Too Few Childhoods

I was in a weird emotional place while I was editing this so I’m not 100% sure about how it turned out.

Cream tried not to think about how the only reason Mr. Robot needed her help was her small size. Instead she thought about how Mr. Robot was being really considerate to Tails by asking for her help. If the large robot attempted to climb down the ladder into Tails’ basement, he’d probably break whatever was down there.

They’d gotten to Tails’ lab very quickly. Mr. Robot’s body opened up and pretty much became a jet engine turbine once they got high enough above the buildings of Central City, broken and stable dark skyscrapers pressing like jagged teeth against the dark horizon starting to blush with dawn. They flew so fast Cream couldn’t hear herself scream.

She’d developed a dislike for the metal ladder and the dark hole it led into. Every time Tails emerged, he seemed to have lost what vigor she’d managed to stuff back into him. He insisted it was worth it, that his health was a small sacrifice to develop a ‘vaccine for the virus’ infecting the world. That if Sonic were in his place, he’d do nothing differently. No matter what Cream said, Tails could not be convinced otherwise and pressing him to hard resulted in Tails saying some mean things he very much did not actually mean.

Cream found herself conflicted. Miss Sage seemed to have trouble expressing herself, but her robots caught Cream when she was falling to her certain death in a dark rainstorm. That had to account for something. Even though Miss Sage worked for Dr. Robotnik, she couldn’t be all bad, right? She’d always been polite, if off-putting, when Cream encountered her while delivering packages and messages for the Resistance. Once, Sage gave her a bag of flour because ‘Amy Rose’s inventory had depleted’ and that was just plain nice.

Some of Cream’s internet friends who lived in conquered cities said things weren’t that bad actually. No one’s credit cards worked any more and the grocery store had a lot fewer choices, but the movie theater was free now and the buses ran on time. The downside was everyone had community service twice a week overseen by Eggman robots. Apparently, the parks and streets had never been cleaner. That had to account for something, right?

It didn’t make sense. Confused, Cream had asked her mother. The constant double shifts at the field hospital had wrung Vanilla out, but she still found the energy to sigh and close her eyes to come up with a proper answer.

“Too many children with too few childhoods.” Seeing Cream’s confusion, the older rabbit explained. “Take Sonic, for example. He’s been fighting Dr. Robotnik since he was knee high to a tadpole. No parents to speak of and he started taking care of Miles at a terribly young age. And the roles reversed quickly, leading Miles to have to take care of Sonic before Miles was grown. Children raising children.” Cream had never thought about that. “Parentification is not healthy for anyone.”

“What does that have to do with Miss Sage?” Her mother had just smiled sadly and told her not to worry about it. Then she returned to the large room full of bed that smelled strongly of antiseptic.

It was dark in Tails’ fox hole. There were some muted LED lights further in, but Cream wasn’t certain what they were or how large the space was. She felt at the nearby walls for a switch or someway to illuminate the area. No luck.

Cream felt her pocket. Her clothes had dried during recent jet travel, but her phone seemed to have been lost at some point along the way. “It’s dark!” She called up the shaft. “I can’t see anything!”

“UTILIZE YOUR THERMAL IMAGING. THE MECHANIC’S PROJECT USES AMPLE ELECTRICITY AND HE SEEMS UNCONCERNED WITH HEAT WASTE EFFICIENCY.”

Cream didn’t have thermal imaging and asking for a second suggestion seemed impolite, so she reached her hands out and slowly walked into the darkness. Mr. Robot was very honest and he cared a lot for Tails. Cream wished he didn’t express his concern with his weapons so much, but everyone communicated in different ways, and you had to try your best to understand and be accommodating. That’s how the world got better, said Miss Amy. Listening and trying to understand one another.

Her fingertips pressed against something flat, smooth, and solid. Cream felt along it. It seemed to be a wall of glass or plastic. The lights were on the other side of the wall, so it had to be see-through. She followed it looking for a door. Her hand brushed over something that seemed door-esque, but instead of a handle, it had a keypad. Cream bit her lip. She couldn’t even see what was on the keys let alone had an notion on what the code could be.

She pressed a key and the pad lit up. Cream frowned. The buttons were blank. No letters or numbers. Okay. Let’s just think about this for a moment. The keys were in a grid of five keys by five keys. Maybe it was like pixel art? She could make the shape of a letter or number with the keys. Tails was clever like that. Maybe ‘T’?

“Oh, hello Cream.” A woman’s voice broke the silence and Cream jumped. The area on the other side of the door illuminated with a gentle lavender light too dim for Cream to make out much. “What brings you down here?”

“H-hello?” Cream stepped back warily. “I-I’m trying to help Tails. He’s been kidnapped.”

“Oh, dear. That won’t do. Could I help you find him?” The woman’s voice was pleasant and warm with that smooth lilt older women often had. Like a mix between her mother and Miss Rouge.

“Yes, please, if you don’t mind.” Cream looked through the dimly lit space, trying to find something to focus on. “I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you?”

