A Horrifying, Yet Miraculous, Absolution
Ch. 13
[×]
There was the sound of a ticking clock. Analog in nature, the gears spun in their cascading dance until the larger hand struck the notch that indicated yet another passing hour. Peaceful unwinding of the main spring carried on its duty diligently, uncaring and unaware of the passage of time's everlasting march. Various items were scattered about this timekeeping mechanism: a small fountain of running water, a music box with a spinning ballerina, a simple gizmo that waved for five minutes, and a series of metal momentum balls scientists enjoyed having on their desks. The entire collection was covered in a thin layer of fine dust – segregated in a far and isolated location of the main lab. Next to everything was a half sphere of such deep black it was almost purple. The golden rings that orbited around the center of mass were reminiscent of someone else.
It was a mechanism. Used early on as a research project on Chaos and its ability over space and time: something fun but impractical. It required an egregious amount of energy from the reactor of the ARK – enough to take multiple floors offline – and only 'froze time' for a few seconds in one 20' by 20' by 20' box. In the end, it was but an interesting jump into the forefront of the theoretical. Useful applications, however? Hah. Silly. There was too much expense to keep the experiment going as it was, and when the ARK got more people living within it, the mechanism went unused and almost forgotten...
Hah…
Gerald Robotnik, the head of Project: SHADOW, kept his body slumped on the office chair. Legs limp. Right hand barely had the grip to hold onto bourbon. Mustache gave the appearance of a drooped lily. White coat unbuttoned, it showed the basic shirt underneath.
A shaky hand lifted the glass and took another swing.
The liquid burned his throat and made his body react to avoid it. This wasn't what a genius does: they don't let their brains devolve into alcohol and the slowdown of mental processes. A genius should never allow emotion to overrule logical planning and execution. Yet, here he was.
… Here he was.
The shadows of the room played off the faceted face of the cup.
Now empty.
Debate wrestled in his eyes before will faded. There was the small sound of air pressure being relieved as Gerald removed a cap to add more. Each 'glug glug' seemed to taunt him: 'what-have' 'you-done?' 'What-have' 'you-brought?' 'What-life' 'you-wrought?'
He drank and drank.
The power a fifth of the reactor. Something that strong was capable to destroy a city. That was what his little Chaos 'toy' required. And the Ultimate Lifeform merely blinked around, folded the fabric of space, like it was a second nature. Certainly, teleportation wasn't as 'Earth shattering' as stopping time itself, but… what's not to say the Project couldn't do that as well? It was so blatant that the child had a deep well of Chaos Energy – was the thesis about actual, legitimate Chaos Control true? Could the boy use it? Could he finish what the toy only hinted at?
Was the teleportation earlier just a lesser version: simple, fast, and brutally efficient because of how little power it took to accomplish? What if the Project decided to input more of his might…? If the Ultimate Lifeform could wield over both space and time, it would mean that the 'Mobian' could go wherever he wanted. Could anything stop him if… if unadulterated fury ever took over? His granddaughter? And what if… What if Gerald failed to overcome her disease, she passed on, and the consequences made the Project inconsolable?
[The scientist consumed another round. Faster and faster.]
Maybe he didn't need to worry about G.U.N. finding Shadow.
Maybe Gerald should fear, instead, about the fallout when those two eventually clashed.
Because…
[The glass filled again with amber.]
Because he didn't see how they couldn't: the United Federations financed a weapon of unparalleled strength. Shadow wanted to live in idyllic harmony with those he cared for. The two ideas were radically different from one another – weapons weren't supposed to have feelings, just the ability to execute orders, tactically apply strategy, and never revolt. He could parade the hedgehog all he wanted for a fake show to the brass in order to save Maria, but when the lights dimmed and the truth was eventually revealed, the Project would react. Negatively – as he had proven he was capable to do so underneath her guidance – and that was being held back. Did not that face scream aggression the second Shadow believed to have been possibly discovered?
… A fight against the two groups of the ARK…
It would be horrible.
Like a bloody dawn.
One against thousands.
Two?
… No, three.
[Another empty cup.]
There would be a war. No way to avoid it; possibly never was once Gerald agreed to work on Project: SHADOW in the first place.
It was a matter of when.
[He didn't have the mental fortitude to deal with the corrupt drum memories right now.]
[x]
It was mid-morning. 10 Sep.
16 days left.
