Chapter 8- CORE

Hissing bursts of steam erupted from the sides of the giant door housing the central server within, as it opened wide into a pitch black chamber. Curdling wisps of vapor drifted past the ankles of the pair, as the darkness beckoned ominously to them. Nicole and Sally gave each other another shared nod, as the latter pulled a pen light from her vest pocket. As they slowly walked further in, the thin beam crossed over sectioned aisles of circuitry that emanated a dull glow. The remnants of discarded experiments sat on isolated table, with the slightest traces of some kind of crimson fluid around them. The Holo-Lynx briefly considered the benefits of those back lit eyes her other self had, but quickly quashed that thought.

Do I really want to know what horrors lurk here? Some things are best left to the imagination. Keep your eyes on the task ahead. We're almost done with this place...

"Look, Nicole..." Sally whispered, as she pointed at a neatly stacked array of jars, each about a meter in diameter each. Every single one of them had more of those purple crystals from before. "I've heard rumors that the government was looking into the Chaos Emeralds as some form of natural energy, to be mined for fuel." She brought the torch up to her face, looking at Nicole with a knitted brow and hand under chin. "None of these fit the description of these so called Emeralds... What gives?"

"I believe these are more samples of Anarchy Beryl." Nicole had barely any time to do a proper scan on that rock from earlier. The memories she gleaned from the other lynx kept trickling in as she ran her right hand over the glass they were contained in, but none held the answers she sought. The Holo-Lynx could feel the pulsing energy from the mineral, and drew her hand back swiftly, rubbing her fingers together. Another pressing thought entered her mind as she done so...

Hold on...That hand still feels tender, like it got burned somehow.

"Nevermind. We'll talk about it later. I keep forgetting that we got a murder machine after us." Nicole shook her head to clear her thoughts, but that nagging feeling of discomfort would not leave her mind. For a moment, it seemed likely that she would develop some sort of PTSD from this entire experience.

Can an AI become mentally ill...? Maybe that's why—

Another light source beckoned from several meters ahead, this one brighter than all the rest combined. As they rounded the corner, both of them were left speechless at the sight, as the chipmunk silently turned her pen light off. Jutting out of the abyss before them was an intricate platform holding up a massive supercomputer, with two sets of transparent "bars" of lights spinning around the central dais, one thin and purple; another wider and blue. What purpose the illumination served was trivial, as the two realized they had found the central server at last!

Nicole's eyes widened as she scanned the device, kneeling down to peer into the black pit below. "This connects to that tower of wires and metal from below... It's all interconnected." Heedless of her words, Sally walked ahead of the curious lynx and pulled out a small memory unit from one of her side pockets. She felt a hand on her shoulder from her friend and whipped around to see Nicole shaking her head with a concerned expression. "Don't. Knowing my other half, she would have set security measures in place to make sure the only one able to access it...would be her."

"Sorry. That makes sense, Nicole. I'm just antsy about getting out of here. Are you sure that makeshift prison will hold her for long?" The Holo-Lynx peered behind her, staring into the creeping blackness behind them. So many unknowns at this point, but one thing was for certain. It would not take her long to escape. She turned to see Sally pulling out several more of the curious devices from before, rearranging them and stuffing them into several pockets on the front of her vest. "Then...I know what I have to do."

Before Nicole could protest, the sound of clanking metal echoed around them, and that sense of unease turned to clear panic. It was coming from the vents further back in the facility, but the acoustics carried that warning signal in perfect clarity. Suddenly, she felt herself being embraced once more by the chipmunk, as she brought a tufted cheek against hers, rubbing it against her fur. She could feel the tears sliding down as she gave a more direct command. "You'll have to download it directly then. I'll try to keep that woman busy in the meantime. Stay safe until then—okay?" As she paused to finish her sentence, Sally drew back to give Nicole that familiar, comforting smile. One of confidence, but also of deep sadness and possible acceptance.

"Promise you won't leave me alone again, Sally." The Holo-Lynx could feel her own tears beginning to well up, as the chipmunk stopped them with a finger and traced the digit down a cheek, stopping on her black nose.

"We'll make it out of here together. One way or another." She pulled away from the AI, and brought out that small light once more, casting a thin beam leading back towards imminent danger. Nicole turned away, and peered over her shoulder as Sally disappeared around the corner. Approaching the central server, she swiped a single black furred, clawed hand across the interface, bringing up a wide array of holographic images and words. Closing her eyes and extending both arms outwards, her ears flopped to her sides as a new wave of information assaulted her brain. Somewhere in that mess was her digital core, and the key to her freedom. She reminded herself that it would be the last time the Holo-Lynx would have to do this, as a voice rang out inside of her.

"Download at 2%. Do not disengage before completion. Data will be corrupted if done so and the process will begin anew."

Thanks for the warning... Sally, stay safe. Please.


NICOLE was beginning to lose patience. After leaving that alloy prison the other lynx had handcrafted just for her, she immediately attempted to communicate with Metal Sonic for backup. No response. Again...with Shadow this time, as he was still under her control for the time being. Once again, her call was met with silence. Scourge wouldn't reply either, since her skill with communing with spirits needed...work. She laughed to herself and shrugged, seemingly accepting of the severity of her situation. "I have survived with worse odds."

Traversing down the halls leading to the central server room, she took note of the disrepair for the first time and a new thought emerged, having witnessed Nicole's tampering with her own nanite creations. Stretching out her palm, she narrowed her eyes, focusing on a nearby water fountain. Remnants of when this place was more hospitable to humans and hybrids alike. The metal twisted and reshaped itself, and the pipes realigned with the simple base. The faucet immediately came to life and spurted out a mixture of mold and turgid water from the receptacle. "My, we are learning quite a bit from each other, aren't we?"

