Operation ECLIPSE

by HelenTheMoon

Pre-ME1 post-Frontiers Xover, in which the Sonic version of Earth replaces ME Earth. A Batarian planet suddenly turns invisible, and things only get weirder from there. That poor STG agent won't know what hit him, that's for sure. And neither will the rest of the galaxy - once Sonic and Eggman get there. Crossposted on Spacebattles and AO3. Rating may change.

5. Ch4: And empty out the bags too

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

---

Chapter 4: …And empty out the bags too.

When Sonic woke up the next day, Tails was already up and tinkering with his Miles Electric and a bunch of… mini-speakers?

"Morning, Tails. What's up?"

"Good morning, Sonic! I'm putting the finishing touches in creating automatic translators for everyone. That way we won't have to wait for the Miles Electric to fully translate the speech so we'll all be able to communicate at a better pace."

"Oh, that's neat."

Tails turned to him with a grin. "I haven't made any improvements on slang though, so you got to be careful."

Sonic put on his best disappointed face. "Oh, bummer."

The two laughed a little before Sonic came closer to the desk to take a better look. "So, have you eaten yet?"

"…I had some crackers."

In other words, he skipped breakfast entirely.

"That's no brain fuel! Gimme some minutes, I'll whip up something."

Tails made a vague grunt of affirmation.

On Tails' work desk there was a number of small earpiece and microphone combos along with a ton of chips and small wires. Sonic picked up a silver and green one. "Have you finished them all?"

"Not yet. That one's for you though."

For him, huh? The colour was fine, but… "Have you made one for Silver yet?"

"Um, not yet?"

"Save this one for Silver, just download the translator straight to my brain."

Tails spun around so quickly he was a blur.

"Sonic! You can't just poke into your brain whenever!"

Sonic picked up the translator. "Hey, knowing me this thing's gonna get busted sooner or later."

"Except that I still have a ton of software patches to work through, do you know HOW many language codexes are in this thing?"

At the last bit Tails waved to the scanner box attached to his computer which contained an… overly fancy bracelet thing?

"What's this?"

"Vilmis' omnitool. It's supposed to be attached to a gauntlet, but it can work as a standalone piece too."

"Wow. This looks really futuristic."

"Well, it is. Their technology is absolutely amazing! It even has interactive holographic displays! Obviously I can't hook it up to anything, but that's what my scanner's for."

"Always thinking ahead, huh? Good to see that scanner getting some use."

For some reason, Tails slumped at that. "Something wrong?"

Tails looked mildly depressed. "Shadow brought me a floppy disk the other day."

"…he what!?" Sonic's laughter definitely woke up the neighbors. "A-A-A-A floppy disk! Ow, my sides!"

"Sonic, it's not funny! That thing was an atrocity!"

"Shadow's being a real boomer there-"

"Sonic, don't-"

"I'm NEVER letting him live this down, holy- HAHAHA!"

"Don't start a fight with Shadow over a floppy disk!" protested Tails, but now he was laughing too.

"It's fine, he's always eager to get his ass kicked anyway!"

Tails shrieked. "S-SONIC, stop!"

"Come on, you got- you got to admit it's funny…"

"Not when you destroy the HQ it won't be!"

"Alright, fine, fine… A floppy disk…" Sonic finally managed to get his breathing under control. "Man, that was a good laugh, I needed that one."

Tails was giggling too on his desk. "It took everything not to freak out… My fur was on its ends."

Sonic snorted, imagining Tails' full body shudder at coming in contact with such a hilariously outdated piece of tech. "I'm still telling him you're allergic to old-fashioned stuff."

"Please don't, I don't know how he'll take it."

"Yeah, good point. Anyway, do pancakes sound good?"

Tails grinned, his tails wagging. "Sure!"

Heh. He knew he would get through his sweet tooth.

As Sonic started rummaging the fridge and cupboards for the pan and the ingredients, Tails continued flickering with the translators.

"Still Sonic, are you sure you want this downloaded in your brain?"

"I just thought it'd save you some work. You got a lot to do."

"That IS true, but-"

"And you could use some practice with brain interfaces if we're going to mess with Cyberspace again."

Tails fell silent at that.

After Starfall Islands, Cyberspace left some… interesting side effects in Sonic's brain. Especially concerning his interactions with other machines. More particularly, Mecha Sonic.

Before, the mental link created between Sonic and his Mecha counterpart could only transfer thoughts and emotions through a specific range. After Cyberspace, where Sonic's entire consciousness was digitized?

Now they could swap files.

Tails was extremely concerned about it; digitization of one's consciousness to such a degree had not been seen since the time of the Ancients, and Sonic being more like a computer was a concern. Sonic was almost too good at channeling energies – what if Eggman used Chaos Energy to hack him?

Sonic was nowhere near as concerned, saying he would handle it like he had handled the corruption from Dark Gaia without even noticing. Tails wanted to yell at him that the corruption from Cyberspace was a completely different thing and he knew how much it hurt – nowhere near as much as it hurt Sonic – and it even brought Sonic down to his knees-

But he did not.

The only reason he even knew that Sonic and Mecha could exchange files now was because Sonic had accidentally downloaded Mecha's files over the development of his sunflower in his sleep. And Mecha had accidentally ended up with the GPS data of Kronos Island in his brain, because Sonic was thinking of the flower field.

That was an interesting call.

So Tails ended up spending a few days designing a special interface to connect to Sonic's brainwaves and designing special firewalls to install in both of them just in case, trying not to externally freak out over being able to do that in the first place. Sonic having an out of control connection with machinery was not a good thing, and neither was having a backdoor to his brain.

Overall, Tails was less than comfortable messing with anyone's brains – removing Eggman's shackles on his former Badniks was one thing, since it was like brainwashing and they asked for it, but this… was different, for reasons he could not quite explain. It was just that the thought of your mind being open to being hacked was terrifying.

However, Sonic had a point. If Eggman was experimenting with the technology of the Ancients again, Tails would have to do his best to catch up. And get some practice working with completely unfamiliar operating systems and tech trees, since he had an entire alien ship to analyze and rework now.

"Okay, I'll do it. But we're taking ALL the precautions."

Sonic smiled at him. "I trust you, bro."

Tails felt all warm inside.

It felt good to see Sonic have complete faith in him. Even though he always did.

The next few minutes were spent in silence, with Tails putting the last touches in the prototype specialized translators and Sonic slowly emptying the pancake mix in the frying pan. Soon a delicious smell filled the house that made Tails' stomach growl. It was easy not to think about food when he was busy, but when it was right under his nose…

He would not be able to continue work like this.

Giving up, he leaped off his seat and came to the couch/eating table. Sonic's victorious grin told him that this was all planned.

Tails grabbed a fork and aimed it at Sonic. "I'm going to get back at you for this."

"Sure you will, buddy."

Oh, I WILL. But not yet- revenge was a dish best served cold and these pancakes were deliciously warm.

---

An hour or so later, Sonic and Tails had finished their breakfast, and Tails had put the finishing touches in the prototype translators. He then ordered Sonic to lay down.

"Come on, that's not necessary."

Tails threw a stern look at him. Sonic complied and laid on the couch.

The young inventor typed a quick code into his laptop and then twisted the knob of one of the cupboards in the kitchen area. Then he went to the floor under the table and pressed one of the ceramic plates. It was then that an indent on the wall made itself visible.

Tails was paranoid. In his opinion, rightfully so.

He pressed the indent on the wall and it opened, revealing the device so carefully hidden in the lab.

It was deceptively small for what it was supposed to do, but rather ominous in its appearance, appearing like a bizarre mix of a nine-tail whip, a stethoscope and circuit wires. It was not as ominous as it looked, but Sonic did not have to like the thing.

The reason behind it was that Tails installed the firewalls in his brain specifically to prevent wireless connections, with very few exceptions; backdoors that were carefully locked and only Sonic and Tails possessed the keys. The Nine-Tails Mindhack was the tool to get around its creator's carefully crafted security measures – thus and the rather elaborate steps to uncover its location inside Tails' lab.

Tails was quick to connect the wires to Sonic's quills and the sides of his ears, while he connected the other end to a specialized hidden port on his Miles Electric – yet another additional security measure.

While he showed no physical sign of it, Sonic braced himself. Tails' tech was not yet as refined as the Ancients'.

The transfer was not smooth.

It was like an electric shock to his system, before his vision went white. There was a sudden disconnect from his limbs that made him feel numb and a pang of a headache that impacted his brain, stuttering his thoughts like static. The shock hit all his nerves, scrambling them, and there was nothing but noise.

And then it was over.

Sonic gasped for air.

The whole process took less than a second.

"Sonic! Are you alright?"

"A-A bit too much at once…" Tails knew him too well to be able to hide stuff like this from him. And he would not want any aspect of his systems less than perfect.

Tails' ears and tails drooped. "Sorry…"

Sonic got up with a groan that made him sound much older than his seventeen years, feeling pins and needles down random nerves. "It's much better than last time…"

It was true; back when Tails was doing the firewall updates, Sonic had been down for hours – he found himself up in a hospital bed. Now, the brief bout of dizziness was already dissipating, and Sonic got up and went through his stretches, letting a pleased hum at his body swiftly and smoothly settling back to working order.

