Disclaimer - I do not own Sonic or any other characters. They are property of SEGA and anything Sonic the hedgehog affiliated with it.
Judgment Day….
The sun was beginning to rise over the cloudy horizon of New Mobotropolis this morning. It seemed unfitting for it to be a nice sunny day with scattered clouds on a day of such horrible happenings. The rising sun spread shadows across the city, cascading off buildings and homes, with Castle Acorn having the biggest shadow over the city.
Again, the streets were dead, and the citizens awoke with dread in the pit of their stomachs on this their day of judgment. It had come so quick and without warning they were still baffled even though they'd had a day to digest what was happening. Most had packed all their belongings the previous night and checked to see if they had missed anything this morning.
Ironically Nicole, who had protected them before was doing it again. But the irony did not stop this morning as Nicole woke in her bed this morning; there was something she hadn't fully become aware of herself.
The sun cracked through the shades on her windows, letting her know that it would be a warm day as the sun touched her face. The nervousness that came with the entirety of Mobius hanging on her shoulders made her fill a bit nauseated. She sat up in her bed with a stoic expression; her bed creaked, and she could feel her hair was a mess again.
She ran a hand through her messy hair as her worry rushed back to her for another day. She got up and out of bed and went to clean herself up. She had completed what she hoped to be the new security update for the New OS late last night. She'd gotten some hours of sleep, but she still didn't sleep that well…
Once cleaned up, she quickly made her way down stairs; unable to stop her eyes from darting around to see if Sonic was still around. He was still asleep on her couch though…
Nicole stopped at the bottom of her stairs standing in her spot just looking over him. He had come back to her home while she was still writing the code last night. And she kept her neutral expression as she stared at his sleeping form…
It was still rather unbelievable…that he had accepted her…
Being who she was…
He had mentioned to her once how much she reminded him of her computer self. Saying it was strange to see her living self because how they had knew her in the past. Saying it was strange to see her feeling and junk...as Sonic had put it…
For all the weirdness of her past, her being a clone, and so many more other things. Her heart fluttered knowing that he accepted her in one way or another…
Her cheeks heated up briefly, and she blushed as she stared silently at Sonic. Any acceptance in her life was good enough for her as she had been alone as long as she could remember…which was not long as she had found out her past stretched much longer than the six years she could remember clearly…she learned she might be several hundred years older or more…
There was a large part of her past that she didn't remember, couldn't remember, and wasn't even sure she wanted to fully delve into. But she felt she might be able to move forward a bit in her life, because Sonic's acceptance of her even though he knew what she used to be was breathtaking…
Nicole then finally moved from her spot, and her blush receded as she kneeled onto the floor near him. She shook him as they needed to head to the castle and get started. After shaking him a little more Sonic slowly opened his eyes seeing Nicole look at him with a slightly worried expression "We need to go..." she said and a concerned tone.
He yawned and stretched as he sat up "…Alright… I'm up…."
Nicole stood and began retrieving what she needed, grabbing her computer, the New OS manual, and other various things. Sonic wiped his eyes as he spoke "This is perfect timing you know?" he said sarcastically.
Nicole turned to look at him as she placed her bag strap on her shoulder "What do you mean?" she asked raising an eyebrow in confusion.
Sonic twirled his hand in the air as he frowned "The Thanksgiving Festival is tomorrow…."
Nicole's eyes widened slightly, and her jaw slacked "…It's tomorrow?" she stuttered.
And Sonic could instantly see nervousness trigger on her face. She turned her head away from him biting her lip and Sonic quickly closed the distance putting a hand on her shoulder.
Nicole regained focus staring into Sonic serious face; she held a slightly worried expression, and she stayed silent. Now to top this horrible day off it seemed it was a day before the anniversary of the Thanks Giving Festival. And with her possible failure came the death of the spirit of the holiday...
As it would be forever be burned into history that on this day they were destroyed. Nicole's lips were pinched, and her brows were wrinkled in worry on her face. But Sonic held a determined face "I know you can do it..." he said with conviction in his tone.
Nicole was skeptical for a moment feeling self-doubt bubble in her stomach. But her worried face washed away into a light frown. As she remembered all the things the individual in front of her had done for her. To help her in her lowest times…and she felt a new momentum build up in herself yet again…
She knew she would not have made it without him; Nicole nodded with her frown "…I am going to fight to protect you now Sonic…"
Sonic then grinned and Nicole kept her light frown as she reached forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sonic returned her hug and she even briefly pecked him on the lips before holding him tightly again. Even though it was a bit awkward between their budding relationship, they hoped the strength of their convictions would lead them through the mess they were currently in…
Twenty minutes later after a long walk with the women and men in black…
Nicole and Sonic had made it to the castle. The streets and the castle were still busy with people running around getting ready to leave. Nicole and Sonic made their way to the control room where most everyone was present; Sally was not present. There were even more computers set up around the room it seemed and more technicians too. It seemed to be a good idea to get every technician they could to help fight off their threats. All the technicians were busily working, and Tails, Rotor, Amy, Bunnie, and Antoine were quick to stop what they were doing to greet them.
Sonic and Nicole walked up to them "Where's Sally?" Sonic asked them with a serious face.
"She's in a meeting with our allies." Amy said with a determined expression.
"Is everyone here?" Sonic asked her curiously.
"Just about, there still some who haven't made it yet." Tails said with a frown.
"It's getting ugly already…." Rotor said crossing his arms "The attacks have increased since last night, and we've got a huge load on our networks right now. Our technicians can help fend them off for a while, but if they're all coming like they said they were there going to crash our networks…" Rotor said with a serious face.
"Let's not speak then." Nicole said with a determined look.
And everyone nodded as she spoke again "I have finished the code…but I need to debug it…."
Rotor, Tails, Antoine, Bunnie, and Amy sighed in relief hearing Nicole's words. But then Rotor looked up with a serious face "Computer? Continue denying all incoming connections except those on the filter list."
The Freedom Fighters glanced up as the New OS responded "Settings configured." the male like voice responded.
Then Rotor raised his voice and spoke to all the technician's in the room "Listen up everyone!"
They all glanced behind themselves in their seats "We are officially in work mode. We need to help Nicole by keeping all threats at bay until she can install the new security code starting now. We've already had attacks this morning so let's keep it up!" Rotor said in a strong tone.
The IT people agreed in strong response to helping Nicole, cheering her name and praising her. They all turned back around in their seats to their screens and went back to work "Tails and I will do what we can with the New OS while you're getting the code working." Rotor said seriously.
Nicole nodded with her frown, and Tails pointed to an empty chair sitting at the end of a row of computers "We got a computer ready for you Nicole over here."
Then they all followed her as she sat down placing her laptop bag on the floor next to herself. She pulled out the New OS manual and placed it on her lap. Rotor and Tails walked back to the center of the room and began speaking to the New OS again; giving it commands to block more connections. Sonic, Bunnie, Antoine, and Amy couldn't help but feel helpless knowing all they could do was watch in one of their biggest fights yet. They stood behind Nicole with frowns silently watching, with tension building as she typed into her computer. It made them sweat being in a battle they could not even see…
Meanwhile in a secret underground base somewhere in Mobius…
Dr. Eggman was getting ready for his assault on New Mobotropolis. He stood in a control room with walls of glass looking down onto his factory floor of robots with his hands behind his back. His robots were ready and prepared to begin his assault. The entire facility was illuminated by the tinge of dark orange lights, and a hint of green on the metal around the facility. It was a standard look of a factory assembly building even though this particular base was underground. His robots were lined up in a symmetrical manner of rows up and down the area below; all with wires protruding from the backs of their heads, that extended down onto the concrete floors. The thick black wires connected them all to a central mainframe which of course he was in control of.
Eggman didn't look much different except a few gray hairs on his red mustache, which he had grown out a little longer. He held a malevolent smile looking slightly to his left down onto his factory, which was the size of an air plane hangar. There were over ten thousand robots below…
They were built specifically to hack New Mobotropolis with the exploit he acquired and overwhelm them. Along with the support he got; Eggman then silently growled to himself as anger came over his face; he wasn't going to let them get away this time…
Eggman pinched his mustache; there was simply no way they could stop him this time. The scale was just too massive; at least one hundred thousand adversaries attacking New Mobotropolis's security all at once. Eggman placed his hands on a convenient metal railing in front of him; he leaned on it.
His angry expression remained glaring down at his hack factory; despite wanting to attack New Mobotropolis he and everyone else needed to do it as well….
Currently New Mobotropolis was so strong, such a superpower, that in about ten years' time all villainy would be eradicated. It had almost drove him insane for a second time trying to figure out how their technology had become stronger than his….