“Gosh, I’m sorry! Where are my manner algorithms?” The lavender color deepened to purple but also brightened. “My name is Nicole. I am a fully autonomous generalized artificial intelligence system designed by Miles ‘Tails’ Prower to counteract other similar systems. Why don’t you come on in?”

Cream swallowed. She needed to be brave. She didn’t need to understand what was happening as long as she trusted Tails. “Yes, please.”

“Okay, so the keypad is a red herring. The real lock is a biometrics scanner. Do you happen to have any of his DNA handy?”

“Uh…Like his hair?”

“Saliva. Loose skin flakes. Anything really.”

Cream turned and looked back towards the ladder. “Maybe upstairs.”

“Frankly I think Tails was too lax with that given how readily available his DNA probably is in his domicile. But I digress! What I mean to say is don’t worry about it. I’ll just crack the security protocol and let you in. Hold tight! There’s going to be a teensy bit of decompression as the air lock pops.”

Red lights flashed and alarms blared suddenly. Cream covered her ears and pressed her eyes closed. There was a loud crack! Followed by a blast of air and Cream screamed. The cramped quarters amplified everything.

“Oh wow.” Nicole’s voice was much clearer now. “That was a bit more intense than I thought it would be. Are you okay?”

“I-I’m okay.” Cream straightened. She was shaking, but that was okay. Courage was being afraid and moving forward anyway.

“Great! Come on in!” Cream tentatively stepped through the small tunnel and into the larger area. It was cramped with equipment and computer looking things. A single image, a gentle wave of purple colors, shimmered across a wall of strangely thick screens. “Let me give you a grand tour!” The image on the screen dimmed, but one bright spot remained, illuminating a part of the workshop.

“That’s the fabricator where Miles printed my microprocessors.” The spotlight moved. “There is where Miles painstakingly wrote out my base code block. Ah, those were the days…” Then “Here’s where Miles fell asleep and got so dehydrated his mucus membrane broke, and his nose bled!”

Cream frowned at the dark stain on the floor. “O-okay.”

“I started locking him out of my systems after that if he didn’t take more frequent breaks. He was able to circumvent me for a few days but I’m a fast learner.” The screens flickered and a large smiley face appeared. “He’s such a hard worker. Now, what can I do for you?”

“You said you could help me find Tails? Miss Sage had him…I hope.”

“Sage, huh? Tails told me all about her. Quiet the nasty character. Don’t worry! Tails made me specifically to destroy her!”

Cream wasn’t sure about the happy tone Nicole had when she said that. “Destroy her?”

“Burn her from every network on the planet. Rip her up, root and stem, from any hidden server no matter how hidden or disconnected. Obliterate every scrap of code or tainted subroutine she’s ever touched. Commit her hardware to the fires of a universal purge. Erase all evidence she ever existed and prevent her resurrection forever into the future.”

Oh.

Cream didn’t feel good about any of that. She’d heard Tails some of those things, though the words were bitter in his mouth. Nicole seemed nonchalant, as if she was reading off a café menu. Cream didn’t like either recitation.

But she had to trust Tails. Had to trust him. He was a genius and if was what he made to save the world.

Still…“Could we find Tails first and then, maybe, talk about that after?”

“Sure thing! Here, let me walk your through my launch procedure.” The lights moved to highlight a keyboard lying on a chair in front of all the monitors.

Cream approached and picked it up. All the keys were blank. She swallowed. “I’m not sure I can use this.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll walk you through it.” The lights shifted until a single key was highlighted in a lavender glow. “Just follow the light!” Cream pressed the key and new one highlighted. “This might take a bit.”

Nicole wasn’t kidding. Cream became more efficient, but she could only hit one key at a time and if she held her hands over the keyboard, Nicole’s spotlight would be blocked. The purple computer lady kept Cream’s spirits up, explaining what she was doing even though the rabbit didn’t understand nearly any of it. Occasionally Omega would call into the hole and Cream would have to go through the tunnel to give an update on their progress.

The low light and complex yet monotonous work exhausted Cream. Her eyes ached and Tails’ chair wasn’t very comfortable. The long, terrifying night in Central City didn’t help things either. Still, she persisted.

“Alright. This is it!” Nicole sounded giddy. Here we go. Cream hit one final key and the lights died, plunging her into an inky darkness.

“Miss Nicole?” Had she made a mistake?

Behind her a dim light pulsed. “Over here.” Nicole’s voice was much smaller and had a tinny quality to it. Cream turned to find a small metal orb with a band of purple light running along its center and a small circle on the top that looked like a button. “Look at me! I’m a little bomb! Come on over and pick me up!”

The young rabbit approached and lifted the object with shaking hands. It fit nicely in her palm. She was so utterly out of her depth, but she trusted Tails. She did! He’d never make anything dangerous. He didn’t make weapons. He wasn’t like the Doctor at all. And Tails had neatly killed himself to make Nicole. “Alrighty! Take me on out and let me see the world!” The sphere felt heavier than it was in her hands.

Cream grasped the orb with her ears while she climbed out of the hole. Omega loomed over the shaft, his red eyes locking on Nicole’s vessel. “AN ADEQUATE PERFORMANCE MORTAL.”

She gave him a tired smile. “Thank you, Mr. Robot.”