Tails perked up a little at that. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Sonic nodded. "Yup. Everything feels fine here." He gave one final shake to get rid of the static that crackled between his quirks. Tails yipped a little, but Sonic threw him a thumbs up.

He was just fine.

His little brother was incredible.

Tails finally relaxed. "OK, but let's test if it worked."

Tails typed something new in his Miles Electric and a sentence came out.

"Current weather conditions: sunny with light cloud coverage. Atmospheric analysis indicates increased levels of micro-metals."

The language was definitely not English. But Sonic understood it just fine. "It just gave me a brief weather report."

Tails lit up. "It worked!"

"Sure did Tails! I knew you'd pull it off."

"Actually, let's check if you can also speak it…"

There. His guard was down. The perfect opportunity.

Sonic lunged at him and suddenly there was a lot more static electricity floating around.

If Sonic laughing over floppy disks did not wake up the neighbors, the impromptu tickling match sure did.

And Sonic made sure to yell at Tails in the alien language the whole time to make extra sure it worked.

---

The tickling match turned into a race and Sonic with Tails were at the crater and tool shed that was hiding the entrance to the Restoration HQ in less than two minutes, their trails leaving massive dust clouds.

They paused just short of falling into the tiny impact crater, lest not they land into Silver's vegetable garden. Or Silver himself for that matter.

"Yo, Silver!"

"Hey, Sonic!"

The time traveler was on his knees in work gloves other than his usual and an apron patting a patch of freshly upturned dirt. He looked like a dusty mess but he was smiling broadly.

Sonic and Tails leaped down. "How's it going?"

"Pretty great! I just finished planting some basil, I heard they're very fragrant and durable."

"Oh nice, you can put that in a bunch of stuff."

"That's what I thought! Everything has been growing nicely" confirmed Silver with a smile. Gardening was usually a pretty good way to get his mind off things.

"Oh, by the way-" said Tails. He reached into his pouch and brought out the silver and green headset he had initially designed for Sonic.

"What's this?"

"I made a translation device so we can talk to Vilmis without my Miles Electric."

It took Silver a moment to connect the name to the alien he briefly interacted with the day before. "Oh, that's useful. But what about you guys?"

"I have my earpiece right here" said Tails, pointing to the light blue and yellow device attached.

"Tails downloaded it to my brain this morning."

"Oh, okay." He placed put on his own translator and paused. "Wait, what?"

Sonic-

"No!"

The blue glow of psychokinesis engulfed the speedster and lifted him off the ground. Silver had the death glare that very clearly stated "explain or else".

"Went looking for the Chaos Emeralds, got zapped by a weird brain system controlled by some deity or whatever, my brain has a computer interface now."

Silver's jaw dropped. "Wha- What kind of explanation is that!?"

"Anyway, gotta check on our cattle thief. Catch you later!"

And he zoomed through the entrance. They could hear the elevator going down from there. Silver raised his hand to stop it.

"Please don't, I don't have the time to fix it."

Silver lowered his hand. "Do you need that alien ship in one piece?"

Tails tilted his head. "It's… in many pieces?"

"Good. Because I'm going to throw all of them at him."

"Wait until I remove the equipment first."

"Deal."

Some days Sonic was way too much for their collective patience.

---

This planet's species had the nocturnal circle of just about every other species in the galaxy; sleep through most of the night.

Which meant that Vilmis spent a good chunk of time pacing around the hospital room, going through basic drills, and staring at the ceiling bored out of his mind and waiting for morning to come so Miles could show up with the translator and he could eat already. At least they left him with plenty of snacks for the meantime so he was not completely suffering.

Then the door opened with a bang.

"Yo Vilmis, Tails's at the entrance. We already ate breakfast, so I'm gonna go grab you a bite, what do you want?"

Vilmis blinked. "Tea and… whatever goes with it?"

"Tea and cake, got it."

He vanished.

"…Wait, since WHEN DO YOU KNOW LEREK!? SONIC!"

Sonic was long gone.

Ju- "What just happened!?"

And that was when Miles and another male with light grey fur showed up. Had he not seen him yesterday? What did Sonic say his name was, Silv?

"Morning, Vilmis" said Miles. He then handed him… his omnitool!?

Vilmis eagerly put it back on its rightful place. FINALLY! He missed it SO MUCH. And not a scratch on it, Miles had even taken the time to clean some spots.

"Do you understand us?"

Vilmis blinked. Then he saw Miles pointing at his ear where there was a microphone attached, wearing a huge grin on his face.

"You finished the translator!"

"Almost."

"Wait… Sonic wasn't wearing one."

Miles facepalmed.

"Silv" turned to Vilmis looking really done for what was still halfway through the morning. He also had a translator attached to his ear. "He told me he downloaded it in his brain."

"What."

"I want to throw your ship at him. Can I do that?"

"You what."

"Silver, that's Padmin Vilmis. Vilmis, that's Silver. He's a good friend of ours, he tends to the garden outside. Yes, we can download files in Sonic's brain, please don't spread that, it's a new development, it really shouldn't work like that, and I don't want the knowledge spreading around too much."

"Then why didn't you give him a translator" came out of Vilmis' mouth because the rest of his brain was still stuck in data processing.

"He talked me out of it."

Silver turned to him imploringly. "Mr. Vilmis, can I please throw your spaceship at him? He deserves it."

It's WAY too early in the day for this shit. "Just make sure to remove all the important equipment from the interior first." Another thought occurred to him. "And let me record it."

"Deal."

"Hey Vilmis, I'm back!"

Sonic came to a grinding halt – literally grinding, he somehow made a tire noise – holding a paper cup holder and a fabric bag that smelled like desert. He was met with three deadpan glares. He turned to Silver.

"Can the car throwing wait until after we all eat?"

"I'm throwing his spaceship at you."

"Oh, okay."

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?

Sonic continued as if his life had not just been threatened by a supposed friend of his. Instead, he handed the breakfast to him. "How about going to snack outside? It's a nice day."

Vilmis was now even more surprised. "Is it alright for me to be outside? You know I'm a spy." Technically communications officer but the technicality did not mean much right now. Silver startled. Apparently this was news to him.

"Yeah, and?"

And!? "And you're not supposed to give information to spies…?"

Sonic leaned up to him with a grin. "Why, are you saying you'll be trying anything funny?"

…Was he a predatory species? "Are death threats in the early morning normal for you people?" WHY DID I SAY THAT!?

Much to his surprise, Sonic's response to that was to burst into laughter. He jammed his elbow into Vilmis' hip before turning to a very disappointed-looking Miles and… Silver was laughing nervously?

Vilmis took a deep breath and took a sip of his tea. It was a different flavor this time, bitterer and a bit more cloying. "What exactly am I not aware of here?"

"I, uh…" started Silver "did try to kill Sonic when we first met… It was a misunderstanding!"

"And so did Shadow" added Miles. "And Knuckles. And Blaze. And-"

"This is NORMAL?"

"Only for Sonic."

"What can I say, I grow on people!" said Sonic with a shrug, apparently entirely unconcerned with the constant death threats in his life.

"Like mold?"

Sonic burst into laughter again – "Nice burn, dude!" – and soon all four of them were laughing their heads off at the sheer absurdity of the conversation.

Everyone here is crazy. And by the looks of it the friendlier version of your standard Krogan. But somehow that made Vilmis feel more at ease. If the people here could make friends with former enemies so easily, then maybe things would be fine later.

Yes, he could see why people liked Sonic. Even if he was like mold.

---

Vilmis was not quite sure what to expect, going outside for the first time in days. They were literally showing him where the exit was, and… he could not lie to himself, the prospect filled him with both nervousness and excitement. It was kind of silly, to be anxious over breakfast, but the current situation made even the mundane feel so novel. Miles said that Silver had a garden outside, right? He was curious to see what plants were here.

He soon found himself on a wooden platform that he realized a moment too late was an open elevator. The floor rose higher and higher until…

Whatever he expected from the top of the elevator ride, it was not a tiny abandoned-looking building with all its walls covered in… tools? And it really appeared to be abandoned, many of the entrance's glass panels looked broken, and instead of a proper door handle someone had tried a piece of rope to the metal frame, and the walls were makeshift with old signs of wear.

It definitely did not look like the entrance to the fancy Restoration Headquarters. But he supposed that was the point.

Sonic opened the door – Vilmis had to duck here, it really was tiny – and found himself in an overgrown crater.

They were literally in a tiny crater. There were plumbing tubes spilling water down here, and at the edge of the crater there was… asphalt? He looked up higher and… there were buildings. Ruined, covered with dust, abandoned, looking like the aftermath of a military strike.

"What happened to this place?" Why were they in the middle of a warzone?

"Eggman happened."

Vilmis turned to Sonic. Now, he had not known the blue-furred male for long, but he was struck by how he looked. Unlike the too relaxed attitude earlier, there was not a hint of humour to be found now. Instead he stood ramrod straight with his arms crossed, strikingly similar to how Shadow carried himself; he even had the same frown etched to his face, which suddenly made his quills look all that sharper.

