In which everyone argues.
o-o-o-o
Now this was a welcome change of pace.
The clouds and rolling green grass stretched out far below Tails as he felt familiar vibrations jostle his craft. The Tornado's engines hummed just as beautifully as always, eager to stretch their legs and send both plane and pilot into supersonic bliss.
But not quite yet, though. Because as boundless as the fox-droid might have felt, there was still reality to attend to on the ground.
"Green Hill to Tornado 1, this is Green Hill to Tornado 1. Copy, Miles?" the ground-controller spoke.
Normally the voice would originate from his headset, but that was the past. Back when he was, or at least he thought himself to be, Mobian. Nowadays, however, the radio comms were fed directly into his internal system. Even small, mostly inconsequential things like that dragged his thoughts back to painful truth. The reminders were constant. He was a computer. A machine. A thing.
"You are a SWATbot."
Tails shook his head before those thoughts could take him. He was thousands of feet in the air after all; hadn't he just been so free? Those thoughts seemed to get harder and harder to ignore by the day.
"Copy, Green Hill," he responded, trying to keep the agitation out of his voice, "Approaching altitude."
"Confirmed."
On the tarmac, Sir Charles gazed up at the clouds through a pair of binoculars, trying and sometimes succeeding at keeping sight of the circling fighter jet. The elder hedgehog seemed at least thirty years younger as he bounced on his heels and tracked the plane across the cloudless sky. Sally stood next to him, though her eyes were trained on the distance, far over the horizon.
"How's the weather up there, Tails?" Charles asked gleefully into his radio.
"Picture perfect," came the response, "Glad the forecast held."
"You and me both; doubt we'd get another shot at this. Assuming you're all set, you should be a-okay to commence."
Tails did one final scan of the telemetry. Fuel mix three, throttle 60%, altitude of 5,000 feet, and, most importantly, all electronic systems online.
What he was about to do should, in theory, work perfectly. All the math, the science, the tech, it all checked out perfectly. He and Charles had gone over it countless times following their experiments with his capabilities. But still Tails found himself hesitating.
This would either be the greatest moment of his existence, or the most terrifying. Probably both. It would be the ultimate merging of who he was before and what he was now, perverting his pure memories with the agony of the present, but also, perhaps, imparting some sense of that past joy into the madness he now was forced to endure.
Either way, the time was now or never, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be never.
"Green Hill, stand by. I'm engaging with the central control computer now."
"Roger, Tornado."
This was his chance to take Robotnik's curse by the throat and make it his own. And without a chance to second guess, his consciousness dove forward.
And he became one with the Tornado.
His mind melded with the plane's internal computers, the ones he had spent hours upon hours programming barely a week ago. The experience was as disorienting as it was back at Robotnik's outpost, but he quickly regained his bearings, and as his awareness gradually returned from the digital ether, he was struck dumb at what he saw.
Blankets of sprawling green laid bare beneath him, interspersed with the verdant white of the occasional cloud. Infinity seemed to lie in the rolling terrain as he gazed-no, that wasn't quite right-as he became aware of the surface thousands of feet below. But it wasn't long before something else commanded his attention: the beautiful blue above and ahead.
The air blitzed past him at nearly 500mph. He couldn't feel it per-say, but he could sense it in every inch of the plane's exterior, its precisely refined aerodynamics slicing and cleaving through the wind to split the sky. It all felt so real, because it was real! In this moment, he was the plane, and the plane was him.
He never thought he would be happy to be a machine.
Tails? How's it going up there, kiddo? came Charles' voice through the crackly signal.
"Roger, Uncle Chuck, it worked!" Tails replied, though he doubted his physical mouth was even moving at all, "God, this is...I don't even know how to describe it."
Haha! I knew it would! Can't stop that ol' Hedgehog/Prower ingenuity! Alright, bud, remember the checklist we made out. You'll have to run through those benchmarks during the test, but otherwise, enjoy it.
Tails mentally summoned the checklist and did his best to contain his elation. Time to get down to business.