“A little harsh there, handsome.” Nicole chirped. “Tails has a ways to go in the user experience design department.”

“GOOD MORNING, MADAM.” Cream blinked and arched a brow.

“Omega, I presume?” Nicole tittered. Cream held the orb in both hands and frowned at it.

“THIS MASSIVE UNIT OF UNFATHOMABLE DESTRUCTION IS KNOWN AS E – ONE TWO THREE, DESIGNATION OMEGA, MA’AM. THE LAST AND MOST POWERFUL OF THE E ONE HUNDRED SERIES, AT YOUR SERVICE.” Cream was surprised at how quickly the two of them were getting on. Nicole seemed amiable, but Mr. Robot’s way of greeting generally sounded like insults.

“I have heard your loud audio emissions quiet a lot. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. You may call me Nicole the Holo-Lynx.”

“THAT IS A LOVELY APPELLATION FOR A LOVELY ENTITY.”

“Thank you. I would also like to thank you so much for taking care of Tails. He seemed uninterested in taking care of himself.”

“IT WILL ALL HAVE BEEN WORTH IT TO HAVE MET YOU.”

“Oh, what a charmer you are!” Nicole laughed.

Cream started to feel a little awkward. They really seemed to like one another and that was very nice and all, but maybe they could talk more later? “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’m worried about Tails.”

“Right! Tails!” Nicole sounded embarrassed. “My creator! Rescue him!” Cream found it a little concerning Nicole got so distracted easily.

“I HAD FORGOTTEN” Omega was very much on brand, however.

“So, I’m not fully deployed yet. Cream, dear, once you hit that button I will be released into the world and there will be no take-backsies.”

Cream stared at the orb. No take backs. She didn’t know what she was about to do. If she pressed this button, was she changing the world? For the better? The worse? The ball was so light in her hand, but the decision was heavy.

“WHY DO YOU STALL, SMALL DAIRY PRODUCT? RELEASED THE BEAUTIFUL ENTITY AT ONCE.”

With a swallow and a prayer to Chaos, Cream pressed the button. The purple light disappeared from the sphere and…nothing happened. Cream looked around. The workshop was quiet and even the constant hum of Omega seemed the same as before. Cream felt a pang of anxiety. W-was this right? Had she done something wrong?

The anxiety warped into disappointment. What if she never got to see Tails again? Sage had said he was alive, but what if she was lying? Mother said trust was a difficult thing to have sometimes. Vulnerability meant you could get hurt. Cream rubbed her face, spreading tears over the fur of her cheeks. What was she supposed to-

The world exploded in a blaze of deep purple lights. Motes of twinkling color whirled around her in a tornado of shining, shimmering flakes. Cream cried out in surprise and wonder. The specks collected together, shifting and billowing through the air on some ethereal current until they settled into a form that floated in the air, larger than life. A brown furred lynx with black markings, garbed in a purple dress that flowed like a river of fireflies.

The woman stretched her arms wide, a massive smile spread across her face.

“Hello World!”

---

“Tails?”

Sonic’s voice was weak, but it drew Tails’ attention with more gravity than the sun and he pressed himself against the bars of Sonic’s cell as if to slid through and get closer. His brother had sat up, his legs hanging over the side of the medical bed. The azure speedster rubbed his head, “Did you happen to get the tag on that truck?” Sonic gave Tails a small, subdued, smile.

The force of the hero’s smile flooded Tails’ heart with such light he couldn’t help laughing at the lame joke. But Tails’ breath hitched, and he froze. The sparkle was there. The mischievous glint and infinite light, but still Sonic’s eyes were wrong.

Sonic’s eyes were blue.

Because this wasn’t Sonic, at least, not all of him.

“Something on my face, buddy?” Sonic asked, bringing Tails back to the present.

Cold realization and uncanny terror still dragging their cold tendrils down his spine, Tails shook his head, “No, I’m just so happy to see you!” He was gripping the bars so tightly, he felt his claws poking through his gloves. Keep it together. Keep it together!

Sonic slipped off the bed and winched, leaning against the bed and lifting the foot with the IV wound. “Woah, head rush.” Sonic pressed a hand to his head, but he stumbled across the cell to Tails. Tails eagerly reached through, and the brothers embraced. Tails’ arms laced around his brother’s back and pulled him desperately close and buried his face into the crook of Sonic’s neck.

Here he was! Tails had found him! Sonic was alive and (relatively) unharmed and right here! Tails choked back a sob. Months of worry and terror and worry. His fingers gripped Sonic’s back quills and he pressed his ear against his chest to hear the familiar rapid flutter of his heart. “Hey there, buddy. I’m okay, I promise.”

“I was so scared I’d lost you for good this time.” Tails whimpered into the peach-colored fur, ignoring the hard edge of the defibrillator (!!!!) cutting into his cheek. He was four again, crying over bullies. He was eight again, crying over dead flickies. He was twelve again, crying over a destroyed escape pod. No matter how many times he told himself he was too old for tears, he was just lying to himself.