Perhaps his sudden hunch earlier that Sonic was a predator was not too far off reality. Or maybe it was this group of people in particular that had this air of passive danger.

"We chose to leave it as is as a form of memorial" said Miles, interrupting Vilmis' thoughts. "The people who used to live here have relocated to the headquarters below. And it's far more secure."

"And fancier" added Sonic with a grin.

"That too."

"Anyway" said Silver, dissipating the last bit of tension "welcome to my garden! It's not really much, but I've always been interested in gardening, so I spend my spare time here."

For someone who was begging him to use the Letos in a murder attempt earlier, Silver was acting quite awkwardly now.

"How about you let the guy eat first, then a tour?"

"Oh, right!" Silver rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry…"

"It's fine, I also forgot" reassured him Vilmis.

The Salarian found a crate to sit on and took the tea and the… dessert. "What did you say this is called?"

"Cake."

"Smells sweet."

"There are also salty or sour ones, but they're not to everyone's taste" informed him Miles.

"I see."

The tea had cooled down a bit in the last few minutes but was still fairly warm – and now had a much stronger flavor, with the teabag sitting in here for so much longer. Vilmis pulled it out and searched for a place to throw it away, to which Silver…

Telekinetically moved a trash can!?

Vilmis opened his mouth to ask Miles again if he was ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that there was no Element Zero on this planet, but swiftly decided against it. They could address it later. Seriously though, it even glowed blue!

The wrong shade of blue.

Well, the biotics theory was not scratched out yet…

Hold on, was this what Silver and Sonic meant when they were talking about tossing cars and the Letos? The Letos was an entire spaceship, had Silver seen it? Actually, how much could Silver Lift? Some Asari Commandoes and Matriachs could Lift ludicrous weights – they were warned against confronting Asari for a reason – but using biotics to toss vehicles at other people during battle was not all that common. At least, Vilmis had never really heard of such a thing.

Or perhaps Silver was like Sonic and Shadow…?

As he started picking on the cake – wow, this would dry his mouth really fast – he took the time to examine Silver more carefully. He did not stand out the way Sonic or especially Shadow did, but…

His shoes and gloves were glowing.

There were glowing lines in his clothing, in a light blue colour the same as his… ability. Now that he was looking closer, the material of both articles of clothing did not seem to be fabric and metal, instead appearing to be synthetic. Shadow's clothes had a similar quality, now that he thought about it, appearing to be synthetic in places, but the white parts resembled leather more closely. The material of Silver's accessories was more… advanced? Perhaps that was the word he was looking for.

He was probably coming to the obvious conclusion in the world, but Silver was definitely far more than just a gardener.

While Vilmis was eating his breakfast – confirming that yes, sweet cake was better in small doses – Silver went back to tending the garden. Despite its small size it had all sorts of plants in it, including those with the colourfull circular leaves… These ones were almost as tall as he was, with bright yellow leaves and a black center that he could not quite tell what it was from this distance.

"What are those plants called?"

"Which ones?"

"I noticed a number of plants with those colourful soft leaves in circles… like those over there."

All three of his companions turned to the plants, then to him. With expressions of shock.

"You mean… flauers?" asked Miles.

"That… didn't translate."

"Uh, Tails? There's no word for it in here" said Sonic, his eyes unfocused.

"Really?"

"You don't know what flowers are?" asked Silver, looking stunned.

"I've never seen anything like them before…"

"Then, how do plants pollinate in your planet?"

"Pollinate?"

"Reproduce."

"Oh, water based fertilization, insects nesting, using fungi as a means of transfer, natural propagation…"

"Ah, I get it. Well, here many plants have flowers to attract insects. The insects feed off the plant, pollen gets attached to them, and then the pollen gets rubbed off on the next flower and that's how the plant gets fertilized. More or less."

"I see…" Indeed the colours were incredibly bright. "They're quite beautiful."

"These ones are called sunflowers!"

"Because they're the same colour as the sun?"

"Not only! Take a look at where they're all looking" said Sonic.

"Looking…?" But they did not have a face…

However, the "flowers" were all pointed in the same direction. He followed it and immediately squinted his eyes. "The sun?"

"They're always following the direction of the sun! Really cool, huh? They're my favourites. There's a bunch of them at Green Hills."

"Yes, I'm sure there are plenty of hills covered in greenery around here."

Miles and Silver dropped their stuff.

"I meant the Green Hills Zone" said Sonic, looking annoyed. Vilmis made a mental note to never question or mock the name ever again.

"You can also eat the seeds of this one!" interjected Silver. "They're not quite ready yet though…"

"What kind of plants do you have here? Edible, medicinal, decorative?"

"Edible. Vegetables, mostly. Like, those here, they're tomatoes."

He pointed to the small vines on the ground growing around vertically planted rods, and the absolutely tiny fruit around it. "They're still growing, they'll be ready by summer."

"Tomatoes are fruit" said Miles. Silver gasped.

"And I eat a bunch of tomato sauce" said Sonic "so I am eating fruit." Why was he mentioning this.

"THAT doesn't count" replied Miles, suddenly annoyed.

"So tomatoes are not fruit?" Old argument?

"No, they are!" Old argument.

"So why doesn't it count?"

"Because it doesn't! On their own tomatoes are very healthy but-"

"Um, guys?"

"-you can't expect me to eat them all raw-"

"-the processed carbohydrates-" The whats. That vaguely sounded like something he learned at school, what was it about again?

"I LIKE them burnt."

"You like them BURNT?" asked Vilmis, suddenly seriously questioning all of Sonic's food choices. What was I eating!?

"The stuff he gets us is normal, it's the stuff he gets for HIMSELF I'm worried about."

"I'm perfectly healthy, you know that."

"Now you are, because your metabolism is so high. However, the lack of balance in your nutrients reception will affect your-" How old was Sonic?

"My weight as a kid was PERFECTLY FINE, thank you." But nobody mentioned-

"He was fat as a kid?" asked Silver, looking as overwhelmed as Vilmis felt.

"He was a bit chubby."

"I was not-"

"I have pictures."

"Tails don't- Bring that over."

"Nope."

"Miles" said Sonic.

"Can I see them?" asked Silver.

"Sure!"

"Tails, get back-"

Miles' response was to fly out of Sonic's reach.

Vilmis nearly fell off his crate.

Miles was… flying. There was no biotic glow. Instead he looked like he was sitting on… "Are your tails SPINNING!? You're FLYING!?"

The three mammals paused from what was otherwise bound to become an epic fight over the Miles Electric to remember that he was there with them.

"Buddy" said Sonic "you just made a mistake."

"What mistake-"

Miles opened his mouth and it was all too late when Vilmis remembered Miles' self-admitted passion for aircraft. "In a fashion akin to typical helicopters, I can spin my tails around a stationary vertical axis to-" Oh shit, it was a lecture.

"I know how helicopters work, I'm trying to figure out HOW your tails can spin in the first place."

Sonic made himself comfy.

Miles lit up. "Glad you asked! You see, the joints on my tailbones have a genetic mutation that gives them free range of motion…"

Vilmis decided to mimic Sonic and also make himself comfortable. They were going to be here for a while.

---

A good chunk of Miles' explanation of how his tails worked ended up being a bit too much for Vilmis to retain – and by that he meant that the only things he really heard were "skin folds", "natural oils", and "friction".

Basically, the boy loved aircrafts because he was built like one. He claimed it was the result of a genetic mutation, and that his two tails were unique to him. Two tails were not exactly odd as far as genetic mutations were; people were being born with extra fingers or misshapen body parts all the time, an additional tail was rather mundane. However, Vilmis had no idea what kind of genetic mutation could possibly make those tails configure themselves into a fully functional and self-maintaining propulsion system.

At least the raw physics made sense, unlike whatever Sonic was doing. And he was not the only one overwhelmed, judging by the expression on Silver's face. Sonic on the other hand spent the entire lecture looking very proud of his little brother, the topic of his childhood pictures forgotten.

Vilmis supposed that was a good thing – he did not need to find overly long and thick quills hidden in his pillow that night.

Fortunately, none of them was in any hurry to head indoors. Soon Sonic was out on a run, raising an incredible dust trail in his wake (Vilmis made a mental note to ask just how fast he was), while Miles was working on his device and Silver was working on the garden, carefully inspecting every plant.

It was really quite beautiful here. He could hear a melody of some kind in the distance, not really organized but repetitive. Yet another thing to include in the list of questions here. The sky was a bright gorgeous blue, with faint clouds cutting a bit of the yellow sun's glare. Along they brought a nice cool breeze, a bit dry but carrying scents of the earth and the vegetation in the distance, along with a strong undercurrent of ash, coming from the immediate surroundings.

