A Horrifying, Yet Miraculous, Absolution
Ch. 6
[x]
There were many 'bowels' of the ARK where creepy, smiling Security Forces members didn't know. The entire station was cut into an asteroid that had been tethered in an orbit around the moon and Earth – the same sort of celestial run that the first men around the lunar body accomplished. As such, there was a point where the wide array of impressive sights and colors of the world became the thick, rocky, and alien expanse far beneath. The utility half of the ARK sprawled mainly in these sections – the tubes of water-embused Chaos Energy streamed through a maze of complex pipe works and ponds. [Red and yellow in color – those hues seemed to be a trend.] Down one certain passageway lied the beating heart of the Eclipse Cannon. The rest of that weapon still needed completion, but the sight en route to his destination was still spectacular to behold.
He knew – prayed – he would never see it fired. It was designed to be too strong to be used upon Earth's surface. Comets were more of its thing – to make a certain one sparkle like jewels for just a moment. It was his everlasting gift to Maria.
Gerald shifted his face as he continued to walk.
A gift for Shadow, too, he supposed.
However, this was not to be the Project's resting area. As a great scientist, Robotnik understood that having an entity capable of corrupting Chaos 'rail' lines while asleep should not be anywhere near a weapon of mass annihilation purposefully designed to wield said Chaos – incomplete or not.
So, the elder continued his gaunt. He made it past the core and eventually into a region where only technical engineers would revel – the deepest underbelly of the beast. Above were steam pipes, water mains; all sorts of intersecting metalworks. Each color demoted various liquids or gases that fed the labs and living quarters of everything 'above.' Not ran on Chaos, and meant to be serviced every so often, the maze had literal hundreds of miles of tight spaces.
To alleviate the severe task walking would effect on inspection days, there was an odd railcar system that connected each route. You needed to be a genius to not get lost – or in Gerald's case, he engineered the entire ARK. To get by unaided here, while not exactly a cinch, was something within his power.
The transport was quiet. The movement swift. Entire trip one-way was only about fifteen minutes. In terms of a 2D map of an umbrella shape of the station, he was on the upper left-hand corner. Steam pipes were his sole companion this far, even though the Chaos rails were not too far away – they never were.
Gerald sat down and pulled the few items he had snuck out of his lab with him. The area had been cleaned up and organized into a workspace large enough for him and a few others. In a state of guilty conscious, there was even a makeshift bed – the gurney he had used to take Shadow into this region not able to go this far, but its cotton comforts would still play an important role.
The boy… looked so small.
… Which honesty was a little silly. Those wings were longer than Gerald was tall.
Yet, the scientist still maintained that feeling of sadness and melancholy. [Where had it come from?] "I know so little about you: what you like; what you hate. I don't think I am worthy of your affection just yet, but..."
He trailed off and sighed. "I'm talking to someone whom cannot respond."
Gerald lumbered back towards the transport and removed a small cloth from rectangular shapes. His hands reached back again and out from the darkness came a quartet of cages. Little white mice played the part of their new companion – like Shadow, they were in a deep doze. Of course, the rodent specimens were purposefully put into sedation for silent movement and should awaken before too long. Still, they had a purpose to exist.
One was labeled 'Long Exposure.'
One 'Short.'
One 'Near Distance.'
One 'Far.'
"Do understand, Shadow, that this isn't against you as an individual. I don't even truly know you, and you're my own creation. Maria wants me to, though – and I was already inclined to follow with my own free will as well. I just," the man shook his head, "need to ensure that we can all stay safe while you are like that. It's quite a decent amount of Chaos Energy you're producing." The chuckle was only marginally forced. "I don't think I can keep you split apart for too long." A smile grew as he attempted to give the aura of warmth. "Might just find camping gear one day up here."
The head of Project: SHADOW tried his best to rationalize his thoughts scrambled with conflicting desires to the dead.
"Nothing intrusive. You just have to… take your time in slumber. I'll work on your Rings down here and keep you company from a safer distance." A pause. "Might even tell you a few… stories?"
'Later' was to begin right now.
[x]
Who was the Ultimate Lifeform? Did he like snacks-?
