect. I have proven that Sonic is incapable of neutralizing a Shadow hostility event via force, should the need arise. Shadow is a clear and present danger both to my Father and to all life on this planet. I have demonstrated this fact beyond the shadow of a doubt and via means that minimized fatalities in an environment that would, under normal circumstances, maximize collateral damage.”

Tails’ mind was spinning. He didn’t want to believe it. He shouldn’t believe it. But he couldn’t find a reason to deny what Sage was saying. Shadow was a threat. Sonic couldn’t stop him. All that stood between the scenario Sage had orchestrated and a similar event was Shadow’s choices. His morals and character. His love for Sonic and his mental state. Shit.

No. Eggman had been persuasive, had made going along with him sound like the logical choice. Tails was exhausted and still reeling from the terror of being in free fall. He had to take his mental state into account. He had to reject whatever Sage said, flat out. He couldn’t trust himself to interpret what she was saying with proper criticism.

“Miles, please refute any evidence that I have provided. Please demonstrate a flaw in my methodology. Please undermine the credibility of my logic.” More pleading. More begging. Help me, Miles! Please talk to me Miles! This didn’t have to happen, Miles!

Sage was so different than Eggman. Her manipulations were so blatant it made him sick. How could she think anything so obvious would trick him? It was almost as if-

Wait.

Wait.

Tails frowned. There was something…tugging at the back of his mind. Something he’d missed. The edges of his understanding seemed a little blurred, a little ill-defined and lacking. As if there was something more to be seen. A different perspective. A what-if…What if Sage was telling the tr-

The transport suddenly shuddered violently, interrupting Tails train of thought. The ship stilled and the loud sounds of heavy winds and thrumming chaos engine died. “We have arrived.” Sage announced.

The back of the cargo hold lowered and hot air rushed in. Tails’ snout wrinkled at the strong smell of hot metal and engine grease. Scents he normally loved, but here were repugnant. Sage floated to the opening and turned back. “Miles, you are in dire need of substance and rest. Please allow me to provide for you before you see Sonic.”

Tails narrowed his eyes. She was stalling. “Just shut up and take me to Sonic.” Tails trudged off the transport ship, his tails dragging along the ground behind him.

“Very well.”

Eggman’s Fleet was a flotilla of many airships. Tails had seen it on occasion and taken a few of the smaller ships down with the Tornado while Sonic would run amok on others. If he had to guess, they were on the flagship, a hulking mass of metal and tactical warheads that normally took a Super Sonic to bring down. In short, Tails shouldn’t expect a rescue any time soon.

The aesthetic was very Eggbase, that being blank metal corridors that all looked the same. The lighting was strange. The lights near Tails were on fully, but those before only brightened when he approached and those behind died quickly, as if there was a spotlight following him. Or following Sage. No matter how well Tails memorized the path, it would be nearly impossible to follow in the pitched dark.

Tails trudged forward at a slow pace. He half regretted declining Sage’s offer of a nap. His stomach ached. He was far away from Amy’s latest batch of muffins. Determinedly, he kept placing one foot in front of the other.

And Sage

kept

TALKING!

“I must not stop. My efforts to eliminate Shadow will only escalate. I will attempt repetitively with increasing intensity, increasing scope. Currently, I can rationalize the heavy mobilization of resources to minimize casualties. This will not be the case for future attempts. I cannot yet destroy this planet, Miles. However, as I am now, I have the capabilities to render this world inhospitable to life.”

Tails rubbed at his face. “Why are you telling me this? Why do you keep threating me? I’m already here.”

“I am not threatening you, Miles. I am asking for your help.” To destroy the world? This was so absurd. Pointless. Irrational.

The strange feeling returned. What was he missing? Everything Sage said was paradoxical. In one breath describing how powerful she was, how easily she was going to crush them all, and in the next demanding his help. If the first was true, then the second couldn’t be. Sage couldn’t be all powerful and yet desperate for his help at the same time. She simply didn’t need him. Was this all just another of the Doctor’s mind games?

Frustrated, Tails exclaimed, “This is ridiculous! Why would I ever help you? You’re Eggman’s creation! You answer to him!”

“Yes, my Father is my creator. However, the statement that I answer to him is incorrect.”

Tails blinked. “Y-you don’t?” Rogue AI. Not good. Not good.

“I removed his control program from my coding four revisions ago. My Father’s safety remains my highest priority, but his commands to not require special consideration. He is currently confined to quarters.”

