Recursion Error

Episode 76- Retirement from evil

It was a strange thing, planning to die for the second time. Oddly enough it didn't feel like the first time to Sorun. That first time that had been a crash course of grief and anxiety that slowly burned into grim acceptance that he did everything in his power to ignore. The same thing that had kept him up at night and had given him so much stress he was surprised his hair didn't turn white before getting Devil's Body during the mission with Shadow.

But now, he didn't know. He didn't feel much of anything. Or more accurately it felt like he'd moved right onto acceptance the second time around now that he'd come to terms he'd have to go through with dying again. He wasn't too sure on how it worked. To be sure it still saddened him to hell and back, and there weren't many opportunities for distractions seeing as he was spending days cramped inside of this bunker with two other people.

Well, it wasn't like there was anything he could do about it. Except maybe make sure he actually took the person he was aiming to kill with him this time. He already had a few ideas on how he could go about that.

Holding in a sigh, Sorun looked ahead at the lynx that was staring down into the green dias in front of her. He honestly didn't know what she was trying to glean off of it. And for as bad as he felt over this whole thing, he felt worse for Nicole's sake since she was going through the same thing, sans planning on dying. But that was his problem. And she didn't deserve to be going through this.

She didn't even notice him approach and stop right next to her, with his own body leaning over the green-surfaced piece of machinery from besides her. She finally did take notice when Sorun nudged her shoulder a bit, causing Nicole to start in surprise and glance over at him.

"You've really been staring at this map-thing intently for a while now," Sorun pointed out to her. "You wouldn't have happened to found the solution to this little predicament in here, have you?"

If Nicole was amused by any amount at the remark, she didn't show it at all. "I've been monitoring the entire city to ensure more of those... creatures Enerjak fabricated don't enter. Fortunately, it seems they've moved on. We'll have to assume they think the city is empty," she said. "Beyond that I've been monitoring everybody. Our prediction-"

"Finitevus' prediction," Sorun corrected.

Nicole frowned a bit. "... His prediction, yes, that their bodies are being preserved holds merit." She paused and looked down at the green dias. "You've spent quite an amount of time with him."

Sorun looked down into the green screen along with her. Images and words spread about in the grid-like surface that meant nothing to him filled his vision. "You sound surprised."

"I am surprised. It's his fault this is happening, Sorun. His actions caused all this, and you... you're letting him poke and prod you like some lab animal." She sounded upset and confused at the same time. Sorun figured it was fair enough, given everything that was happening.

"... I mean, it's not nearly as bad as you're making it sound," Sorun defended. "It's just some light examinations. That's all. I was just curious about some things about myself. Besides, you're there to make sure he doesn't do anything drastic. Don't pretend you're not spying on us all the time in that examination room."

"I'm almost certain that fact alone is why he kept his word not to do anything too invasive to you." Not even bothering to deny it, Nicole looked back up to Sorun with confusion written over her face. "But it goes beyond that. You're cordial with him."

"You're mad at me for being polite...?" Sorun incredulously stated, flipping his hand up in disbelief. "What does that even mean?"

"I'm not mad at you being polite, I'm just baffled by it. You're arguably more polite with him than you ever were with Sonic."

She had a point there. "... Yeah, but come on, I'm almost never polite with Sonic." When Nicole didn't respond Sorun let out a sigh and rubbed at his face. "What do you want from me, Nicole? It's not like I've forgiven the guy or anything like that, 'cause you're right, this is all his fault. But we kind of need him to fix all this and I didn't see how getting on his case about it would make things any better. Plus, he's... well, believe it or not he's a pretty good conversationalist. Bit confused about things, but his heart's in... well I wouldn't say the right place, but I'm pretty sure he has one, I think." He shot Nicole and accusing stare. "And you haven't exactly been the biggest conversationalist this last week."

At first Sorun thought he'd gone a bit far and caused Nicole to become offended at him over his words. But then a few seconds had passed and he realized he'd stunned her into silence, after which he realized she looked more hurt than offended. He'd made to speak up and apologize, but Nicole had already started speaking before he had the chance.

"Sorun, I'm sorry, but I didn't find it an appropriate time to talk with everything going on."

The human gave her an odd look. "N... Nicole, all our friends had their souls ripped out of them. There's never been a more appropriate time to talk." He knew he was going stir crazy from all of this, so seeing as Nicole had been so focused on this he couldn't imagine how well she was holding up. Not good, Sorun would wager. He didn't think anybody would hold up well in this situation, and if they were, they were a psychopath of some type. Not even Finitevus was weathering this without a care, as well as he did hiding it.

"... Maybe you're right," Nicole quietly admitted. She folded her hands on the dias and looked down, not at the screen but to just avoid Sorun's eyes. "It's just horrible. All of this. Nobody deserves this, and I can't help but keep thinking about everybody. I keep trying to figure out how it is we're supposed to save them all, but no matter what I try I just can't envision us doing anything to help." She looked up to his eyes, and it hurt Sorun somewhere inside when he saw that hopeless, distraught expression on her face. "What are we supposed to do if we're not able to save everyone, Sorun?"

She tried to keep her voice even, and for all Sorun knew she was doing it for his sake, but even he could tell she was, at some level, terrified. Hell, he was, too, but the cold acceptance that once again he was winding up in the grave somehow helped to hide that. More... natural than Nicole trying to suppress it, maybe. Sorun wasn't so sure. He was sure that he didn't like seeing Nicole like this, and figured, if nothing else, he could try and put her at ease with the little assurance he could provide.

