Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or Sonic the Hedgehog.

A segment of Chapter 3, from Sonic's perspective. Written by me.

SIDESTORY: ...but let's just toss the whole suitcase! - ANOTHER SIDE

A strange sound came out of Vilmis. Quiet but then…

He was laughing.

Sonic and Tails exchanged a glance to confirm that they were hearing the same thing. And sure, Vilmis had almost doubled over, letting out breathless laughs.

It was not a very happy sound.

"Um, Vilmis…?" asked Tails. "Are you alright?"

Vilmis threw his hands up. "No, I'm not "alright". All of you are insane, nothing makes sense about this place, and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it."

Oh. Oh shit. Sonic had not seen that coming. Vilmis was speaking in a normal volume but he sounded like he was barely holding onto enough sanity to keep it at said volume. Sonic did not think they told him anything all that out there so far, but obviously, it was really out there to him.

"Wow, calm down there dude."

"Don't worry, I'm calm. I'll tell you, you people will probably believe anything anyway."

Holy shit, he really thought they were crazy.

"We were sent to investigate a planet that turned invisible. Absolutely nothing made it back; ships kept on vanishing, there were no readings coming from the area, all reconnaissance parties sent by the Batarian Hegemony are now missing in action, and we have NO idea what to do about it. The only reason why even know the planet was still in place is because the rest of the orbiting planets were still in place. It just VANISHED. And obviously we were sent to investigate. We are STG, it's our job to investigate things nobody wants us to investigate. Sure, the Batarians would start an unprecedented diplomatic incident if they had any confirmation that we were sneaking around in their territory, but would they ask for help? Of COURSE not, never mind they lost their entire colony in a few seconds and nobody sent to look into it was able to make it back, after all who would believe them? Only YOU would."

He took a good gulp of his water. Tails opened his mouth to ask the laundry list of questions that came from all that – probably starting with "who are the Batarians" – but Vilmis did not give him that time.

"They tried to keep it hidden, nobody want to look weak in front of the Council. But you're right, we're spies. Our job in the STG is to find out everything that's supposed to stay hidden. So naturally we found out about the missing patrols, we noticed the sudden decrease in exports and imports, the shifting routes of pirate and mercenary activity, everything. We launched our investigation and here we are. The SUV Letos on a mission to get readings on Anhur while disguised as pirates because our obviously superior latest technology would give us all the answers we wanted and ensure our safe return."

"Except that it didn't" said Sonic.

Vilmis slumped, his manic energy gone. "It didn't."

He took a half-hearted bite from his pizza roll, which had grown cold by this point.

"We were on live transmission with the Captain at the time – he was not on the ship – but I don't know how much data they were able to retain on their end…" He turned to Tails. "Did you see it?"

Tails shook his head "no". "I was too busy with the translator and making sure the engine wasn't dangerous and the ship is in pieces and there is so much encryption…"

It was not the first time Vilmis heard this, but it drained even more fight out of him. "We activated the scanners but the only thing we were able to find were some scrambled heat readings. So our Captain ordered us to get closer to Anhur's estimated location, since scanning had no substantial results. So, we went and…"

He obviously struggled to put into words what happened next.

"Take your time, man" said Sonic. He had not seen the devastation up close yet, but he knew Tails had. And next to his Tails had curled up in his tails, slightly shivering even though it was warm in here. It was not a pretty sight.

"We collided with a… barrier of some kind. Nothing like our barriers. That one was made of… red hexagons and glitches."

Sonic's mind came to a grinding halt.

"We managed to make it through, and we got visual with Anhur. Not for long, but there was so much light pollution. An absurd amount. The continents were glowing even on the side facing the sun! And there were lines crossing the oceans and those strange floating towers over it… Then the glitches started again and suddenly all our systems stopped working. Nothing but error messages. Next thing I know, we are next to your moons and our engine is completely out of control." He took a deep breath to continue but seemed to change his mind. "You know the rest."

Tails trembled. "I'm… really sorry Vilmis."

A sharp nod. "Thank you."

Sonic nodded too. "About the crash…" Fuck, was there a good way to put this? "What do you want to do with the bodies?"

