As he let go and fell, spinning back towards the plane of mundane existence, he saw the other shapes rise, also leaving behind this void that had only ever been a tunnel to the next dimension, a transient stopping point. The lights rotated faster, more adding to their number as they rose from the planet, until they formed a single broad horizontal ring of light, twinkling from the motes of light that were yet to attach themselves to it. The shapes flew through the ring in their spiral dance pattern, chirping their exuberance. They really were birds. Brightly coloured birds in every single hue, the same as the flowers had been. The flowers had probably only ever existed to spread the seeds of light on these currents of space and time, to this particular destination, he realised.
The final bird had disappeared through the ring by the time he reached the bottom of the tunnel. The patterns were fraying, the light turning an angry red. His every instinct screamed at him not to enter the roiling, fiery turbulence beneath him but he ignored his terror, threw forwards his arms and dove back into real space.
Neo Metallix had been busy trying to free himself with the assistance of a small cloud of robots who had stayed behind, maybe realising somewhere deep inside them, a silently running program created when they were connected too deeply into the world, that their leader would be in danger at this precise moment. Disconnecting him too suddenly would kill him, he was so closely neurally linked to the machinery, so they had to painstakingly disengage every level of connection in turn while not jolting the machinery while the entire planet was falling apart around them. Fortunately, they had a lot of experience of the planet falling apart and themselves having to still work in the middle of it. They had already freed his arms and given him some awareness of the world around him, so their Director was able to help them. However, this did cause them the additional problem of preventing a furious cyborg hedgehog from trying to tear the whole place apart on his own.
He acknowledged Miracle Sonic's presence with a glance and a dismissive shrug, "Did they send you to finish me off now I'm no longer needed?"
"I'm here to rescue you, moron," he said. One of the robots handed him something to hold carefully in place while they unhooked something from underneath it.
"You'll have to be quick about it, or you'll just get us both killed."
"If you want to see how your people are doing in their new home, you'll stay alive."
"You're right," he said. The cybernetic parts on his face did not include a mouth but Miracle Sonic saw a glimpse of humour in his eyes, and realised he was about to try something.
"This is not your machine! I am its Director!" he yelled out loud, contorting with the effort of his mental battle, his joints sparking, "I am overriding your authority. You will release myself and my remaining forces. You will cease trying to destroy this place."
A stream of error messages covered the display terminals, then suddenly they all turned off at once. When they restarted, they all showed a login screen. The wires retracted from the base of Neo Metallix's spine, the panels encasing him opened up, then his eyes went blank and he collapsed. Miracle Sonic grabbed him and began running.
He wasn't sure where there was left to run to, but he would try his best to find a way.
"I haven't been here in years," commented Sonic as he stared up at the giant horizontal golden ring that floated above the circular trapdoor. It had been motionless, dull, its corresponding door barred for decades. When he left after freeing the inhabitants from yet another attempt by Robotnik to turn an entire civilisation into robot slaves, he assumed this was just another random place that he would never need to return again once he had finished his mission. Now it was humming with life again, golden sparks spewing from it as it lazily spun around like a malfunctioning halo left behind by an absentminded giant angel.
"I don't like it here. I don't feel well," replied the small boy in a rather queasy voice.
"That's how my people feel every single day, on a world that isn't their own."
"Sorry," he whispered, bowing his head. The kid was useless at diplomacy but at least he was making a genuine effort and seemed to genuinely care about the suffering of others, even those who were technically supposed to be his enemies. Not having all that much experience, Sonic wasn't all that good with children, especially ones who looked like they were going to be sick – he really hoped Lucas wouldn't actually throw up all over the floor – but he still found it refreshing to be in the company of people who hadn't been given enough time to become jaded and corrupt yet. Maybe if the next generation learned to co-operate with each other, there at least wouldn't be another war. Not that it was any compensation for the entire worlds that had already been lost.
"No problem. I still owe you for getting me across the border without questions, and for helping me save my friends."
"We don't even know if we got it right. It was just a vision. It was kinda fuzzy. I'm not always right with them, anyway."
"It kind of feels right," said Sonic, "So, how do you think we do this?"
"If that ring is supposed to be where he comes out, we should be touching it. I'll try and concentrate. You have to be in contact with my mind. I can project your thoughts and you know enough about the person we're trying to save to find them, and convince them we're friends."
"Our minds are completely incompatible. You do realise this'll hurt a lot, right?"
"My mind always hurts a lot."
"Well, let's get this over with as quickly as possible, then."
Sparks came off the giant ring as it was gripped by two sets of hands, giving them both static shocks and causing Lucas' hair to stand on end. The second time they tried it, all that happened was a tingling sensation throughout their entire bodies and a roaring sound in their ears. Gradually, like a radio being tuned in, Sonic could hear coherent sounds through the white noise. The touch of Lucas' mind, although it was unnervingly alien, amplified his senses until he could understand the sounds. Voices like his own. Mechanical clanks, hums and whines, like something moving. Birds singing melodically and wheeling in the sky. The source of the voices noticed him and he felt the connection become two-way. Someone desperately reached out for him. He held out a hand to grab them, following the psychic boy's instructions on how to make it reflect true in the physical world.
The ring glowed a brilliant gold, sending out a shower of stardust...