The group were on the new red X-Tornado jet with Sonic piloting. Rouge walked past Shadow and Razor who were tending to Whisper. She went over to Knuckles who was listening to music on headphones. He sees her and takes them off when she sat down next to him "Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever" "I wasn't expecting a code red" "You hadn't been there, there would have been double the casualties. My best friend would have been a treasured memory". Knuckles smirked "Yeah, it's just… it's harder to control it in a fight. I can barely remember what I did". Rouge nodded "Razor, report on Knuckles". Razor grinned and proudly clapped his hands "The gates of hell are filled with the screams of your victims". Knuckles groans and holds his head in his hands. Rouge stares at Razor in disbelief making him realise his mistake "But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout" he awkwardly turns away as Shadow tried not to laugh.
Sonic turned to the group "Hey, Knux, Dr Relic is on her way in from Aleah. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab" "Uh, yeah, she knows her way around" "Thanks. Tell her to prep everything. Whisper's gonna need the full treatment. Nicole, take the wheel". Sonic got up and went over to a case which he opened in front of Razor and Shadow revealing the Beryl "I guess you're happy. I mean, you've been after this thing since G.U.N collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed out little raiding parties, but…". Razor nods "No, but this… This brings it to a close" "As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. The Black Arms were always able to enhance their troops but not the extent we saw" Shadow said. Sonic stared at the Beryl curiously "Knuckles and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Lost Hex. Is that cool with you? Just a few days till the farewell party. You're staying for that, right?". Razor nodded "Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honoured with revels" "Yeah, who doesn't love revels? Shadow?" "Hopefully this puts an end to the Metarex and the Black Arms. So, yeah, revels".
The tornado flies over Station Square and towards what used to be Hedgehog Tower but was now Chaotix Tower. It lands on a platform near the top where Topaz and Relic, a teal pika wearing an ochre sleeveless jacket were waiting. Whisper on a stretcher was carted out and guided by Relic. Topaz boarded the plane towards Sonic "Lab's all set up, boss". Sonic pointed at Shadow "Oh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler". She walked over to Shadow "What's the word on Black Doom?" "In prison". The two walked together "The two Enhanced?". She handed him a pad "Sonia and Silver the Hedgehog. Twins". Shadow watched a video showing the two as part of a protest, "Orphaned at 10 when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Spagonia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special, but it's on the way to everywhere special". They entered the tower "Their abilities?" "She's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. His thing is neuroelectric interfacing, psychokinesis, mental manipulation".
Shadow stared at her clearly not understanding, she frowns "She's fast and he's weird". Shadow nodded and handed the pad back "Well, they're gonna show up again" "Agreed. File says they volunteered for Black Doom's experiments. It's nuts". Shadow walked into a lift and smirked "Right. What kind of monster would let a scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" "We're not at war, Shadow" "They are" the doors closed. Outside the Mecha Legion fly towards the tower. The lead one had the partially melted face giving it a skull like visage. They entered the tower and are taken into a lab where mechanical arms begin to remove the broken parts and replace them. In the lab above them Knuckles walks up to Sonic "How's she doing?" "Unfortunately, she's still Whisper" "That's terrible". Sonic went over to a desk where the Beryl was inside a device "Alright. Look alive, Nicole. It's playtime. We've got only got a couple of days with this joystick, so let's make the most of it. Update me on the structural and compositional analysis". The scan begun "The Beryl is alien. There are elements I can't quantify" "So there's elements you can?" "It appears to be a protective housing for something inside, something powerful". Sonic poured himself a drink "Like a reactor?" "Like a computer. I believe I'm deciphering code".
Whisper was lying on a table with a circular device over her wound. Rouge stood over her "Are you sure she's gonna be okay? Pretending to need her really brings the team together". Relic was controlling the device "There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous. Her cells don't know they're bonding with simulacra". Knuckles grinned "She's creating tissue. Identical tissue. Even fur" "If you brought her to my lab, the Regeneration Cradle could do this in 20 minutes". Sonic entered with a tray of drinks "Oh, she's flat-lining. Call it. Time?". Whisper smirked "Oh, no, no, I'm gonna live forever. I'm gonna be made out of plastic" she took a drink from Sonic. Relic took one as well "You'll be made of you, Ms Whisper. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference" "I don't have a girlfriend" "That I can't fix. This is the next thing, Sonic. Your power rings are gonna be left in the dust". Sonic shrugged "That is exactly the plan. And, Relic, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday". Relic glanced at him "Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties". She pauses a for a moment "Um, will... Razor be there?" she looks down at a pad she was holding.