In the crater of the destroyed road around him, all sorts of insects had gathered around the flowers, unbothered by their presence. Stocky ones in browns, yellows and blacks with transparent thin wings, emanating a buzzing sound. Others much slower and thinner, with absolutely gorgeous broad wings with incredible colours, as bright as the flowers themselves. Tiny red ones with black dots, much like the small AI that handed him the flower yesterday. Green worms eagerly devouring the leaves, stocky armored ones crawling on the ground, a few black ones attracted to the strong smell of the fertilizer Silver was using in one specific corner, ones that looked almost predatory, thin and colourful with wide transparent wings. There was even a thread-weaver that used the plants as frames, much like home. So similar to what he knew, yet so different.

The flowers were definitely unique though.

He got up from the crate, his meal finished, and headed to the stepladder leading outside the crater. Both males noticed him but did not say anything, enjoying the peace and quiet as much as he was.

Silver's garden felt like a small safe cocoon compared to the destruction outside. And yet, there were plants growing through the cracks, small flowers and thorns through the cracked asphlalt, something with dark wide leaves crawling up the sides of entire buildings, the few surviving trees and bushes of those that once lines the streets grown out of control, the faint crinkle of water. The sound of the strange song was even closer now, and he was startled to see small flying fauna covered in feathers hidden between the branches, much like those white ones that approached him back in Starfall Islands; yet distinctly a different species.

Nature had taken over a landscape of destruction, while technology ruled the underground.

Looking up to the sky, he could make out the faint outline of one of the moons.

It was not often that he got esoteric, yet… there was something poetic about this place. He wondered what the rest of this world looked like.

For the first time in days, Vilmis turned on his omnitool.

Sure, it was already active, translating everyone's speech, but seeing its interface brought a sense of comfort he was missing.

Aside from the translator, it did not appear that Miles had done anything to it; the interface was the same as he left it, save for a new icon that resembled a… rounded triangle with a handle, and was marked as "speaker" underneath. It took him a moment to realize it was a simplified sketch of a megaphone. Perhaps it was meant to ease his communication with people who did not have access to translators yet, to ensure that he did not need to have people around him at all times to communicate the basics.

He was not completely surprised; the people on this planet had demonstrated through their designs time and again that they thought of everything.

He quickly went through his folders and applications, and so far nothing seemed out of place. He ran a diagnostic, and it went smoothly, skipping over Miles' translator entirely. Miles had made no real attempt to integrate his program with the pre-existing Galactic-standard translator, most likely not fully trusting his abilities to work with a language he had no point of reference to; especially given the issues they had previously with slang and various other words. Instead he made his program from scratch and somehow made it invisible to his own STG-issue omnitool. Just how smart was he?

Yes, he could admit unease at the sheer ease the child had demonstrated in handling military software, even if it was not top of the line. And Vilmis, being a communications officer, had some extremely heavy duty programs in there. Miles said the day before he had not managed to bypass anything, but…

Regardless, just because everything was working as it should programming-wise, the same did not necessarily apply to the hardware.

A burning sensation against his skin made him suddenly aware of the rapidly rising temperature. Vilmis looked to the sky; the moon – one of them – was barely visible now, fading into the blue sky, peeking through an opening that was once a window, now an arch in the last wall standing, covered by that plant.

Vilmis raised his omnitool and took a picture.

The camera was the same as ever.

The semi-transparent holographic screen made it almost impossible to tell colour, but all the details were there – a network of impact craters brutally drawing countless lines across the barren surface, framed by the jagged lines of the collapsed wall. Suddenly he felt mad at the lack of colour, even though he knew that if he were to connect his omnitool to a regular screen it would appear perfect.

Perhaps his camera could use an upgrade.

---

"Hello you fellow sewer folks, this is Jack with yet another True Crime case to spice up your days with some mystery! You fucks better not be squeamish. Yup, this one's a reeeal treat for you fans of gore out there. We're digging into yet another shit hole of mystery and scumbaggery. Is that a word? I don't know."

Amy hummed pleasantly as she tuned in her car's radio to one of her favourite podcasts. It had not been long since she had discovered "Filled Canvas Jack" online, but she liked her style; not afraid to chew her words yet so full of dramatic tension without being too over the top; Amy only liked the over the top melodrama when it was a romance novel.

It was an absolutely wonderful day for a flight; she was a bit too anxious to sleep well the day before, so she had called Jewel instead to tell her she was dropping by the Restoration, but to her surprise Jewel told her that Tails had all but forced her to take a few days off – so here was Amy, heading to her place at Station Square as opposed to the HQ, to drop off her luggage and go on some shopping!

Was she running on fumes? Probably! But she was just so full of energy! Anxious energy. Adrenaline. But she would not get a good night's sleep until she burned off all of it, so shopping therapy it was!

And she brought so many souvenirs too, she could not WAIT to show them to everyone!

As Jack went on about small human hand found in a lunchbox, Amy leaned over her car to find a good spot on Route 101 where she would not bother the other drivers upon landing – the last thing she wanted was to cause a car accident. Of course Tails had installed a radar to tell her about any offending obstacles or holes below the car, but it never hurt to check for herself. You could never be too careful with these things!

Fortunately, it was in the middle of the morning so while there was traffic it was no rush hour, meaning that Amy had no issue making a graceful landing and continuing her drive without breaking her stride. A couple of cars honked at her but she just honked back. The day was too nice for her mood to be ruined!

The drive to her apartment almost took too long – she knew she was on a highway, but each minute she was in the car felt like eternity. No wonder Sonic would always get itchy when he was left standing in one place for too long; though he was getting better about it. But according to her car's clock, and the runtime of the podcast, she arrived just on time. Usually she parked her car out of town near the Restoration HQ or one of Tails' labs, and then she'd take the train to Station Square. Parking in the city center was a nightmare.

However, carrying all her luggage in the train and then on foot was even more of a nightmare, so searching for a parking spot it was. Which took way too long for her taste, but at least most people were on their jobs right now so there were empty spots near her apartment.

As she unloaded the trunk the podcast went on in the background. "Slowly but surely there was the FREAKIEST puzzle forming; one of cut off pieces in the shape of a little girl- yet the head was nowhere to be found, and that's why, her identity was enshrouded in mystery. Or was it…?"

She almost could not find the correct key to use on the door when she finally arrived – her hands fumbled the keychain as she stood there in the entrance, taking a moment to remember the motion she repeated thousands of times before. With the door open, she paused her podcast, placed all her suitcases on her head, swung her backs through her arms and marched straight in.

She fumbled with the keys to her apartment too. It smelled so musty in here, stale, the dust made her sneeze and she barely did not drop her stuff. She slid off the bags first and then placed the suitcases on the ground, before going straight to the window and opening the windows and blinds to let the sunlight fill the room. A breath of fresh sea breeze rushed in, making the apartment feel alive again, giving her pinks, yellows and reds new life. She would have so much unpacking to do, and ask from Cream to return her plants as she left her to take care of them while she was away, but not right now. Right now, she had a shopping appointment!

---

"This place is HUGE!"

Tangle could not contain her excitement. She was practically vibrating with stars in her eyes, turning a mile a minute to stare at the buildings, the cars, the ads, the people, the billboards, the taxis, the shop windows, everything.

"Whisper, look look look look look- AH, there is an ARCADE over there! AN ARCADE! I always wanted to go to one! Have you ever been to one? We GOTTA go!"

"sure…"

"Girls" said Jewel "we have to wait for Amy and Lanolin! They'll be here any minute now!" Really, she was supposed to be on vacation to rest, not chase after Tangle! Though they did not get to talk as often after she took over the Restoration, so chasing her was a nice change of pace.

"That's right" said Cream "it's rude to leave when you're supposed to wait for someone!" Cheese nodded to emphasize her words even further, wearing a stern expression identical to Cream's.

"Hey, everyone, I'm baaack!"

"MISS AMY!"

"AMY!"

"CREAM! TANGLE!"

Tangle broke into a run, just barely giving her friends time to register the pink and… yellow? figure before they crashed into a huge hug, with Cream seconds behind her only because she was more restrained. Amy hugged her anyway and she twirl both girls around, eliciting an excited "woo" from the thrill-seeking lemur.

"I missed you so much!"

"I knooow, it's been ages!"

"Me too! And Cheese and Chocola!"

"Chao!"

Whisper jogged to them followed by a flying Jewel; while less visibly enthused, they both had wide smiles on their faces. "Hello Amy, it's great to see you!"

"hi, amy."

"Whisper! Jewel!" Amy dropped her two friends and proceeded to hug the two more introverted ones. Neither of them protested; it had been months since they last saw each other up close. Though Amy did not twirl them around – she knew they had limits.

"You look good!" said Jewel. "Is that a new dress?"

"Yes, do you like it?" She twirled to showcase the skirt of her new sunny yellow dress with the flower decoration. "It's not everyday wear, but it's nice for a morning outing!"

"Now we match! Yellow buddies!" yelled Tangle, overly excited.

Amy shook her finger like a scolding teacher, but the grin in her face betrayed her attempt at mimicry. "Not for long, red is my one true love and you know it!"

"Aww."

The girls laughed.

"By the way, where's Lanolin?"

"She called about ten minutes ago, she got a bit lost with the tram but she figured it out. She'll be here any minute."

"That's great! I have so much to tell you all."

Cheese flew above everyone and rested a hand over their eyes, carefully observing the crowd to spot Lanolin.