Gerald rubbed his head and moaned. By now, the scientist was on the fourth cup of water mixed with sugarless electrolytes – a concoction from his younger days when he was a little more willing to partake in alcoholic beverages. This was, ultimately, punishment. The thoughts he had when drunk last night were far, far darker than he expected. Ludicrous, in fact. War? Death? Existentialism?
Shadow was a calm, collected person whom only wanted to stay concealed, play camp with Maria, and share late night discussions with Gerald. Oh, yes, he had Chaos powers, and had a very startling aura hidden underneath that shape, but he was designed for it. The scientist shouldn't have been surprised. Teleportation can be extremely useful for saving lives – imagine if someone was hurt! The boy could just pop them into medical assistance. There was no way he would just straight up slaughter innocent lives!
Remind me to never drink again, the man thought as he rubbed his migraine. His body must have been severely dehydrated. Drunk me is a nihilistic nightmare. Gone were the days of an enumerated Robotnik being jolly and willing to karaoke off-tune.
But, work couldn't be paused. The bourbon was the third vice, so Gerald had to deal with the consequences: advance the plan, and with a debilitating headache.
PSUL2.017's data was being compiled and processed on his left screen. He had loaded up a fresh set and decided to use the drums that 2.019 would have owned as "2.018's" original datum was to be hauled into a secure vault or burned. It was ruined beyond repair with an endless repeating message. Was better to just delete the evidence of its existence in the first place. Perhaps, at most, he would save one drum for personal research or memory of what he had accomplished.
Gerald tapped the notebook underneath his chest. When the computer ahead of him was too locked up to work on for the next few hours, he switched tasks.
Whomever wrote that message certainly knew how to call the scientist out. They even had a unique method of speech articulation – almost reverent. 'Admire,' 'Father;' 'It.' Considering it was blasted all over Shadow's data, he easily labeled 'It' as the boy. Problem was, assuming he was correct, that meant the one whom left the message knew about the Ultimate Lifeform.
He shifted in his chair as he took another sip of the nasty water.
Well, technically, the words 'us' and 'we' were repeated. One unknown person knowing was a problem. A group was dangerous.
Maybe he should pay Maria a visit. Odds were she was already sniffing this trail [despite his misgivings], and a hungover Robotnik was willing to ask for help.
[x]
Purr. Purr. Purr.
An ebony hedgehog had his head upon Maria's lap. Her left hand was scratching someone's ear into submission, whereas her right hand was writing at speeds fast enough to almost break the graphite of her pencil. Gerald recognized the look of frenzy – one he shared himself. It was the face of near complete concentration, where the outside world fell away, and the only thing that existed was the task before you. It was the key to a Robotnik's genius, even if others claimed it was also the downfall to their madness. [He would never believe those words, but having one's mother spit barbs at you at a final meeting made them unforgettable.]
Purr. Purr. Purr.
Gerald took another look. Maria's right foot was tapping the floor subtly; there was a stack of papers all around her hunched over form; a box of pencils that were already halfway empty; two bounded books spilt open with sticky notes crammed everywhere; pictures and drawings of gemstones in eight colors – one bigger than the others, and two of them green; rough sketches of Chaos Drives, the Chaos rail lines, and the reactor in the core of the ARK; illustrations of various forms of blue blobs. The last one had red lines and string taped to each other and everything man-made, as if they were coupled.
Purr. Purr. Purr.
"Shadow's not home right now," his granddaughter finally addressed him. "I mean, he is, but he trusts you so that's why he's not responding." Her pencil continued to fly. "I needed him really calm to check out a theory. I might have snuck him some lavender to smell from the botany area this morning. However, I didn't tell him I was kinda doing an experiment. So, shh!" She hummed once before she flipped her writing utensil and erased heavily. "Can you take over keeping him under? I need to rest my hand for a bit, Grandpa."
Gerald walked closer to the two and sat down. Carefully, he lifted up Shadow and put the boy against his chest and shoulder. "Ummm… Like this?"
Blue shifted away from her notes to look at her grandfather for a quick moment. "Yes. That'll work. Just keep petting him."
So, there Gerald sat, waiting for Maria to explain herself, brushing back black and red fur as the quiet helped to alleviate his migraine. Eventually, however, his thoughts wandered to this entire weird day – and- Wait a minute. "Why are your gurney's Chaos Drives stuffed underneath the bench?" Maria was very aware as to how important they were in keeping her medical equipment running!
She flinched at that. Caught red-handed. "Well, I needed to test something and it wasn't like I could just rip one out from the life support system…"
"You got three minutes." Understanding of research eureka, Gerald had. Take calculated risks in experimentations, Gerald related to. Putting yourself in mortal danger by removal critical power supplies? Unacceptable.
