D-007
Approx. 14 hours since launch
Loyal Tree.
Cosmo remains seated, seemingly meditating with her eyes closed.
Itadori, however, nervously paces around the room.
She opens up one eye in annoyance.
Cosmo:"Itadori, can you stick to one place? You are unusually distracting."
Itadori:"It's just…why is Icarus taking this long on a measly Metarix throwaway?"
Cosmo:"If you think so lowly of the Metarix machine, couldn't you have taken it out yourself?"
Itadori:"YouknowI couldn't and youknowwhy. Our clan would have stopped at nothing to destroy those invaders if we could…"
"Your 'clan', of course, referring to…you and your 1 year old kid. Quite the army you got there."
Itadori stops walking around and opens his mouth to respond, but nothing comes out.
Itadori:"...touche."
Planet Foralon
?
"THREAT. ELIMINATED. SUCCESSFULLY."
The Metarix robotic soldier is mere inches from Icarus' lifeless, standing body.
It opens its thrusters as it begins its journey back to get the Chaos Emerald.
…
It feels cold.
…
"WARNING. TEMPERATURE LOW."
…
"DOES NOT COMPUTE. SHOULD NOT FEEL COLD. SHOULD NOT FEEL WEATHER. SHOULD NOTFEEL."
…
It cannot float anymore.
It tries walking.
…
It's struggling to push against its metal armour.
…
"THIS. ISN'T. RIGHT. WARNING. WARNING. DANGER. DANGER."
…
Whatever is beneath the robotic shell…
It's feeling the loss of something it didn't even realise it had.
…
"DOES NOT COMPUTE. PLANET-E242A'S BLOOD STAR SHOULD NOT AFFECT THIS UNIT. IT IS AFFECTING THIS UNIT. DOES NOT COMPUTE.DOES. NOT. COMPUTE."
…
It realises it cannot make it back. It shouldn't matter. Another machine will do it for him..
…
"THE METARIX WILL LIVE ON! THE METARIX WILL LIVE ON!"
…
It cannot move an inch any longer.
…
Its usually robotic voice gets strained. Desperate as it tries to move.
…
"I WILL NOT LIVE ON! I WILL NOT LIVE ON!"
…
It looks back on Icarus.
" . THE. ENEMY. HE. IS. ORGANIC."
…
With all of its strength…it can only move a single step.
…
It takes a step back.
Stretching its arms to the very limit, it grabs Icarus' lifeless hand in between its blades andyankshim forward with one swift motion.
…
Icarus begins to show the first signs of life once again.
He slowly opens his eyes.
It wasn't a bad dream.
The darkness illuminated by the faint crimson light of the Blood Star, where only the faintest silhouettes can be seen.
He looks ahead and sees the cyan grass and bright light blue skies far away in the distance.
He glances behind him, seeing the Metarix soldier, stretching its arm out. Frozen in place.
…
Icarus knows that the correct move is to leave it there. In his half-daze, he remembers what Cosmo said. They were lifeless, purely mechanical. Why would he help that without a soul? Especially one as destructive as this one?
…
Icarus leans back, and yanks the Metarix's arm forward, pushing it ahead of him.
…
The machine felt more strength as they got closer to the lit up side.
It could try to walk out of there, hoping that every burst of strength is enough to get out…
And yet…
The robot leans back, and yanks Icarus' arm forward, pushing him ahead of it.
…
Planet Earth.
Tails' underground workshop.
Amy is sitting nervously on top of a cardboard box, fidgeting around with her hands. Off to her right, Miles is typing away at his multi-monitored supercomputer. Its screens emit a cyan light that illuminates the otherwise dimly lit room.
Amy:"Any luck?"
Miles replies with a sigh without turning to her. "No…not yet, anyway."
Amy nods, then bites her lip and nods again, before standing up and walking around the room.
Fearing to be distracting, she quickly sits back down on the box, tapping her foot in worry.
Amy:"Heh…you must think I am so useless…"
Miles:"Don't worry about it, tech is my thing after all." Still focused on his work.
"Yeah…we all have our own thing…you are the smart one…Shadow is the strong one…and I am the one who warms up the bench…" A baffled chuckle escapes her mouth as she finishes that sentence, before shaking her head in disappointment at herself.
Miles lets her words sink in for a moment, and with a deep breath, he stops working.
Miles:"You aren't useless at all-"
"Then what do I do?! Tell me!" She snaps at him, her tone reeking of venom.
"Everytime crap like this happens I am just so…" Her tone softens…"so useless…what do I…" Her tears begin to leak out. "What can I…even do? I…I keep telling myself thatthistime will be different, and yet someone else does the dirty work! Every. Time! People keep telling me how much I "offer" but when did that ever come to fruition? It turns out that I read Icarus wrong fortwo decades,and…it's just so…"
Miles slowly turns his office chair to face Amy.
Miles:"This isn't about Icarus, is it?"
Amy:"I…look…its just…ifhewas here…he would have found a way to…to talk Icarus out or-or…find a solution or…just…dosomething!"
Miles:"I don't get it, you couldn't have changed what-"
"You don't know that! I was told to stay back the same wayyouwere told to stay back, and the only reason Shadow is still alive is becauseyouwent to the fight anyway! I just…if I was there…maybe I could have…"
…
Miles:"I…never told you how it happened, did I?"
"I…what?"
"The fight. The days leading up to it. I never explained them."
"I…I guess you didn't."
