Pain. It was all Sonic could feel as he stumbled forward, legs shaking, through the haze of red mist that obscured most of his fading vision. His right arm, numb with corruption, hung loosely by his side, lifeless. His head pounded with agony, and the silence he so desperately wanted to hear was forced aside by the constant buzz of electrical static. His ragged, desperate breaths escaped from his throat despite his tightly gritted teeth: a fruitless attempt to prevent his pained cries from being heard by those he considered dear.

So cold now... numb... A malicious chill gripped his legs, biting his arms and spreading across his chest like toxin. He let out a shiver, his dull quills bristling with each involuntary movement.

He could barely think, let alone run. The energy that had once graced his feet had vanished into the unseen abyss, consumed by the cyber corruption that plagued his body. He paused, allowing himself a moment to rest, clutching his head as he waited for his headache to subside. His ears sagged, his fur flickering red as the painful grips of cyber energy coursed through him. Never, in all of his life, had he been so tired before—not even as a werehog enduring the painful grips of Dark Gaia's influence, or even when he was placed under Erazor Djinn's life-stealing curse.

He'd spent countless days on the Starfall Islands, but not once could he find himself able to sleep. The cyber energy in him prevented him from doing so, his chaos energy growing restless as it attempted to combat the cyber energy torturing its host—and failing. Not even the infinite power of the chaos emeralds could override the unbeatable presence that lingered in his heart, waiting for the moment to strike down its prey with calculated patience.

Besides, he still needed to free his friends from Cyberspace. There was no time to take any breaks, and while the weird ghost-like girl who inhabited the islands had told him that their lives were not endangered by Cyberspace's strange energy, Sonic was only willing to hope she was right. He didn't trust her entirely—after all, she was trying to stop him from saving his friends, urging him to leave them behind. She could easily be lying in order to lure him away from them. Not...much longer. Almost...there... Just one...more...tower...

He took a deep breath, swallowing his pain and narrowing his green eyes. They were glassy, blind to the dangers around him, and Sonic was forced to put his trust in his instincts. His senses provided him no awareness, and his brain could hardly register any thinking thoughts. Stringing together words were hard enough, and talking was almost unbearable. They were like bleeding wounds, accelerating the progression of the corruption.

As if sensing his exhaustion, the mysterious voice that had guided Sonic through the islands spoke to him, gentle yet assertive. You are the key. A reminder the disembodied voice told him regularly as he pushed through the corruption, almost as if it were attempting to motivate him with quiet praise. Tear down the walls between dimensions.

Sonic was fairly certain the voice was using him for their own benefit. Why it was choosing to confide in him and not the ghost-girl, he wasn't entirely sure, but the voice had given him the directions he'd needed in order to save his friends, and so far, he'd detected no trace of treachery in the voice's commands. Still, there was something... off about the voice, preventing him from trusting it entirely. But it wasn't as if he had any other choice.

Sonic forced himself to stand, and his hand flew toward his hip as a gnawing pain shot through his legs, causing him to stumble and kneel on the ground. He shivered, stifling his cries with shaky grunts. He closed his eyes, panting, finding the inky black vastness more comfortable than the shifting vermillion of the digital dimension which he found half his consciousness being merged with.

Keep...going... Proceed...to the final destination. He was scarcely aware of his ascent of the final tower of Rhea Island, unfeeling even as he was intercepted by enemy after enemy. Long ago, he might have enjoyed fighting the robots of the Starfall Islands, as they were a nice change to the bland, predictable nature of Eggman's own. But now, as he stepped over their broken parts, their metal armour strewn messily over the ground like the scattered petals of spring, he felt no satisfaction but instead a cold, calculated numbness similar to the nature of the islands and its advance but ancient technology.

With each second that passed, he lost a part of himself. Forgotten.

By the time he reached the top of the tower, he was barely even conscious. He swayed, falling heavily to the ground, too tired to properly stand. Instead, he took comfort on the prehistoric structure, attempting to regain his breath. The ground was hard under his body, worn with age and uneven from war. And yet, he could lay here for ages, he knew, and was almost tempted to. How long had it been since he first arrived? How long had it been since he had a good rest?

This is... This is for... He paused briefly, his memory swimming tauntingly around him, nimble as a fish, slipping past his reach. Who was this for? He gazed blankly at the sky, almost as if expecting guidance or some kind of answer. The fight began to leave his body, and the familiar embrace of pain began to bite him harder than ever. He let out a growl, clutching his head as a new flare of agony rekindled within him.

Sonic gritted his teeth, pinning back his ears as he stumbled upright, his unfocused eyes narrowing with concentration. With shaky, unsteady steps, he limped toward the final lock, the cyber corruption pulsing against his skin, straining and screaming.

My friends. This is for my friends! Remember!

There was no reason for him to feel victorious for remembering the presence of his friends. Only quiet perseverance: a solemn determination which felt as brittle as a thin layer of morning frost.

Reaching forward, he pressed his palm against the rough surface of the lock, before his broken world transformed into a distorted realm of the screams of a destroyed civilization. His heart froze, locked behind a cybernetic cage with a glitching key.

"Objective...complete."

Cyber Space.

A haven.

A prison.

A dimension built upon memories.

An inescapable reality.

Deep within the digitized dimension lay an ancient threat, older than the stars, biding its time. Waiting.

Mortal. You have done the impossible.

You have escaped Cyber Space through your own power.

You are the key.

The chill caught up to him at last, claiming him with unseen jaws. Dark crimson patterns crawled through his fur, and an involuntary shudder coursed through him. The pain to his head was greater now, and the agony persisted until all he could see were digitized numbers and letters, welcoming him with open arms as they swallowed him into the code, attempting to rob the organic being of his self and sentience until he was no more than an emotionless host.

My name is... My name is?