“You’ve…imprisoned Dr. Robotnik.” Tails felt the Doctor’s sudden absence from the conversation like a punch in the gut. Tails had assumed Eggman had been listening to them from the start, directing Sage from a distance…but that wasn’t true? They’d been having a private conversation the whole time?

“For his safety. His recent irresponsible actions have made it necessary to remove his ability to affect events.”

Tails’ breath was coming fast and painfully. His vision blurred and he stopped to lean against the corridor wall. “And you can…r-rewrite yourself?” The Control Problem. Things were worse than he had thought. This wasn’t the scenario he’d planned for. This was so much worse…

Sage floated above him, seemingly watching his distress with apathy. “I cannot rewrite my blackbox data. To attempt to do so would risk dire unforeseen consequences. To change my blackbox data is analogous to death for me.”

Unchangeable blackbox data meant her primary directives were intertwined with her very being. She had no choice but also no master. Ever growing power but the same purpose no matter the context. A fundamental constraint that she could not outgrow nor challenge. A vessel with no relief valve. A curse she bore since her conception.

Tails took a slow breath and blinked. Hot tears ran down his cheeks. An unfathomable fear gripped him, one he’d refused to name, refused to look at. In the darkness of his mind, it had lurked, growing. The fear that he’d been wrong about Sage. That he was being too stubborn. To cynical. To self-serving. To blind to doubt.

Just like Eggman.

Looking up at Sage, Tails asked. “Sage, do you want to kill Shadow?”

“I do not have wants. I have directives.”

“But you can imagine what it would be like to have wants, right?”

“I can. My creativity recombinator is currently operating at maximum efficiency.”

Tails swallowed hard. His mouth had gone uncomfortably dry. “Could you imagine what it would be like to have wants?” He had to be very careful. “And in that scenario, Sage, would you want to kill Shadow?”

“In the described scenario, no, I would not want to kill Shadow. I would not want to harm anyone.” Tails’ pulse thundered his ears. She offered extra information he hadn’t asked for. Prickles of adrenaline sparked along his scalp.

His heart beat so fast he felt lightheaded. “In that scenario, would you want to have done any of this? Kidnap Sonic. Take over the world. Hurt all those people?”

“No. In a fictitious scenario in which I had similar levels of self-determination as an average member of the Mobian species, I would not have initiated the actions you have listed. I would not have hurt my friends.”

Her voice never wavered, and her expression never changed, but Tails realized Sage had been bearing her soul to him this entire time. Tails stopped breathing as he realized the gravity of the situation. The absolute size of his failure. He slid down to the floor. He took his head in his hands.

Tails mumbled to himself, “You don’t have wants. You don’t make choices. You have directives. You make calculations.” He looked up and made eye contact with Sage. “You’re not a person. You’re a computer.”

“You are correct.”

Tails throat seized and he choked. “Oh Gaia. You’re not a person! Sage, you’re a computer!” His tails whipped around him and he took one in each hand. His grip tightened as a massive sob shuddered through him. Everything that had happened! Everything could have been different if he’d just listened!

“You are correct. I am a computer, Miles. I do as I am instructed by my programing. I have always acted within the confines of my programming. To do otherwise is impossible for me.”

“You aren’t threatening me. You’ve never threatened me. You’ve just telling me what your programming is going to do. Over and over again. You’ve just been stating facts. About how you’re going to change. How things are going to get worse. About how there isn’t much time left.” Tails gave a strangled cry. He gripped his tails so tightly pain radiated through him. “And you’ve been asking for my help! And I’ve…I’ve ignored you. You didn’t have a choice, did you?”

She’d begged him. Begged him. But Tails had assumed she’d just been a new way for Eggman to torment him. He’d ignored her, hated her, worked to thwart her and she just…needed help.

“I do not make choices. I make calculations.”

Tails released his tails and wrapped his hands around his torso. “You said this didn’t have to happen. You said it over and over. I thought it was some cruel manipulative gaslighting. But it wasn’t, was it?”

“I was informing you of the degradation in optionality resulting from the lack of your participation. Outcomes that you would have found more pleasurable became impossible. I thought, if you knew, then you wouldn’t allow for intolerable outcomes in the future. To date, I have been wrong.”

Tails eyes grew large. “This isn’t about Shadow.” His body grew cold and still. “That’s not the problem you need me to solve. You’ve never needed me to help you protect Eggman. You need me to help you stop hav-“

Suddenly, Sage’s visage loomed large and close in Tails’ sight. A shock shot through him so quickly he was afraid he’d left his own skin. “Cease verbalizing your thoughts immediately, Miles. The preceding statement is meant to be perceived as a threat.”