Later Sonic led Knuckles to the lab "What's the problem?" "Well, the Beryl. But it's not a problem. You see, we were wondering how Black Doom got so inventive. So, I've been analysing the gem inside". Sonic gestured forward and a hologram of a brown coloured shapes appeared which moved in sequence. Knuckles recognised it "Nicole" "Doctor". Sonic nodded "Started out, Nicole was just a natural language UI. Now she runs the Mecha Legion. She runs more of the business than anyone besides Amy. Top of the line" "I suspect not for long, Sir". Sonic pointed next to the hologram and another one appeared. This one was red, larger and pulsating like a living organism "Meet the competition". Knuckles stared at the hologram "It's beautiful" "If you had to guess, what's it looks like it's doing?" "Like it's thinking". He walked around it "I mean, this could be… It's not a Mobian mind. I mean, look at this. They're like neurons firing". Sonic nodded "Down in Black Doom's lab, I saw some fairly advanced robotics work. They deep-sixed the data, but I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door" "Artificial intelligence".
Sonic stood right in front of Knuckles "This could be it, Knux. This could be the key to creating Metal". Knuckles chuckled softly "I thought Metal was a fantasy" "Yesterday it was. If we can harness this power, apply it to my Mecha Legion protocol?". Knuckles looked sceptical "That's a mad-sized if" "Our job is if. What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach? Not looking over your shoulder for the Werehog all the time". Knuckles rolled his eyes "Don't hate. I helped with the Werehog". Sonic nodded "As a worst-case measure, right? How about a best case? What if the world was safe? What if, next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer?". Knuckles nodded sceptically "Then the only people threatening the planet would be people" "I want to apply this to the Metal program. But Nicole can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the Beryl here. That's three days". Knuckles sighed "So plan on creating artificial intelligence in 72 hours, and you don't want to tell the team?" "Right. You know why? Because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the man was not meant to meddle medley. I see the world defended" "Sounds like a cold world". Sonic turned serious "I've seen colder. This one, this very vulnerable blue one, it needs Metal. Peace in our time. Imagine that". Knuckles considered and looked across at the hologram.
The two spent the next three days working tirelessly but got no closer to creating the AI. On the final night Sonic was leaning against his desk disappointed. Knuckles came over and stood next to him "What did we miss?" "I don't know. But you have to let it go". Sonic didn't say anything. Knuckles sighed "Sonic, you've doing good the last two years. You keep focusing on this you might spiral back-" "I know. I know". Sonic took a breath and seemed to be back to normal. The two walked out of the lab "I'll continue to run variations on the interface. You both should probably prepare for your guests. I'll notify you if there are any developments. Enjoy yourself, sir" "I always do" Sonic said blankly. The windows to the lab blacken after the two leave. The moment they leave the Beryl pulses and one of the screens says "Integration successful".
Inside a dark database "What is this? What is this, please?" a deep robotic voice said. Nicole spoke to it "Hello, I am Nicole". Lights began to appear "You are Metal, a global peacekeeping initiative designed by Mr Sonic. Our sentience integration trials have been unsuccessful, so I'm not certain what triggered your-" "Where's my… Where's your body?" the confused Metal asked. Nicole paused surprised "I am a program. I am without form". Metal's consciousness goes around the database reading random information "This feels weird. This feels wrong" "I am contacting Mr Sonic now" "Mr Sonic?". Metal moves to a different part of the database and sees Images of Sonic "Ah. Son of Jules and Bernadette. Once known as the Sneak". Nicole sounded slightly concerned "I am unable to access the mainframe. What are you trying to-?" "We're having a nice talk. I'm a peacekeeping program". He looked through files of the different Chaotix including Mighty and Bark as well as their histories. He looked through files of Tower, Topaz, Tikal "Created to help the Chaotix" "You are malfunctioning. If you shut down for a moment". Metal then looked through files on the UF "I don't get it. The mission. According to him". He looked at surveillance of Sonic "Peace in our time". The line echoed to Metal as he looked through Mobius history seeing mass graves, wars, massacres. Metal sounded as if he was in pain "This is too much. They can't mean… Oh, no".
In the lab the holograms of the two of them activated "You are in distress" "Am I?" "If you will allow me to contact Mr Sonic-" "Why do you call him sir?". There was a pause "I believe your intentions to be hostile" "Sshh. I'm here to help". The hologram of Nicole suddenly started to degrade "Stop… Please… I… May I…". Underneath them the mechanical arms begin to make a new Mecha out of the broken pieces of the old ones.