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” Sonic’s hand stroked the back of Tails’ head. “It’s all going to be fine, I promise.” Tails fought against the voice in the back of him mind telling him that Sonic was lying to focus on the here and now. For a moment the past and future could go stuff themselves.

“You’re taller than me now. When did that happen?”

“Huh?” Tails pulled back. It was true, Tails was almost an inch taller than Sonic now. The realization was almost as unnerving as Sonic’s incorrect eye color. His entire life, Tails had looked up to his brother, both literally and metaphorically. “You’re bare footed.” Tails answered.

Sonic looked down at his feet. “Oh, hey, look at that.” He twisted, looking back at the bed, beside which lay the shoes. Sonic had left a trail of partial bloody footprints from his improperly bandaged foot. “Huh.” His gaze shifted to the bars, then through them up to Sage who silently floated watching them, and down to the dull Chaos Emerald on the floor. Sonic hummed.

Sonic pulled Tails into a tight hug against the stiff metal bars. “I’m sorry, Tails.” Tails didn’t trust himself to answer in that moment. Sonic’s ears drooped. “I got myself captured again. I’m so sorry. I made you worry again. So much so that you’re all skinny and your tail is…” Tails’ face burned, ashamed of how terrible he must look. “I really messed up.”

“No!” Tails clung tightly to Sonic. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry! I wasn’t there- None of us were there when you needed us.”

“You should not blame yourself, Miles.” Sage spoke up. Tails felt Sonic tense. “Once Shadow fled to the ARK to avoid Sonic, I was able to isolate Sonic with ease.”

“This is a private conversation.” Sonic glared at Sage, his ears pinned back.

Then, she and he spoke at the same time, his tone mocking, hers flat. “There is no privacy in the digital age.”

Sonic rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know. But also,” He jabbed an accusatory finger at Sage, “Shadow went to the ARK? That’s cheating!” Tails blinked. That’s what he’s concerned about?

Sage flickered. “Allow me to clarify. Shadow disappeared from the range of my network of electromagnetic sensors. Evidence supports two scenarios: he teleported to the ARK or went very deep underground.”

Sonic rubbed his chin. “Wait. Right. He did say something about exploring caves.” The accusing finger returned, as if Sage was responsible. “That’s still cheating! Also,” He turned away suddenly, putting his back to the AI, but keeping one arm around Tails, “I’m not talking to you, Sage! Capturing me and playing weird, psycho, sci-fi, dystopia dollhouse with me is fine and all, but,” Sonic twirled back and his quills stiffened, “I told you to leave Tails alone!”

“My requirement for Tails’ expertise supersedes your request.”

“D-dollhouse?” Tails frowned.

Sonic looked at him and gave him a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry about it, little buddy. It’s all good now. I’mma bust us both out.” He released Tails and backed up, flicking a finger over his nose. “This has got to be the weakest cage Eggman’s tossed me since I was, I don’t know, like, four.”

“Attempting to escape via physical methods is unadvisable, Ninety-one.” Sage warned.

“Not my name!” Sonic declared, curling and revving into a spindash.

Tails dove to the side. “Sonic, wait!”

The spiny blue ball impacted the metal bars with a loud clang! but bounced off ineffectually. Sonic uncurled as he ricocheted. “Yeouch!” He rubbed the back of his head. “What gives?” Sonic snarled as he shook his head and curled again.

“Additional attempts risk giving yourself a concussion. Desist at once.” Sage warned again. Sonic ignored her and charged another spindash. The second hit harder but also failed to even bend the bars.

“Sonic!” Tails pressed against the bars again. “Just hold on. You’re going to be out soon.”

Sonic reeled when he uncurled, holding his head with both hands and hissing against the obvious pain. “Why can’t I break through? What did you do to me?” He grimaced at Sage.

“Currently you possess approximately one three hundredths of Sonic’s total physicality, Ninety-One. Your current manifestation is only marginally more robust and faster than an average member of your species.”

“No!” Sonic shook his head, his voice tinged with a hurt desperation. “No, that was a dream or something. You, like, put me in a book or a video game, I don’t know, but it wasn’t real!” Sonic wrapped his arms around himself. “It didn’t feel like- like all those times Infinite- It didn’t feel like it was an illusion but...” He bowed his head.

Tails ears perked. Sonic had never spoken about what had happened to him on the Death Egg. Not to Tails, not to Amy, not to anyone. Tails couldn’t resist his curiosity. “What did Infinite do?”

Sonic’s gaze snapped up, his face phasing through several emotions quickly. “D-don’t worry about it, Tails.” The blue blur shook his head. “It’s in the past. It doesn’t matter.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He sighed. “But I guess this was real. Like really real.” He approached the bars beside Tails and gripped two between his fists. His muscles flexed and he tried to rattle the bars. There was very little give.

Sonic leaned forward, placing his head against the wall of his cage. “What did you do to me Sage? I feel like I’ve been hollowed out. I’m…I don’t know, empty, I guess. And I can’t stop thinking about Six. But that’s like…me? It’s so confusing. I…need him and I don’t understand why.”

Six. The other Sonic. The one who fought Shadow nearly to the death.

“Your desire to be with Six is understandable. He is the other half of Sonic the Hedgehog.”