Wait. Did Shadow even want to eat? It wasn't as if Gerald could compare the Biolizard to the Project in this case. For one, the hedgehog was sentient-
… Normally.
[Although, technically, the Ultimate Lifeform had been down longer than up.]
Anyhow, there was at least something in the area that enjoyed food: the mice. Their squeaks of higher pitched noises were concurrent with those that were held under the control group, as if they knew when the scientist arrived there would be new munchies. As always, he kept log with each of his observations. It had only been two days so far, so the compiled paperwork wasn't deep. His scribbles could be easily read. Controlled, even.
The mice were warm, fed, and comfortable. Since they were passive experimental subjects, Gerald returned to his main focus.
On the workbench, which was a deep cleaned slab of metal that would have to make due, sat a golden ore from Angel Island. The man had very little amount of it due to many reasons: for one, he stole it. Of course, he didn't exactly mean to acquire such a rock without proper admission, but… Well, the properties of what the Altar was composed of, right in the heart of the entire island, had garnered too much curiosity. It just so happened this ore was in a cavern nearby a certain mural and, oh my, Gerald's hand had 'slipped.' He was young and foolish back in those days, and it was the glittering mineral that called him. [Alright, there was a lot of objects on that trip that did the same.]
Whatever the case, this material had been used effectively: a faux synthesized, mass-produced run was the basis for his own version of the Altar that was to run the Eclipse Cannon. And, well, now it was also to be Shadow's. He couldn't use his cloned copies, however, as it wasn't like he could attach a space station to the Project's wrists and ankles.
So, he had to use the original.
What little he had left.
A noble sacrifice, to be honest…
The elder pulled the copied notes from Maria's diary: each little heart and loop giving Gerald a small smile despite his overall stress. He wondered if Shadow had asked his granddaughter about a way to inhibit his unrivaled Chaos Energy – the way he spoke that specific word earlier was pretty… poignant. [As was another strange one that Maria had brought up.] Basically, it was as if the 'Mobian' instinctually knew that he needed-
White gloved hands that rubbed wrists-
As if missing something-
Bracelets-
Anklets-
Gold. Four golden rings perfectly made for one Ultimate Lifeform-
He laid his head back against the not-at-all comfortable chair and exhaled. Gerald was about to think something ridiculous. "Shadow, this old man needs a break."
There wasn't going to be one.
[x]
"-and thus, my wife decided then and there to name my firstborn daughter. It hurt her dearly when we ended up with a son instead, but of course she got over it in 0.0048 seconds…" Misery. Forlorn. Loss.
There was a small spark of gold, not from the Project, as Gerald continued to peer into the magnifying lens. The very tip of his tongue stuck out in concentration, a habit that none of the other Robotniks seemed to have acquired [perhaps for the better]. Two silver sticks, essentially specialized jeweler's tools, tipped with diamonds poked, scratched, and prodded the 'angel ore' – creative, he knew – into the pure element. He needed to scrape off all the impurities before even hoping to smelt it, and since it was designed to reign in power, it wasn't like he could just use a drill.
Things would go much faster if he could do this in his actual lab, but… Well, it was better to not leave room for questioning.
"Ahhh, talking about my passed-on wife isn't something I can keep up with for too long, Shadow. It… hurts. But, don't worry," Gerald continued, moving the few specks he had gained from the fruits of his effort. Some of them sparkled like rubies – the same ones within the Project's face. "… I have many other stories I can go on about. Have I told you about my fifth favorite book? I don't quite think so. You might enjoy it – the beginning has a female that travels on a spaceship across the vastness of the expanse. Remind you of someone? It's called Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy† and-"
He kept working.
[x]
The days were repetitive. A few weeks passed by without much comment from the outside world [G.U.N.] as more scraps of ore piled in a confined container. They never seemed to dull – a nice change from silver, which always needed to get polished over and over again until worn. Like all things of Angel Island, this rock was basically 'indestructible' – it really wasn't, but it could take more abuse than the tungsten mixes, which was quite impressive.
"A unique piece of jewelry for a unique person. Although, for your dignity, I suppose we'll call them tactical gear, won't we, Shadow?" the scientist ended with a joke.