"So, how was the trip? Did you fly long? Are timezones confusing, I heard that jetlag is very bad."

"I'm too full of adrenaline to be tired right now…"

"that's unhealthy"

"I know, but it's best to burn it off!"

"And no better way than with a tour, right?"

"That's right!"

"Mom's been asking for news all the time!"

"Aw, that's so sweet of her."

Cheese started yelling, and Cream instantly turned to where they were pointing at. "Oh look, it's Miss Lanolin! Great job, Cheese! MISS LANOLIN!"

"HEY, LANOLIN, OVER HERE!" yelled Tangle, drawing the attention, of every pedestrian. And as if that were not enough, she even extended her tail to make a huge pointy arrow.

"Tangle, that's too much!"protested Jewel. Tangle ignored the protest, too focused on Lanolin jogging to their direction.

"Lanolin!" Amy grabbed the sheep for a hug, with Lanolin squeezing back as much as she could – her grip was getting quite a bit stronger, Amy noted.

"Never thought I'd see you in yellow."

"I like to mix things up! So, shall we get going?"

"Show us the way, Amy!"

"Then here we go!"

It was good to be home.

---

Sonic was back from his run, currently doing stretches on the side, looking very used to his routine. Vilmis was feeling itchy – were they just going to hang around the garden until the next meal and do nothing?

"So…" asked Sonic. Hearing him speaking Lerek was just weird, and it definitely startled Silver, but Vilmis would have to get used to it. "It says your species is called Salarians, right? What are you guys like?"

"What are we like… wait, you people never told me what your species is called."

Miles blinked. "Oh, right! I totally forgot about that!" They forgot?

"I told you, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog" said the speedster, switching to his own language.

"Wait, you introduce yourself by your species?"

"Naming conventions can be quite irregular on our planet" said Miles. "Brights like me and Sonic don't usually have full names and surnames, that's mostly a human thing."

Brights? "You'll have to explain that to me."

"You know, I don't think I ever heard why we're called Brights…" said Silver.

"Do you want the long version or the short version?" asked Sonic.

Vilmis thought about it for a moment. "Short version first." The long version would be useful, but he wanted to avoid getting too confused for now.

"OK, long story short… You noticed how like half the base are the same species? As tall as you, with hair?"

"Yes."

"Well, those are the humans, they're about half the population here. They grew brains way before the rest of us, so when we started talking and thinking for ourselves, they started saying stuff like "oh so the animals are geniuses now" or "what they got enlightened by god or something". You know, nasty stuff. But some of us liked the whole "enlightened" bit so it stuck."

"Are you saying that your existence is a recent development?" Because if the humans already had a civilization by the time these people developed… and the Ancients…

"The current theory" said Miles "is that the Chaos Emeralds accelerated our evolution. The Ancients brought the Chaos Emerald to our planet fifteen thousand years ago, which is when the earliest signs of organized social groups of humans started forming. Very first signs of religion, burial traditions, art, and so on. Society at its most primitive. However, the rest of us were just animals at the time. In addition to this, due to our planet's geographical conditions, we were only fully able to explore it and map it a few centuries ago, so the population distribution was quite uneven. There are some very interesting studies on the subject!"

"Hence the discrimination" concluded Vilmis. The chaos emeralds again… Previously they said that they needed then for timespace manipulation, leading Vilmis to think that they were an Eezo-based device of some sort, but now they were talking about accelerated evolution? What in the world? Were they talking about science or religion here?

Miles interrupted his thoughts. "More or less. But nowadays it has almost completely faded, so that's no longer a worry!"

Oh right, they were talking about racism. "That's good to know…"

"So… what about you guys?"

Where to start… "There are a lot of species…"

"Maybe it'd be better if we gathered everyone so he only has to say it once?" suggested Silver.

"The edge trio isn't here right now" said Sonic. Edgy Trio? Wait… did he mean Shadow, Rouge and Omega? "And the Knucklehead's on his island I think? Only Rouge knows where he is."

"Knucklehead?" echoed Vilmis. The three… Brights? snorted.

"No, his name is Knuckles. Sonic just calls him that."

"It's hard to get things through his skull."

"Oh! So you were calling him a rockbrain."

The three paused before bursting into laughter again. "Holy shit, I gotta call him that…"

"Ple-please d-don't hehe… Rockhead… And he collects rocks!"

"Really!?" asked Silver.

"He collects rocks that look like animals! This is perfect!"

Rocks that look like animals? That sounded like a really cute hobby. Still, he would have to make sure not to accidentally mention this discussion to Knuckles – now this was a weird name – when they meet.

Still, as much as he would like to picture this rock collection, they had business to discuss. "So, you cannot contact any of them?"

"It'd be kind of hard" said Miles. "They're always busy with something. But Amy's back!"

"Really?" said Sonic.

"Yeah, she called me in the morning, you were asleep. She didn't want me to wake you."

Sonic smiled. There was something… soft about that one. "That's… really great. When is she dropping by?"

"She on a girl's day out with Cream, Jewel, and the Diamond Cutters. I think they'll be back in the afternoon."

"Plenty of time to kill" said Silver.

"Diamond Cutters?" asked Vilmis. "Is this a music band?" It sounded like the name of an Asari music band.

"That'd be a really rad name for a music band…" said Sonic, looking thoughtful. Apparently having the translator downloaded directly into his brain – Vilmis still could not quite believe that was a thing that actually happened – did nothing to curb his fondness for slang.

"They're one of the combat teams associated with the Restoration" explained Miles.

"I'm going with them on missions sometimes" added Silver. It made sense; at first glance, Silver appeared to be an Adept. Not that he had any description of what he could actually do, like he did with Sonic and Shadow, but an Adept would be a huge boon to any combat team.

Also, "Diamond Cutters" was a great name for a combat team.

"So, what do we do until then?" asked Vilmis because Silver was right, it would be a while before noon.

Miles grinned. "Your new room is ready!"

"Oh. That's… good news." At least he would not be stuck in the hospital anymore.

"Let's all clean up first, I'm covered in dirt."

"Yeah, good call. Let's drop be the hospital first to pick up your stuff."

Vilmis got up, and with some awkward gesturing the entered the sack. He was stunned to see that the switch to activate the elevator was to remove one of the tiny hanging tools. What if someone wanted to borrow it?

He better keep that thought to himself.

This was the first real security hole he found in this place.

---

Vilmis almost had depressingly few things in here. He had his omnitool back, which was a blessing, but otherwise he only had a spare change of clothes he was given, what he was currently wearing, the pen and notebook, and the… flower. It was a little wilted today; he made sure to put it in a plastic cup earlier, but they could only last for so long without some soil.

Yes, it was probably wrong to keep a plant given to him by an AI, but it did not feel right to throw it away for that reason. He just made sure to touch it as little as possible in case it was poisonous.

Not that Omega would accept killing him with such a method, it probably preferred seeing its targets full of holes. He was not sure if an AI could have emotions, but so far comparing Omega to a typical Krogan seemed to work.

With his few possessions in hand, he followed Miles to the new room.

It turned out to be a small understatement.

The room was more of a tiny apartment in the same area as most of the humans, given that he was closer to them in height. It was a single room with a decently sized bathroom and a small kitchen, basically what he would expect from any small apartment. It was completely lacking in decoration, obviously meant to be adjusted to the occupant's liking, but it was already furnished with the basics like a bed or a desk/table and storage for various things, basic cutlery, plates and other cookware included. There were even a few towels here, which was a rare sight; most species preferred full body air dryers. This place had air dryers, but they seemed to be of the focused high velocity type. Probably a side effect of having to deal with fur as opposed to skin or scales for most of them. Even the humans had some fur to deal with.

What he did not expect was the window. There was a rudimentary view to outside, probably disguised between the town's ruins. Sure enough, he could make out some wind plants at the edges. He could even open it, and there was a drain system to ensure the inside stayed dry in case of rain.

These people really did think of everything.

Still… "What about the ship? And my other belongings?"

Miles ruffled his head. "Your armor is unusable, it took most of the brunt of your crash. Most clothes are fine but I'm not sure which ones are yours… Also I moved all the weapons in the labs here, they're not in the best shape. Many of them have Element Zero in them too…"

He could only imagine how eager Miles was to work with Element Zero. "Be extremely careful with it; Element Zero is known to cause cancer."

"WHAT!?"

All three voices turned to him in absolute shock at the reveal. "Cancer!? Oh Chaos, I have to run tests on everyone, tell them to get proper equipment, would anti-radiation equipment work?"

"Anti-radiation? As in…"

"Nuclear."

They have NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY? Of course they did, it was one of the most reliable sources of energy, he should not be surprised. "Yes, that would work." He hoped they had not weaponised it yet.

"I don't have much experience working with hazardous materials like that…" said Miles. "I mean, there was the time Eggman fired a nuclear missile at Station Square and I was able to shut it down, but it was GUN that hauled it off for disposal…"

Oh. Great. The domestic terrorist. Of course he had broken one of the Citadel laws regarding WDMs on top of the mass AI construction. Wait, why was Miles the one to shut down a nuclear missile!? Did they just give him the right to do whatever? And what was GUN? He was going to assume they were initials, because the word "weapon" did not fit there, but…

Actually, no better chance to ask for information.