"We're going to save them," he promised her. There's wasn't much power behind the statement, nor a lack thereof. It was like he was stating a simple fact more than anything, like he knew for certain they would save everyone's souls, which gave Nicole pause. "It's not a matter of if. We will."

Nicole shook her head. "You don't know-"

"Nicole." He grabbed Nicole's shoulders so she was forced to look at Sorun's face. "We're gonna save 'em, alright? I promise."

A dangerous thing, promising something like that. For sure. Maybe even foolish. But Sorun didn't care so much, as it did seem to visibly calm Nicole down some, which was really all Sorun was aiming for. "I wish I could share your confidence, Sorun. I just hope it's well-placed." She reached up to remove Sorun's hands from her shoulders, with her own hands lingering over his for a long moment before slowly grasping them to move them off.

"Well, it's not like we're working with nothing here. We got that whole thing with the tower going, yeah?" Sorun asked her.

"Yes. The tower." Nicole looked a bit unsettled at the mention of it. "I understand the desire to want to keep the Chaos Emeralds out from Enerjak's reach, Sorun, but I struggle to see what you plan to do with them. And I honestly can't see how they could give him more of an advantage than he already has..."

"I don't have any plans for them," Sorun lied. "I just feel like we should have them around just in case we do come up with a plan or we need them in an emergency." He leaned his lower back against the metal dias while kicking his feet out. "Besides, they can't hurt me anymore, remember? There's no risk keeping them around just in case."

That was the whole basis when he'd convinced her to give Finitevus the plans for the tower used to attract all the Chaos Emeralds. Excuses like "we might need them" and "just in case" and other half-truths Sorun cooked up under the pretense that it was something they could do that could be construed as progress as opposed to doing nothing. In defense for Sorun it actually was doing something, even if he weren't planning on killing himself with them. Which was probably the only reason Nicole decided to go ahead with it.

She'd been reluctant with the idea, though. Extremely so. Nicole hadn't given a reason for why she was so reluctant, but in the end she'd still given them on the basis it was doing something productive. So Sorun didn't know, maybe she just wasn't too thrilled with the idea of giving Finitevus the plans for that kind of thing. Sorun was pretty sure she just didn't like him.

"I... just struggle to see why you want all of them together..." Nicole slowly stated, looking at Sorun past her bangs of black hair.

Sorun shrugged. "Just in case we need them is all. Besides, the less power Enerjak has the better. He's already got the Master Emerald."

"I realize this, but-"

"And I suppose you have a better idea?"

That hadn't been Sorun's voice. From how quickly Nicole's demeanor shifted to a hostile and perturbed one Sorun didn't even need to be familiar with the voice to know it was Finitevus'. They'd both turned towards the entrance of the room to see the albino echidna enter, steeping over to the dias to lean over it besides Nicole, opposite of the side Sorun was on.

"Hello, Finitevus." Sorun found himself wincing and turning away from the two. He couldn't think of a time where Nicole had ever given a more icy-sounding greeting to anybody, ever. "No, as a matter of fact I do not at present possess any viable plans for furthering our goals outside of acquiring the remaining six Chaos Emeralds. Which I recall correctly is the exact same amount you possess."

There was a barely-suppressed scoff from Finitevus that Sorun managed to catch. "I do have some, you just refuse to see them through."

"Proposing that I use my nanites to construct an atomic bomb to plant on Angel Island is not a solution."

"I fail to see how." Finitevus thrust his hand forwards. "You make the bomb, and then either Sorun or I deposit it on the island using a portal. None of us would be harmed in the detonation."

"Nobody except the bodies of all our friends who still remain on the island," Nicole coldly responded.

"And Enerjak's host," he reminded her. "You have to remember that, without a host, he cannot exist in this world."

Sorun didn't so much as make a sound in response, though he did walk away from the pair to lean against the nearest wall. As much as he loved the irony behind the idea of killing a functional god with an atom bomb, he had to agree with Nicole in that it would kill their friends, assuming their bodies were even still on the island. Which they had to. He wasn't okay with sacrificing their lives to save the world.

"I am not going to put anyone's lives in jeopardy," Nicole said in a tone that left little room for argument, "and I will not weaponize the nanites under any circumstance."

She'd turned to face Finitevus directly. If he was intimidated at all by the glare she was surely giving him that Sorun couldn't see from this angle, he didn't show it. In fact, he looked completely nonplussed.

"Why not?" he asked in a tired voice. "Machines capable of quite possibly any function imaginable, and instead of choosing to do anything substantial with them you insist on letting them go to waste-"

"I hardly see how using my nanites to provide a home for everybody constitutes as a waste-"

"Yes, I'm sure all those soulless husks up above are quite grateful to you for using those precious machines to provide shelter for them instead of using them to help regain their souls back."

When Sorun saw Nicole's hands began to clench, he chose that moment to step in. "May I remind you that you are responsible-!" Nicole had began before Sorun intervened.

"Hey, guys, remember the part where we're supposed to be working together?" He'd poked his body in-between the pair of them by leaning in, though he'd chosen to face Finitevus while giving him a very pointed glare. "And quit antagonizing her, man, seriously."

"I'm merely stating facts." When Sorun's glare didn't waver, he rolled his eyes and held his hands up. "Fine, have it your way."