Back to the job at hand-
A shrill noise filled the piped hall. Gerald gasped in surprise – it sounded like a 'final scream.' That cry was from the very depths of something incredibly, undeniably hurt.
[Almost like the Biolizard when it had been forced into hibernation-]
He slammed the rock towards his workbench and ran towards the source. It wasn't Shadow – the boy was still as brilliant as ever; as silent. It wasn't the pipes – any noises that could be carried could not be so clear. It wasn't the asteroid – the extraterrestrial matter did not care an iota about the warmth of the golden aura.
So that left-
It was not 'Far.' Not 'Near.' Not 'Short.'
It was 'Long.'
The white mouse was contorted in on itself. The creature was writhing, panting, and slamming it own body into the metal confines of the cage in a desperate attempt to escape. Gerald didn't have to wait long to see the injuries it acquired onto the small body by such rough and nightmarish movement: red footprints soon marked the enclosure. At the same time, the scientist noted the albino's eyes had become flat and glassy with the pupil having collapsed to the smallest possible size. While not as intense in hue as with the Project, they, too, implicated a disconnect from the brain-
The noise stopped.
The mouse passed on.
[x]
Sixteen hours later and the papers were still flying.
'Near' went next.
Same symptoms.
[x]
Seventy-nine more and 'Far' went down.
[x]
'Short' was fine.
'Short' was healthy.
Perfectly healthy.
[x]
New cages had new tags. 'Near and Long,' 'Near and Short,' 'Far and Long;' 'Far and Short.' There were time tables. Calendars. Temperature measurements. Chaos detectors where they could be squeezed to work on the 'Far' group. Wires and pads for analog recording devices hooked to every mouse. Sample collection devices. Sterilized specimen bags. Tissue collection receptacles. Instruments for mice biopsies and eventual autopsies.
Each microsecond of each mouse's time spent within the 'radiance field' was catalogued and noted. Each reaction, each movement; each noise.
Gerald ignored coffee and went right into basically raw caffeine.
His last full eight hours of sleep was-
When?
[x]
His breath was haggard out of emotion.
The last of the 'Near and Long' series was not doing so great. It had lapsed into a drugged-like state and was on the final stages before the end arrived. Only for now was it still alive. Contorted, yes, but the brainwaves running off the small creature showcased it was experiencing whatever the closest to 'bliss' that animal could understand.
The chemical makeup had gone awry in the creature's neural complex. Essentially, all organs had shut down. A living corpse.
It didn't even understand it was in agony.
Chaos Energy to this extent in sentients…
How… horrifying.
Gerald felt his muscles cramp as he turned to look at the source. His results were not concrete as he still couldn't get anything to work on the carbon and crimson body, but… He could connect the dots – could understand the data plotted out.
… Could recall the Project's words.
"I hadn't believed it was like this under your surface. Shadow, you poor child…"
[x]
Gerald snuck into Maria's room while she was not there. He had asked her to get a lunch ready for them to eat together – it had been another week already, and she saw that her grandfather was past the point of exhaustion.
This was something he wanted clarified himself.
He carefully turned on each of the devices upon her gurney, ignoring the way the stickers attempted to make the other Robotnik feel better. With a singular 'beep,' they activated. No body was lying there to read off from, so they all baselined. The scientist pushed SILENCE before the localized alarms could ring – testing the bed was not what he was here for.
In the menu of the various machines resided 'history.'
Maria's.
It was just like 'Near and Short's.'
The record still showed what Dr. Eruba paused at: normal.
Perfectly normal.
[x]
[Of course, it wasn't a solution, though.]
[This particular strain of Chaos Energy was simply acting as a genetic accelerator at the least.]
[The girl was still sick.]
[But there was HOPE for a WISH.]
[x]
Gerald needed additional eyes and hands on this. He might be going mad at the implications, and the damage to the Chaos rails was starting to affect the more lived-in areas.
He was on a timer, and the clock was haunting him.
[x]
Three scientists were besides Gerald – the ones he trusted the most to put pursuit of knowledge and the unknown before their own safety in the likes of G.U.N.. In their hands were pencils and clipboards stuffed to the brim with papers about anything and everything they could get their hands on that dealt or related with Project: SHADOW – even datum tied to the larva, although the specifications of the deal he had with them remained hidden. They wrote what they were seeing even when mouths failed to formulate words.