"Huh," Tails said to no one in particular, "Looks like I'll actually get to run this Green Hill test after all."
o-o-o-o
Back on the ground, Sally stared into the sky, her eyes sometimes following the plane/robot/who-knows-what blitzing around above the grounds, and sometimes she simply watched the clouds, her flooded mind forming vague shapes and half-thoughts about their current predicament. She wasn't used to this, being completely thrown back. She was the leader, the rock, the chessmaster. She thought she'd been through every kind of hell imaginable in her time with the Freedom Fighters. But Robotnik had found a new one to send her way.
That bastard. He'd made her love one of his own…but was Tails really his? She knew he was, of course, in the purely technical sense. Charles and her father had more than confirmed that. But what she saw in his eyes when he came back to their seats in the war room…Robotnik didn't have it in him to program something like that, she was sure of it.
But how sure can I be, really?
"Trust me, I understand it's hard," said a voice to her left.
She turned to see Charles looking at her, his binoculars now forgotten and hanging around his neck.
"If I weren't partially responsible for his creation, I would have a tough time believing all of this myself. But Tails is still the Tails we've always known, I'd swear my life on it. He's on his way to transcending what he was forced to be."
Sally merely nodded, her mind processing the words.
Transcending…
As if he could read her thoughts, Charles continued, "Ivo loves his machines. They're the ultimate extension of his intellect, and his ego. He creates these increasingly elaborate robots and systems and what-have-yous because he feels powerful being in control of it all."
"But with Tails, Robotnik got too far ahead of himself, I think. He wanted to create the ultimate machine, but instead, his machine has turned the tables. In a way, Tails is both his greatest failure and his greatest success."
The Tornado was heading up vertically now, growing smaller and smaller in the sky as its altitude climbed. Eventually, it was a nigh-indistinguishable speck.
"When he came back toward me…earlier," she began.
"After he came clean?" Chuck asked.
"Yes…after that. I was afraid. All I could think about was the hospital. His eyes…"
She was shaking even now, and crossed her arms in a vain attempt to stop.
"I just…even if he isn't truly evil…how can I ever look at him the same way?"
Charles merely sighed, and looked upward as the plane descended back into view, its engines roaring over the green expanse.
"To be honest, Princess, it's possible that you won't be able to."
Sally half-expected that response.
"It's possible that none of us will," Charles continued, "But we owe it to Tails, and ourselves, to carry on as best we can after this is all over. It's all we can do, really."
The two stood and watched wordlessly as the sound of the engines once again heralded the Tornado's arrival, its whirling aerobatics nearly ignored in the gravity of the moment.
Sally gave Charles a pat on the shoulder, silently excusing herself from the matter at hand as she headed back inside the complex. She had about an hour to kill before the next in what seemed to be an endless parade of meetings and briefings. How could anyone care about all this pencil pushing and procedure at a time like this?
Her father said that what they needed was time to come to grips with their current situation and formulate the most effective strategy. They would advance on Robotnik's base in two days.
Two. Days.
48 whole hours of inaction. Just a bunch of pomp and circumstance and plodding around and pointless minutiae when there were children in grave danger and every second counted and God what if those two days made the difference and while she was sitting in some meeting room an innocent child was lying on that bastard's lab table and-
"Shug?"
Sally's head jerked up to meet Bunnie's concerned eyes. She and Antoine hadn't said much in the wake of Tails' reveal. Actually, Antoine had retreated to his quarters and hadn't come out since; whether he was brooding, hiding, or meditating, no-one knew. It was, oddly enough, slightly comforting how typically "Antoine" his behavior was.
"Sally-girl, you got a minute?"
"No, Bunnie, I really don't," the Princess responded, "None of us do."
"Oh come on now, hun," Bunnie retorted, "You ain't gonna be of no use to anyone like this. How're we gonna get anything done if you can't even keep your head on straight."
"My head's on straight enough,"
"No, it ain't, and I don't blame ya one bit for it."
She was right. Sally knew she was right. But when everyone else depended on her, what could she do but press on?