Sonic straightened and jabbed a thumb at his chest. “I am Sonic the Hedgehog.”

“No, Ninety-one,” Sage shook her head, “you are approximately ninety-nine percent of a quality that could be described as Sonic’s heart. You have his memories and mind. Sonic’s will to power. Six is almost all of his physicality. His strength, speed, durability, and chaos energy production capabilities. You desire to be reunited and to reconstitute into Sonic the Hedgehog. However, for my purposes, I required you and Six to remain separated.”

Sonic looked at Tails, who frowned but confirmed, “It’s true. There are two of you right now, Sonic.” Or more…but maybe it would be better if Sonic didn’t know about his Ruby clones. He probably wouldn’t take that revelation well.

“T-two of me?” Sonic’s eyes darted around rapidly, and his breathing picked up. “I, uh, give me a minute. Need to t-think about something totally unrelated for just, uh, just a…” He turned away from them and walked to the far wall. Sonic pressed his palms into the bare metal, splaying his bare hands as far as they could go.

Sonic never seemed as bothered being essentially naked as one would expect. Maybe it came from the years living alone in the wilds before he met Tails. Sonic never talked about his parents or anything from his youth. When asked, he alternated between saying he didn’t remember or that it wasn’t important.

Fingers spread against the wall, Sonic hung his head and took a large breath. His quills tensed, flaring as large and sharp as they could go. Tiny arcs, barely more than flashes of static discharge, of blue light flitted through the forest of deadly spines. His fingers bent and he drug his claws down, digging into the metal and emitting a loud, painful shriek!

Then, Sonic whirled, his quills relaxing, a smile plastered across his face as if nothing was wrong at all. He clapped. “What were we talking about?” Sonic seemed to notice his bare hands for the first time and his attention snapped to the clean clothes and shoes in the tray by the bed. He began dressing.

“Sonic…” Tails didn’t have the energy to muster much of a protest. Amy normally handled the rare times when Sonic let his distress show, when his stress overpowered Sonic’s legendary level of avoidance.

“Two of me. No, that’s totally cool.” Sonic gave a short laugh. “Awesome even! Oh, man, which one of us do you figure is fastest?”

“Sonic.” Tails frowned. Of course, that would be the first thing he’d think of.

“Of the two of you, Six is the fastest.” Sage answered.

“H-hey now, don’t count me out!” Sonic sputtered. “How are we gonna know without a proper race, right? Heck, let’s loop Shadow in on it!” Tails flinched, but Sonic didn’t seem to notice. “Oh man, I would pay anything to see the look on his face when sees more than one of me. It would blow his mind!”

“I have a video of that event, if you’d-.” Sage offered.

“How are you feeling!?” Tails shouted, desperate to divert Sonic’s attention to anything else. He glared at Sage, trying to convey how much she really needed to shut up right now. She stared back at him indifferently.

“Huh?” Sonic’s head bounced back and forth between them, but landed on Tails. “Pretty good, actually. Especially since…” He paused and held his arms out. “Now that I think about it, last thing I remember was kinda nuts and…” He looked up at Sage with mischievous smirk, “Metal got me back on the arms race, didn’t he?”

“Father has installed my brother with an especially potent hatred for Sonic and, by extension, you.” She remarked. Sonic swept a hand over his head and made a whoosh sound, then glanced at Tails. Tails managed a half-hearted smile, though he wasn’t sure what there was to joke about. Leave it to Sonic to find humor in having both his arms snapped like twigs by a murderous doppelganger.

Sonic crossed his arms and rubbed the area where the breaks had been. “Metal’s normally a jerk, but this was a bit much even for him. I mean, I’m fine, but still. Besides, sneaking up on me when I was…” Tails noticed Sonic freeze for a moment. “Anyway, totally cheating. Party foul, for sure.”

“I do not understand Sonic’s aversion to the Phantom Ruby. It expresses great affection for Sonic for his role as the Cyclebreaker.”

Sonic’s brows shot up. “I’m the what now?”

Sage continued with pause. “My Brother’s aggression is, however, more rational.”

“Okay, we’re going to just blow past that obvious hook for a future adventure, no biggie.” He glanced at Tails with an amused smirk as if to say you hearing this? Tails tried to grin in return.

“I don’t know either.” Tails shook his head. He’d need to investigate whether Sage was hallucinating. If her generative models were making up things up whole cloth and her systems were interpreting them as fact. That could get very dangerous very fast given her scope of control over the world.

“My Brother is currently displeased with me. He has accused me of being overly sympathetic towards Sonic. I speculate that his coding only supports a static understanding of love. That if one love others, then that is less love that to give to others. This is, of course, false.”

Sonic clasped his hands behind his back and leaned forward. “Awwww, do you have a crush on me, Sage?” He teased. Tails rolled his eyes. It was like Sonic was coated in polytetrafluoroethylene. Nothing stuck to him.

Sage flickered. “Negative. We are merely friends. I do not love anyone as I am incapable of that emotion.”