"Well, initially it…started out as normal. New threat showed up, he would try to find a solution that wasn't just bonking them on the head eight times, they refuse, they fight…it was very…by the numbers at first. Then, we began taking it way more seriously after we made the connection betweenATSand theIncidentattack…but even then, he was still…him, you know? He was willing to take him down with that damn smirk of his and he was pushing us all forward. Even before the fight by mere hours…even after we knew that the chances of him pulling this off were practically impossible…he still swore to beat the odds, like he always did…and then the time came for the climax…and…to say we were losing would be an understatement. Sonic, Shadow and Silver used every contingency plan under the sun, and yet ATS just had 50 ways to counter every single one. It was practically over…but then…"
"Then what?"
"Do you remember back on theARK?Eggman had you hostage, we had the whole 'fake emerald' plan…"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Well, when Eggman tricked him and shot him off to space, he was sent down there expecting that to be the end of it…and he didn't…look regretful, or angrily slam on the glass yelling "No!", or say that he had something else he wanted to do before he went…he was just grateful to have made it that far. No regrets. No nothing. That style made it seem like… if he were to randomly kick the bucket, he wouldn't care when it was. He was already living his best life. TheATSfight was just as dire as that moment, perhaps even more so…however…this time…his eyes…something about him was different. I have seen him get knocked down, get up with a smile and try again. Over and over. Despite that, I also knew his limits. I knew there were walls he couldn't surpass without an outside miracle or outside help. Against ATS, I saw him get hit with blow after blow that would have defeated him on any other day and yet…he just stood right back up. For the first time…I saw the fact that…hewantedto live beyond that day. Hewantedto finishsomethingthat he didn't end. He knew he couldn't win and yet he was desperately fighting against that fact. Miracle after miracle came, and when they weren't enough, he burned his very life to create that miracle. Without that force, I doubt the world would exist today as we know it."
"I…Thank you for sharing…but…what does this have to do with me?"
"...after it was all said and done, I got to share one last moment with him. It was at around that moment when I realised how much his attitude rubbed off on me. We were both just…glad to have met each other, we were not regretful, or not even sad…it was more of a "Welp, we had a good run.", and it looked like that was the end of it…but then…that glare…that burning flame…the same one in his eyes against ATS appeared right back on. His attitude faded, he looked concerned about the future for the first time. He had something on his chest…and that look came on the simple mention of Icarus."
Amy lets all of this sink in for a moment.
Tails continues.
"Amy…"
And as he does…
On the other side of the galaxy…
Planet Foralon.
The Half of the Blood Star.
Two insignifcant figures in a war neither of them fully understand drag themselves through the life-draining mud…
"...your value, your contributions, isn't a linear matter…"
At any point, each of them could simply leave the other to gurantee their safety…and yet…
"...in the long run, it doesn't matter if you can't run the fastest…"
…in their barely awake state, the state in which they are truest to themselves…
"...or punch the hardest…"
…they keep dragging each other further into the light, fully knowing that they are doomed the second one of them bails…
"...it is about doing your best every day…"
…as they walk through the literal line between life and death.
"...and leaning your shoulder to one in need. Because sometimes…"
The further they walk into the light of salvation, the harder their instincts scream at them to leave the other behind…
"...that shoulder is the only part that seems real."
…despite it all… eventually…using each other's shoulder…the heartless and the novice reach the light at the end of the tunnel side by side.
"The one thing that gives us our Source of Strength."
…
Icarus:"What…even was that?" He weakly asked the Metarix Machine.
M.M:"THAT. WAS. THE. BLOOD. STAR. LONG. AGO. THIS. PLANET. THRIVED. HOWEVER. THE INHABITANTS ATTEMPTED TO. OBTAIN MORE. ENERGY. FROM. THEIR. STAR. BUT. IT. WENT. WRONG. THE. STAR NOW. DRAINS LIFE. INSTEAD OF. GIVING LIFE."
Icarus:"But…what about this half? Why is it …not dying?"
M.M:"ON TOP OF. THE. LOYAL TREE. IS THE. LIVING. ALTAR. USING RESERVES FROM THE. OLD STAR. IT POWERS HALF THE PLANET."
Icarus looks down on the ground as he realises that is why the Ptre-whatevers were so adamant about the Aplens consuming so much resources. They couldn't risk a transitional period.
And to add to his moral confusion, his life was just saved by the same people who he wanted to destroy…
Wait, why is he even helping him?
Icarus:"Hey…I don't mean to be thankless…but…why did you save me?"
M.M:"I DO NOT. COMPUTE. I WENT AGAINST MY PURPOSE. I AM DEFECTIVE."
"No, you are not! You did a good thing, you-"
"NO. I HELPED YOU SO I COULD. LIVE. I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO WANT TO LIVE. DOES NOT COMPUTE."
Cosmo was wrong! They did have a soul! They could be saved!
"...ICARUS. YOU ARE THINKING OF. SAVING. US. ARE YOU NOT?"
Icarus looks away.
"I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. BUT. YOU HAVE A . PATTERN OF. SAVING. IT DOES NOT COMPUTE. ONE CAN NOT SAVE EVERYONE. THE APLENS WERE DOOMED. SO ARE…SO ARE WE."
Icarus:"That…there has to be a way, therehasto be-"
M.M:"ICARUS. YOU MUST MAKE A CHOICE OF WHO TO SAVE. I. DETECT NO. CORRECT. PATH OF ACTION."
The grip on Icarus' shoulder weakens.
The robot falls to the ground.
Icarus stares at the lifeless machine.
…
He gets on his knees, and using his hands…
He silently begins digging a grave.
…
Perhaps it was a simple malfunction.
Perhaps there was someone beneath that armour.
It didn't matter.
The grave of the machine that dared to have a mortal soul will forever remain…at the border separating life and death.