He then turned away from his factory below and walked over to a large computer console behind himself and took a seat. The white fluorescent glow of his computer screen reflected off his black spectacles as he pulled up all his data on the subject. He typed into his computer with a frown; out of everything he researched it all seemed to revolve around the AI of the city; Nicole...
Eggman then scowled…he was no fool...
He knew whatever was going on there had something to do with her. Whether she was there or not as he overheard. He realized after all these years as New Mobotropolis grew stronger...he had never seen artificial intelligence like Nicole…
After he attacked the city six years ago something there had changed. He had nearly taken over New Mobotropolis six years ago. But from that point in time, they continued to grow stronger, and he began to notice the sudden shift in power dynamics. They had chased him and many other villains running for the hills; and they had been on the run ever since.
He didn't know how they acquired such powerful weaponry, but he couldn't stop them. He tried to fight back, but even though he hated to admit it, they had overpowered him. He'd even tried to make an artificial intelligence to fight them back once. But in the middle of making it they discovered one of his bases, and he had to run. They even took some sensitive information from him that time. They had raided every one of his established bases, and he'd been chased underground. He'd heard similar things happening to other villains as well.
He ignored the AI Nicole in the past, but as he'd seen his enemies grow in power, he figured it had something to do with her, and he wanted to find out what they were hiding with her. This attack on New Mobotropolis was historic as the villains all around Mobious all had a vested interest and bringing them down. Since New Mobotropolis and their allies had become superpowers, they had been subjugating everyone…
They chased him underground. They'd taken control of all the resources around the globe. They'd locked up anyone in their way…and if they didn't comply they weren't in the way anymore…
Everyone wanted to bring them down because it might at least change the world back to a more even playing field unlike now where the heroes had a disproportionate amount of power…
Eggman then closed the files and folded his hands in front of his face; he didn't know if they had something up their sleeves. But he guessed that since he was able to break through with the exploit, even if they did, there could just be no way in Mobius they could fend off an attack this massive…
Eggman leaned back in his chair grinning again, now that he thought of it; it would be the biggest attack in Mobian history. Eggman suddenly laughed maniacally "Muhahahahaha!" he threw his hands into the air.
And a few moments after he finished laughing Snively came into his control room holding a clipboard. Snively had not aged well; the stress Eggman constantly put him through had the few hairs he had growing gray. His eyes were baggy and he looked tired "Sir, only but a few are ready and synchronized. Until the rest contact you we will not be able to begin..."
Eggman whirled his head away from his computer as Snively handed him his clipboard. He read over it and yelled at Snively "Lien-Da is not ready yet! She better be ready in a few hours or she's getting left out! If anyone is not ready tell them they will be left out!" he said as his brows knotted in anger.
Snively lips curled into a frown with irritation on his face "Yes sir…."
Eggman nodded turning back around in his seat. But before he left Eggman called out to him "Oh Snively? I forgot something…" he asked in a calm tone.
Snively flinched and worry washed over his face at his tone "Yes sir?" he asked glancing over his shoulder.
Eggman continued to look at his computer screen "Once we've broken through we have to syphon all the information we can. The swatbots will be en route to the city by that point; I'm sure you do not trust that anyone will keep their word?" he asked questioningly.
"No sir…." Snively said with wide eyes and slightly quivering.
Eggman looked at his screen still not looking at him "…Once this goes down this is going to be a free for all…." he paused glancing over at Snively with a serious expression "…We need to reverse engineer the stolen information faster than everyone else….because unfortunately everyone will be doing the same…we won't have a lot of time before everyone is pointing a weapon at each other…."
Snively blinked his wide eyes nodding his head rapidly "…Yes sir…we will be in for quite the fight when the technology from New Mobotropolis is released…."
"Good…" Eggman said in a malicious tone as a malevolent smile returned to his face, and he looked back to his computer; his tone was offsetting to Snively "Be ready then…" he pushed his spectacles up on his nose "It's going to get dangerous…."
Snively nodded fearfully stuttering a bit "Ye..yes si..sir..." he said swiftly making his way out of the room.
Once Snively was gone Eggman rolled his chair back over to the windows of the control room; staring down at the many robots below. It was still early on this side of Mobius so when he started his attack, when the sun rose, it would be around evening in New Mobotropolis. He had everything set up, and right now he was just waiting…
He held a deep frown staring down at all the flashing lights on his hackbots below. The Eggman Empire would begin its reign again….just as soon as his allies woke up….
Similar to Eggman's location, it was still very early in the Dragon Kingdom….
Around five a.m.; it was still dark but the Bride of Conquering Storm was awake. Still in her red night robes, she was currently in her middle room; or as she liked to call it her war room. One large candle dimly lit the room; she could not sleep with such a monumental occurrence about to happen. With a caliper and pencil in hand, she measured the circumference of a globe of Mobius. Slowly, her fingers trailed all the way to the other side of Mobius where New Mobotropolis resided. She circled the spot on the globe where the city was and placed her tools down.
She grabbed a nearby piece of paper and began writing down simple math equations, when she was done she rechecked the globe spinning it. She kept a neutral face, her calculations were right. It would be around evening in New Mobotropolis when the sun rose in the Dragon Kingdom.
Satisfied she paced back in forth in front of the globe with her hands behind her back; an upset expression on her face as usual. All of her contacts were ready to attack but despite her excitement at all the possible killing and taking over the world she had a fear in the back of her mind.
Her clan…
If they broke through, not even just her clan, but everyone was going to be in immediate danger. There would be many deaths in her clan she knew...this power was going to corrupt individuals even more…
She stopped pacing, thinking at times like this, she wondered about her allegiances. Being villainous she knew too much of anything was bad….
Yet people like herself continued down self-destructive paths. As far as she was concerned she was already in too deep, they would attack the city…but…she knew…
All heck would break lose when they did…
Yet and still she wanted to gain more power. Every technological attack from Nicole in the past still had the Rayju Clan reeling. As the AI of the city there was nothing much they could do when she defended from their cyber-attacks. When she struck back at them she struck back hard. She brought down their servers many times and even caused physical damage to them once. But if they could make the technology in New Mobotropolis their own they would rule all...
Conquering Storm looked back at her globe with an angered expression; she nodded thoughtfully thinking the payout was good enough despite the casualties that would come. She placed her hand on the globe of Mobius trying to focus on what it would be like to rule the world. But as she slowly removed her hand from it…her hand felt cool….and she then realized she was sweating….
Her brows remained knotted together with an angered expression as she looked down at her hand…it was a very breezy night…but she was sweating….
She always hid what she was feeling…which this time was fear…
What did you do when you reached the top she wondered? She could no longer hide her nervousness. She was powerful right now, but sometimes she still felt empty. She scowled not wanting to confront her feelings. She then grabbed a silent whistle off a nearby table in front of her and walked into her front room and opened the door to her chamber. She blew into it and moments later Lightning Lynx sped up the darkened staircase to her.
He dropped down and kneeled "You called Bride of Conquering Storm?" he said keeping his head down.
Her angry face was dimly illuminated by the candlelight from the war room "Come in." she stated simply walking away "And close the door behind you."
Lightning Lynx's ears suddenly fell in fear, and his face was full of confusion. Wondering if he had heard her right….she invited him into her room….
He hesitantly stepped in at the entrance with a worried expression and stopped. She looked back at him glaring and he closed her door as she walked in her war room. Lightning Lynx's heart was pounding; this unwarranted call into her chambers caught him off guard.
"Come here!" she said angrily from her war room.
Lightning Lynx flinched at the tone of her voice; she was really upset about something. He had reached the threshold of the war room when she spoke "Stand right there." she said authoritatively.
Lightning Lynx almost stumbled, taking a step out of the front room, standing in between rooms. Conquering Storm was looking over some papers, and Lightning Lynx had a hard time not trying to stare at her in her night clothes…
She was blunter than usual so he figured whatever spurred this sudden moment had something to do with the attack in a few hours. To an extent he was right; Conquering Storm looked down at her papers as she spoke "…Before I laid for sleep I had no time to mention this to you…." she said looking away from her papers at him "You will be leading our best into the city to capture whatever you can. Along with Eggman raiding, there will be third parties in the city…" she said looking seriously at him "Be careful…." she stated with a deep frown.
Lightning Lynx gulped and nodded as she continued "If it becomes too dangerous pull out. While we are gathering information, we will likely be attacked by the Gossamer, Shonobi, and Yagyu clans. I have found that they have sided with Eggman..." she said in a grim tone; one which Lightning Lynx had never heard her speak in.