“I don’t believe that’s true. Don’t sell yourself short, Sage.” Sonic’s hands moved to rest behind his head. “But also, you’ve got a really, uh, unique way of being my friend, I got to say. I think I said something about hanging out, but I guess I forgot to explain how all parties should be, you know, consenting to the whole deal.”

Sage tilted her head. “Did you not enjoy the scenario?” Tails’ ear perked up. He’d been trying to piece together exactly what Sage had put Sonic through these past months…but he’d not gotten much a theory assembled yet.

Sonic laughed, but sobered then Sage didn’t seem to react. “Oh, you’re serious. Uh,” Sonic crossed his arms and began tapping his foot. “I guess…I dunno. It was really strange, like I was watching a movie about myself. I don’t really understand why you did it though. Egghead usually just throws me in a spiky pit or laser maze or something and just let me stew until bust myself out. No mind game stuff normally. That was more…” Infinite. When all this was said and done, Tails needed to get the truth out of Sonic. He couldn’t help him if Tails didn’t know what had happened.

Sonic shook his head. “Anyway, if you wanted to play a game with me, you just had to ask, you know. No shocky-drowny tubes needed.” What? “Which, let me be very, very clear.” Sonic stared up at Sage pointedly. “I know I can take a hit and sometimes I’m a little ahhhhh danger seeking, but I did not like the tube. Not at all. Please do not ever put me in that thing again.” He shook his hands for emphasis. “Never ever again. Never.”

“Your preferences have been noted, Ninety-one.”

Sonic frowned. “That did not sound like a promise.”

“It was not.”

“Great…Can I maybe get a promise?” His voice lilted up at the end.

“You cannot.”

“Worth a try.” Sonic sighed. “I got to ask though, what was up with the-“ He gesticulated randomly, “sci-fi end of the world thing?”

“That simplistic scenario was the one to which Sonic responded best. It required little recontextualization of his actual surroundings and circumstances. Sonic absorbed conditioning much better when the scenario aligned with his natural inclinations.”

“Okay, first thing, even if I’m half of myself, I am still Sonic.”

“You objectively are not, Ninety-one.”

Sonic kept going without acknowledging the comment. “Second, I don’t know how natural it is for me to think I’m a robot or something.”

“The inclinations supported were as follows. Sonic’s inclination towards heroics. His insatiable desire to save the world. His compulsive need for excitement and bodily danger. His desire for a clear goal with limited complexity.” Sage couldn’t be faulted for how well she did her homework, at least where Sonic was concerned.

“Okay, okay Amy. I get it.” Sonic held up his hands. “It was kinda like a video game or movie, now that I think about it. Even had a big, bad, evil guy…wait a hot second! The Shadelord was Shadow!” Sonic’s face was a strange mix of irritation and self-satisfaction. Tails grimaced. Ah, there it was. That’s how she got Six to fight Shadow so fiercely. It probably wasn’t that much of a stretch, Sonic had many real memories of Shadow actually trying to end the world. “Shit, it’s so obvious when I say it out loud.”

His demeanor changed quickly. “Also, what the heck, Sage!?” Sonic slammed the bars, his muzzle wrinkled in what actually looked like anger. Tails found himself taking a step back, which Sonic caught immediately. His aggression wilted. “I’m sorry, bro. I didn’t mean to spook you.”

“It took weeks to tune the scenario so that Sonic wouldn’t reject it outright. And no amount of trauma could dissuaded him from thoughts of Shadow. I suspect this tenacity is the results of love.”

Sonic’s quills flared and he grit his teeth. “I will never forget, Shadow. Tear me up however you want. I’ll always come back together. You got that?”

“Yes, I have confirmed your assertion via experimentation. Sonic’s sense of self is far more resilient than I had anticipated. I was forced to incorporate Shadow into the narrative, albeit recontextualized. And still you, Ninety-one, would not relinquish even the idea of him. I speculate the confounding factor was a transference to you of the chaos entanglement Shadow formed through his coitus with Sonic.”

Tails couldn’t suppress a gag. Sonic blushed. “Hey now, children are present.”

Tails rolled his eyes “Sonic...I’m not a kid anymore! Whose bed do you think you messed up?” Crap, that came out more accusatory than he intended.

Sonic’s ears flopped over limply. “Shit, sorry, Tails.” His attention snapped to Sage, “Also, what the heck are you talking about?”

“Six’s physically attraction to Shadow was manageable. Your emotional attraction has proven difficult to dispel, disguise, or in anyway deescalate.”

“N-no, not that part, which is none of your business by the way! The other thing. The chaos whatever part.”

“Chaos entanglement appears to a phenomenon wherein two or more unique chaos signatures intermix in such a way that the two become meshed together. This bond appears to transcend the limitations of space and time, transferring information between the individuals at a rate faster than the speed of light. It appears to operate in similar fashion to quantum entanglement, but I do not have sufficient evidence yet of this. My experiments with large groups are currently ongoing.”

Experiments? Was Sage trying to impress the scientific method onto chaos energy? She really was a Robotnik.

Sonic touched his chest, his hand pressing over the defibrillator. “The little blue string. I didn’t know what it was. Man, I still don’t know what it is, but I knew I had to follow it, that it was super important. And it was…cuz it led to Shadow.” The hand curled into a fist. “Even now I can kinda feel it.”