One of them hesitated, gulped, and shook her head.
Reaffirmed what lied before them.
It wasn't a dream. It was the truth. A harsh one.
Gerald didn't want to turn and look at what held their attention. He was… afraid of losing his ability to be logical, and being frozen by emotions only created inaction, which would solve nothing. "We need to prioritize making these 'Inhibitor Rings' before addressing potential cures. Otherwise, Shadow will not be very capable of holding back against the ARK's systems for us."
Their pencils flew across paper.
"Maria managed to talk to the experiment prior to him reaching this state," he continued as each word felt like ash. "The specimen was unaware of the exact aftereffects of using his abilities on a larger scale, although there's evidence that he had his own suspicions. I have concluded that our Project isn't…" It took everything he had to not look. "… capable of using Chaos Energy and keeping himself sentient without something to control the amount it wields. He lacks a biological mind, after all, and is being held together basically by the idea of 'self,' which Chaos Energy erodes away."
A pause in the writing of his underlings.
The taller male, Dr. Yadev, a scientist who specialized in conservation and energy fields [dabbling into Chaos enough that he understood more than required to be here in the first place], muttered. "Do you think it's in Nirvana?"
Gerald could feel his mouth enter a deep frown. "Pardon?"
Yadev squirmed. "It's… considered to be paradise in my homeland." The pencil nearly snapped in his stress. "Something that whomever falls into will, ahh, never return from or desire to leave."
A few seconds ticked by someone's automatic watch. "You meant that in a… religious context." Gerald wasn't guessing. Nor was he pleased.
"The amount of Chaos the Project is tethered to defies our studies and annihilates norms," added the head of the biology department to Gerald's left, Dr. Guzman. "Your notes mention that it basically turned into a congealed mass powered by nothing more than that energy at embryo, right? A mass that had markers that were much closer to the larva than a hedgehog – a larva, I might add, that had flags for very high levels of natural Chaos Energy as well. It's also written here that the specimen was irradiated by an Emerald and countless Drives. What my cohort is saying is that we might have created something whose natural state is being one with the Chaos." Even she wiggled in place under Robotnik's stare. "Doctor… It's just his hypothesis and Yadev was only bringing up a word we could relate to."
The last of the trio didn't move his gaze from the Project before them, either. Like Guzman, Dr. Tower had also specialized in medical bioengineering. "Dr. Robotnik, I see where they're coming from. Without proper regulation, its body was overtaken. Hence fallen 'into Nirvana.'" A pause. "I mean… it has a holy aura-"
"Just a physical manifestation of acute Chaos Energy," Gerald growled.
The three blinked. Pencils not jotting the denial down.
"Professor." Yadev cut back with a flat voice of disbelief. "It is literally – passively – consuming the lives of others to enrich the select few. It can transform into a horror – your drawings leave not much to the imagination. You do realize we basically created an eldritch, right?"
A brusque cut off. "Nonsense. It's a hedgehog-alien-Chaos organism with the ability to change form and harness energy; with the skill to reproduce, and potentially impress upon others, its Chaotic makeup in order to achieve healing." Why was it that everyone thought that about Shadow?! "This is well within the parameters of what the requested goal was to create in the first place."
Tower rubbed his face. "You think we're keeping Project: SHADOW a secret because it was 'just an organism?!'" His hands flailed in the air out of anger – clipboard almost lost in the sudden movement. "For fucks sake, it did divine retribution upon G.U.N.'s mess of experimentation. The one that ran off Chaos to be turned into an all-powerful weapon, like how the Ultimate Lifeform is supposed to be. It took out the entire contraption in 7.2 seconds based on the seismographs at most! How are you not sure it acted out because it felt like there could only be ONE?"
Because Maria asked in a foolish attempt that Gerald did not understand why. [He couldn't tell them the idea belonged to her, though. How could he when he barely believed what she did himself!? And Shadow!? He had allowed himself to be her glaive!] However, to call it 'retribution!?' Ridiculous! The Project had never seen, nor been told, of the Gizoid in the first place! "Look-!"
The professor was interrupted. "Robotnik. You cannot just ignore that the – we'll call it a Chaos explosion – was only enough energy that it amounts to smaller than a single digit!?"