"You will be vulnerable…" Lightning Lynx stated as the realization dawned upon him and his eyes widened in surprise.
Conquering Storm let out a sigh of frustration staring him seriously in the eyes "I will…" sounding as if she was already writing a death sentence.
Lightning Lynx was slack jawed as Conquering Storm's voice strengthened again "Your team will be waiting for you in an hour at the front entrance. That is the time you leave, be prepared. Oh and if you see Nicole do not hesitate to capture her…"
Lightning Lynx then knelled as he dawned a serious expression "Yes, Bride of conquering Storm."
Conquering Storm kept her angered expression, "Now go." she stated simply.
Lightning Lynx rose and turned to leave. But he then did something he would never do in her presence. He briefly turned back to look at her with a concerned look before he walked away; actually locking eyes with her. Staring deeply into her angry blood red eyes and she did not lash out at him. She instead looked back at him until he decided to move and leave her room. He watched her cold glare disappear behind the wall as he moved into her front room, out her chamber door to leave. As he ran down the stairs to his room his face became worried again…he could not help but think of the worse….
And Conquering Storm stood at the same spot in her war room thinking the same….that it might be the last time they'd see each other…
A few hours had passed and back in New Mobotropolis it was almost around noon…
And the attacks were getting more frequent….
Antoine and Sonic had gone to the meetings Sally was giving to all the allies that had arrived in the city. Bunnie and Amy had gone out in the city for a while to see if citizens were ready to go. But Bunnie and Amy returned to the control room sometime later, relaying to Rotor and Tails that everyone around the city seemed to be packed and ready to go.
Nicole could hear them talk while she typed. Saying that all their transportation vehicles were ready to go. It made her feel a bit more tense to get the code working, and after Amy and Bunnie finished speaking with Rotor and Tails they walked over and stood behind her.
And Bunnie noticed Nicole's tension even with her back turned "How ya feelin sugh?"
Nicole spoke looking down at the New OS manual in her lap as she typed "Not good..." she paused looking back at her screen "…I have not wrote the security code as correct as I hoped…I am rewriting a new section to debug because every test I've run has failed…"
Amy's brows wrinkled in worry "But didn't you write a test code that worked yesterday?"
Nicole nodded but her tone held apprehension "Yes, but that was just a test. The code is behaving differently now that I am integrating it into the New OS and New Mobotropolis. I have never programmed on the New OS…so it's a given I do not know its environment that well…and its integration to New Mobotropolis for that matter…"
"…Well I don't think anybody had ever programmed the New OS but you…" Amy said with nervousness glancing over at Bunnie "…I have no idea what she's saying…"
Bunnie frowned removing her hat and fanning herself; she and Amy looked back at Nicole "Did anythang happen while we were gone?" Bunnie asked Nicole curiously.
"…They have been attacking for a while now…" Nicole said with unease in her tone.
Amy and Bunnie blinked in surprise "They're attacking now?"
Tails spoke from the center of the room next to Rotor glancing over at them "Its going to continue to increase…."
Nicole felt more nervousness from Tail's words. But she did her best to focus as she spent the next few hours with the New OS Manual in her lap. And she was finally able to get the code to a point where it was readable to the New OS so she could debug it. But not after many failed attempts to do so. And by that point it was getting on in the day; around four p.m. Time was flying and every time she glanced to the right bottom side of her screen a large chunk of time had transpired…
Sonic, Antoine, and Sally had returned not too long into her debugging, but not alone. Knuckles, Freedom Fighters from around the globe, and many allies from around Mobius had all gathered into the control room to see what was going on. The room was crowded; almost full to the brim. For the most part, they were still confused about how much danger they were in.
But Sally had explained to them again while in the control room, they were currently in a covert war. They all kept their voices low so the tech people could work, but Nicole could hear whispers of her name every now and then. And she continued to fail to initiate a test…fear that she might fail increased especially with all the people in the room watching now…
While Nicole tried to get the New OS security code running, she could hear everyone behind her speak of their backup plans…
Sally spoke aloud in a stern tone "We will still have a few hours to flee if everything goes wrong. We can safely abandon the city as our military forces cover us to our next location."
"Are your plasma cannons still functional?" Lobo asked Sally in response.
"Yes, they and our military forces will cover us if we need to escape. Our weaponry in the city will self destruct and we have to move our data bases with us so our weaponry will be disabled for a while. Will have to rely on older technology until then…" Sally responded to him.
Then the New OS spoke "Incoming call from the west wing." it spoke in a neutral tone.
"Patch it through." Tails responded to the New OS.
A gruff female voice spoke "Hello? Princess Sally?"
"Yes general patiz?" Sally responded.
"Our forces are ready to go on your command." the general spoke.
"Were hot general, mobilize now." Sally responded.
"Yes ma'am!" she paused "You heard her maggots! Move! Move!" and the New OS spoke "Terminating connection…"
Then Saffron spoke up in a timid voice "Why didn't you guys just install this stuff offline?"
And Tails answered her "There is no time for that. We just found out about the attack a day ago. Our networks had to be up so we could contact everyone and also to keep mostly everything running. The networks in New Mobotropolis are WLAN. If we had time we would have disconnected from the net and it wouldn't have affected most networks in the city, and we would be safe from them attacking us. You are correct that they wouldn't be able to attack us if we were not connected to the Internet, but we have a service that has to be online at all times. We have no other option but to fight them back since they are coming for us now."
And Rotor added to Tails statement "If we had time we could fight them off no problem, we have the weaponry. But if we didn't contact you and went offline to fight them the weapon's database would go offline. We use a wireless telecommunication network to control our weapon's safeguards. It has to be online at all times; so all our weapons would stop working; all of you would have become sitting ducks, and we wouldn't be able to contact you. We all would be defenseless until we fixed the exploit..."
And Sally finished for them all "So basically if our internet networks go down our weapons stop working; globally. The attack is a wireless attack on a wired network, that being New Mobotropolis."
But Mighty angrily responded "Why did you build the weapons like that again?"
And Tails responded in an irritated tone "We've been over this already…"
"We are trapped between a rock and a hard place…" Lupe spoke in a worried tone.
And as they went on talking back and forth, Nicole felt herself start to sweat. The intricacy of this horrible situation they were in made her feel a terrible dread in the pit of her stomach. The tapping of keyboards around the room silently fighting for the entirety of Mobius was a quiet battle unlike no other. The timing of this attack was horrible, and the attacks themselves were quick and silent….
Which made Nicole's nervousness grow; but around five thirty p.m. after another thirty minutes of failure ridden code debugging she was finally able to run a test on the code. When she stopped typing a progress bar came up on her screen. And the Freedom Fighters stopped talking to who they were talking to and all came up behind Nicole.
With Sally speaking first with a serious look "What's happening Nicole?"
"I am running a test for the code. Once it is complete I will update." Nicole said as her ears were bent back now; nervousness and a deep frown showed on her face.
But then everyone in the room looked up as the New OS spoke "New incoming connections…"
Rotor then spoke aloud to the IT people "Someone tell me how many?"
And a terrified looking male IT person glanced at Rotor with wide eyes "…Fifty thousand…and counting…"
This made everyone in the room burst into spontaneous conversation, but Tails spoke over most of the voices with a serious expression "That's alright, we can handle that bandwidth for a while…"
But Tails was interrupted as the New OS spoke "Incoming call from the west wing."
Everyone looked up as Tails responded "Patch the line."
And it did as the gruff voice of the general spoke "Princess Sally? We got a problem over here…"
And Sally raised an eyebrow in confusion "What's wrong general?"
And there was a long pause as everyone looked up and listened with curious faces "…Our weapons have stopped working…"
Everyone's eyes widened in shock and Sally looked upset "What! Give me a status report!"
"We're falling back…" she huffed sounding like she was running "It looks like we got a lot of company over here…"
And the New OS spoke "Terminating connection…"
Everyone looked around at each other with wide eyes and confusion on their faces. Rotor then spoke narrowing his brows with an upset expression "Computer? What's on the radar?"
"Scanning…" the New OS responded bringing up a radar on the big computer screen. Everyone looked at the big computer screen to see blips everywhere…
Then Tails yelled up at the New OS with a frustrated look gritting his teeth "Computer! Get a visual on the blips!"
And the New OS then switched to the big computer screen to show all the objects it detected. And it showed how deep in trouble they were. Thousands of various types of Eggman's robots stood lined up next to each other; many different forms from over the years; big robots to small. Members of the legion had many large vehicles moving slowly towards the city; they had a small army waiting for them. Even Mammoth Moguls goons were perched just outside the city with big dangerous looking vehicles of their own. Various low life thieves and mercenaries were surrounding the city; the camera switched to show different views around the city. And from the looks of it they were surrounded…
"Fire the cannons!" Sally said suddenly and the technicians acknowledge her "Yes princess!" they said collectively.