Vilmis leaned back on the table, deep in thought. "Have you taken autopsies yet? You said you checked if I could eat the food here…"

"No… I wasn't sure if it was appropriate. I took samples from you while the nurse was checking you over."

"How did you heal me anyway?"

"A Heal Unit. Not my invention, but I'm trying to replicate it. I'm not really a biologist… definitely not THAT good…"

"…I won't ask what a heal unit is yet."

"Fair enough" said Sonic. "So, autopsy?"

"Yes. I need a report to give back to my superiors. And then… cremate them. We don't really do that anymore in the homeworld…"

"How so?" asked Sonic, sensing a change in subject.

"The population is too big. If we burned everyone the pollution would be too much."

Earth had around four billion total, so Sonic could barely imagine what kind of population Vilmis' planet had for cremation to be a major pollutant.

"Alright…" said Tails, still somber from the heavy subject. Sonic placed a hand on his shoulder, startling him a little, but he leaned into it. Soninc just gripped tighter. Hang in there, buddy.

Especially with what he was about to bring up now.

"You said the barrier looked like red hexagons?"

Tails froze. "Sonic, you don't think-"

Vilmis obviously caught on his drift, if the shock on his face was any indication. "Red hexagons and glitches, pink, dark pink, red, dark red… I think it was keeping the planet invisible. And it messed with our systems. And then-"

"Teleported you here. And you crashed on Starfall Islands."

"Sonic, you think that was a Cyberspace Barrier!?"

"It sure sounds like it" replied Sonic. "And we haven't seen a hair of Eggman in a while. When exactly did that planet vanish?"

The gears in Tails' head instantly started turning.

"I'm not sure what the date conversions are…"

"No, it's far too soon to tell" said Tails. "We need to finish the time conversions, then determine when the phenomenon started and how it correlates with Eggman's usual modus operandi. Not to mention since our technology trees and modes of travel are so different we need to calculate how long it would take Eggman to travel to that planet and what means he used."

Wow, he was going real fast there. "Tails-"

"The scale and amount of equipment required to fully take over a planet is just MASSIVE even if it's a small one, so all construction had to be done on-site-"

Aaand he was not listening. "Tails."

He leaped off the seat. "There are too many variables; perhaps he opened portals with the Chaos Emeralds or he made fake ones or maybe he-"

Drastic measures it was. "TAILS!" Tails stopped mid-stride. Sonic rarely yelled out of a fight or to mock someone, so it was usually a good way to cut him mid-turbo brain mode.

"Breathe for a moment, okay? You were running your mouth as fast as me there." Sonic placed a hand on Tails' shoulder, to prevent his brain from flying off again. "Like you said, we don't have enough data. So focus on that for now. You have plenty of time, you'll figure this out and we'll deal with it, okay? One thing at the time."

"Okay… Yeah, you're right."

A moment passed. Vilmis had obviously pieced together what was left unsaid, but held back for now. Not that it mattered – Tails needed a moment before he was up for answering questions in a comprehensible manner anyway.

Tails looked up to Sonic. "Are you really telling me to slow down?"

"…"

Tails grinned.

Oh, that little- "Hey!"

Tails giggled a bit, and Sonic elbowed him. He was not back one hundred percent but he was tough. The two of them climbed back to their seats.

Once they made themselves comfy again Vilmis addressed the elephant in the room. "You said before that there is a barrier around Starfall Islands that destabilizes the systems of any vessel that tries to enter it."

Sonic was not there for that conversation so he just watched Tails. "Yes. From your description, the visual appearance and properties of the barrier you encountered are very similar, though the one we encounter didn't turn the islands invisible. Cyberspace was developed by an ancient civilization that colonized Starfall Islands after their homeworld was destroyed. We call them the Ancients, and they specialized in Chaos Energy, space travel and programming. Cyberspace is a massive digital archive containing everything there is to know about them, including their memories! They're extinct now, but their technology is beyond anything we have achieved so far!"

"When did they vanish."

Huh, did he have something specific in mind?