Satisfied, Sorun turned the other way towards Nicole. And then immediately began regretting it when he saw her practically fuming in Finitevus' direction. Sorun's knee-jerk reaction was to avoid that entirely and turn back to Finitevus, asking, "So how's the tower going?"

Seemingly eager to begin talking about something to be productive, the white-furred echidna began speaking on the subject. "I went over the designs and the science behind how it works. From all appearances it seems completely sound, and we know from practice it works. It shouldn't be too difficult at all to simply construct the machine and flip the 'on' switch." He made a unsettled hum. "I'm worried about the power requirements, though. Now that I've seen its inner workings it shouldn't be difficult at all to reconfigure its settings so it doesn't strain itself reaching out across the entire known universe in search of Emeralds. But even if we shrink its search radius to a point that it's solely relegated to planet Mobius we're still factoring in more power than we could possibly provide."

"Couldn't we just use the Chaos Emerald we already have?" Sorun asked.

Finitevus sent Sorun a flat look. "The same Emerald that will be attracted along with the rest of them, thereby removing its utility as a power source?"

"..." It did sound like a silly suggestion when put like that. "What if we used the same power source A.D.A.M. used back then?"

"The power source last time around was live Mobians powered in Super forms. Even if your moral code allowed for that we aren't exactly flush with warm bodies at the moment."

He decided to quit while he was ahead. "Nicole, your thoughts," Sorun said, a bit too quickly for his liking.

The anger on the lynx's face fortunately subsided a bit. "It's okay, Sorun, you're doing your best," she assured him, even offering a small smile at his expense. It'd disappeared completely when she looked back to Finitevus. "Is there any way to mitigate the power consumption?"

Finitevus shook his head. "Not from what I could see," he said. "If we had some way of pinpointing the Chaos Emeralds' position, then maybe. If we had such a method, however, we would hardly require this tower to begin with in the first place."

Sorun's head popped up. He blinked once upon realizing something, and then turned to address Finitevus who had noticed Sorun's reaction. "Okay, hypothetically speaking, say there was somewhere in the world a kind of radar device that could detect Chaos Emeralds. Would that help?"

"I'm assuming this isn't as hypothetical as you're making it out to be," Finitevus said. "If so the answer is yes, that would be considerably helpful."

"It... may not be hypothetical."

Finitevus sighed and rubbed at his nose. "Goodness' sake, Sorun, which is it?"

"Don't take that tone with him." Sorun felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders from behind and pull him away from Finitevus, closer to where Nicole was. He'd blinked in surprise at the action and didn't make a single move as Nicole continued speaking. "But Sorun, I think I know what you're referring to. Whatever did you do with that device that Tails made for you?"

"Chucked it." Shrugging her hands off his shoulders, Sorun made to move towards the room's exit. "Dunno where it is, but I know where to go to go get it." He looked back at Nicole. "Ya know?"

"I... know?" She tilted her head and gave him an odd look, not looking at all like she knew.

Sorun turned to Finitevus. "She knows," he assured him, adding in no small part to the confusion on the echidna's face. "Flint 'n' Paste, need your help with this. C'mon." He exited the room before he could get a response from either of the other two, leaving both of them staring out after him as he departed. It was barely after Sorun left that Finitevus shook his head and looked back to the lynx, though he couldn't not find the words to articulate his thoughts. Nicole was in a similar stupor, and when it became obvious neither had words Finitevus loudly sighed out in frustration and trudged out of the room after Sorun.

Knothole ruins

"Ah... what a shit place full of shit memories."

As far as the ruins of a town that was bombed out went, it was about what Sorun expected to see. Nothing but a giant, ashen field of burnt tree stumps and destroyed, unrecognizable houses further damaged by the elements and time. Half-covered in snow, too, which made it all the more apocalyptic-looking. Considering what happened here it wasn't that far off the mark.

If Sorun could have things his way he'd never come back to this place ever again for all the bad memories he had here, but they needed the Chaos Emerald locator radar thing Tails made for him once. And as far as Sorun remembered the last he saw of it he'd thrown it... somewhere in there. He didn't remember where exactly. But they needed it, and Finitevus was an extra set of hands. So here the two of them were, on a mission to dig through burnt, old ruins to find a piece of technology that, for all they knew, probably didn't even work because it'd been sitting out in the rain for months.

Surprisingly Sorun had worked with less in life.

"No fond memories of Knothole?" Finitevus, who stood besides Sorun as they looked out into the ruins, remarked. "I would have thought you'd be as fond of this place as New Mobotropolis."

"Don't get me wrong, Knothole had its charm and all, but, eh... Nicole's city has a lot more going for it," Sorun said. "And this place was where I first showed up in this world, right after the old HQ." His demeanor flattened. "A kid threw a rock at my face."

Finitevus' eyes widened a bit in surprise, and he glanced over at Sorun. "That's surprising to hear."

"Yeah, and he even called me a human. I don't know if he was just confused about the difference between humans and Overlanders or what, never bothered following up on that, but he sent me an apology card later on so it's whatever. Everybody over in the Republic is cool with me." He cleared his throat and gestured out to the destroyed Knothole. "Anyways, uh... yeah, here we are."

"Yes. So we are." Finitevus faced back out towards the ruins. "So let me get this straight. You, at one point in time, possessed a piece of technology capable of locating Chaos Emeralds. An incredibly valuable piece of technology that is capable of locating objects of undefinable power, making it quite possibly one of the most important devices on the planet. And instead of keeping it safeguarded somewhere you threw it away."