But after a few moments of nothing happening one male technician spoke aloud with fear in his voice "…The plasma cannons are unresponsive as well…"
And all of their allies eyes remained wide with surprise on their faces; they did not regret coming to New Mobotropolis now. They were still baffled about how fast things were happening and still didn't fully understand what was going on. But they were starting to believe what Sally had told them about Mobius ending. On the big computer screen everyone could spot a villain they knew, and there numbers where unbelievable. Along with the fact that, them standing outside the city wasn't the biggest attack going on at the moment. Wide eyed and slack jawed the allies of the Freedom Fighters realized right now there was an even bigger attack going on right now and they couldn't even see it.
"This is escalating much faster than we previously thought…" Antoine said gritting his teeth with an upset face.
Then Sally huffed through her nostrils trying to calm everyone "…The plans have changed…" she said with a stern look, looking around at everyone; and they all held frowns "…It's failed faster than expected so we should get leaving right about now…most citizens should already be at the escape transports…"
Knuckles nodded with a deep frown "Good idea, the sooner we leave the quicker we can come up with preventive plans…"
Then Sally and everyone looked up as she spoke to the New OS "Computer? Start the countdown and begin informing citizens."
They all waited but there was no response and then Sally raised an eyebrow in confusion "Computer?"
The Freedom Fighters looked surprised as Tails suddenly ran over to the big computer screen and typed into it with a shocked face "…I'm not getting a response from the voice synthesizer of the New OS…" he said as he typed into the computer "…Its hanging…."
And in that moment it became crystal clear how fast things were getting out of hand. They were trapped even more and faster than they could comprehend and now they might not even be able to escape…
"This is getting out of hand! How are we going to leave now with no protection?" Hamlin said with an upset face.
"How is anyone going to leave safely? They've got us surrounded! They'll shoot us down if we try to leave!" Elias spoke with an equally upset face.
"So how much longer do we have guys?" Sonic said with a frown looking at Tails and Rotor.
But as Tails turned away from the big computer screen an IT person yelled out in fear "My sever crashed! There are so many incoming connections!"
Rotor and Tails were speechless and Nicole blinked in surprise at how quick things were spiraling out of control. She stopped typing glancing behind herself to see everyone looking at her worriedly…
Nicole's brows narrowed into frustration as she quickly turned back to her screen to see the test update was near completion. Then she began helping fend off the attacks as her test ran, but not minutes later the chatter in the room was silenced as a few of the technicians computers became locked, and the technicians on them could not use them anymore. Video of various evil doers popped up on screen laughing; including Eggman and Conquering Storm.
Nicole began to feel herself sweat again keeping her eyes focused on her screen; they were a few technicians down now. Then loudly jumbo tron screens began appearing around the city's force field dome; the screens were black and filled with static.
She could hear as their allies began to get more upset at the Freedom Fighters just as the test update completed and the bar that showed the files being saved ran. Nicole fearfully clicked next to see the results were successful….
And with shaky hands Nicole immediately went into the control panel and did a system update with the New OS security code that she had wrote; she felt a wave of adrenaline rush through her body "I am updating the security code..." Nicole said aloud with a shaky voice.
The guys then moved over to her as their allies continued to argue "What's the ETA Nicole?" Tails said with a frown.
Nicole's eras bent back even further "…..Ten minutes…." she uttered.
"Say what!" one of the nearby technicians exclaimed loudly.
Rotor then looked at all the technicians as they worked "You heard her! We have to hold off the whole world for ten minutes!"
But not even a minute later one of the technicians announced they'd begun to lose control of the city's protocol's. The allies began arguing even more about how they could leave and Sally, Amy, Sonic, Antoine and Bunnie stood a few feet behind Nicole waiting impatiently as she busily typed away. Doing their best to argue down their increasingly upset allies.
Then another few minutes later a technician announced aloud that there were over one hundred thousand connections and counting…
The gang looked at each other now looking slightly nervous as everyone else in the room; keeping their narrowed brows and worried expressions. Sally glanced behind herself at Nicole with a frown "ETA Nicole?"
Nicole minimized the programs she was working on to look at the progress bar…
"|||||||||||||||||||||||||||…"
"About two….." but as Nicole spoke something even more terrible happened.
In a few seconds the screens around her started going black. The technicians looked on in complete shock, jolting their hands away from their keyboards as if they had been bitten. They began shutting down in a line right towards her computer; it was a good thing she was sitting at the end. And Nicole's eyes widened as she typed into her computer. In a nick of time she shutdown the city networks, terminating the internet connections and isolating her lone computer. They shut down all the way right next to hers and every single person froze suddenly looking at Nicole's computers screen…
Nicole's eyes were wide as she stared at her screen, and the room was quiet….
Nicole stayed frozen; she didn't blink. Hoping her computer wouldn't shut off….
But after a few moments, she was reassured as it stayed on. She was relived only temporarily though to have another realization that was even harder to swallow….
She had isolated her computer so there was no connection, and because they had already jammed their weapons. But in temporarily shutting down the city's networks, she had only paused their doom. If they had taken her computer down the New OS update would have been interrupted, and it would have been over. She did stop them by disconnecting, and the security update would finish now…but only on the New OS and on this lone computer…
And everything was starting to shut down around the city the longer she was disconnected, and since they had taken control of many things. She had to reconnect to their networks to apply the update to the New OS and the entire city…
She clicked her mouse a few times to see an ETA for applying the update to the city…it read five minutes…
But she had no help now…for five more minutes…with so many attacks it surprised her they even lasted this long…
And with everyone around her tuning out Nicole stared at her computer screen with wide eyes and a blank face…she had to fight off the whole world alone….
And slowly her hands lowered away from her keyboard….
Speechless everyone in the room remained motionless as Nicole blankly stared at the computer screen. The overbearing weight of the current situation had made Nicole space out. She just couldn't do this alone…
Stopping over one hundred thousand hackers was impossible…she couldn't be everywhere at once…
With a distressed face, she turned around in her seat to see everyone looking at her, and she herself could not open her mouth. Worriedly their allies could tell by the look on her face it was over...
And immediately their allies began shouting about what they should do. But time slowed as the guys began sounding as uneven about the situation, and they began arguing with their allies as well. With a sad face Nicole looked to Sonic in the midst of the chaos...
He noticed her stare, and he dawned a halfhearted smile as he stared into her eyes. Nicole was able to muster a small smile too…and she felt a strong urge build inside herself…she couldn't lose him….she could not give up…she had to protect him…
And she began thinking of the little time she had spent with him. All the ridiculous questions and statements he had said about computers made her almost chuckle even now…
Then the power began to fluctuate, and the city's force field began to wane as Nicole thought of all the silly things Sonic had said to her….
But then in a flash it hit her…as she sat fully up in her chair and blinked her widened eyes…
She couldn't be everywhere at once but the New OS could…
And she quickly began remembering what she learned from the New OS language. As ridiculous as Sonic's statements, such programming could be made on the New OS. She could try and use commands and coding she learned…Sonic had made her see another way…
Since they were out of options she did not think one second longer. She spun back around in her seat flipping through the manual in her lap and began reading from it. Sonic looked surprised moving away from the guys, and they noticed; moving to her as well.
"What is it Nicole?" Tails asked curiously.
Nicole looked up at her screen "|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||" the security update for the New OS had finished "The city does not have the security of the New OS but I can still use the New OS language. From what I have learned I can try and defend with the New OS while the update is completing. It is a longshot though…." Nicole said in a determined tone as she started typing away.
"You learned a lot in a few days Nicole." Amy said looking a bit more hopeful.
"It is only basic's…." Nicole responded to her.
"Oh…." everyone in the vicinity nervously said together.
"The New OS update is completed; I just need to apply it to the city…" Nicole said as she typed.
Then Sally spoke with a curious look, trying to speak over all the arguing that was going on "What's the ETA Nicole?" Sally asked hopefully.
Nicole minimized her command prompt she was working on to see "…Five minutes."
And then Nicole reconnected her lone computer to the nightmares of the world as she restarted the city's networks. But as she reconnected she began losing control of some of the city's power grids. And she quickly skimmed through the manual on her lap looking for a solution.