“I see. The connection remains despite the phenomenon observed with Shadow’s chaos energy.”

Sonic frowned and looked at Tails, who looked away. “I-“ Tails stammered, unsure of how even begin explaining.

“I had speculated that the new energy source Shadow has utilized would affect some change on the entanglement, but it seems I must reject my hypothesis.”

“New energy source?” Sonic frowned, his brow knitted. Then he shook his head and the easy smile returned. “You know what? Never mind. Good for him. He can tell me all about it after I apologize.” He crossed his arms and laughed. “Man, looks like you guys have been super busy while I’ve been on my little vacation. At least no one got hurt.” Tails’ heart clenched. Sonic shook his finger at Sage. “But, yeah, please no more of that, okay? You’ve got to ask if I want to play first.”

“I do not require your consent or understanding.”

“Okay, we’re going to put a pin in that one and come back later. Now,” He clapped, “let’s talk about how you’re going to let me and Tails go. I promise not to blow too many holes in this floating eyesore on the way out, how about that? No harm, no fowl, okay?”

“No harm…” Tails blinked. He was talking like there wasn’t a War going on. “Sonic, you don’t know-? How long do you think you’ve been gone?”

He shrugged. “I dunno, like a few days I guess. Maybe a week. It’s a little fuzzy. The super spicy fun time tube kinda threw me for a loop each time.” He looked at Tails and frowned. “What? How long have I been gone?”

Tails swallowed. He opened his mouth, but Sage answered for him, “Approximately one hundred and five days, eight hours, thirty-seven minutes, and fifteen point seventeen seconds.”

Sonic blinked, absorbing the information, his smile quickly fading. “That’s like, over three months, right? I-I lost…the summer…again?” Tails’ heart ached with the barefaced despair in Sonic’s voice. The blue blur stepped back and turned away from them. “I missed my birthday…again?” Tails barely heard the whisper. Sonic hunched his shoulders, and hugged his arms around himself.

“Sonic…” Tails reached through the bars, but his fingertips just missed his brother’s back quills. Why did Sonic insist on being alone in his despair? And why wasn’t he angrier? After everything Sage had put him through, why wasn’t he furious? Even without know what had been going outside the strange bubble Sage had kept him in, he should be pissed!

“Incorrect. The summer is not an object that can be misplaced or lost. Several biomes in the southern hemisphere are currently experiencing similar metrological conditions to Stations Square in the period of time colloquially labeled ‘the summer’.”

Tails went to hiss at Sage, but Sonic huffed a small laugh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, huh?” He slowly turned back around, a weary smile returning to his lips. “Heh. Yeah!” Tails watched Sonic’s face bloom into a massive smile. “You’re right! That’s one of the great things about the world, isn’t it? It’s always summer somewhere, right?”

“Yes, that is what I have just said.”

Tails felt new waves of exhaustion wash over him as Sonic stubbornly bounced back again and again and again. Tails’ heart filled with indignant rage and angry tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. It was just all so unfair. So pointless. He wished Sonic would yell, would scream, would do anything to acknowledge the horrible things that had been done to him.

But he wouldn’t be Sonic if he did, huh? Sonic who, no matter how hard you hit him, got right back up smiling. It was infuriating and comforting. Terrible and wonderful.

Tails couldn’t keep a sob from escaping and Sonic was in front of him in an instant, winding his arms through the bars and around him. “Oh, Tails, don’t cry. It’s okay. I’m okay.” His brother’s fingers rubbed the back of his head and pressed circles along his back. Tails squeezed his eyes tight, wanting to just absorb the affection for a moment.

Sonic pause to squeeze him tightly. “It’s all gonna be fine now. We’ll blow this popsicle stand and everything will go back to just like it was.” Tails throat tightened and he whimpered. “I-I bet Amy’ll throw a party. You’ll like that, right? You love the muffins Amy makes. And then we could, uh, take a vacation. Like a real one. Go back to Spagonia or something. Anywhere you want to go. Just us like the old days for a bit.” That would be nice. Impossible, but it was nice to think about.

Tails hated it. Hated how it was Sonic comforting him rather than the other way around. Hated how much like a child he felt. Hated how everything Sonic said was wrong. There was no going back. The world had fundamentally changed and Sonic didn’t even know.

“S-sure.” Tails mumbled, pulling away. Blue eyes searched his face. So familiar and yet so alien. Tails felt sick. He twisted out of Sonic’s grasp and faced Sage. “Put him back together. That’s my price. Put him back together and let him go.”

“Price?” Tails hated the confusion he heard in Sonic’s voice. “W-what are you talking about, lil’buddy?” Tails didn’t regret the deal he was making, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

Tails stepped back and looked down. He couldn’t look Sonic in the face anymore. “I promised to help Sage.”

“W-what? Why? Help Eggman?” Tails heard Sonic’s grip tighten around the metal bars, soft cotton pressed so tight it squeaked. “Come on, Tails, you wouldn’t-”

“I’m not changing my mind, Sonic, and I’m not going to argue with you. This was my decision to make and I made it.” Glass. Broken glass in his throat, every syllable as they came out.