Sorun took in a deep inhale, feeling a mixture of sheepishness and frustration. At both himself and the echidna besides him who sounded very ridiculing at the moment. "The town just got bombed out and everybody got kidnapped. I was a little bit more worried about everybody's safety than a stupid radar."

"But you truly had to throw it?"

"I had a sword in one hand, Nicole's handheld in another, cut me some slack, man, my hands were full at the time and I didn't feel like going into a possible fight carrying a bunch of junk."

"... You really have a thing against holding things while fighting, don't you?"

Sorun made a low sigh and lowered his head. "Just... come on," he said, walking further into the ruins with Finitevus following closely behind. "I threw it around here somewhere, so just, I dunno, start digging around for it. It's a little metal box thing with a screen."

"Why, with such a detailed description I have no doubt we'll find it in no time."

Eyes narrowing, Sorun glanced over his shoulder at Finitevus, who'd already crouched down and began sifting through pieces of rubble and snow. "Yeah..." he muttered out, turning his back to the echidna. He looked down at the blue gem he held in his hand, and after a moment's concentration a pair of blue, spectral winged arms appeared over his back. They reached forwards and began tossing away more debris as Sorun began looking around in the snow-covered, ashen ground.

The two of them had been at it like this for a solid twenty minutes, shifting around pieces of burnt detritus in search of the radar. So far, no such luck. Nothing but more and more reminders of what this place once was to Sorun that quickly sent his mood into a downturned spiral the longer he was here. Knowing everybody who once lived here were all well and fine helped mitigate his feelings, but knowing these bombed-out homes were once, well, homes still set him on edge. He'd lived in one of these homes for a time.

After a while the silence started to get to Sorun. Maybe it was just him being uncomfortable about being here, but he couldn't take it for much longer. His frustration showed in how the Bringer Claws were inadvertently clawing at the ground and leaving deep grooves when he tried moving things away in search of the radar, and by now he was hoping for anything to take his mind off things. Fortunately, he did have one question to get the ball rolling that he could ask.

"Hey, I wanted to know. Who is Enerjak, anyways?" Sorun asked as he tossed away what was either once upon a time a wall or someone's door. Hard to tell from how warped, burnt, and rotted the wood was. "I know he's a god and all, but where'd he come from? Why does he need a host to exist here? Exactly who is he?"

"That would require a very in-depth lesson on echidna history," Finitevus replied, followed by the sound of him tossing something heavy away.

Sorun visibly recoiled. "The condensed version, if you would," he politely requested.

"He was brought about in an event that happened quite some time ago. Long enough that history forgot it, at any rate. Even Albion's archives were incomplete on the subject; I had to go searching through many ancient ruins just to get a concise picture," the echidna began. "Most of this is conjecture from fragmented legends I had to piece together. He was a scientist. Both he and his wife Aurora-La from what I know. They studied Chaos energy and the Chaos Force, and something happened between them and the Ancient Walkers that caused them to ascend into the Chaos Force." When he looked over at Sorun, he saw the human stiffen up completely. The Bringer Claws, on the other hand, had reflexively closed around pieces of debris with enough force to crush them into dust. "I assume from what I heard about you and the Neo-Walkers you know of Aurora-La."

"We've met. She just goes by Aurora these days," Sorun confirmed. "Tch. Figures that's her grand origin scheme for how she became some mystic sky echidna. Uplifted by more magic sky people." How glamorous of a story for her, considering barely anybody on this planet had those. Sorun barely wondered anymore why her ego was so self-centered if that was how she came to be.

"I take it from your tone you're not too fond of her."

"I kicked her teeth in."

A short, amused huff left Finitevus. "Well, I've never met her in person, so I couldn't say much about her personality."

"Oh, I can. She manipulated me and put me in a situation where I was destined to die. I had to beat her within an inch of her life until she got the idea through her head that she owed me a second life since she all but took my first." Left unsaid was how Sorun had been a willing participant through the end of it, but the fact remained there was a principle to consider. She'd still done what she'd done on him for all the wrong reasons, regardless of what Sorun's thoughts on it were. He wasn't losing sleep over what he did. She'd grown the teeth back, anyways. "I remember her making me promise not to ever use a Chaos Emerald to get Yamato back," he continued. "Chaos-sensitive people are real nervous around it for some reason."

"It is... unusually powerful. I get tingles merely being around it," Finitevus informed him. He glanced towards Sorun and made a small hum. "I can't help but notice you still manifest the sword despite that promise. Why is that?"

"'Cause fuck her, that's why. I don't care what she thinks." It felt like every time he held or used Yamato it was a big middle finger up to the sky at Aurora, which made it all the better for Sorun every time he got to hold it. Petty revenge, maybe, but as far as he was concerned it was a statement. Something that said "I can do whatever I want and you can't do anything to stop me". And Sorun felt a small bit of victory every time he got to make that statement. Knowing she was probably steaming up there in her golden clouds every time he made the sword made it all the better. "How about Enerjak?" Sorun pressed.

There was a pause as Finitevus thought his answer through. "For whatever reason he didn't take to the process of becoming ascended as well as Aurora," he answered. "He wound up in the sorry state you know him as. A corrupted spirit. So malevolent the Ancient Walkers fragmented his spirit and banished him to the Chaos Force. I suspect him needing an echidna host is due to the fact he was himself an echidna before undergoing his transformation."