"Around fifteen thousand years ago? They were not on our planet for very long. Hold on, I did the conversion between our year and yours on my Miles Electric."

Tails tapped a few numbers. "Alright, so one year for you lasts one point two of our years, so for you this was twelve thousand and five hundred years ago."

"Twelve thousand? Are you sure? When did they arrive?"

Sonic knew the answer to that. "About thirty years before that, give or take. They weren't planning to land here, the Chaos Emeralds dragged them over."

"They dragged- never mind. So they were not Protheans."

"Protheans?" repeated Tails.

"Another ancient civilization, but they mysteriously vanished over forty thousand years ago, according to our calendar. We based a lot of our technology on theirs, but they used Element Zero for the most part."

Tails did the math. "On Earth, that would be…"

"On Earth, that would be…"

"The exact time is forty one thousand and a little over six hundred years."

"So around fifty thousand."

"Eh, plenty of ancient civilizations out there."

"And this Eggman…"

Sonic grinned. "Long story short, mad scientist trying to take over the world. And failing because of yours truly."

"…And you call him "Egg Man"…?"

"His real name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik" explained Tails. "Sonic started calling him Eggman as an insult, but he appropriated it as a brand name and now he calls himself that."

Honestly, Sonic was a little bummed about that. "Heh, at least I can still call him "Baldy MacNosehair"."

Vilmis chocked on his food. His face and throat started spasming.

"Wow, you okay there?"

Vilmis took a moment. "Baldy MacNosehair!? That's-" He burst into laughter.

"I'm afraid the credit of that one goes to the Wisps, but I can't monopolize all the good insults!"

He almost expected him to ask about the Wisps but he did not.

"Why is he trying to take over the world?"

"Beats me. He's just a megalomaniac with a fondness for way too big amusement parks."

Vilmis stared. "Amusement parks. Those parks where you go with young children to have more dangerous activities in controlled environments and are frequently themed after popular shows or games or attractions. Those parks."

"Yup. Those parks." Good to know they are a universal constant.

"…Why?"

He and Tails answered in unison. "He just likes amusement parks."

"He's really good at making good rides!" added Tails. "But the shops and restaurants are horrible…"

Man, just thinking about Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park filled him with nostalgia. "Yeah, those planets he stole along planet Wisp looked really cool I got to admit."

"WHAT!?"

Vilmis shout drew the attention of everyone in the restaurant. "What do you mean, he stole planets!?"

"They were really tiny" explained. "About a twelfth of Earth size."

Sonic did not expect Vilmis to calm down at this. "A twelfth?"

"I could run laps around it" said Sonic. Even for him running around the entire planet Earth was pretty damn hard.

"Oh, so it was just a very small dwarf planet. That makes more sense."

"You guys can move planets?"

"We can move celestial bodies up to dwarf planet size" he confirmed. "However, it's incredibly expensive and it rarely serves any purpose."

Yeah, that made sense. "Money isn't much of a problem for Eggman, he owns a lot of businesses in secret…"

"We found out he used to run a private train business on Amy's birthday" added Tails.

"So he's trying to take over the world with business ventures?"

"I wish. He builds a bunch of robot armies to do it by force. We must have smashed hundreds of thousands of his bots."

"Yup. He built Omega too, but apparently he had him playing guard duty and Omega didn't like that so he turned against him."

The good mood from Vilmis' face evaporated. "Um… just to be clear, how many of those robots have artificial intelligence?"

"I think all of them, more or less" said Tails. "However the level of intellect seems to vary. They are all capable of taking independent decisions if not directly ordered, but most of them are not smarter than your average animal."

"Yeah, most of the more intelligent ones turn against him." Too bad Metal Sonic was not on the list. Though now that he thought about it, all the Scrapniks could understand him just fine… Maybe it was a growth thing?

"And… what do you do with those?"

"Let them go. They can join the fighting if they want, I'm not the kind of guy to force anyone do anything. Sometimes we have to get Tails to remove the programming that forces them to listen to orders, but otherwise we're good to go."

Vilmis… was like a deer in the headlights.

"I think I need a moment."

He… looked like he needed it.

"Take your time, buddy… Take your time."