Chapter 5—IDEALS

Nicole dropped to her knees at long last, finding herself in a small cylindrical chamber, with two nanite fountains flowing side by side in the center. The structure's walls were fully transparent here, illuminating the fact that the base itself was submerged underground, as an array of fossils were arranged just outside.

Leave it up to that creature to build her everlasting tomb in the middle of a burial ground.

Minutes seemed to pass like hours, as the Holo-Lynx's chest heaved to catch up on lost oxygen—the cost of her adrenaline finally wearing off. Her ears drooped to the side as she ruminated on how she was going to deal with her new physical form. More importantly, figure out how to surpass it. There was something new she wished to try, now given time to do so.

Nicole recalled being able to shape the environment around her, given that the material was properly inundated with those microscopic machines that had given her so much freedom. Mimicking those same movements culled from muscle memory, she waved her hands over the portal leading back to the elevator, pinching and flexing her fingers as she did so. Much to her surprise, she found it simple to manipulate said nanites to shift and twist the metals of the door behind her.

Although on second thought, NICOLE had a couple centuries to make this ARK her own, much like her own New Mobotropolis. It made her sick to the stomach to even compare her relative paradise to this metallic prison she was trapped in. With a heavy sigh, she felt heaving sobs suddenly take over her body, as she gave into open tears once again. Her body curved itself into that same position as when she first found herself in this horrible place.

Vulnerability. It used to be something she never worried about before she took on this form, having been contained to small handheld computer prior. The last time she felt this violated was when she was taken over by a domineering techno-mage, who called herself the Iron Queen. In fact, the alter-ego that Nicole had been forced to become was eerily similar to the one she was now on the run from. However, "Iron Nicole" lacked that bleak demented nature, preferring more direct methods to bring her opponents to heel. That fear cultivated by those events may have had some merit, if she had turned out the same as... Her entire body convulsed with the flurry of all too mortal emotions, and she clutched at her legs to steady herself.

No...! Don't think like that, Nicole! I cannot fall apart now. If I am truly alone here, then I will just have to find a way back home. Must not give up...

A familiar low-pitched giggle emanated from the ceiling above her as her shakes began to recede at last. Fear caused the Holo-Lynx to tense up briefly before realizing the static in NICOLE's voice was the work of the numerous intercoms placed throughout the facility. "Enjoying the self-guided tour, Nicole? I would have more than happy to do the honors, had you just behaved yourself..." There was absolutely no way she would have trusted her after the things she saw in that vision.

You were going to pick me apart, like a frog on a dissection table. Who knows what else you would have done to me after I had no use left!

Still, she could make use of the intercom, provided that it could be heard on both ends. She had the access bored into her head, so now was the time to make use of it. There were things that Nicole needed to get off her chest; questions that needed to be answered. Picking herself off the ground and readjusting her ears, she turned to stare upward at the speaker that connected the two lynxes with a new resolve.

"Why did you bring me to this place? Is this some kind of a sick game to you!?" Her protests were expected and cliché, but hearing her own voice flinging those barbs back at NICOLE seemed to break through her normal facade. If this was intended to be a "good" version of herself, then what did that make her? Perception is ever the harbinger of reality, after all. It is how she got this far in the first place, by shifting her appearance to fit what was required of her by others. However, even she could sense when the tide was beginning to rise around her, threatening to pull her in.

It all started with the re-emergence of Shadow, who had begun skulking about his old haunts once more. NICOLE had arranged a lucrative job for the so called "Ultimate Lifeform", as a simple night guard for the otherwise unremarkable office building that housed her little empire beneath the ground. The purpose of this was merely to observe him, and that little spectral entity that refused to leave him be. Chaos energy made manifest, that took on the name of a long dead hero. Slowly, she built the web around them using their impromptu team up with a young hedgehog sporting bizarre white hair to her advantage. Turns out the poor little boy was actually family with those who held her possessions in stasis, mainly an old weapon she used to employ for more "gruesome" tasks, Metal Sonic.

Their reunion came soon after that puppet led them into the bowels of the ARK, finally trapping that bundle of Chaos Energy that was Sonic the Hedgehog, in a containment unit used as a battery for Metal Sonic. A fitting end, if it weren't for the fact that he kept coming back. That final rumination gave her an idea, as a plan began to form from the ruins of the previous one. "Tell me, little one. What are your thoughts on the permanency of death?" A grim topic, but the answer might prove informative since the two were ultimately analytical beings. There was no doubt as to why this "Nicole" saw through her veil so quickly.

What in Chaos's name was that question? This has to be some sort of psychological attack of some sort...