"Who is GUN?"

"The army" said Sonic, in a tone that brokered no further discussion.

"It's a long story…" said Miles. He sounded a bit pained.

So he was not getting answers right now. Oh well. He was not going anywhere anytime soon.

"Anyway, I assume what you work with generally isn't a health hazard?"

"No, Chaos Emeralds and the Chaos Drives have their own kind of radiation, but none of it has any negative impact on people's health. Well, on their own; they can always blow up on your face. Or worse."

What the actual fuck are the chaos emeralds.

"But overall they're safe to use if you're only working with one at the time. Or a small number of Chaos Drives; they're batteries, basically."

"The Chaos Drives" repeated Vilmis, to make sure they were talking about the same thing.

"Yes, them. Any technology based on Chaos is inherently unpredictable, but Chaos Drives are hardly any more dangerous than a typical chemical battery."

Vilmis was tempted to ask how all these "chaos" things were made, but he was sure the answer would overload his brain.

"A-Anyway… clothes?"

They all turned to Silver, who had been awkwardly standing in the corner.

"Right."

---

When was the last time he had gone on a shopping spree? Salarians did not have the same growth spurts species that underwent puberty did, but a full wardrobe change was a necessity every once in a while until they reached maturity. Still, those clothes were typically hand-me-downs in good conditions; it was the reality of every Salarian clan out there. When your siblings were in the hundreds, hand-me-downs were inevitable.

None of the Brights questioned his preference for fully covering clothes – it made Vilmis question why exactly the male Brights were in the nude when everybody else was properly clothed, but he did not question them on that. Instead they focused on getting the clothes; until Vimis reminded them he was an amphibian and his skin dried very easily, and that was when the idea of human clothes was shot down and they had to find a tailor to use fabrics meant for amphibian species to make something his size.

Vilmis protested that was too much effort but they were having none of it; he protested even more when the tailor in question offered their services for free.

Apparently Sonic had some kind of celebrity discount. He was not terribly surprised to find out Sonic was famous, but he was almost afraid to ask why.

Eventually, despite all of Vilmis' protests, the tailor took his measurements, took special notice of his "unique anatomy" (basically the way his limbs were configured), and they would make him a few shirts, pants, and a couple of jackets for nastier weather.

Vilmis thanked them profusely.

Miles even handed him money in case "anything comes up". Which to his astonishment was paper money. And coins.

"Don't you have payment cards?"

"I don't trust banks."

Well, that was not ominous at all.

Sonic ran outside again and brought take out "pasta" – a dish he had no idea what it was made of but tasted really good – and shortly afterwards, he was left alone in this room.

He examined small apartment one more time. Nothing that actually caught his eyes. No smoothened out bumps or texture breaks anywhere… No particularly shadowed corners, no bizarre reflections, the bed was unmade… He inspected the towels and sheets again, giving everything a good shake. Same for the curtains. One by one he went through every single cupboard and drawer, committing everything to memory. The room lacked decoration, which made things easier…

Alright…

He turned on his omnitool, and engaged the scrambling programs.

Time to see what signals are flying around.

---

Turns out that hacking the local frequencies was harder than he thought. He found a small number of FM radio frequencies transmitting only sound in what only took a couple of minutes of listening to figure out they were civilian entertainment programs. Radio used in this fashion was something that belonged in the history books as far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned – and outright banned in some places to prevent radio traffic – so actually finding audio-only radio stations was a novelty. However, Vilmis was not currently interested in listening to someone's old-fashioned podcast.

Finding the local version of the Extranet was also easy. He was certain this planet had their own version of the Extranet; he had not brought it up in conversation earlier, but between the implied spaceflight capabilities, the frequent mentions of alien colonies and the AIs, he was certain they had it.

And sure enough, here it was. It was also transmitted via radio waves, albeit at significantly different frequencies, and Vilmis made a mental note to explore it at night when he had significantly more time to himself.

What was more interesting were the radio frequencies he was not able to find.

Anyone else would have missed it.

It was a genius disguise – there were wide ranges of frequencies that took just a few extra milliseconds to connect, little more than a bit of stuttering to find, so quick it would be unnoticeable to anyone not looking for it. Scrambled signals to fool most civilian devices, servers with no traffic connecting to servers that went nowhere, hidden networks, rerouting to the extranet, a whole lot of junk data, everything.

Miles was good.

For a child.

Vilmis was a professional.

He knew he would not have much time until his access to the private systems here was spotted- he had to be quick. But quick was what he did.

He could not access things that were not currently being transmitted, neither did he want to risk it. There was no telling if there was an AI guarding the systems or not, and Vilmis was not eager to anger the building.

No, he needed other kind of data. The transmitted from a satellite kind.

Miles said they detected the Letos before it entered the atmosphere, close enough to be able to tell details on its appearance. And given what he saw at that time…

There was… not much incoming data.

A good chunk of them was from the same channels as the civilian ones, being environmental data like the weather. Some were passive communications with personnel out of the base, but a bit of listening in told him they were talking about building materials – they did say urban restoration was part of the Restoration's duties.

There was an absolute ton of scanners all over the place detecting "chaos energy", which Vilmis was still determined not to mess with, and…

He did not see that before.

There was a telescope titled "Lost Hex surveillance" following a satellite… that Vilmis had not previously spotted.

One that was a partial sphere made of hexagons.

It was not particularly zoomed in, and going by the surroundings it was within the atmosphere, but…

Okay, so excluding things like space telescopes and communications, this meant that there were at least two artificial satellites. Fine. He would worry about that later.

He kept running through frequencies, checking them one by one, growing increasingly frustrated with all the civilian-related traffic he was running into. How big WAS this organization!?

A name in the channels stood out. Only two words.

ARK orbit.

He clicked.

There it was. What he was looking for.

Another telescope. This one pointed at a satellite outside the atmosphere.

It was a lot smaller than he had initially assumed, but the shape was unmistakable. A cleanly cut sphere, with the massive cannon in the middle.

It was real.

It was real.

It was actually there. He did not hallucinate that, it was actually there. It was so obvious, so much smaller than he thought but so blatant in the sky you did not even need a set of fucking binoculars to see it, much less a whole ass telescope like the one here. But here it was, numbers on his screen tracking the route, rotation, speed, acceleration, position in relation to other satellites and celestial bodies at all given times, just right fucking there. It was not hidden, it was not hidden at all. He could make out the tiny asteroids and other objects orbiting the damn thing, he could make out the outlines of the fucking skyscrapers on the flat surface, surrounding that cannon how was that cannon even possible, what kind of energy did it take to fire that thing, WHY would anyone fire that thing, just what the actual fuck happened, WHY would they build this, what else did they have-

Someone knocked on the door. It snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts.

Vilmis quickly cut his connection to Miles' signals and set his programs to run the standard presence erasure protocols. It was automatically calibrated to leave no trace so he was not entirely worried; he had not accessed any actual systems after all.

"Come in!"

It was Miles, smiling brightly like the young boy he was. Vilmis felt a pang of guilt when he saw it; normally he did not feel guilty about his job, but Miles was so ridiculously young-

"The Diamond Cutters just came back! Come on, let's introduce you to everyone! Sonic and Silver are already at the common area."

"…Alright. Just wait a moment…"

Miles dropped the smile, sensing his unease. "Something wrong?"

"No, I'm well…" That sounded weak. Miles was clearly unconvinced, but he had enough tact to drop it.

"Actually…" said Vilmis, not entirely sure how to put this.

"Yes…?"

"Are the Diamond Cutters… anything like you?"

Miles paused in puzzlement.

"Me?"

Oh great. Translation issue. "No, I meant all of you people. The people I've met so far."

"Oh. Um… In what way?"

"In… what way?"

"You asked if the Diamond Cutters are anything like us. In what way?"

"Ah. I meant… I can't put this entirely politely."

"You mean crazy."

"…yes."

Miles rubbed his head. "Well…" He thought about it for a moment. "The Diamond Cutters are… normal, I guess. Lanolin is the calm kind of person. Tangle is kind of hyper energetic, she'll be really excited to meet an alien."

"That's normal" replied Vilmis.

"Yeah, I guess it is… Whisper… whispers." If Vilmis did not already have an idea about how odd the Brights' names were, he would be really questioning that sentence. "It's not just the Diamond Cutters coming by though."

"Oh yes, you mentioned some other friends."

"I did. Jewel is the leader of the Restoration, but she's not a combatant, she does administrative stuff mostly, as well as top-to-bottom tactics."

"Why did she not see me yesterday? Or the day before?"

"I made her take a few days off before I was sent to retrieve you. She was completely exhausted. We all keep telling her to get an assistant, but she gets even more anxious if she hasn't personally checked everything…"

Vilmis hummed in understanding. "And overworks herself, I've seen those people…"

"Guess that's a universal constant…"

"May bureaucracy reign eternal."

Miles snorted. "I'm going to automate her everything."

"Does this include her brain?" he blurted out.