The Freedom Fighters looked up at the lights as they flickered, as did their allies; looking up at the light fixtures flickering. Nicole then typed in a command to scan the incoming connections and find vulnerabilities in them:
# ss –oos
# ss -oosl
Once the scan completed it showed many connections had open ports. She injected them and with the added power of the New OS she added to the command. For the New OS to seek out all similar connections and attack them as well; because it was an AI of its own; it could act own its own letting her do other things. Then moments later the power stabilized...
"We are temporarily regaining some protocols over the city..." Nicole said in a determined tone as she typed.
Then suddenly Nicole looked down at the New OS manual on her lap "What's wrong Nicole?" Sally asked worriedly.
"…Two attack methods…routing redirection and service denial..."she muttered flipping through the manual; she then looked back up and typed "…They are redirecting information paths…so I am going to temporarily shut down a single one of our networks..."
Then the room grew louder as the allies noticed the city's force field faltering outside the windows. Nicole raised her voice so the guys could hear her "Once the network is shut down the connections will funnel into another slowing their attempts to take us completely offline. Then I will restart them, and it will reduce the load a bit." she said typing quickly.
The Freedom Fighters silently nodded letting Nicole do what she needed to do. Then Nicole grumbled a bit "…I have lost access to the task manager…" she looked down to the manual then back up to the screen "…so…" she muttered:
iptables -N INPUT -p tcp -dport 80 -i eth0 -m state -state NEW -m recent -set
iptables -N INPUT -p tcp -dport 80 -i eth0 -m state -state NEW -m recent -update -seconds 60 -hitcount 10 -D DROP
And with the added power of the New OS, she used a command prompt to target connections causing the problems with system services. And scan the files being transferred to her computer that were allowing the hackers a backdoor into the system. After finding a file, she opened an elevated command prompt and used another special New OS command, to delete all files that she had marked, like the one she had found. And for the New OS to delete all similar files pouring into the system; a command for the New OS to act on its own and delete what she had marked. In a moment she could access the task manager again and find similar viruses, track them, and issue similar commands she had just entered.
The Freedom Fighters stood anxiously behind Nicole watching her multitask different programs. But the IT people became fearful bolting from their seats and running around the control room screaming in fear. Their allies became slightly physical in their arguments as well. Guntiver began arguing with Queen Hathor about whether they should be leaving right now. With various allies discussing escape plans since everything had so quickly went out of control. Although everyone knew there was nowhere to run...
Nicole quickly minimized her work and looked at the progress bar…
"|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||…"
Nicole's brow remained furrowed with determination on her face "One minute…" she said aloud but her hands still shakily typed away at the keyboard.
The Freedom Fighters then tried to intervene with their ally's arguments as it got more out of hand. Nicole didn't have time to tell them all that was happening as she typed away. She had held their enemies off just barely, but they were starting to break through again. They gained control of the city's power again, and she'd lost control of the city's protocol's again as well. The force field was starting to go too as she started losing control over her computer...
And around the city, many citizens had their belongings in their hands, running to the escape transports located around the city for evacuation. But then the black jumbo tron screens above on the city's force fields cleared…
And the citizen's faces became horrified seeing that the force field was failing, but also seeing the mustached face of their most hated enemy Dr. Eggman!
His face popped up on all the screens; in control of all the screens it seemed. And he grinned arrogantly "Muhhahahahaha! Sonic! I hope you can hear this because I wanted to let you know that we are about to break through! Muhahahaha!"
Eggman pinched his moustache with a big grin as the citizens ran to escape through the city "I know you've been trying to stop me but come on!" he stated wildly "What can you do to stop this? There is nothing on Mobius that can stop this!"
Then Eggman abruptly stopped talking; looking annoyed when a few screens cleared up to show the other big contender of this devious plot. The Bride of Conquering Storm! Looking quite pleased with herself, she spoke calmly "This is a hostile takeover…" her eyes darted slightly off screen seeing Eggman on another screen not far away; she growled, "Eggman…"
Eggman hearing his name called gained the same level of loathing on his face when he saw her "Oh not this again! This city is mine! Your next!" he threatened pointing at her.
Conquering Storm snarled "Once we've taken the city, I'll make sure to visit you first for that comment!"
Eggman's face was still full of anger, but his next retort was not filled with venom "Since we're both here…truce?"
And as the citizens ran through the city, they heard Eggman's comment and couldn't believe it. The Freedom Fighters and everyone who had heard it didn't quite believe it; Eggman offering a truce! It wasn't that unbelievable because of the situation unfortunately. Conquering Storm's face became pouty but she complied "Until we are done here…"
Then they both laughed maniacally as everyone ran for their lives. The speed at which this particular disaster was happening is what instilled fear in the citizens the most. They had no idea what was going on. They felt like they had been suckered punched and back in the control room at Castle Acorn there conversation was heard loud and clear as well…
In the control room…
The power was fluctuating, and the city's force field had just shut down; taking the jumbo screens offline as well. Nicole saw it out of the corner of her eyes as she tried to stay focused. It was pure chaos in the control room. The allies had begun fighting and the IT people, and the few guards left in the castle had got caught up in the brawl. Lupe and Dylan struggled to keep Knuckles from fighting Augustus. As Sealia and Guru Emu tried to hold back Augustus. Elias and Walt Wallabee began shouting at each other despite knowing that even if they hadn't come the danger would be the same. The Freedom Fighters were also engrossed and trying to calm everyone down, but no one was listening…
Sally did break away from the chaos for a moment and went back over to Nicole speaking over all the noise "What's happening Nicole?" she asked with a serious face.
Nicole spoke distractedly "I have almost lost control..."
Sally placed a hand on the back of Nicole's chair getting ready to speak again, but before she could Nicole's computer locked….
Nicole's hands fell away from her keyboard as her brows narrowed in frustration. She could not control her mouse or the keyboard any longer …but the update was still running…
Sally leaned forward on Nicole's chair, and Nicole became stiff as her eyes locked on her screen. Another progress bar popped up on screen; it was the bar showing the progress of the update saving and applying the files into the city…
Sally's adrenaline pumped knowing Nicole's silence was answer enough that it was nearly done. But Sonic took a double take out a nearby window. He stepped away from the brawl taking a look out one of the windows after something caught his eye. He opened the window with a frown and stuck his head out of it.
"Oh man…" he uttered as Amy and Antoine noticed him over all the noise and fighting and joined him at the window.
Amy and Antoine stuck their heads out the window to see many airships were coming towards the city "They have air support…" Antoine said with a slack jaw.
"How much firepower are they packing Antoine?" Amy asked as shadows cascaded down onto the city from the many airships starting to hover above; Amy's eyes were wide in disbelief on her face.
Antoine gulped as his brows narrowed in frustration "…Well since they were nice enough to bomb us…I'm guessing from the size of those carriers…they have enough to demolish the city…."
Meanwhile, Sally and Nicole had their eyes glued to her computer screen since she could no longer control her computer. They watched hoping beyond hope the update would complete before everything was lost….
Nicole's brows remained knotted together with her lips curled into a frown; she blinked her eyes feeling herself sweat; she was so tense she couldn't move as she stared at her progress bar…
"||||||||||||||||||||||||…."
The allies exploded into physical violence, breaking things and causing a general mess. Some of the IT people began fleeing from the control room as well.
"Why did you build the weapons like that! If they weren't connected together we could still fight them!" Erma pointed angrily at Tails and Rotor.
Tails shot back at her irritatedly "If a single weapon got into the wrong hands it would be over either way. You don't get it!"
Erma balled fist "What are you talking about?" Sealia was holding Erma's arm with a frown trying to hold her back.
And they were all still blind to see how big the army around the city might have grown…
"||||||||||||||||||||||||||.."
The chaos intensified as the city alarms went off; blaring loudly in the control room and around the castle and around the city causing people to panic even more. Eggman and Conquering Storm's horrid laughter could still be heard all around them from the computer screens as Sally and Nicole focused on the progress bar...
"|||||||||||||||||||||||||||."
Antoine, Amy, and Sonic looked up at the many various airships now directly over the city. They began opening their hatches…
"|||||||||||||||||||||||||||" Update Successful; the progress bar disappeared.
Sally watched as Nicole quickly grabbed ahold of her mouse. She was able to move it again! Then she began trying other things seeing if she had full access again while the New OS security code loaded in the background. Antoine, Amy, and Sonic watched in horror as they began dropping bombs…
Then momentarily the alarms cut off, and the power stabilized; making Nicole and everyone flinch. Some jumping in surprise now that the lights were suddenly back to normal. Nicole found she had full access to everything again, and she quickly began re-enabling things that had been shut down. The force field being the first...
