Inside a fancy looking house a somehow alive Bernadette the Hedgehog was sitting at a piano playing a tune with the paper in front of her calling the song "Green Hill". On the couch next to her was a body that was sleeping under a red blanket. Jules the Hedgehog entered and pulled the blanket off revealing a shorter Sonic the Hedgehog with a slightly bigger stomach. Bernadette glanced at him "Wake up, dear, and say goodbye to you father". Sonic starts to wake up as Jules looked to his wife "Who's the homeless person on the couch?". Young Sonic stands up "This is why I love coming home for Christmas. Right before you leave town" "Be nice, dear, he's been studying abroad" Bernadette said. Jules looked to Sonic sceptically "Really? Which broad? What's her name?" "Candice" "Do me a favour. Try not to burn the house down before Monday". Sonic nods "Okay, so it's Monday. That is good to know, I will plan my toga party accordingly. Where you going?". Bernadette smiles "Your father's flying us to a little getaway" "We might have to make a quick stop". This got Sonic's attention "At Techno Base. Right? Don't worry, you're gonna love the holiday menu at the commissary".
Jules raised his eyebrows "They say sarcasm is a metric for potential. If that's true, you'll be great man someday. I'll get the bags" he left the room. Sonic leaned his back against a wall and crossed his arms with a bitter look. Bernadette sighed "You know, he does miss you when you're not here. And frankly, you're going to miss us. Because this is the last time we're all going to be together. You know what's about to happen". She walked over to Sonic and stroked his arm "Say something. If you don't, you'll regret it". Sonic scowls and looks over to Jules as he re-enters the room "I love you, Dad". He then looked to his mother "And I know you did the best you could". Bernadette kisses him on the cheek and then leaves with Jules. At the back of the room present day Sonic walked in as younger Sonic suddenly froze. Older Sonic looked forward "That's how I wish it happened. Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing or BARF. Gaia, I gotta work on that acronym. An extremely costly method of hijacking the hippocampus to clear traumatic memories". He blows on a candle on the piano and the room begins to shimmer revealing it to be a hologram "It doesn't change the fact that they never made it to the airport… or all the things I did to avoid processing my grief, but…".
The hologram disappears completely revealing Sonic to be on stage facing an audience "Plus, $611 million for my little therapeutic experiment? No one in their right mind would've ever funded it. Help me out, what's the MU mission statement? To generate, disseminate and preserve knowledge" the students recited with him. Sonic stepped out to the front of the stage "And work with others to bring it to bear on the world's great challenges. Well, you are the others". Sonic was reading from a glass screen in front of him "And, quite as it's kept the challenges facing you are the greatest mankind's ever known. Plus, most of you are broke". They laughed "Oh, I'm sorry. Rather, you were. As of this moment every student has been made an equal recipient of the inaugural September Foundation Grant. As in all your projects have just been approved and funded". The crowd gasped and then applauded "No strings no taxes, just reframe the future. Starting now". He then stares at the teleprompter which says "Now I would like to introduce the Head of the Foundation: Amy Rose". Sonic's face drops and he quickly look back to the crowd "Go break some eggs". He left as the audience gave him a standing ovation. Sonic walks stone faced as a female jellyfish ran up next to him "Mr Sonic, I am so sorry about the teleprompter. I didn't know Miss Rose had cancelled. They didn't have time to fix it". Sonic nodded "It's fine. I'll be right back".
Sonic went into a corridor at a door to the men's room. Instead of going in he walked away and towards a lift where a female bear was waiting. Sonic stops next to her and waits. She glanced at him "That was nice, what you did for those young people" "Ah, they deserve it. Plus, it helps ease my conscience" "They say there's a correlation between generosity and guilt. But if you've got the money… break as many eggs as you like. Right?". Sonic narrows his eyes and half smiles when he realises that she hasn't pressed the button for the lift. Sonic pushes it himself and keeps her in the corner of his eye "Are you going up?". She glared at him "I'm right where I want to be" she reached into her handbag. Sonic quickly stepped forward and grabbed her arm "Okay. Hey!". He stops and shakes his head apologetically "Sorry, it's an occupational hazard" "I work for the State Department. H&M Resources. I know it's boring, but it enabled me to raise a son. I'm very proud of what he grew up to be". She shoves a photo into Sonic's chest "His name was Rory". Her eyes widen as she glares at him "You murdered him. In Spagonia. Not that that matters in the least to you. You think you fight for us? You just fight for yourself. Who's going to pay for my son, Hedgehog? He's dead and I blame you". Her eyes begin to water, and she walk away. Sonic watched her with a grim frown.
Shadow was sitting in an office at the Chaotix facility. He was watching news on his TV "11 Masudans were among those killed during the confrontation between the Chaotix and a group of mercenaries in Savannah last month. The traditionally reclusive Masudans were on an outreach mission in Savannah when the attack occurred". An interview was shown of Barney the Chameleon, the King of Masuda. He was a purple elderly chameleon with a grey moustache and wearing a striped robe "Our people's blood is spilled on foreign soil, not only because if the actions of criminals but by the indifference of those pledged to stop them. Victory at the expense of the innocent is no victory at all" "The Masudan King went on to-". Shadow paused the TV.
Silver was in his room sitting on his bed watching a different report on the same event "They are operating outside and above the international law. Because that's the reality, if we don't respond to acts like these. What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Silver the Hedgehog have to operate in-" the TV turns off. Silver glances at his door and sees Shadow standing at it putting down the remote. Silver looked away "It's my fault" "That's not true" "Turn the TV back on. They're being very specific". Shadow walked in "I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it. Konor said Maria and all of a sudden I was a 16-year-old kid again, in Westopolis". He sat down next to Silver "And people died. It's on me" "It's on both of us". Shadow sighed "This job… We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that then the next time… maybe nobody gets saved". Silver thinks about what Shadow said when a pink Blaze phased through the walls turning back to lilac once she came through. Silver sighed "Blaze! Remember the meeting we all had? We talked about this" "Yes, but this isn't like what happened with Bark. The door is opened so I assumed…". She stops herself and nodded "Shadow wished to know when Mr Sonic was arriving" "Thank you. We'll be right down". Blaze paused "I'll… use the door". She headed for it but then turned back around "Oh, and apparently, he's brought a guest. The Secretary of State".