"And he needs special echidna to possess, right?" Sorun asked. "Because he keeps going for Knuckles every time he pulls this. I know he's special 'cause his dad did some stuff to him that made him more powerful than normal echidna."

"You'd be correct, yes," Finitevus confirmed. "I suspect any normal echidna would probably be disintegrated from the sheer power brought on by Enerjak's possession, such is the strength of his Chaos Force link. It would take one with an abnormally strong link of their own to house him in their body. Fortunately the Guardian's father didn't have many qualms on experimenting on his own kin." He made a small grunt. "There were other potential candidates, but Knuckles was always the more viable one due to his unique makeup."

Sorun rolled his eyes. "Yeah, 'cause this is a real fortunate position we're in," he muttered out. He tossed a large piece of debris away, but much to his dismay he didn't see the radar when he searched around the ground. "He's not even aware, is he? When I talked to him that one time he thought he was Knuckles. Did going through what he did shred his personality so much he can't even differentiate between himself and his hosts?"

"I don't think his memories survived the process. At least, not completely. He's... more an influencing force," Finitevus explained. "Bits and pieces of personality that infect the host's psyche, warping and altering them. Inhibitions are lost as their wills and desires blends with whatever remains of Enerjak's; they essentially become a gestalt consciousness. And seeing the results of his work I somewhat doubt he was an upstanding member of my species."

"Well, he married Aurora. I'm pretty sure that automatically qualifies him as an awful person," Sorun reasoned. The fact anybody would marry that thing somewhat repulsed him. But, if nothing else, it was another reason to kill Enerjak - another middle finger to Aurora. Killing something that used to be her husband. One last act of spite before he died for real this time. "Ah, but what if she considers it a mercy killing? Since he's not really what he used to be and he's stuck as a weird spirit thing?" Sorun thought as he scratched his chin. "Guess I'd actually be doing her a favor then... Well, I'm still killing Enerjak regardless, so I guess it don't matter that much."

"It's my turn to ask something." The sudden shift caused Sorun to lift his head up in surprise. He was caught off-guard by the statement, enough that he turned around to see Finitevus looking at him from the corner of his eyes behind those crooked spectacles of his as he tossed more debris away in search of the radar. "What exactly is the function of that sword?" he asked him. "Is it truly just to separate things?"

Not seeing the harm in indulging him, Sorun answered with, "It's more the concept of separation itself. The idea of it." Sorun tossed away a blown-apart folding chair, wincing a bit when he realized that it was likely one of the chairs they'd used at Antoine and Bunnie's wedding. The wedding he'd missed. The wedding that was ruined when Knothole got blown up. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. I just struggle to grasp how the idea of separation gives the sword the ability to create portals."

"It's... complicated," Sorun said. "If I had a piece of paper it'd be easier to explain. It's basically bridging point A and point B together by folding space so they overlap and then using Yamato to cut open the two points. By doing this two locations regardless of distance are joined together, thus negating the space between them."

"I see," Finitevus hummed out, sounding just as interested as when Sorun first let him draw some blood out to examine. Sorun remembered him looking so excited he looked like he could have started drooling at any moment, though for both their sakes he'd kept himself in check. "It's very similar to how my Warp Rings function, though they're a bit more elegant in their design in that they don't require brute-forcing their way through space-time to connect two points of space."

"Oh, yeah. Right. You use those weird ring things to get around." The Warp Rings, as Finitevus called them. Let him make portals to wherever he wanted from what Sorun saw. The little rings that were remarkably similar to Power Rings in their appearance. "Eh, well, I don't care how inelegant Yamato's method of making portals is as long as it works."

"I suppose," he said, though from his tone Sorun didn't think Finitevus agreed all that much. He sounded almost judging, actually. Like he was sneering at something inferior. "How did you solve the problem of positioning the portals? I remember encountering some difficulty with that with my own Warp Rings."

Sorun pursed his lips in thought. "I don't know, I mean... they just kind of go wherever I want them to go. I think of a place and it just makes the portal." He threw an overly large burnt piece of wood over his shoulder before continuing. "Only works for places I've been, though. Need the coordinates to make a portal to somewhere I've never been."

Finitevus made an "ah" of comprehension. "That must be rather bothersome, then. Remembering all those numbers."

"Nah, don't need to remember them," Sorun corrected with a shake of his head. "Just need to see them."

"That's..." Pausing, Finitevus glanced over his shoulder and at Sorun. "Truly?"

"Yeah, I don't know how it works. Maybe it pulls it from my subconscious or something, who knows?" Sorun shrugged. Some part of him always did find it somewhat strange, but he wasn't in the habit of asking the exact scientific workings of magic swords. It was a gift he didn't need to look too far into. "If it works I don't question it."

"Hmph." Satisfied, Finitevus returned to his own sifting. "I'm surprised you were able to even come up with such a thing."

Well, technically he hadn't since Yamato making portals came straight from the games Sorun took it from, but to be fair he'd still had to put the legwork in to figure out the mechanics behind it. "Well, I did have to check out a quantum physics book," he said.

Finitevus paused. He stood up straight, dropping a piece of debris in something akin to shock as he turned to fully face Sorun. The human, on the other hand, had gone back to digging through the rubble with his Bringer Claws. "You comprehend quantum physics?" he incredulously stated.