Gerald was brought to no words at that.
[He knew. He knew just how little – next to nothing – the amount of Chaos Energy Shadow had used in Maria's desperation. He knew it was more than the spear he first saw. He knew what those two facts employed.] "How asinine! You are men of science! I won't hear this discussion about 'Nirvana' NOR 'demons' anymore! The first, and only, thing we should be focusing on is restoring Shadow's sanity. I refuse to lose the Ultimate Lifeform to himself and endanger this entire station!"
One of them – Gerald didn't know whom it was as his anger [denial!] overtook him – gave a look of exasperation and disbelief. "Professor. You want 'science?' Fine. We damned ourselves, and Project: SHADOW will go down in the annals of history. I'm honestly more impressed and in awe than fear at what we created. Imagine what it could do when it regains a will and becomes fully in control of itself."
"What a masterpiece," came the end with wonder and exhilaration from someone else.
The lead scientist exhaled thru teeth. "Art can't be seen without a portrait to hold it up. You better start assisting me in creating these Inhibitors if that is what you want to observe."
Freaks.
Fanatics.
Insane.
Why were his underlings so!?
[Because he was, too.]
[x]
Worried blue eyes that tried to perk up. "Grandpa?" the voice echoed in his dark, unlit room. "I was told you haven't been eating. So, I made you some breakfast! I put chocolate chips in the batter of your pancakes, smiles made with bananas, and even got real milk from the chef!"
Her toes inched upwards to see the fatigued face of her family member.
He didn't move, so she tried again. "Grandpa…?"
"Come give me a hug, my dear. I… I am afraid I might be making a mistake."
She didn't understand his pain.
[Four golden rings.] [Objects to restore Chaos under control of the owner.] [Designed to stop the unrestrained leak.] [The question remains: what should he DO?] [Go down a dark path that will strip the free will of someone that was his good -?] [Spare the boy?] [Keep the Project in the depths of 'paradise' to repair, but never cure, Maria?] [Which version of the Ultimate Lifeform will he choose?] [The Shadow that Maria needs or the Shadow that Maria wants?]
It felt like he had almost solved what he had been looking for, but he… just couldn't-!
"Can you forgive me, Maria?"
There had to be another way.
"For what?"
One that didn't require Shadow in that state.
"For not trying hard enough. For losing resolve."
It. wasn't. a. cure. at. all.
The Project was to be one. Giving away Maria the chance to act healthy, but not removing the source, wasn't a solution. It WASN'T. That was ONLY A PATCH JOB. His granddaughter needed an actual, permanent result. He shouldn't feel guilty. He shouldn't be tempted to label the current version of Shadow a 'success' and not attempt to save the fluttering glimpse of the individual underneath. The ability to repair others with Chaos Energy was just a hint that Gerald was on the right track. He should NOT be ENTICED on doing the WRONG THING-
Those smiling pancakes made a mockery of Gerald. He didn't deserve them.
She lacked understanding, but she didn't have to. "Grandpa… It'll be ok. Whatever this is, as long as you are healthy and alive with your super caring heart, I will never, ever think you've done anything wrong." Her small hand patted his shoulder underneath the thin covers. "Now, let's eat some breakfast and start the day anew?" A mischievous face; as if she knew deep inside that there was no joy in his current mind and was about to become it for his sake. "Maybeeee you'll let me sneak behind you to find where you stuffed Shadow?" A scrunched face of hard thought even despite that cyan glow of life in her eyes. "See, Grandpa, we both made a pact to protect you, and it's kinda hard to do so when we can't plan together."
He was aware enough to call his voice 'filled with depression.' "My dear. Shadow can't talk right now."
"Grandpa. That's what the Inhibitors are a for." There wasn't confusion. That sentence was just a simple fact of life. Her expected result from a man she thought was better than he really was.
It wasn't explicit permission to abandon that potential path – to abandon the quick fix for her – but his conscious took it as such.
[x]
[[† = this is a real title of a good nerd book, although it was written years after the 1950-ish or 1970-ish timeframe the ARK was pseudo-built in.]]
[[I bring this up for no reason, whatsoever.]]