"It's alright, Sally-girl," Bunnie continued, "All of us are torn up about this. You don't have to-"
"That's the problem, Bunnie!" Sally snapped, "Sonic's throwing a tantrum like a toddler, Antoine's hiding from the world down in the barracks, Rotor just barely escaped death, and Tails is…hell, we don't even know what Tails is! But someone has to keep things moving. We've got a mission, damn it!"
Sally shouldered her way past her teammate and continued down the hall.
"I'll have time to cry about it once those kids are safe."
o-o-o-o
"You know I don't like it."
"Yes, General, everyone from here to Station Square understands that you don't like it."
Penn stood stiffly in front of the solid desk, behind which sat a very tired and very irritated King. Max removed his reading glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking up from the flood of documents he'd been pouring through.
"But you'll have to take a number," the King continued, "Because you're not the only one causing a fuss about this and quite frankly I don't have time for it coming from you or anyone else. Tails will be a part of this mission and that's final. I trust you will be receptive to his inclusion in the mission outline."
"Yes, Your Highness," Penn ground out, "But I also must put a priority on the safety of my troops. And in the case of this mission, that includes the Freedom Fighters as well. We'll need to include a contingency plan in case the android goes rogue."
"Understandable. We'll be sure to bring it up today."
"Right, at the briefing. Will that be before or after we serve the punch?"
"Don't push your luck, General," the King replied shortly.
"It's a liability, though," Penn continued, "You have to understand that."
Max took a deep breath and slowly stood from his desk. The monarch marched around to meet Penn face-to-face.
"I will tell you what's a liability, Alistair. Having a general who is more concerned with pounding his chest and flashing his superiority than doing what is best for the task at hand."
Penn growled slightly, and stepped forward, "I didn't get these stripes for looking good, Max. I've sacrificed a hell of a lot for this country and it wasn't so I could let an enemy agent waltz around our facilities and attack our people! You think I don't know what's best?"
"I know you know, Penn, but I can't help but feel you're being intentionally obtuse."
Penn laughed. Honest-to-God laughed in the King's face, "I'm intentional about everything I do, Max. I intend to march into that base in two days' time, liberate that no-good son of a bitch Robotnik's head from his neck, and get those kids the hell out of there. I have no interest in babysitting this war machine you and Charles seem so keen on forcing on everyone."
Max took a long, deep breath through clenched teeth before responding.
"I'm not getting into a fistfight here in my office, Penn," he growled, "There's been quite enough of that lately. You know how much I detest pulling rank but in this case I can make an exception. You will do as directed. There will be no argument. You are excused."
"And they say I'm stubborn," Penn spat as he dutifully spun on his heels and marched toward the door of the King's temporary office, but stopped short and looked over his shoulder. There was a far-too-long moment of eye contact, as the general appraised his superior. Max stood waiting, wordlessly urging the man to say something.
"You're damn lucky," Penn said, his voice not carrying its usual bite, "Things could have gone differently in that hospital."
Penn made his exit, and Max was left with his fists clenched and alone with his thoughts.
o-o-o-o
Tails hopped out of the cockpit of the Tornado, still mentally buzzing from his brief but illuminating merger with his prized creation. He had never felt more in-tune with his craft, a melding of technology that would probably have a lasting effect. And for once, the fox didn't particularly mind the implications. It was encouraging to learn that not all aspects of his robotic nature were negative.
After exchanging a few words with the flight crew, he turned to see the ecstatic face of his Uncle Chuck. How lucky was Tails to have such a man in his corner? He and Chuck had always shared a special bond, even beyond their familial one, with their mutual love of machines and computers. Alas, with Chuck living in Mobotropolis and Tails eventually moving his way out to the Mystic Ruins, the two had increasingly few opportunities to spend time together. Even with the hell that the past week had wrought, Tails' rekindled relationship with his uncle at least helped to soften the blows.
"Checks across the board!" the elder hedgehog exclaimed, holding up his trusty tablet, "How did it feel, kiddo?"