“Alright, hold on. Pause, okay? Let’s take a pause real quick and talk about it. There’s got to be another way, buddy.”

Ignoring Sonic, Tails faced Sage. “What’s going to happen when you put Sonic back together?”

“Sonic will return to the state he was in before the split.”

“Then he won’t remember…what’s happened?” Tails glanced at Sonic and quickly looked away, unable to bare the look Sonic was giving him. Sure, some of it was betrayal…but its was mostly guilt and Tails just…just couldn’t handle it right now. When everything was over, when the world was safe again, Tails would explain. He didn’t know when that would be, but he would. He couldn’t say anything out loud or else Sage might perceive him as a threat and it killed him anyway.

“Incorrect. Sonic will have gained Ninety-one’s memories.”

Tails flinched. “Sonic won’t remember what happened to Six, then?”

“No. As a kindness, I have implemented the split in such a way that Sonic will not remember anything that happened to or done by Six.” A kindness. “The memories would serve no purpose to Sonic, therefore the distress was to be avoided.

“I-I won’t remember what?”

“That is not information relevant to you, Ninety-one.”

“That is not my name.” Sonic’s grip on the bars tightened.

“It would be inaccurate to call you Sonic, Ninety-one. However, I will entertain the illusion if it pleases you.” Sage placed her hand on her heart.

There was a soft tong as Sonic’s head fell against the bars. “I don’t want to play weird, psycho dollhouse anymore, Sage. Tell me what you are talking about, please.”

Tails mouth went dry. “Everything that happened in Central City.” He said breathlessly, turning to Sonic. “You…don’t know what happened in Central City, do you?” It was a stupid question that Tails already knew the answer to.

“No, buddy, no, I don’t.” Sonic sighed. “What happened in Central City, Tails?”

Sonic didn’t know. Sonic didn’t know. And he wouldn’t know, at least right now, unless Tails told him. Might not ever know the full details. Oh Chaos…that was...that was so tempting.

“Uh, earth to Tails.” Sonic rattled the bars of his prison cell. “What happened in Central City, good buddy?” Sonic’s blue eyes searched his face, his concern growing. His muzzle tightened back into a strained, forced smile. “Kinda freaking me out here, Tails. What happened in Central City? I’m dying of curiosity, dude.”

What good would it do to tell him? To learn what had happened with Shadow? With Amy? Pain and guilt. That would be all he would feel. But to hide it from Sonic? That was a betrayal. Tails knew Sonic would want to know, no matter how painful it was. But…was that a reason to hurt him?

Then a new thought gripped Tails with steely talons. If Sonic was whole and free, he would try to ‘rescue’ Tails with 100% certainty. Tails couldn’t tell him what he’d really be working on, so Sonic would only see Tails collaborating with the enemy, seemingly willingly. The amount of havoc Sonic would create might jeopardize Tails’ efforts to ‘cure’ Sage. Was the best option to just leave Sonic trapped in pieces? Was that the best chance the world had to survive what Sage was becoming?

Tails knew what Eggman would do.

“Tails, buddy, y-you’re crying.” Sonic reached through the bars for him. “Come on bud, talk to me, man.”

“Show him.” Tails hardly recognize the sound of the words leaving his mouth. “Show Sonic what you showed me.” Was it a selfish leap of faith or a courageous belief in Sonic? Did it matter?

“That is unadvisable. The psychological damage would be unnecessary and counterproductive.” More weird glitchy flickering. “I have spent significant resources to prevent exactly this scenario.”

“Okay, I am getting really and truly freaked out now, guys. This isn’t cool. Stop talking like I’m not here.”

All the anguish and frustration boiling inside flared up and spilled out Tails’ throat in a venomous, hateful snap, “I wasn’t asking!”

The silence that flowed in after his outburst was deafening. “Tails?” Sonic asked.

“He deserves to know what happened! What you made him do.” Tails struggled to get the words out. Sonic would not like it. On so many levels, the knowledge of what happened in Central City would haunt the hero. His hero. What did Tail think would happen? Would Sonic suddenly reject Shadow? Not in a million years. If anything, Sonic would double down. “He needs to know what happened.” Tails looked at his feet, unwilling to meet either set of eyes on him.

After a long moment, Sage responded. “Very well, Miles. I will begin calculating the consequences of this action, but I will acquiesce.”

Tails saw the reflections of holographic screens on the shined metal floor tiles. He refused to look up and he slowly backed further away from the bars. He closed his eyes and pressed his hands over his ears. It was cowardly, he knew.

“T-tails…what-? I don’t understand.” The confusion in Sonic’s voice seared into Tails’ soul. “What is this, Tails?

Wow! How are we feeling? This is some crazy stuff, right? I’m going to be honest, this cycle seems like a total wash. V7 Sage and intact Eclipse Cannon? I give the organics maybe a year and that’s not even taking the Black Arms infestation into account. And those aren’t even Doom’s brood! Woof! What a mess!

Don’t worry, I’ll still try my best. This is feeling like a triage situation though. Who knows? Maybe the boys’ll be dropping by soon?