Miles' expression turned to horror. "Chaos, no!"

Vilmis let out a laugh. Miles huffed, but smiled. "Though a signature machine would be a good idea…"

A signature machine? "Wait, the reports are written? On paper?"

"We have a small recycling plant in here" replied Miles.

"…I hope you don't mean vegetation that recycles things."

Miles actually laughed. "No no, that's another word for an industrial installation. But yeah, we're still using paper. We're generally off the main power grid, and a lot of energy is drained from the town and… other stuff, and we don't want to overwhelm the data banks or have hackers find that stuff" another small pang of guilt "since even deleted files leave a digital trail, so yeah. Paper."

"And the others?"

"Oh. Amy… she's special. She's one of the founders and the former leader of the Restoration, but she gave the position to Jewel a while back, she couldn't handle it anymore. She's a front-line fighter, does on-field tactics and environmental studies. She's been on a sabbatical for the last few months, travelling. Sonic and I have known her for many, many years. Sonic even met her before he met me!"

Vilmis honestly had not thought how Sonic and Miles met. "And… when did you and Sonic meet? If you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh no, it's fine. We met around… seven years ago. I was three."

Vilmis could not resist. "Does he have your toddler pictures?"

The little mammal pouted at his grin. "Don't even think about it."

In other words, toddler Miles was adorable.

Vilmis decided to change the subject, for the sake of his smaller companion's dignity if nothing else.

"And this Cream you mentioned?"

"She's another friend of ours, but mostly Amy's. She's a couple of years younger than me, she lives with her mom."

"…Does she help you against Dr. Robotnik?"

Miles seemed to sense where he was going with this. "When we have no other choice" he said sternly. "Or it's personal. And she always has plenty of backup. She's a package deal. You'll see."

Vilmis for his part was very uncomfortable with this. Running the numbers, this Cream was eight years old in Earth years, which meant she was six and a half years old (or a bit older) by Sur'Kesh standard. Even by Salarian standards, this was extremely young. Miles' own age made him uncomfortable – barely over eight in Sur'Kesh years.

But evidently this was the kind of place that gathered the outliers. Miles was easily as mature as most adults he met, in the majority of their interactions, and had an ear in just about every situation; in a few years he would be a real terror. Perhaps Cream was from the same spawn, far too talented for her age.

At least she had an actual parent in the picture.

And this Amy… the founder of the Restoration? What Miles told him did not really describe what kind of person she was. She was most likely an eccentric in her own way, just like most other people here.

Well, he would not sate his curiosity by standing idle. It was time to meet the real Restoration.

---

Sonic was fidgeting a lot more than usual.

Tapping his foot, drumming his fingers on his arm getting distracted with all the insects, kneeling and doodling on the ground for a few moments before springing up again, checking his shoes even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with his shoes, picking at the signs of wear in the soles, pulling up and adjusting his gloves over and over, running around the crater for a few seconds before going right back to his previous spot, balancing on the corner of the roof of the "tool shed", hopping across the derelict street lights, and repeating all that in a random sequence over and over and over again.

"Will you STOP!?"

Sonic turned to Silver so fast it was a blur. "What?"

"You're making me dizzy!"

"Well, maybe you should just keep up with me!"

"Just because you can't stay still for one minute."

"I can stay still for one minute."

"Prove it."

"Fine."

And he stayed still. Perfectly and completely still. If not for the wind gently weaving through his fur and quills he could have been mistaken for a statue.

Silver made himself comfy on a crate and started counting down.

Fifty-four, fifty-three, fifty-two, fifty-one, fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight, forty-seven, forty-six, forty-five, forty-four, forty-three, forty-two, forty-one, forty, thirty-nine, thirty-eight, thirty-seven, thirty-six, thirty-five, thirty-four, thirty-three, thirty-two, thirty-one, thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven, twenty-six, twenty-five…

Tails showed up with Vilmis in tow, but Silver quickly shushed them. They turned to stare at Sonic too, baffled.

Twenty-two, twenty-one, twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven…

Ten…

Nine…

Eight…

Seven…

Six…

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One-

BOOM

"THAT WASN'T A FULL MINUTE!"

Sonic came to a halt. "IT WAS SIXTY SECONDS!"

Tails facepalmed.

"I didn't reach zero!"

"Yeah? And when did you start counting, smart guy?"

"Good thing you didn't challenge him to stay still for as long as possible" said Tails. "He would have exploded."

"Please tell me you don't mean an actual explosion…" said Vilmis.

Silver turned to the alien. "Why do you think there could be an actual explosion?"

"It seems like something that could happen."

In the back Sonic and Tails kept throwing jabs at each other.

Perhaps Silver should not tell Vilmis that Shadow could in fact explode on purpose.

He settled for "no, we don't mean an actual explosion". Vilmis' stance slightly changed at that; it took Silver a moment to register that as relief.

Wow, he was seriously worried about explosions…

Well, he supposed the last few days were really stressful for the poor alien. He knew the anxiety that came from uncertainty all too well.

The two settled in an awkward silence. Tails was debating whether or not friction caused by Sonic's running could cause explosions, to which Sonic had the very sound argument that his shoes were specifically designed to reduce friction wear and temperature build-up, there was very little naturally explosive material on the ground in the first place, and most importantly "it hasn't happened yet". Not that this stopped Tails from running the numbers, but Silver knew the kit well enough to tune him out when he got like that.

Sonic offered to give it a shot and Silver grew concerned that Tails would take him up on that, and that was when Amy Rose descended like an angel from above to stop the impending disaster.

"Sonic! It's been so long!"

Sonic stopped mid-running stance, and turned to the source of the voice.

"Amy!"

---

She was here. She was right here. After months. Sonic could honestly not remember the last time he had gone so long without seeing her up close.

Amy was radiant as always, smiling brightly and rosy like the sunrise. She was wearing a dress he had never seen on her before; it was yellow with flowers and those swirly skirts and it suited her perfectly.

She leaped down in the crater and was in his arms in less than a second, clutching at him with all her immense strength, knocking the air out of his lungs, squeezing a touch too much for just a fragment for a second before settling into a more relaxed but solid grip; one that would let him breathe but prevent him from going nowhere. Sonic squeezed back as much as he could, taking her perfume and the city scents that barely covered how she did not get to shower in a few days, but Sonic did not mind at all. They had all smelled each other in much worse states, and this was the good kind of unwashed and tired, the one that spoke of a good time and a satisfying trip.

"I missed you…" she said in his shoulder. He could feel her still smiling.

Sonic smiled back. "Missed you too, Ames."

They held on for a few more moments before letting go.

"Right, introductions! Everyone, this is Padmin Vilmis, given name Vilmis. He's an alien. Vilmis, this is the wonderful Amy Rose" he made a showman's bow towards Amy who rolled with it and gave a light curtsy "those sweeties are Cream and Cheese" the two waved with a "hello!" and Cheese adding a twirl "the really shiny lady is the Restoration's leader Jewel" she gave a "nice to meet you" with a slight bow "and these badass ladies are the Diamond Cutters! Lanolin, Tangle, and Whisper."

---

Vilmis took in the new arrivals.

Sonic and Amy seemed to have a very strong connection; she went straight to hug him, barely even paying attention to everyone else here, and he did much the same. It was not something he ever got to see in Salarian worlds but it was an all-too-common sight in movies and series made from other species – so cliché in fact that Vilmis was instantly thrown into Fleet and Flotilla for a moment.

Never mind "special connection", that was romance.

Still, he could not quite see how this Amy was the founder of an organization as vast as the Restoration, even if she had shown an impressive burst of speed just now. Though Miles did tell him that she gave up the leadership due to pressure getting too much.

The actual leader of the Restoration, Jewel, was certainly visually impressive, in the way insects were. Because with her outer exoskeleton and transparent wings there was very little else she could be. The colour reminded him of the moonstone beetles back home. However, inherent shine aside she was not any imposing. She wore a perfectly ironed jacket and skirt combo in a style he had never seen the Asari with but definitely said "I work in an office". Miles said she was mostly handling administration and top-down battlefield tactics, so the stiff office attire made sense for someone of her spot. However, her stance did not betray that, as she seemed to try make herself smaller than she already was.

Or maybe she was just tired.

Cream was indeed incredibly young, and it was now that he saw her up close that it hit him – even shorter than Miles, and her bright and bubbly "Hello!" was incredibly high-pitched. Her small flying… companion? Pet? Something copied her greeting. He had absolutely no idea what species group that thing was even supposed to be. He could tell why Miles would become moody when the possibility of her fighting was brought up. Still, he knew better than to judge by appearance alone in this place; who knew what she was hiding.

The Diamond Cutters did not look as combat capable as the name implied but it was hard to do so when your hands were full of shopping bags. Actually, everyone's hands were full of shopping bags. Vilmis knew he had nothing much going on herself. Lanolin and Whisper regarded him with a "nice to meet you" and a nod respectively before withdrawing a little, while Tangle…

Was right on him.

"WOW, YOU'RE A REAL ALIEN! Oooh, three fingers! That's cool!"

Her squeal pierced his eardrums. Oh, right. She's the overexcited one.