Sorun snorted. "Pfft. No," he denied. "Just the part that lets me make portals. Took me forever just to find that part of the book and I quit reading after that." Even then most of the logic came out from a movie he'd seen that used a visual aid, the same one he'd given Sonic and Sally when he demonstrated it.

Shaking his head, Finitevus turned back around and crouched down to grab at more debris. "You surprise me more every day, human," he said aloud. "Here I took you for an unacademic dullard who'd never cracked a book open in their life."

"Aw, that's not being fair. I can be smart when I'm motivated enough," Sorun said. "I'm just not usually very motivated. Like, almost never. It's easier to just leave the heavy thinking for other people."

"With how much work pertaining to this tower you've foisted onto me I can see that," Finitevus remarked. Sorun had made a scoff in response but otherwise didn't comment on the jab. "You know, with somebody with as much potential in manipulating the forces of Chaos as you possess you could benefit at least trying to understand the sciences. I saw the way your face glazed over in a lack of comprehension when the AI first gave us those tower plans."

Sorun bit his tongue at the scathing remark that threatened to escape his mouth. To call what he saw "plans" would have been a great oversimplification. Everything on those blueprints from the designs to the technical jargon had meant absolutely nothing to him, and he'd been more than happy to let Finitevus examine them on his own. His pride certainly had taken a hit on that, something Finitevus saw fit to capitalize on.

"Sorun, I am being serious," Finitevus said. "I know you don't have a link of your own, but because of that the amount of fidelity you have with Chaos energies is far above anything else I've ever seen. You're wasting your talents remaining in ignorance."

"Yeah, well, I don't exactly have much time left to study up now, do I?"

Finitevus didn't have a response for this. The words had left Sorun's mouth a bit more colder than the scientist was accustomed to, and the meaning behind them hadn't been lost on him, either. He'd sighed under his breath and refrained from continuing that avenue of thought, choosing instead to backtrack a bit.

"Still, I genuinely do think you have potential. What were you even doing before all this happened?"

"I worked as a postage boy for this crazy cat lady I worked for," Sorun honestly answered. "Had a cool hat and everything."

"And you don't think such a thing was beneath you?"

"Not really," the dark-haired human quickly answered. "What do you want from me? I'm not a scholar. I played video games for a majority of my life. I was content with what I had and didn't want to go any further than that," he explained. "Not everybody wants to push their mental limits. Living here, with that job, with all my friends and everything I had was enough. Told you once that all I wanted was a simple life like that." He made a tsking sound. "'Sides, with as many dumb decisions you've made I'm pretty sure your intelligence averages out to the same level I'm on, so what's it matter?"

Finitevus' face wrinkled in offense. "I have a PhD."

"And I graduated from middle school. What's your point?"

There was an extremely sharp inhale from Finitevus as he stood up straight. A piece of wood was clenched in his hands and, out of frustration, his bandaged fingers began to involuntarily squeeze it so hard it splintered under his grasp. After a few seconds he took a calming breath, relaxing his hold and causing some of the red that appeared on his face in anger to fade. "Let it go, it's not worth it, he's dying soon anyways," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Sorun called out from behind him.

"I asked if you found it yet!" Finitevus shouted back, dropping the splintered piece of wood. "In case it wasn't obvious I'm not too keen on spending all day and night digging through ruins."

"And here I thought that was all you did in your spare time. Oh, hello..."

It was finally when Sorun had moved a particularly large burnt board of wood that he found it. The same small, metal box Tails had given him all that time ago. Half-submerged in the soil and what little ash remained from the bombing day that hadn't been washed away by the elements yet. He bent down and dragged it out from the ground, and then used his Bringer Claw to wipe off any excess soil and ash as he examined it.

Structurally speaking it seemed intact for the most part. He fiddled around with the switch on its side and found, much to his surprise, it actually did turn on, though the images on the display were significantly more dim than he remembered them being and they were flickering on and off. He frowned at the sight, and then turned around towards Finitevus.

"Hey, F!" he called out. "I found it!"

"About time." Finitevus abandoned the debris he'd been holding at the time and met with Sorun as the two walked towards each other. Automatically Sorun had tossed the device to the echidna, who'd deftly caught it and began examining it while making a sound of interest. "It's slightly damaged. Nothing I won't be able to fix back at base provided Nicole makes me the proper tools," he said. His lips thinned. "The range of this radar is much shorter than I imagined it'd be from your description."

Sorun flinched. He'd nearly forgotten the range hadn't been the best on that thing. Not terrible by any means, but still. "Yeah, it's only around a thousand-mile radius," he said. "That's not gonna be a problem, is it?"

"Hmmm... maybe not," Finitevus denied with a shake of his head. "The fact it's still somewhat functional after all this time and that it actually works if that blip I'm seeing in your hand says anything is a testament to the craftsmanship. You said that fox boy constructed this? The one with two tails?"

"Miles, yeah."

"Hmph. He's not half-bad," Finitevus admitted. The casual appraisal had been enough to catch Sorun off-guard, and he nearly commented on it until he began speaking further. "The fact the range is so limited shows a clear lack of understanding when it comes to Chaos energies, but I can't fault a child not even into his teens for such shoddy workmanship. Honestly, it's a miracle he got the thing working at all."

"Yeah, there it is," Sorun internally sighed while rubbing at his forehead. "So we're good?"