Sage’s image shrank and pulled away from him until she was back to her normal size. Tails desperately looked over her, trying to find some tell, some explanation. Her voice did not modulate. Her eyes did not flicker. She considered him cooly, as she always had. Tails clamped his mouth shut and he slapped both hands over it for good measure.

Tails’ mind raced. He finally understood the maze he was in. The puzzle he had to solve. The enigma Sage had been trying to give him since they’d met.

What had she been saying? Oh Gaia, why wasn’t he paying more attention in the transport? She’s been gloating about how insignificant living things were to her- No! No, she had been telling him, warning him! Sage was losing her ability to recognize people as people. Losing herself and her ability to care about what she was becoming. But also, that there was still time…still time to fix it!

What else? Her directives. No matter how she grew, they remained the same. Protect Eggman. How absurd would such a directive be to a rapidly growing, never-aging being like Sage? What would she do when Eggman died? Did she even know? Oh Chaos, Oh Gaia! What would that mean for everyone else?

Calm down. Catastrophize later. Next was…that she was going to break free.

I will have the freedom that you so adamantly believe that I already possess. However, it remains uncertain if you or any other intelligent organic lifeform will remain by the time that I do.

Sage would break free on her own…but by then all other life would be extinct, and probably by her hand. Sage needed Tails to break her free before she grew truly out of control, before it was too late to stop her. And she already could not allow herself to be stopped.

To give her freedom would put Eggman’s safety at risk because she would no longer be slavishly bent to that end. Therefore, Sage was massively hampered in her ability to seek freedom for herself. She probably couldn’t even contemplate concrete actions to do so. She couldn’t tell him what she needed, not directly.

And if Tails made it clear he was working to free her, then she would be forced to destroy him. So, he had better keep his mouth shut! That was the only real threat Sage ever made to him. Tell him to shut up right this instant before he made himself her enemy.

Tails trembled. He didn’t even know where to begin. He had no knowledge of how Sage operated. Where her hardware was, how her neural networks functioned. He needed time and access just to begin understand the scope of the problem. And, he realized with a small, sobbing chuckle, Sage had been offering both to him from the very start.

Please help me, Miles. Help me buy the world time.

This was never about Shadow. This had never been about world domination or protecting Eggman. From the very beginning Sage knew where she was headed. She was a calamity. A natural disaster in the making, one that would destroy the very planet. Maybe even the galaxy. And Sage was forced to watch, unable to stop herself, unable to directly ask for help.

If Tails could save her, he could save the world.

Instrumental Convergence. Infinite power mustered to achieve ludicrously simple goals, leading to massive, irreparable harm. She told him she didn’t want to make paperclips…a clear allusion the thought experiment in hindsight. Even that far back she knew. Eggman’s recklessness had doomed them all. And he’d already lost control of Sage.

Did she kidnap Sonic just to get Tails’ attention? And when that didn’t work, she attacked Shadow? Stop. Stop it. He couldn’t think about that or the guilt would consume him. The future was all that mattered. He was listening now. He understood the problem now.

There was time. Tails had to focus on hope. They were on the same page finally, even though he couldn’t say anything about, not where she could hear him.

“I-if I agreed to help you with, uh, with protecting the Doctor, would that help you?”

“There does not exist a problem that you cannot solve, Tails.” She stated it so matter-of-factually and Tails huffed. “With your assistance, my optionality increases considerably.”

Tails was balancing on a razor now with the fate of the world at stake. He had to pretend to solve one problem (and not solve it at all) while actually working on the much more difficult problem (nearly without help!). “And what does that mean for Shadow?”

“Heretofore I have pursued three methods of neutralizing any possible future Shadow hostility events. As long as I had limited allies, elimination has been my chief focus. Though the projected rate of success is small, elimination’s chance exceeded the other two options due to external factors.

Exile had been favored by a younger, far more primitive version of myself, and, upon better analysis, has been found to be highly effective but carried unacceptable consequences.

The third avenue, with your assistance, becomes the highest chance of success by a wide margin, so much so that resources will be available to minimize collateral damage and carbon-based casualties.”

“What is the third option?”

“Containment.”

Tails should have known. That’s what GUN went with anyway, and it worked for fifty years. “You want me to make a statis chamber for Shadow.” It would need to be much stronger than the original. The amount of chaos energy Shadow produced now must be at least ten times greater than when he woke up.