In less than a few seconds, the city's force field jumped back online covering the city; bringing the jumbo screens back online. Antoine, Amy, and Sonic watched as the bombs almost entering the city, bounce off the force field launching in any which direction. Some bounced directly back at the airships, making them explode and crash into others. While some of the bombs bounced into the areas around the city causing great damage to their enemies.
Next Nicole removed all the service denials regaining control over all the city's protocols. She then used the command prompt to use a New OS command to scan for viruses on their networks. To remove the viruses from all the computers, and after she did all the computers around the room cut back on. The IT people, bruised and sore quickly noticed this and returned to their seats and began working.
And in less than a minute, Nicole restored all functionality back to the city. She cleared the jumbo tron screens; leaving only the angry faces of Eggman and Conquering Storm on screen. Then bringing up video of other people who had been attacking so everyone could see them. A still legionized Drago Wolf, Mammoth Mogul, Diesel, and everyone was surprised to even see Miles on screen. And many other masterminds were placed above the city on the jumbo screens…
Nicole's brows remained knotted with a frown on her face as she typed; it had suddenly become quiet in the room as everyone stopped squabbling. Everyone suddenly dawned curious faces looking over at Nicole…
And around the city the many panicking citizens had briefly stopped were they stood; seeing that the force field was back up, and that it had deflected the bombs. They all dawned confused faces wondering if they should still be panicking. Also taking notice of the jumbo screens; finally seeing the faces of their attackers…
Back in the control room…
Everyone could hear and see the yelling and frustrated voices of Eggman and Conquering Storm over the many stunned villains on the screens. Conquering Storm, in the distance from the control room looked off screen "Then try it again! Didn't you fools just say we broke through!" she screamed with a furious face.
Eggman on another screen yelled loudly at Snively "What the heck just happened!" Eggman paused looking off screen "Then rerun the program!"
"Sir…we've…lost control…" Snively said off screen.
And Snively's words echoed around the city as words of relief. And in the control room everyone was still mostly confused. But those words to the Freedom Fighters and the Consul meant something else. They knew that meant the New OS code had blocked them…
Nicole continued to type, entering a few more commands and many downloading bars popped up on her screen as she opened a video connection with their enemies. A jumbo screen cleared, and Nicole's face filled the screen over the city.
The Freedom Fighters and the allies wondered what in the world was she doing, but after what she just did, they decided to just keep their mouths shut. The villains on the screens blinked in surprise seeing Nicole pop up on their screens; her brows were knotted on her forehead, and she held an upset expression.
The villains all scowled momentarily but then grinned arrogantly. Conquering Storm spoke first holding a smug grin "Your secrets will be ours soon, as will be your city. Why have you decided to show yourself? Have you given up?"
Eggman laughed with a malevolent smile "My dear, where have you been all these years? I hope I don't have to force what I want to know out of you."
The citizens around the city watched mesmerized looking up at the jumbo screens around the city. It instilled a strange since of deja vu seeing Nicole on the screen above the city again…just liked she used to be everywhere in the past…it reminded everyone of her omnipresence she used to have in the city much in the past….
Nicole's upset expression remained as she spoke, and she put everyone at ease "I've heard what you have said Eggman, and you are wrong. I am the one thing on Mobius that can stop you."
The collective villains began to sweat seeing their current attempts to attack the city were not working. The allies and the Freedom Fighters could not help but smile knowing that they would live another day. But also, Nicole giving it to their enemies "Whatever you think is in the past. I am here now, and I will not hesitate to decimate you for what you have tried to do today. And this is not warning for you to back off, I'm telling you..." she stated in a strong tone.
The villains were starting to look confused on their screens; and Nicole stared angrily into her screen speaking a moment later "I am in control. So you may try and attack us, I want you to. I want you to know that you will fail, I guarantee you will never break through again."
The villain's anger was replaced with slight worry at where Nicole was going; Nicole's anger then faded to smugness on her face as she smirked "To prove this, right now I currently have control of your systems…"
The villain's eyes widened in shock and quickly scrambled their keyboards, but they received no response; Nicole continued "I am going to flex another muscle and let you know I am currently downloading everything from your hard drives. I don't know what I will do with the information, I might keep it for myself, or I might release it..."
The villains instantly began trying to disconnect, but their computers were unresponsive. And Nicole slowly shook her head as a light frown came over her face "You can disconnect once I release you…"
The allies and the Freedom Fighters faces suddenly became giddy at Nicole socking it to their enemies; and Nicole kept her frown "Do not try this again…" she warned.
The villains were speechless at how the tables had turned on them; it didn't take them long to figure out how much stronger New Mobotropolis had become again. Eggman was the first to disconnect by getting up from his seat and throwing the nearest object into his computer screen with a shocked expression on his face.
Nicole then saw on her screen that his connection disappeared. Conquering Storm followed suit walking off screen with an angered expression, and her video disappeared along with her connection. Pretty soon many connections began to disappear, and the faces on the jumbo tron screens went black; Nicole closed her screen too once all their faces disappeared.
One IT woman spoke in a happy tone "We're losing connections by the second!"
Sally stepped forward smiling "Download everything you can."
"Yes Princess." the IT people said collectively.
Rotor blinked his wide eyes as he looked up and everyone else followed suit "Computer? Weapon's database status and nanite functionality status."
And the New OS responded "….Checking …." it paused "…Weapon's database is active…all weapons are online…checking nanite monitoring system….nanites are restarting….forty nine percent of nanites are active…"
Everyone in the room's faces brightened with smiles then Sally looked up with a triumphant smile "Computer? Contact the west wing."
The New OS responded in a neutral tone "Initiating connection…"
Everyone looked up a listened while Nicole and all the IT people that were left worked on their computers. The call rang a few times, and general patiz answered. Much noise could be heard, the sounds of plasma rifles going off and fighting could be heard as the general answered "Hello? Is this HQ?"
Sally smirked as she spoke "General is your battalion ok? What's going on?"
The general laughed heartily "They had us pinned and flanked on the south side of New Mobotropolis, but our weapons started working less than a minute ago again. What happened princess?"
Sally couldn't stop her smile "…We lost connection for a little while. Our weapons system was just restored. It sounds like you have things under control again. Continue the defense and chase them outta here."
"We have your commands princess!" she paused "Take the T-twenty two around north; we might be able to stop that bombard…" and the New OS spoke "Terminating connection…"
And after Sally finished speaking with the head general, the sweeping chaos that flooded the city had left just as quickly. Nicole had not released her hold of their computers, and the villains smashed their own computers to break free. All around the city citizens hurried away from the escape exits, and escape transports ready to take them away from the city. They wandered the streets and slowly their faces lit up with smiles, and they began to cheer in celebration.
Back in the control room the same happened. Slowly, everyone's faces burst into smiles, and they burst into celebration; the allies shook hands and conversed with each other. Lobo and Lupe hugged each other while Wombat and Stu exchanged hearty laughs. The Freedom Fighters spoke among themselves while Sally was handing out orders "Computer? Get a visual on outside the city."
Everyone stopped and paused to look at the big computer screen; even Nicole glanced away from her computer for a moment. It showed the various evil doers racing away from New Mobotropolis. Their military forces were chasing them in their vehicles and on foot. Firing green beams that tore into their vehicles. The air ships could be seen in the sky trying to fly away. Some were on fire and others were being shot down by red pulse lasers. Some of them were damaged badly from their own bombs that were dropped. The imagery caused another uproar of celebration in the form of shouts, yells, and happy faces.
But Nicole turned back around in her seat slumping down in her chair in relief as everyone looked at the big screen. She clenched her eyes shut with her brows still knotted together with a frown on her face; she placed a hand on her chest….
She needed a moment after all that…
But soon she reopened her eyes as another sigh escaped her, and she sat back up in her chair. Then she typed a few more commands into her computer. The command put her face back on a jumbo tron screen above the city, and then onto every jumbo tron in the city. She also made sure to check and see if all connections in the city were secure; she didn't want anyone outside the city to hear her.
This caused momentary confusion before Nicole began speaking into her computer; gathering attention from the people in the control room to the citizens all around New Mobotropolis.
Nicole held a frown on her face as she narrowed her eyes "I do not believe I need to introduce myself, I am sure you know me by now…." she paused clearing her throat "…I will let you know anyway…the Nicole you used to know…the artificial intelligence that you all used to know so well…the hologram…" Nicole paused again; she took a short breath as it was never easy to talk of her past "…That was…that is me…I am the same A.I. that used to roam this city…I am Nicole…"
And though she could not hear the gasp outside the control room, the citizens were in pure awe at her reveal. Some were still angry and some felt reverence since she had just saved them; some of the reverence was because they had missed her.