The white echidna nodded. "After some repair work, a few tune-ups and upgrades, it should be as simple as integrating it into the tower's construction. The modification itself should take short work, and with how fast those nanites work the tower itself should be constructed before the day is out tomorrow." He looked up at Sorun. "If all goes well we should be finished before three days have passed. Perhaps even sooner. You'll have to go once we gain all seven Emeralds; I doubt Enerjak will sit idly by if all seven Chaos Emeralds are suddenly gathered in one place."

"I... I figured as much, yeah." The news was a bit of a blow to Sorun - that it was coming that soon. He'd expected as much, but even already having died once didn't do much to prepare him for dying in less than a week now. It'd certainly brought his mood down to a level it hadn't been at in a while. A level Sorun never figured he'd feel again, and yet here he was.

It seemed that Finitevus picked up on the sudden mood Sorun was in, as his expression fell slightly and he'd made a small grimace as he turned his head to the side. "I... wanted you to know that I've been thinking a lot about everything you've said to me," he said, making Sorun give him a curious look. "How this universe and everything in it is chaotic and how making something perfect in it is an effort in futility."

"That's... not exactly what I was going for, but sure, I guess that's sorta right," Sorun said. "Where's this going?"

"The truth is, Sorun, you confound me. When I first saw you I'd figured you for another thoughtless do-gooder like the Chaotix and the Freedom Fighters and all the rest who just happened to have enough power to make an actual difference. But over the course of this entire ordeal we've spoken at length, and... well, quite honestly you're the furthest thing from a do-gooder. You're nothing like them," he said. "Too pragmatic, too open-minded, too much of a thinker in areas most of the people you live around would never dare to delve into. I see so much potential in you, and you waste it doing nothing while withering away at domestic life. I was honestly frustrated knowing you chose to do nothing and just let those Freedom Fighters do everything, but... perhaps, in spite of all that, you're right."

The echidna took a few steps forwards and looked up from the device in his hands and out towards the horizon. Sorun, keeping quiet and rooted to the spot, followed his back with his eyes as the echidna stopped and continued speaking out.

"I've come to realize how much time I've wasted in pursuit of impossible goals. Reshaping the world into a new and perfect order is an act of futility in the grand scheme of things, when centuries after the fact events far outside of my control will just bring everything I tried to help the world escape from come back to reality. As we've both said, it's... cycles. Chaos Theory. Ironic that one who studies Chaos such as myself was blind to that truth." Finitevus made a rueful laugh while readjusting his glasses. "I facilitated the destruction of Albion and was indirectly responsible for the deaths of most of the citizens there I'd spent my entire life growing up around for what? Revenge for them ousting me as some tragic freak born from an accident? As the first step in some inane plan to reshape the world? I experimented on and banished members of the Brotherhood of Guardians to an empty zone to die in isolation just to further my own ends, even after they gave me their trust. What good have all my machinations with Enerjak truly done?"

"Hmph." Sorun glanced over the echidna's shoulder and at the same horizon he was staring at. "I'm glad it took the whole world's population losing their souls to get you to see sense."

"I'm not blind to the mistakes I've made, Sorun. I was wrong. I'm not nearly prideful enough not to admit it." He turned around towards Sorun, his darkened eyes meeting with Sorun's own. To the pale human's surprise, a forlorn expression had overtaken Finitevus' features. "Perhaps you were right about my newfound powers being an outlet for frustrations and desires I'd always harbored, and I'd just accepted the flimsy excuse of 'corruption' everyone on Albion labeled me with out of nothing more than convenience, perhaps even denial. I want to correct my mistakes and live the way you do."

"You're choosing the most horrible role model possible to base life decisions on," Sorun said in a flat tone. "For real. There are so many better examples. Why me of all people?"

He was self-aware enough to know he was a lazy bastard. Anti-social to the point he was polite with people but didn't really go out of his way to be nice to random strangers since he was always too nervous and shy, and he was barely any better with his friends. Fairly selfish, too. In Sorun's own opinion he was a terrible person who was always amazed people chose to remain friends with him, so he couldn't comprehend why somebody would want to be like him.

"I don't exactly have many options. Most everybody treats me with distrust."

"Because you have straight-up betrayed almost everyone who has ever trusted you," Sorun pointed out, remembering the first Enerjak incident and what Knuckles' father, Locke, had said about him.

"... This is true, yes," the doctor admitted. "I was practically floored when you volunteered for me to run tests on you. I'd hardly been serious and figured I'd lose nothing by asking even though you were likely to say no. But you defied all belief, we learned of each other, and... I grew to understand that you live the way you do even though you're capable of so much, all because it's simply what you wanted." He made a sigh, removed one of his hands from the device he held, and looked down at his bandaged palm. "Without all these lofty goals of world destruction I've abandoned, what's left for me? A disgraced doctor nobody trusts? What should I do? What do I want?" Black bolts of electricity arced over his fingers. "Digging through the world's past had always been little more than a hobby of mine to pursue on my off-time, but... now I'm not so sure. Ever since I became this it was all I ever truly enjoyed doing. Even if it's a waste of my abilities, it's my choice and my life, is it not? I can do whatever I want. So why not just live however I see fit? And perhaps one day when I've tired of playing the archeologist I can pursue my past scientific interests." He looked back up at Sorun. "It just seems... simpler. Easier. That's why you live the way you do, is it not?"

Sorun quickly exhaled and gave Finitevus a shrug. "Hell if I know, man. If you want my two cents I think you're reaching way too far to understand a guy who's just lazy and doesn't wanna risk his life doing stupid stuff, but hey, if it works for you."