"Hey...!" A voice unfamiliar to NICOLE pierced through her thoughts, defiantly commanding and yet at the same time, obviously quaking with fear. Slowly raising her head to observe this new figure, she saw before a young chipmunk girl with a black bodysuit, with a protective navy blue vest holding numerous pockets. Those haggard eyes made her look more mature in spite of her age, but the way she carried herself was one of an inexperienced soldier. That description only fit one individual, and the realization caused her already static grin to widen further.

"You're...the one that G.U.N. was pursuing last week. The so-called "terrorist" held up in that small apartment. What are you doing here, in the hive of your sworn enemy?" The chipmunk visibly buckled at the question, before turning on her heel to sprint down back toward the central server room!

"You'll have to catch me first...!"


Sally had made a grave misjudgment of her opponent as the mirror image of her friend looked over her body. No introductions. No monologue. Just words that cut to the heart of the matter. It was clear that this Nicole would not be stalled with words alone. She would just have to find another way to deal with this—creature. Luckily, she had just the thing as she turned around to see the woman close behind her, using her liquid appendages to thrust herself quickly down the narrow hallway! "Choke on this!"

She flung another metal tube, as it clinked down the floor of the chamber. A burst of light erupted out the cylindrical container, and the localized pulse snuffed out the lights in turn. Peering over her shoulder, she saw the back lit green eyes of her pursuer flicker than die out soon after. Sally only quickened her pace; she would need all the time she needed to prepare for the worst. A simple EMP, while certainly effective, is not enough to take out something like that AI.

Nicole... Hurry up!


"Download at 50%..."

Nicole slid down with her back flat against the supercomputer, coming to rest on the surprisingly warm platform that made up the Central Core. It took her a minute to piece together the purpose this place served when the ARK was still a functioning space station. The core mainframe that kept it in the sky, as well as monitoring a massive bio-weapon below... That was...250 years ago, which didn't initially seem to effect the Holo-Lynx as much as she would have thought. Sonic and all of her friends are most likely long dead, either from old age or...something worse. This lack of feeling disturbed her, but given what she went through to get to this point...

Flashes of memory once again stabbed its way through the mass of new data, like a reed sticking out of a pond. She saw it. Sonic was murdered by Shadow, that horrible metallic mask affixed to his face the whole time. Later, she saw the fallen hedgehog once again, a spectral blue being formed from Chaos Energy, pounding against the glass in futility, staring her—no, NICOLE down in anger before his form was torn apart and reshaped into an orb of energy.

"NO...!"

The lynx clutched at her head as the revelation shook her deeply. It was one thing to hear about it, but actually seeing what happened to Sonic...!? She had no more tears to shed, but her hand scraped across the floor all the same. Anger was building up in her once again, this time much fiercer than before.

"Download at 60%..."

Maybe...it would be best if she eliminated NICOLE—here and now. Even if they both were able to escape, the people she would hurt...the lives she would ruin, would be incalculable. Especially with how much she knew, as an entire governmental conspiracy unfolded before her with sum of the data she now possessed. The entirety of the world rested in the hands of a few, led by a complete and utter sociopath. With all this information, Nicole considered a terrible thought as she stared at her shaking hands.

Am I capable...of killing someone?


"There, all set. Let's see what you think of this." Sally appraised her setup with some measure of comfort, considering her circumstances. It was obvious that the environment would prove to be a disadvantage, given the sheer amount of nanites in the area. There would be no winning this fight, but a delay was all she needed to get the job done. That she was particularly exceptional at, having evaded capture before. She lamented the loss of her comic files though, but they were a necessary compromise to escape with her life, and all of the damning information of the servers she was able to hack into.

Everything in Sally's life was leading up to this moment, from the disappearance of her parents under pretense of treason, to discovering the dark web containing the exploits of a group known as "The New Chaotix". They were responsible for the distribution of an immense work of political satire, which contained many hidden clues about the state of the world. All masked in a family friendly context. A tale of Freedom Fighters, and the villains in positions of authority who opposed them. It felt like another, more better world to live in than her own.

The one character who had caught her attention though, was a brown furred lynx with green eyes, originally housed in a gray brick of a device. Her name was Nicole. Time passed and the young chipmunk became enamored with the girl in the pages, and her best friend that happened to share her name.

The New Chaotix mentioned this "Nicole" as well in their private disclosures, but the person they described could not be more different! Sally took it upon herself to investigate further and further into this new rabbit hole, buoyed by her talent with circumventing digital barriers through a deep well of programming knowledge. How could this one be destructive and cruel, while the one in those panels was so compassionate and kind!? This nearly obsessive path had led her to this very point, and yet...

A slow bout of clapping caught her attention, looking upward to see the grin of the woman that wore Nicole's face, her lips widening ever so slightly to show a bit of those sharpened fangs. She fixed her with a cold stare in return, not wanting to show weakness, but deep down Sally knew she was fighting a losing battle. "Cornered. Is this where you will have your last stand? A poor choice, little chipmunk."

"No, this is perfect... If you've done your research, maybe you'd be a little more cautious, Nicole. If that's even your real designation..." Those words earned only a head-tilt from the woman, as her form was beginning to melt away before the girl's eyes. Several tendrils erupted around Sally as she quickly pressed a small button hidden under her vest! An array of those small robotic flies spiraled out of the ground where multiple devices floated in the green goo around them, and the nanite limbs stopped short of impaling her from all angles.

She watched as the liquid mass that made up the monstrous lynx launched upwards, only to be buffeted by another swarm of the same insects. The lynx's form solidified as she hit the ground, fixing the chipmunk with a slightly annoyed look, her eyes flashing with cruel intent as lips turned upward once more, with fangs bared this time. "I have no times for games, child. I will make this quick."

Good. I pissed you off.