In the control room, the Freedom Fighters looked surprised by Nicole's admissions and pouring herself out in front of everyone. They held wide eyes and remained silent as they listened "…I will not go into detail, but I am here now again…." Nicole moved her hair out of her eyes "…But I feel this needs to be known..."
Nicole cleared her throat pausing for a moment keeping her frown as everyone in the entire city heard what she had to say "…From what I do know I am not too far off from…my time as a computer….that being said, from what I can remember in my…current form…ever since I became consciously aware…." Nicole blinked her eyes pausing for a moment; she could feel the welling in her eyes.
"..I…I…just wanted to be like everyone else…" Nicole said in a descending tone.
Everyone who listened to her bare her soul could not help but feel empathy and respect. It took a lot of guts to share such personal things, and she continued with her frown "…I have learned of my past self in various ways, and I was surprised to find out even when I was…a machine…" Nicole took a deep breath again keeping her tears back "…I had similar notions of wanting to be Mobian…."
On the south east side of town, Mina and Ash watched Nicole near an escape vehicle exit up on the jumbo trons around many others. Ash held a thoughtful face but Mina; tears escaped her eyes with a sympathetic face. She still felt horrible about what she'd been doing with her music now. What was even worse was it took this gigantic disaster to see this Nicole… she had feelings like everyone else…she wasn't a thing…and she felt pain as well...
Mina kept her saddened expression wiping her tears as Ash grabbed her waist as they stared up to the jumbo screens, and she held him back; Nicole continued "…I do not remember everything…but if I know myself I know I wanted to be Mobian…."
Vanilla Cream, Cheese, and Vector watched the jumbo trons on another side of town with surprised looks. And the many citizens around them were never officially told what happened to Nicole. So Nicole reappearing as she had, saving them, and telling them herself was an eye opener.
Nicole looked down and typed something as she continued speaking; but suddenly her tone became icy cold "But…" Nicole sighed in frustration looking up at the screen again with her brows knotted an irritation on her face "…I have come to realize…you sad…pathetic people…your greed has driven your actions…."
Nicole's nostrils flared looking slightly angry now "…A whole city to protect you…all this technology…my technology was to help you…but you lashed out…even though it has saved you from the cold grip of death Eggman would place upon you if he could only touch you…."
And her statement and her demeanor reminded many of her computer self; cold and mechanic. Sending chills down the spines of the citizens, confused by their own reactions of fear because of what Nicole had just said; irrationally fearing her still because she did not speak highly of them.
Nicole's angry face lightened into a frown again "…I have never truly been able to fit in because I was…a machine…" Nicole tapped a key on her keyboard and looked back at her screen "…But I don't care anymore…." Nicole stared into her screen with a deep frown "…I no longer want to be like you…I am no longer the city's A.I….I will no longer be here…"
Then Nicole's eyes downcast for a moment "…I am not without fault...I blame myself for what happened today. It seems it was my actions that caused you to be unprotected…I do know of these actions…." Nicole then looked back up at her screen with her frown "…So I leave you one final gift…."
Nicole paused looking down to type into her keyboard again "…The security code I used today has now integrated into the city. In other words, the city's A.I. is now revised so what happened here today should hopefully never happen again. This should keep you safe…." Nicole frowned looking back up into her screen "…I will also add this is the same technology, my property, you ignorant people have tried to take from me…it will be helping you now…."
And it was silent all around the city, and in the control room as everybody around her remained silent. Even the IT people had stopped what they were doing. Nicole let her words sink in and spoke one final time as she stared into her screen; her brows were wrinkled, and she kept the frown on her face "…I am finished…. " she stated cutting the connection of the video and closing all the jumbo tron screen's around the city.
Everyone remained speechless holding widened eyes and slack jaws around the control room. Nicole's expression became stoic as she grabbed the New OS manual in her lap and closed it; making a loud clap in the quiet room, then placing it back into her bag on the floor next to her. Nicole fending off the whole world was reminiscent of her computer self…and everyone recognized this…she was like a walking embodiment of her computer self…with many striking parallels of her past self…kindred spirits in a way…
And many still did not know that she literally was the same Nicole in many ways…
She pulled her USB stick out of her computer and stood from her seat; pushing her chair neatly back in place. She kept her back turned to everyone as she place her computer case bags strap around her neck and adjusted it on her shoulder.
When she finally turned to leave she faced all the people around her as they stared at her…staring just like they did when they were against her….
But Nicole noticed it was different this time; she didn't feel uncomfortable by their stares. She saw…if she wasn't crazy…admiration in their eyes…
Nicole's face remained expressionless, and she stayed quiet as she turned away from everyone and walked out of the control room. The guards and anyone who was in her way stepped out of her way; and it remained silent. She kept her eyes straight ahead purposefully ignoring the stares. The allies wanted to applaud Nicole but in a show of respect, they remained quiet as well. And everyone but a few felt shame at how they had treated her before her resurface after seeing her true feelings put out for everyone to see...
Sonic on the other hand, saw her look at him as she walked out. He half smiled, glad that Nicole had did what she needed to do. He decided to not follow her for now. He was sure she could use some alone time; he knew he would catch up with her later.
Nicole did her best to avoid eye contact as she reached half way down the empty hallway. But she stopped walking when the control room burst into celebration again. Nicole stood with her back turned blinking her eyes and keeping her stoic expression. She felt a mix of elation and sadness about how everything had turned out. She stared down the empty hall in front of herself not sure whether she should be happy they had made it…
But she took in a deep breath through her nostrils and was getting ready to walk again when she heard footsteps behind her; instinctively she looked to see who it was. It was Sally...
Sally smiled as their eyes connected; Nicole blinked her eyes as confusion filled her face. Sally did have a hard time looking Nicole in the eyes "Your coming to the Thanks Giving Festival aren't you?" she questioned.
Nicole's face was curious "I am not sure…I haven't made up my mind yet..."
"But you've never attended one…." Sally smiled at her.
Nicole shoulders drooped and her eyes downcast onto the floor "I will not fit in…"
"Then do me a favor and show up for me; I want you to be there." Sally smirked at her.
Nicole looked back up at her looking skeptical "…But people will recognize me…I do not want the attention…" even though she was curious about the festival; the years she was away the Freedom Fighters had always made it sound magical.
"How's about you wear something other than your robes…" she joked and Nicole smirked a bit back at her "It's all casual, if you wore something different I'm sure it would disguise you; I doubt anybody would recognize you outside your normal appearance."
And luckily Nicole's past curiosity of the festival was enough to convince her as she nodded with a curious look "…A disguise…I like my robes…but maybe it is something I will consider…"
"We only do this once a year. After all that's happened…it'll be fun I promise you…" Sally said keeping her bright expression.
And it became quiet again as they looked at each other. Despite the conflict and tension between them with Sonic and her feelings and body switch, that all seemed to be slipping into the past after today. Nicole dawned a weak smile "…I will think about it…"
Sally smiled a bit at her words "That's good Nicole….it starts around evening tomorrow, and it ends whenever we stop partying…." Sally scratched the back of her head slightly looking away from her "…I'm sure the others will escort you if you decide to come…"
Nicole nodded as her face became stoic again "…I will take my leave then…"
Sally nodded back with a smile "I'll see you later Nicole..." she said slowly turning away and heading back into the control room.
Nicole watched her go listening to all the cheering and applause down the hall. Then she turned and began walking herself. As she walked through the castle, the people that were left cheered her on…even though they had made fun of her before…
She had heard the jokes they made about her through the guys…terrible things had been said about her…
As she made her way out of the castle and onto the streets, the people that were starting to repopulate the city gave her nothing but applause and admiration…
Even though a few days ago they hated her guts...
All the way home the citizens who saw her cheered her on for saving the city…even though days ago they were happy to strip her of her possessions and lock her away in jail for the rest of her days…
All the way home she walked at a normal pace avoiding eye contact…keeping her head straight and a blank face…
All in all, after this experience she had learned one very important lesson. She had begun to not care…
This traumatic event left her emotionally numb…she was now immune to fear, and it would never control her…
Her actions would never be controlled…because she'd now been at the bottom…and seeing how low others could go, she was not afraid of anything anymore…
Now that she'd seen the worse, now that she grappled with it, she'd been at the very bottom were you could not fall any farther…
And now everything paled in comparison…
Now all there was left to do was climb up…it seemed this too had passed…by the skin of her teeth…but her situation had changed…
As she walked home she didn't care if she had saved the people around her. She didn't forgive those who had wronged her either, but she did let it go. Sonic spoke of karma one time to her…and she could see what he meant after today…
And if what he said about that was true, then she also felt reassurance that those who had done wrong would attract their karma back to them one day…and it was not something she should concern herself with…and she should spend her energy on something she could change… as their actions would come back to them…
If nothing else today, she had got back up and fought for Sonic...