That finally broke her frenzy. Small hands grabbed her notes and she finally glanced up and around. "… Alright," she sighed. "I assume you know I got a copy of that message?"
His stern expression was her response.
Purr. Purr. Purr.
"Ok. Um. I get it. 'Go on, grandkid, cause you're in trouble.' Ahem." The young girl squirmed. "See, it's all about Chaos. They're interconnected. Shadow can damage or seek out Drives to use, right? And, by reflection," Maria continued as she pulled a blue one out from below, "Chaos Drives will respond to him."
The Drive in particular was glowing the color of the core behind the specially engineered glass, like they always did. Yet…? "It's alternating lumens."
A nod. "With his little cute vibrations," the blonde pointed out.
Purr. Pulse. Purr. Pulse. Purr. Pulse.
A unique quirk but not a big revelation. Shadow's emotions could trigger a rail line – even under the influence of his Rings – and those conduits had vastly larger reserves of energy. It just wasn't mobile, like a Drive was.
She knew he wasn't impressed. Her gurney was specifically designed to save her life on bad days, which could strike at any moment. "What's not to say other things with Drives can't feel him in return, though? He's a big torch! A star! Something that if you could see Chaos would go blind!" A hand picked up the page and wiggled it in front of Gerald's face. Her finger pointed at the blue shapes excitedly. "It's the Artificial Chaos, Grandpa! They're somewhat sentient; aware of Shadow's existence and are somehow connected to him! One of them sent you that message 'cause they want to seek him out! It could have totally theoretically have happened with the robot-!" She cut herself off but almost continued just as fast. "When under duress or extreme desires from Chaotic influence, they'll respond to the strongest thing in their 'network' – or in this case, Shadow's subconscious!"
Did Maria mean the Gizoid?
Wait. "You're telling me the P-1s and P-100s can… communicate with…?" he questioned as he moved his face to look down at the boy.
Purr. Purr. Purr.
"It is probably one-sided. That's what I'm testing right now, actually." Maria rubbed the underside of her nose. "I was hoping you would show up since you can enter the military side of the ARK and get close to them without, uhh, suspicion." Her hands roamed towards the hedgehog. "It'll be easy! Go there, check out if a P-1 is calm and just a puddle. Or something similar." A laugh. "Research is fun!"
Maria was proud of herself. A pretty neat thing she thought she discovered, right? The concept that thoughts could be transmitted into other receptive lifeforms via Chaos was impressive. It left a whole new avenue to work under – new theories and potential avenues. But Gerald couldn't address the positives at the moment.
Because interconnection exposed big problems:
1. It meant the Artificial Chaos were alive in some way.
2. The P-series had access to the Project's mind.
3. Shadow didn't know how to block them out.
'We did what It wanted, Father.'
The Ultimate Lifeform wanted peace. Quiet. Relaxation. To be hidden away from those he saw as his enemy; whose only saving grace was the fact they funded the ARK.
The memories of what Gerald thought last night returned in startling details.
How many Artificial Chaos were there? Hundreds? Thousands? A multiple of both? G.U.N. was pleased with their creation and made a massive order. In fact, almost everyday there was another P-1 built to increase workload and demand. They were impervious to bullets except for their heads. A nice holdover for battles or practice exercises before the completion of Project: SHADOW.
Maria still sat there with the glowing smile of a girl that solved a complex riddle.
She didn't know.
She had no idea that the Project insinuated he would do anything to 'save' others.
She didn't realize that, if she was right, Shadow – the boy dreaming on his shoulder – had a literal army underneath his beck and call. Ones that were driven not by thoughts and logic, but feelings and desires. The hedgehog could believe all he wanted in doing things under a strategic, controlled manner, but if in the deepest section of his heart he wanted his opponents to be removed…
[-war will come to this station-]
"I can take care of him now. My hand can stand another hour," she cheerfully remarked. "It'll be so cool to know that Shadow has some new friends! See. Everything can be redeemed and will turn out alright!"
[x]
Thud, thud; thud. Footfalls and movement. A busy man had places to go and things to see. "A pleasure to meet you here, Doctor," some random Senior Airman greeted as Gerald briskly walked down the long corridors on floor twenty. He gave a simple wave of hello as his access badge flashed a receptacle from red, to yellow, and then finally green. A sharp beep hit his ears and the scientist pushed himself through the lock, going deeper into the more automated regions of his station.
