D-003.

4 Days Before Launch.

"You are dismissed."

With those 3 simple words, the lecture hall was filled with the noise of swing-away chairs slamming back to their idle state, and yet somehow, the doors to exit were already opened wide, causing a cold breeze to wash over the area.

Icarus runs down the stairs, leaving behind only the faintest of brown trails, until he reaches the final flight of stairs. He sees the three girls from earlier, laying down on the stairs together, blocking the final few. Icarus simply runs down and hops over the final few steps, landing on the tip of his shoe and almost tripping over. He recovers himself with a direction-adjusting turn-hop and dashes out of the university.

The speed streaks of brown make it all the way to Miles' lab.

"HEY!"

"ACK-"

Tails gets shocked by Icarus for a second time in a row, causing him to let go of the 4 or so giant metal pipes that he was holding, making them echo loudly across the room.

Miles: "Oh…hey, it's just you…again, seriously can you ever knock?"

Icarus: "S-sorry, maybe next time…?"

Miles does a slight chuckle, before leaning down to gather what slipped out of his hand. However, he finds them gone. He looks back up and sees Icarus, holding them out for him. Miles nods in gratitude as he grabs the pipes and puts them aside gently.

Miles: "Alright, Icarus, whaddya need?"

Icarus: "Well, I am sure you are already aware, but my dad told me to ask you if I had questions about...this whole situation I found myself tied to and to be honest, I don't even know when to begin…"

Miles: "You don't want to ask about what you heard the other day?"

Icarus: "Huh?"

"Icarus, you aren't subtle. He knows what you heard yesterday. No worries, he doesn't blame you."

"How did he-"

"Like I said, you aren't subtle. I will say, it was a good gesture."

"Right…well…my dad mentioned something about "not having a choice", and he seemed really…passionate about it, if that's the right word."

Tails pauses for a moment, picturing how he should say what he's about to say.

Miles: "This might be quite a bit to take in, but Shadow is a…unique case. He wasn't born like you and I, he was "created", by humans, in an attempt to reach immortality."

Icarus: "W-what?! He's a robot?!"

"N-no! Not at all, no. He has a soul, he has a heart, he was just made from a cluster of foreign DNA. That is what gave him his supernatural abilities."

"I…well, thanks for the reassurance I guess, but that's not why I was shocked. I don't think him being a robot or not would change anything."

"Then why did you seem so shocked?"

"Shocked? I was excited! Do you imagine how cool it would be to have a robot dad?! Foreign experiments are pretty cool too, though."

Miles is baffled at how well Icarus is taking in everything.

Miles: "Icarus, if you don't mind me asking…why do you not care about all this? Anyone else would be shocked or…feel betrayed, or…something…why do you just…accept it as is?"

Icarus: "Well, people are defined by what they do, right? I couldn't care less if my dad was a robot or mom was a…queen in another life, what matters is what they do for me, day in and day out. I don't really think the backgrounds of people really…matter in the grand scheme of things."

He really is just like him, huh?

Miles: "Well, I am glad you think so. Makes this helluva lot easier. So, what else do you want to know?"

Icarus: "How…how long do you think the trip will take?"

Miles: "I will get a clearer picture later tonight, but this might take around 100 days or so. I don't think it will end any further than that."

Icarus looks down in slight disappointment.

Miles: "Not used to being away from your old man, are you?"

Icarus: "...no."

"Been there, you will be fine."

"Your dad was a space traveller too?"

"Ha! No, but…" Tails recalls his life for just a brief moment, his expressions softening. "I…I had someone I depended on, too. It was….it was Sonic, the guy you asked about…truth be told, I used to feel almost…damaged, malfunctioning if that makes sense…but he made me feel whole, and as great as that felt…you gotta get used to not having canes to hold on to."

"Where is this Sonic at right now, anyway?"

"He's…long gone."

"Can I ask how it happened?"

"He went out doing the right thing. And you…you just…you are just like him, Icarus…and that's a good thing! Don't get me wrong! But…Sonic meant a lot to us, and…."

"...they don't want something to happen to me like it did to him…"

…

"Miles?"

"Yeah?"

"I am confused…a part of me wants to try and go but…I do not want to make my parents worried sick, I do not want to…make things worse for them. A part of me wants to live in comfort, to just finish college, work whatever and just go on the easy path…at the same time, there is this part of me that is begging me to go, almost like a calling…I just…this Sonic…what would he do, in my position?"

Without hesitation, Tails answers with "He would tell you to ask 'What would Icarus do?'"

Icarus lets it sink in for a moment, his expression getting…sadder.

Miles: "By the way, we are having a mission debriefing tomorrow, 6 PM, right over here. You haven't run into Kujo since the day he attacked you, yes?"

Icarus: "Yeah, no encounters. Guy didn't even attend a single lecture."

"Well, try not to fight in my lab, alright?" Miles says with a small, contagious smile.

"You got it." Icarus smiles back and stands up to leave. "Can I ask one more thing for today though?"

"Sure, what is it, Icarus?"

"Two days ago, you were about to tell me something else about Sonic."

"What about it?"

"You…don't want to say it?"

"Your old man was explicitly clear: I only tell you what you ask, so I ask you, do you really want to know?"

Icarus thinks about this for a second.

Icarus: "Not really, I don't really care what his relationship is to me. Never met him, don't get me wrong I am sure he was a great-"

Miles: "Yeah. yeah, I get it, no worries. If you do want to know though, feel free to ask, okay?"

Icarus: "Alright…"

Icarus turns to leave…but then stops once more.

Icarus: "I know this is the third time I was about to leave but…Miles…"

"Yep?"

"Thank you."

"Anytime, partner."

Icarus sprints out of the lab, leaving Tails with his own thoughts.

And with that, the rest of the day unremarkably passes as the world sleeps in peace once more…

3 Days to go….