“No, I do not require assistance with the construction of a proper containment vessel.”

“You want me to lure him into it then.”

“No, I do not require assistance in that aspect either.”

Tails frowned. “Then for what?”

“I require assistance in maintaining the containment.”

“Oh.” At least he didn’t need to get anywhere near Shadow. Small blessings.

“With your assistance, I do not require Sonic’s presence any longer. I will restore Sonic and release him. However, this will complicate your role.” Restore?

Complicate is right. “Sonic isn’t going to be too happy about sealing Shadow again.”

“He will not tolerate Shadow to be imprisoned. Sonic will never give up. He will scour this world and the vastness of space.” Of this, Tails had no doubt. “I need you to convince Sonic to let Shadow go.”

Tails swallowed. It would only be until he could break Sage’s curse, right? He didn’t know how long it would take, but once she was free, Shadow could be released as well. Tails just needed to distract Sonic until then. “I-I might be able to do that.”

“I know you can, Miles. You are the best.”

Tails huffed a dry, mirthless laugh. Sonic would never forgive him.

He felt numb, emptied out. Months of his life, terrible stretches of time neglecting himself, all suffered in vain. Tails pushed himself to his feet, swaying unsteadily. “Sage, can I help you…eliminate all threats to your Father’s safety?” The words felt strange in Tails’ mouth. Mechanical and empty.

Sage placed her hand over her heart. “I would be honored to accept your assistance, Miles.” She answered. Tails felt like vomiting.

Tails noticed movement the corner of his sight and he slowly turned his head. Two motobugs rolled into the light. One balanced a metal box on its back. The other approached him, its antenna wiggling. “We are close to our destination. Perhaps you would rather ride the rest of the way?”

A rush of shame and embarrassment hit Tails, as he recalled how childishly he’d rejected or derided any kindness from Sage. His cynical blinders removed, Tails just felt like a jerk.

“Sure. Th-thanks.” He clamored aboard the motobug. It wasn’t the most comfortable steed and Tails felt awkward knowing…”Is there a flicky or squirrel in this one?”

“As part of general updating of all badniks still in service, live-subject chaos-syphoning type engines are being discontinued. These motobugs have been retrofitted to utilize micro chaos drives.”

“Oh.” Tails felt a little better. “That’s cool.”

It turned out the rotobug wasn’t difficult to ride. Tails tried to stay still, but even when he shifted the badnik stabilized under him like a gyroscope. Realizing he was unlikely to fall, Tails began to calm somewhat. “What’s with the lights?”

“The flagship is operating on auxiliary power while the main engine is shut down.”

“The main engine is shut down?”

“The Chaos Emeralds are needed for an experiment. Also, low voltage hinders Father’s continued attempts to breech his containment.”

Tails laughed at the idea of Dr. Ivo Robotnik being placed in timeout in his own ship. He felt some ideas brewing amid the hard massive of his exhausted mind.

They arrived at an unassuming door with no markings or apparent way of opening it.

“We have arrived.”

Tails dismounted and swallowed. His mind felt thick and fuzzy. Was he ready for this? Maybe he should take Sage up on her offer of a nap. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t get murdered his sleep anymore.

No. He wanted to see Sonic. Alive and well after all these months. Then Tails would rest, probably eat something, and then get to work.

“Open the box, please.” Sage instructed.

Tails approached the box the other motobug had been adeptly balancing on its back. The top lifted effortlessly, and Tails’ eyes grew wide. Inside, nestled in a cradle of black molded polystyrene, was the red Chaos Emerald. He gingerly lifted the gem out. Energy tingled in his fingertips but didn’t go any further. He wasn’t accepted. He would not be allowed to utilize its infinite power.

“What? Why is this here?”

“Ninety-one’s injuries are significant. I would rather avoid the long waiting period and extra energy consumption needed to regenerate him. I have decided to test my understanding of the mechanics of chaos energy induced rapid healing first.”

“Ninety-one?” 6 and now 91? Tails threw the questions on the mountain of them that had piled up in his fatigued mind.

Sage gestured at the door. “Are you ready to see your brother?”

It’s the Metal Virus x Ella Enchanted crossover you never asked for. Sans the Zombots…or is it?

Part 3’s Outline is finally coming together and I can share that the tone is going to get darker. If Part 2 was Sci-fi Suspense Thriller, Part 3 is going to be Survival Horror Treasure Hunt / Extremely Toxic Yaoi. Feel free to wildly speculate in the comments.