There goes his energy for the rest of the day.

"Tangle, give him some space to breathe…" said Lanolin.

Tangle backed off. "Oh, sorry about that. But it's just so exciting! A real live alien!"

"And what were the Zeti, fake dead ones?" came a comment from somewhere.

"You know what I mean!"

"Zeti?" asked Vilmis, having not heard the word before. He quickly remembered to activate the new speaker function on his omnitool so that everyone could understand what he was saying.

"Yeah, those guys" said Sonic with a rather annoyed expression, briefly looking up from where Amy was apparently showing him pictures on a tiny version of the Miles Electric. "They were being a pain in the ass so we got rid of them a while back."

"You WHAT!?" He figured there was a first contact of some kind other than the Ancients but what!?

"What Sonic means to say" interjected Miles "is that we forced a… I guess gang of them to go back to their moon. Which is orbiting Earth by the way, so it's not far at all and the discussion on whether or not they're actually aliens is still ongoing."

Orbiting Earth… there was that silver moon that was obviously barren, the cannon satellite and… the weird hexagon sphere?

Vilmis decided not to voice his many questions, and instead settled on "By the moon, you mean that silver one full of craters?"

Miles shook his head. "No, that one is uninhabitable. There are some other moons, they're not visible right now."

So it was either the hexagon one or the cannon one. Both of them were definitely artificial, and both were under surveillance… Better not tell anyone that he knew about both of them.

"Oh, and by the way" said Amy, deciding to interject "if those jerks pop up again keep them away from your electronics." She was already wearing one of the earpieces Miles made; he must have given it to her when Tangle rushed on him.

"How so?"

"They can manipulate electromagnetic waves" explained Miles. "It is a species-wide trait. If you rely on technology to fight they can easily turn it against you. The rockets I built were especially designed to prevent interference."

"Noted." He had no desire to have someone hack his omnitool with their mind.

"Forget about the Zeti, where are you from? How did you get here? Is it super far? Is the sky pink there? Green? Ohhh, maroon. Yeah, that'd be so cool! Do you have three suns or something? You kinda look like a lizard? No no no, salamander. Are there swamps? Do you live in a swamp? Wait, do you know what swamps are? Do you have water? What if they drink acid? That's SO COOL. Do you-"

"TANGLE!"

The grey-furred girl stepped back from where she was inching closer to him. "Sorry Jewel…"

Her tail is highly prehensile…

"To answer your questions…" started Vilmis, then an idea occurred to him. "Sur'Kesh, crash, yes, no, no, and no, no, haven't seen either of those, yes, no, yes, yes, and no."

I always wanted to do that.

Tangle blinked. She then blinked again. Her face twisted to a nervous smile. Her tails started doing… something twitchy? "Uuuummmmmm…"

Everyone was staring at him with similar expressions. Except for Sonic and Miles. They had the kind of expression that said that they had seen this a million times before. Or were probably the ones doing it. Yes, Vilmis could easily imagine that.

"You walked right into that" said Lanolin. The other girls behind gave decisive nods. Tangle shrunk.

"Mommy says that you should always wait for someone to answer when you ask them a question, Miss Tangle!" said Cream. Tangle shrunk even further.

Scolded by a literal child… That was never fun.

"Sorry…" She hugged herself with her tail. Wait… was that a trick of the eye, or…

"But, um… Mister Padmin?"

"Ah- Yes, Cream?" He did not really expect the tiny girl to address him directly beyond pleasantries.

"Cheese and I were really confused by your answers. Could you please repeat them?"

Okay, now Vilmis knew why they would take Cream along in fights. Because she had an unparalleled talent for making you feel guilty. He did not really know how to deal with young children beyond his brothers, but… yes, he remembered his favourite teacher back when he was first starting school. He could try to emulate that.

"Yes, of course. I'm from a planet named Sur'Kesh, my ship crash landed here by accident, the sky is blue like here, we only have one sun, we used to live in swamps in ancient times but not anymore, and we definitely don't drink acid instead of water. Only the Krogan could survive that."

Cream beamed. "Thank you, Mister Padmin!"

"You're welcome, miss Cream" he replied, mimicking her manners.

She giggled a little. Vilmis smiled. Phew, that worked.

Miles was typing on his device. "Krogan… can probably drink acid…"

Right, I haven't told them about the other races in the galaxy yet. He had only briefly mentioned the Batarians. And aside from the Ancients, a brief mention of the Wisps, and now the Zeti, he did not really know what kind of aliens were here either.

No better chance to ask than now.

"Aside from the Zeti, what other kinds of aliens are here? You mentioned something about wisps once?"

"here"

"Hm?"

He saw the quiet girl – Whisper – open up something beneath her cloak. And then…

Vilmis stumbled back.

There were colours. Eyes. Floating. Tentacles and they were tiny and they glowed and…

"Those… are the Wisps."

Miles went almost unheard.

"What… are they?"

"The Wisps!" said Sonic. "Pretty cool, huh? They got lots of nifty tricks in them."

"These guys here are Whisper's team!" added Silver.

Whisper was smiling and the Wisps were clutching on Sonic and Whisper now, pulsating with light.

"I've never seen anything like that… I … How…?"

"they're flattered" said Whisper.

"Eh?"

She pointed to a… metal mask? "my mask. translates. they think you're funny."

Translates… They talk with light? Were they like the Hanar? But they were flying and there was no Eezo here so how…

One of the Wisps approached him. A deep blue one, shaped like a cube with three eyes. It stared right at him. For some reason he felt like he was under deep scrutiny.

They are intelligent. They are definitely intelligent. He did not know why it was hitting him now after he already knew of them and the translator troubles Miles had with them but seeing such tiny glowing beings floating in the sunlight in a way that should be impossible…

Maybe there's something more to this place.

The thought brushed through him like the breeze.

The blue box… nodded? And hurried to Tangle, who greeted it excitedly.

Vilmis looked back at Cheese again, another tiny floating creature that he could not tell what it was.

"Heh…" He was not surprised at how tired he sounded already. "We all have a lot to explain to each other. I know basically nothing about this planet, and I've told you next to nothing about the galaxy…"

"We have plenty of time" said Amy, hands on her waist in a decisive manner, unbothered by the many shopping bags hanging from there. "We'll fill you in on everything! And you'll fill us in when Knuckles and Shadow are here so you don't have to repeat yourself a bunch of times."

"Sounds good" said Vilmis. It was not much of a plan but it was one.

To his surprise, he one of the Wisps decided to come and sit near the collar of his shirt. It was almost impossibly warm in a way, like it was a lamp, and somehow Vilmis could feel his breathing come a bit easier, his skin tingling in a way not too dissimilar from when he was near Shadow – yet somehow he just knew it was something entirely different.

"Let's head inside" said Jewel. "My office has plenty of space."

In the back of him mind, Vilmis had a feeling that the conversation would not end the way he was expecting it to. But so far nothing had.

The Wisp cuddled to his neck, looking at him in a way that was almost… demanding? It was light blue, or a little teal and…

Hesitantly, Vilmis touched the top of its head, rubbing it just a little bit. It was oddly soft, the texture almost artificial for how smooth it was.

It made him feel a little better.

If his tiny "thank you" went unheard, that was fine.

---

Author notes:

Over 14k words. I may have beaten my personal record.

This chapter has a lot going on in it. In hindsight, my hopes that I could have covered all the exposition in one chapter was ridiculous, because as you can see not even three chapters were enough for it.

Don't worry though, the next chapter won't be an exposition one. I'm at just under 50k words right now and that's almost a novel, so I'm just going to move on to the Mass Effect side of things next chapter and just fill in the rest of the exposition later. The thing is that I don't believe that a full info-dump would be something a real group of people would do. Sonic won't probably sit down and tell his whole ass backstory to a total stranger without prompting. Which is why I let the dialogue go where it may and the words get filled up. I enjoy it even if it does bump up the word count beyond belief.

Some other noteworthy things:

Brights. I was looking for an alternative to Mobians right from the get-go, as I cannot think of a reason of why "Mobian" should be used in the games' setting and I didn't want to be lazy.

Yes, that was Jack the psychotic Biotic hosting the true crime podcast. Biotics aren't a thing on this version of Earth for the obvious reason so figuring out what to do with a character whose main personality and backstory trait is being a biotic was tricky. Making Jack a YouTube personality was practically inevitable after that. I will add more ME characters over time.

I'm trying to give backstory and personality traits to Vilmis. It's slow going but I want him to be an actual character instead of just a mouthpiece. I guess I get to know him as I write him? I have written OCs before but mostly in minor roles (and a villain sue when I was 13 but it's been a long time since then). Having an OC as a major POV character is a change of pace for me.

Regarding the Diamond Cutters, I'm avoiding addressing the topic of Surge, Kit, and Duo/Mimic for now because that particular arc in the comic is still ongoing. I'm going with the assumption that they get found out eventually, but I'm leaving it deliberately vague for now.

Finally, yes, this is an unapologetic Sonamy fic. Not the focus, but I've read too much fluff on AO3 and I won't hesitate to use it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! So please, read and review!