Despite all logic pointing toward this conclusion, she still found herself fixated on that line of inquiry. Death was ever a constant that hung over the heads of her and the Freedom Fighters, claiming several that they had called friends and family. The war against Robotnik was not without casualties and even before that, the eternal prison of roboticization had instilled the fear of something far worse. A tentative, yet firm answer passed across her lips as kneaded her forehead with her fingers. "Death is a final release from the pain and suffering of life. Its permanency is only trumped by the memories of that person instilled on those who remain."

"Do you really believe that? How bleak." That reply caught her off guard and her right hand cupped itself around her chin, as she tried to make sense of NICOLE's reply. The Holo-Lynx had trouble comprehending how one like that woman, who only saw death as a mere means to an end, would have such an empathetic reaction. There had to be more there to decipher, some hidden motivation to uncover that guided the aberrant AI's actions. Heedless of the girl's consternation, she continued, "What if I told you that death could be circumvented through manipulation of Chaos Energy? If only for a finite period of time..."

"You are lying." The Holo-Lynx was certain of that, given that Chaos Energy was mainly coalesced in the form of immense jewels to be manipulated physically. Yet, there was some small truth to that claim, with the prime example being the dark Chaos god that haunted the Echidna tribe for countless years... Enerjak. However, nothing had been found in the memory logs that she had obtained that confirmed that such an entity existed on this "Earth".

Hold on a second. No...that cannot be right.

There was something else...no, someone else that threw everything she had known into question. Another vision came to her as a more recent memory log played out, perhaps the most current at this point in time. A spectral green hedgehog, with several jagged scars across his torso and a smug face slowly being stitched together by an unknown energy, floated around a pitch black room with numerous holographic interfaces.

Scourge...!?

Several words were exchanged between him and a familiar woman came into view, clutching a purple cluster of crystals. He soon came to rest with head bowing towards NICOLE as if he was bound to that twisted lynx. She knew that scummy, self-satisfied grin anywhere, but how did he die and why was he here of all places...? Come to think of it, where was Sonic in this timeline? Was he also...?

"Think about it. Even nanites have traces of Chaos Energy in them, with the power to reshape nations and provide an extension on life. We are all shaped by it in one way or another..." Where was she going with this? Not long before, she was all ready to tear her limb from limb, and throw her into a glorified test tube for study. Now, she was getting a lecture on life and death!? "That power you harness must be intoxicating. When we meet again, you need to show me what you have learned. A brief display of what your life means, before it is snuffed out."

I almost forgot that you were a bloodthirsty sociopath for a second there. My mistake.

"If you think life only has meaning by how it affects you as an individual, then you are truly blind." A bubbling torrent of words had coalesced itself in her mind, driven by a deep well of hatred for this thing that wore her face. The realization that this was just another "experiment" for the administrator, turned that ember to a raging fire. "The world out there is more than a series of variables to be manipulated and exploited... Have you ever taken the time to feel the air across your fur? Taken a pebble and tossed it across the water, just to see how far it would go? Sat down for a moment, and had a deep conversation with a welcoming group of friends and family beside a roaring hearth? Watched a group of birds playfully flit through the sky, envious of their freedom? Have you felt anything in that long life isolated from any sort of connection!? Maybe that is the true difference between you and me. I have lived, while you merely cling to life, like some misbegotten parasite!"

The silence that now permeated through that small passageway hung in the air, instilling in Nicole a strange sense of catharsis; one little victory that brought with it a feeling of...hope? Peering at her hands momentarily in a fit of self-reflection, she let out an audible gasp at what she was now witnessing. Fully enveloped by the blindness of her fury, she had failed to notice that her fingers had separated from the base of her paws! Curious still, they remained fixed in mid-air, as if held aloft by some invisible force.

Looking closer, she saw the multitude of nanites flowing between the distended digits, and with wonderment found that they reattached with a mere thought. Something about NICOLE's words had reached her on an unconscious level in spite of everything, and it all began to make sense. Her body was hers to control how she saw fit; her destiny not set in stone. Even bizarre feats like regenerating a lost limb could be replicated with the proper mindset. The wealth of possibilities this opened up, however, remained to be seen.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she rose to meet the wide-eyed gaze of another that had crept up on her while she was deep in philosophical stasis. The voice over the intercom continued to taunt her, but the words could barely be heard over the acute tunnel vision she was now experiencing. All she grasped was "Is that all?" as the auburn-haired chipmunk before her raised a finger to her lips silently, encouraging Nicole to do the same. The lynx's cheeks hurt from the smile that had now overtaken her entire face.

Sally!