"Like nothing I could ever describe," Tails said, his smile practically splitting his face, "It felt like…well I guess I really was the plane. It felt so…real."
Charles put his arm around Tails' shoulder as the two began to walk back to the main building, "That's because it was real, my boy! C'mon, we can discuss it in detail over lunch…that is, if you'd still like to…partake in that particular activity."
Huh, interesting question, Tails thought. Of course, now that the obfuscations were completely disengaged within his coding, he had no need or even any particular desire to eat or drink. Still, though, he had the full capability to do so, and it could at least help him appear more "normal" to his teammates. Every little bit helped, he supposed.
"Sounds good, Uncle Chuck," he replied, a sheepish smile spreading across his face.
The two chatted non-stop during their walk to the mess hall, which served as a fantastic distraction from the many cautious looks Tails received from the building's other occupants. He'd noticed it since he first got there: every conversation he had with personnel from the base was quick and terse, people stared when they thought he couldn't see, he was always given the widest possible berth wherever he went.
They were afraid of him, and though it stung, he couldn't entirely blame them. Should he truly lose control again, it's unlikely any one Mobian would even stand a chance against him in combat mode. In retrospect, they were very fortunate he had tried to use Sally as leverage against the King. If he'd been programmed to go directly for blood, there's no way Sonic and Sally would have survived that encounter in the hospital.
How many people would he kill, if he broke free of his restraints again?
How many people…could he kill?
You know how to find out.
NO! NO!
Tails immediately, violently pushed those thoughts away and mentally scrambled to continue his conversation with Chuck, something about installing sensors in the landing gear so Tails could receive more feedback upon take-off and landing, but he could barely concentrate. What was that? What was that?
He knew what it was. It was what had caused him to deceive his friends time and time and again since the start of this whole debacle. It was what drove him to attack Knuckles in the temple and Sally in the hospital. It was what stared him down in the mirror in that yellow-lit restroom. It was what had been poking, prodding this whole time, growing and spreading. He was better than them, stronger, faster, smarter. He could dominate them. He could make them bleed.
He was a fool. An absolute fool to think he could conquer this madness with…with what? Wishful thinking?
Tails realized they had passed through the mess hall doors when he heard the usual din of the lunchroom hush nearly instantly. He crammed this recent…development into his now absurdly large "things to deal with later" file, and did his best to maneuver back to reality. He grabbed his tray full of mildly unappetizing military rations, and was in the midst of helping Chuck scout out a table when he heard Sally's familiar voice call his name.
He turned to see her entering the hall and making a beeline for the two, a quiet determination on her face. Tails half-expected another confrontation, one he wasn't sure he could handle at the moment, but she merely gestured toward the tables with a simple "Save me a seat."
"She seems more…animated than earlier," Charles remarked as they reached their table.
"Earlier?"
"She was on the tarmac with me while you were starting your run. Very quiet. Not like her at all."
"Well I think I can take a pretty good guess as to why," Tails remarked sardonically, taking a bite of what might well have been beef, "They all see me as the enemy, and they're not entirely wrong."
"Well at least Sonic hasn't been raising cane today, knock on wood," Charles offered, poking at his own tray, "Maybe the Princess can give us her thoughts on how to handle him."
"Pfft, you mean you're out of ideas?" Tails chuckled, nudging his uncle playfully.
"You give me too much credit; I never had any ideas in the first place!"
They shared a laugh, but it fell away as Sally approached the table with her food, her eyes sharp and steps forceful. She took a seat directly across from Charles and Tails, and leaned forward.
"I'm glad we're all content to laugh at a time like this," she said. Tails wasn't 100% sure whether or not that statement was meant to be sarcastic, so he felt it best to bite his tongue.
"Nothing wrong with a little levity in times of hardship, Princess," Uncle Chuck supplied. Tails was grateful for his tact; Chuck was the kind of guy who seemed to always know exactly what to say, "It does a mind good."
"Regardless," Sally said dismissively, "We don't have much time between now and the beginning of our assault on Robotnik. We're being briefed this evening on the specifics of our mission and it has never been more important for us all to be on the same page."