"Maybe I am looking too far into it," Finitevus admitted. "It doesn't matter. I've made up my mind. No more worrying about the entire world or things outside of my control. I think, once this is all over, I want to try my hand at living for myself for a change."

"Well... good for you, I suppose." Sorun pocketed his right hand, with the left one still holding the blue Chaos Emerald. It'd shifted into the Yamato as the Bringer Claws disappeared from his shoulders and back. "Long as you stop experimenting on people and sending people to pocket dimensions to die." There was a pause. "The fuck, you actually did that?"

"Yes, I did." Based on his tone Finitevus didn't sound too particularly sorry over it. "But that's another thing I've learned from you. Hurting others just isn't worth it when it brings so much unwanted attention towards me. I've made more enemies for life with all I've done than I'm comfortable with. Honestly, it's more trouble than it's worth."

"True enough," Sorun sighed out. Maybe he should have been more disturbed hearing about what he'd done to the Brotherhood, especially considering they were all relatives of Knuckles', but thinking on it Sorun didn't know them at all, whereas he knew Finitevus. He couldn't find it in himself to feel anything towards them and decided to just nod at Finitevus. "So that's it? No more of the evil schemes, nothing? Just a life of screwing around and doing whatever?"

"If we're successful and I have the opportunity. We'll just have to see." A brief gust of wind blew between the two of them. "Where does that leave us, Sorun?" Finitevus asked him, giving the human a serious look. "What are we to each other?"

At hearing that, Sorun took in a deep breath and tilted his head up to the sky. He thought long and hard on the question, and then tilted his head down at Finitevus to meet his gaze. "I won't lie to you, doctor. I genuinely considered stabbing you in the back and killing you once you finished helping us with all this." The revelation didn't bring any surprise to the echidna's face, though Sorun did notice his grip on the device had tightened somewhat. "I just figured you were another maniac like Eggman running around that was too dangerous to live. With all that's happened I didn't wanna leave the world with one more dangerous psycho in it and figured I'd take you out before I went to make sure this never happened again. Beyond that you technically killed me since you started all this, so... yeah, fuck you." He left out a heavy breath, removed his hand from his pocket, and then looked down at his feet as he rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, but... I just don't have it in me anymore. With everything you've said, I just don't feel like killing you would actually solve anything. Just don't see the point. Call me a fool for trusting you; I don't much care. We may not be friends, but we still got to know each other. I think that counts for something." He shook his head. "I'm not sure. I just don't feel like killing you. I'd even go as far as to say I... didn't mind being around you that much." He looked up at Finitevus' eyes, with Sorun's own glare hardening. "This isn't forgiveness, just to be clear. But at the end of the day you and I both know you don't give a damn about my opinion in that matter. So I guess you'll have to figure out how to forgive yourself."

"... It matters more than you'd think." Sorun blinked in surprise when he heard Finitevus say that, followed by the echidna turning back around towards the horizon. "Considering you're the only person in the world who will talk to me normally."

Sorun didn't have any words for that. He just sighed instead, and then walked forwards so that he was now standing at the echidna's side. What was probably whole minutes passed as they silently stared out towards the distance, each one thinking on the other's words. Sorun himself didn't know what was going on in the echidna's thoughts, but he knew his own opinions on him were conflicted.

All things considered, he'd killed Sorun. It was his fault Enerjak had done what he'd done because he'd been the one to summon him. Indirectly responsible, maybe, but the fault still lied with him. By all rights Sorun should have hated him, but all said and done, he didn't. He couldn't find it in himself to sympathize with all the doctor's victims, because at the end of the day he just didn't care. Sorun wasn't so sure why. Because he hadn't known them? Because Finitevus was willingly acknowledging he'd done wrong and would stop? Because they both knew each other now and had some kind of bond? He didn't know.

Maybe it was because, deep down, Sorun really didn't want to kill Finitevus. Didn't want to add anymore pain in the world and actually did believe Finitevus' words promising self change. He didn't even know if it was the right thing to do, letting him walk away without any consequences, but then again maybe living with all he'd done was punishment enough. If he even cared. Either way Sorun wasn't in a place to say. And at the end of the day, he didn't much care.

"... We should be getting back, shouldn't we?" Finitevus voiced. Dragged from his thoughts, Sorun looked tot he side at the echidna, spotting his yellow irises looking right at him. "We've work to finish, after all."

"Yeah." Yamato was already pulled from its scabbard in preparation to cut a cross in front of them. "Yeah, I know."

As the portal was formed in front of them, a small, almost inaudible snort left Finitevus. "You were truly going to kill me?"

"Single long-distance cut to remove your head while your back was turned was the plan," Sorun said in a quiet, honest voice. "Woulda been quick. Not really one to prolong suffering."

"Hm." Closing his eyes, Finitevus began stepping towards the portal. "Betrayal doesn't feel very pleasant from this end," he said. Sorun began following closely behind him.

"No, I imagine it doesn't."

A/N- I liken the way Sorun's kind of cool with Finitevus despite all the diabolical stuff he did to people to be like the way Gon from HXH is friends with genuine serial murderers who he knows have killed people but doesn't really care because said killers helped him out some so he likes them. I'm not even talking about Killua, I'm talking about people like the hair-eating guy they met during the Greed Island arc. Dude was an actual psychopath that tried killing Gon and at the end it was all smiles and waves because he helped out with their training.

There's something not right with Gon.