A few hours later…
It was dark out but New Mobotropolis celebrated a somber pre victory leading into their Thanks Giving Festival. It was night time now, and the clouds had all but disappeared leaving a clear night sky. The many stars were easily visible above from Nicole's bedroom as she peeked out from her curtains watching citizens happily parade through the streets. Her room illuminated by one tall lamp, and her bedroom door closed she still felt a sense of dismay. She did feel cozy alone in her room though; her eyes spotted her neighbors in their yard dancing around in delight. She sighed as her attention shifted and stared up mesmerized into the crystal clear view of the night sky.
As far as she was concerned there was no reason for her to celebrate…
She still had problems that needed fixing…
She held a light frown stepping away from her window and grabbing a stool with purple cloth and wooden legs from the corner of her room; she placed it next to her window. She sat down and used her index finger to continue peeking through her blinds. She could see down the street from her house; a local bar had many more patrons than usual.
Her air of depression remained the same this evening as she scoured her thoughts. She didn't want to be here anymore…
Sad as it was to say, it was how she felt…and that was only part of her ongoing problems…
Her window was also cracked open, and she pushed her face closer to her window, and a warm breeze hit her face as she stared into the evening stars. She knew all too well that the grass was not greener…you only traded one hell for another…it didn't stop her from daydreaming about a better place though…
Her second problem was helping with the New OS….
She couldn't leave them alone with it completely as she was the only one who could read its language….or her language really…
Before she logged off her computer today she saw that since the New OS was blank, the UI could use a major overhaul. That and it needed to be re tooled. Because she was the only one who could read it now meant she was solely responsible for improving her OS…
Yet another ironic turn of events, having more parallels with her computer self, as she could now see that the city was in her hands yet again…
And she huffed in frustration looking away from the night sky hearing and seeing a woman not too far from her house cheer loudly "Whoo Hoo!" the woman yelled as a male companion helped her stand.
She almost smirked looking down at the people walk down the sidewalk past her home; inebriated people did strange things. But her smirk was wiped off her face, and her light frown returned thinking of her third problem...
That being herself…
This powerful information….her DVDs…
Creating technology not of this time had drastically shifted this time period. It had changed this particular Mobius if there were indeed more than one timeline…Rotor and she still weren't sure…
She had problems with her past and learning she was from the future….she had still not come to accept her past…
The core issue still laid with why she had been sent back and what her computer self's plans were…
Now that her technology had been released, they didn't know how it was going to affect things. What remained unclear from her DVDs was why and what she did when she came back…the time travel stuff didn't make sense…she didn't know what to do about all of it…
Obviously, no one could be trusted to handle the information. It was her property so everything still fell on her…
Nicole frowned even more as she stared out her window up into the night sky; she was in control of the information…
She had to decide what to do with it….she had to decide what would befall it…
Nicole stretched a bit; her stool began feeling uncomfortable because of its low height, and after sitting on it so long; she peeked through her blinds again.
Out of all the problems, this one was the most frustrating. If any powerful technology from her time fell into the wrong hands, this current time line would diverge into a similar fate of her time in the future.
She had no idea what to do about that…she didn't even know what her computer self had planned to do…how was she going to?
It meant a wide range of possibilities that made her feel unease, unease of missing one tiny detail and causing their timeline to diverge…causing technology to go out of control…causing Eggman to takeover…she did not want any of it to happen…and because of her…
She at least knew she had to try and contain and not let the technology that was already out in the world spread as it was already doing….
Today was proof enough of that; if their enemies had got their hands on one single weapon it would have changed everything…
Nicole then shifted her weight on her stool thinking what would happen if she destroyed her property…
Her face remained stoic. If she did, they would be more vulnerable as time moved on and that could turn out to be bad. In the grand scheme of things though the information was still dangerous…
Her head then lowered feeling confusion and frustration again…she didn't know what to do...
Then her rambling thoughts swiftly drifted to Sonic. She lifted her head with a curious face wondering where he was at. Surely she needed some alone time, but she always looked forward to time with him. She stood from her stool pushing her blinds completely out of the way. She would like to see him right now…his company was a slight reprieve in this cold world…
She did not expect to see him pop out of midair, but her eyes searched for him anyway through the crowds of people regardless. Tired of her own depressing thoughts for the evening, she nonchalantly scanned the people below knowing it was ridiculous to expect to see him. She hoped he had not forgotten about her…
She had almost brushed the silly idea out of her head when a slight pinch of blue spines caught her eyes. She squinted her eyes leaning closer to her window and to her surprise it was Sonic! He walked down the street from the direction of the local bar with a crowd of people. Nicole felt heat rush suddenly to her cheeks as a light blush made her cheeks slightly red….
She didn't think she'd ever get used to feelings of affection…they made her act…silly...
Nicole quickly closed her blinds and went into her bathroom flipping on the lights. She checked over herself in her mirror. Wiping her eyes and grabbing a brush. She also quickly brushed her teeth and wiped her face with a cloth.
Once satisfied with her appearance, she left her bathroom, and went over near a small wooden dresser near her bed. She grabbed a small glass bottle of perfume filled with a blue liquid and patted it around her neck before she headed down stairs. She felt a sense of giddiness in her stomach as she stepped down her stairs…yes she acted very silly….
She swiftly turned on her lights in her living room and in her kitchen; she wanted to make herself look like she was busy. Then she saw she still had a few dirty dishes, so she grabbed her yellow rubber gloves from under her sink, also turning on a tiny radio on her counter given to her years ago. Nicole felt happy but nervous tension as she washed a few dishes trying to contain her smile. Then her doorbell rang, and she smirked knowing who it was. She cleared her throat and left what dishes were remaining in her sink. She took off her yellow gloves and straightened up her robes as she went and opened her door. And as soon as she opened the door and saw Sonic's grinning face she could not help but smile as well.
Nicole smiled uncontrollably as she spoke "Sonic…"
Sonic rubbed the back of his head, and she noticed that he made no motion to move "What's up? I wanted to check up on you before I headed home."
Nicole guessed he was being respectful of her space, at least she hoped he was. She did want his company "…I am…alright….for the moment…." she hesitated now looking a bit disappointed "…If you are tired we can speak tomorrow…"
Sonic raised an eyebrow in confusion "I'm not; I just wanted to give you some space..." Sonic looked at her pinched mouth and slightly worried expression "Did you..."
And Nicole smiled a bit as her face became hopeful "Yes." she stated simply.
Sonic smirked beginning to step into her house when she stopped him, he raised an eyebrow in confusion as she dawned a thoughtful face "Let us go to your house tonight..."
Sonic then chuckled "Spontaneous tonight huh? Are you using your powers right now?"
"Hush." Nicole said with an amused expression; her lips curled up into a smile.
She turned back around and switched off the lights in her kitchen and living room. Then she walked back over to her door and made her way outside, closing her door, and taking her place at Sonic's side as they walked to his house just down the street.
They did get a few noticeable cheers from the people who saw Nicole and Sonic walking down the crowded night streets. Nicole again did her best to ignore the stares, but she did hold a pleased smile "What shall we indulge in this evening Sonic?" she spoke to Sonic keeping her head straight as they walked along.
Sonic smirked "Well, there was this game on my desktop computer, but I couldn't figure out how to make it go. I'm sure you can fix that."
Nicole glanced over at him snickering with a grin on her face "Make it go?" she teased his description of what his problem was.
Sonic then pinched his mouth together dawning a pout on his face as he looked at her "You know what I mean…" he said placing his hands on the back of his head.
Nicole shook her head looking straight ahead again as she burst into laughter. Sonic grimaced as he continued getting computer terms wrong. But Nicole did walk closer to him; brushing up against one another. They both conversed on what they would do this evening as it seemed they had a little free time now on their short walk down the street. But Nicole had noticed that out of all the horrible things that happened, the biggest change was in herself...
Completely aware of how different a person she was after struggling through a tough situation. And despite it all, she seemed to be a happier person. And Sonics compassion helped her stand through it all…
Its over! New Mobotropolis has defended themselves from the brink of destruction! Just barely but none the less victory! Though does it mean Mobius is perfectly safe now? What of the villains? What havoc have they brought upon themselves? What will Nicole do? What will happen with her and Sonic? What else is on Nicole's DVDs? What of the Freedom Fighters relationships? What has Mina planned? Who will get jiggy at the Thanks Giving Festival? Find out next time! Later.