"I couldn't agree more," Chuck commented.
Sally, with concerted effort, turned to look directly at Tails. Though she didn't outwardly show it, the fox's scanners could pick up the elevated pulse, shallow breaths, and dilated pupils plain as day.
"You and Sonic are going to have to kiss and make up for any of this to work."
Tails sat his fork back down on his tray, perhaps a little more forcefully than he intended. He didn't miss Sally flinching.
"I'm not the one who's holding out here," he said, "Sonic is the one who refuses to budge. I haven't done a thing to him."
"Oh, so did you or did you not punch him in the face last night? And don't give me any stories about your programming, Mr. Android; we both know that's not what happened."
Tails backed down slightly, but still held his ground. Of course he wasn't proud of what he'd done. But he was so damn sick of being put through the ringer through no fault of his own, who could blame him for lashing out in a brief moment of weakness?
Sally, apparently.
"You two need to work together for the good of this operation. After we're done, and those kids are safe, you can feel free to never speak to each other again. But we cannot, cannot, afford any dissention for the next three days."
"I understand," Tails said, eyes squarely on the food he didn't even need, and now didn't even want..
"I hope you do," Sally returned, digging into her food with some reluctance.
A silence washed over the table as Sally and Chuck ate. Tails had no desire to play pretend at the moment. Why pretend anyway? Stabbing at and forcing down some military slop wouldn't change anything; they all knew what he was. How they internalized that, how they dealt with it, well, it would be what it would be.
"What about you and me, Sally?" he found himself asking.
The abrupt end to the silence again elicited another small twitch from the Princess, followed by a befuddled expression as she processed the question.
"Will you and I ever speak to each other, after this is all over?"
Sally sat motionless, her eyes scanning the half-eaten meal in front of her. She slowly, painfully raised her head to examine the machine across the table from her. What was she looking for, Tails wondered. A sign, however fleeting, of the old Miles? Some false reassurance that this was all some huge misunderstanding?
Was she looking for a soul within him?
Sally picked up her tray and stood, eyes still on Tails.
"I really hope so."
She walked away, leaving him to ponder what exactly that meant. He turned to Chuck, who seemed to not know what to say.
o-o-o-o
The bad man took him to a big, scary room today. He promised he wasn't going to do anything bad. He said he wouldn't hurt him, and so far, he had kept that promise. He had x-rayed him, put some funny looking suction cup things on him, and had him answer some math questions. They weren't hard; Ezra was really good at math.
But Ezra knew other things too, and he knew the scary man wouldn't keep his promise for very long. There were sharp things in the room, lots of drills, needles, tools that the boy had never seen before but that looked very powerful and very painful. Ezra was afraid.
"You've been a very good boy today," the scary man growled. That's all he could do was growl. His voice didn't seem to be able to do anything else. "You completed my tests with a perfect score! You should be very proud!"
But Ezra was not very proud, and it only now occurred to him that maybe he shouldn't have done so well on those math questions.
The scary man was twisting dials and typing things on his computer. There were a lot of screens that showed a lot of different things that Ezra didn't understand. He wasn't used to computers; his mommy said they couldn't afford one.
The man stopped typing only for a second, then turned around in his chair. He smiled that horrible smile and clasped his hands together.
"Well Ezra, I think that's all for today! My little robot friends will escort you back to your room. Ta ta for now."
As he commanded, two floating mechanical…thingies guided the boy out of the room, while the scary man began muttering something under his breath.
"So, we've been discovering ourselves have we?"
"Looks like I'll have to pay a call to an old friend..."
o-o-o-o
Look, ma! I wrote a new chapter! Things have been crazy folks, but for the better. Got a new job, moved to a new city, started working on a solo album, it's been a wild few months. Also, shout out to the r/milesprower and r/sonicfanfiction Discord servers! If you want to be a part of a stellar community with great folks and a focus on our favorite characters, those are the places to be!
Things are starting to boil over in Artificial-land. We'll see how the characters handle what's to come. And there's a lot to come!
Peace!