Dancing lights from cooling ponds casted auroras upon each wall and his own body. It was the reflection of the water that twirled upon the small experimental uranium reactor for the military: used for training the Artificial Chaos to complete tasks on nuclear refueling. Chaos Drives were incredibly useful, but for massive machines and ships that G.U.N. desired and had access to, nothing beat U-238 in cost effectiveness. A P-1, the thinner and smaller of the two types, was finally being taught how to use its AI for peaceful results – this was something he normally would be pleased with. Maybe later.
One of the nuclear technicians saw him on the catwalk. It was an elder gentleman who was nearing the age of retirement. The two weren't close, but they had accomplished small talk at various station parties and functions. "O! Dr. Robotnik! You responded pretty quickly."
The liquid reflected off of his spectacles as his hands gripped the stainless-steel railing. "… I heard the Artificial Chaos were acting strange. Being nearby, I felt like taking…," he spoke as he arched his head down.
In the cooling waters were the lazy, unmoving P-1s. Their turquoise eyes were closed completely as they simply floated on the surface, giving no qualms to the two onlookers.
"… a peek."
The other male waved his hand. "They've been like this the past two and a half hours. Just when we got them back from the Office of Chaotic Research 'n Development and working again after their last freeze," the officer grumbled.
A 'freeze?' He hadn't heard about that. "They… had signs of inactivity before?"
There was a nod as disappointment exhaled from lips. It pushed a few strands of hair up and away. "Yeah. Mainly the P-100s, though. The P-1s mostly worked." He scratched his own head. "The round ball ones lost their ability to maintain vessels under their command – as well as its capability for anything more complex than just existing – about, oh… 4? 3? Months ago. They ended up being thrown in storage for weeks. Got fixed around mid August. We thought. Until to-fucking-day."
What… specific timelines. "I didn't hear about that."
"Must have been the Chaos engineers that kept it in-house. They don't want to show off that they fucked up their new toys after letting them get close to some fancy rock one too many times – or something. They've been all over themselves to butter up the new Big Boss – always going on and on about being better than us glow-boys, and look where that led them to." He laughed at the joke. "Damn assholes think Chaos Energy is going to replace good, old fashioned nuclear power. Ridiculous."
Both continued to watch as an Artificial Chaos got sucked up into one of the large cooling lines.
"Argh, fucking bitch ass useless things – no offense, Doc. Their normally smart enough with their AI to avoid that shit, but apparently not this afternoon." The man cursed again before saying goodbye, having to head off to fix the issue. Fortunately, it was a minor one – this reactor was designed for training, after all.
Gerald left, not feeling very relieved.
It was the first time he had wished Maria was wrong.
Why…?
Why was she correct?
[x]
Sean Casey issued a cheerful wave from the background. He was carrying a large box labeled OFFICE SUPPLIES and had no Security Forces beret on.
Gerald pretended not to see him.
[x]
The boy was no longer petted and scratched into submission when Gerald returned. Instead, the Project was playing a card game against Maria, who by now had lost her shoes, jacket, and socks. Her voice played over the recycled air by the largest window of the observatory in a playful grumble. "What happened to the Shadow that let's me win?"
A smirk danced as a royal flush of spades dominated the camping table. "You lost the ability to have my mercy when you knocked me out all day. Pulling out lavender? That's a low blow." His hands reached over and made a gesture of calling something. "You know what's next. Last thing."
"You wouldn't."
"I wasn't the one that wanted to play poker with, as I'll quote, 'Some real stakes worthy of the Ultimate Lifeform.'"
A cry of denial erupted before Maria took off her blue headband. "Calculative."
"I've been told."
"Card counter."
"Nothing new."
"I will avenge my messy hair!"
An actual snort came out; the reaction arching Shadow's back against the chair. "That's… certainly a threat."
Her head tilted. "Not enough fear in you? Well, then. TICKLE ATTACK!" And the girl pounced on the hedgehog, who didn't expect to have seventy-four pounds of human female launch at him like a missile.
"-Get off-!"
"No!"
A white gloved hand did the most pathetic attempt of peeling her off. "I said, 'Get OFF.'"
"If you really mean it, pinch me!" his granddaughter taunted.
The Ultimate Lifeform allowed himself to be put into this situation and just… sighed. For all practical purposes, he could just leave. Let Maria be alone and disappointed. With the mental age of a teenager, there wasn't a need to go through such tender, small moments with a young girl. It was beneath a creation of such magnitude.
But he did.
"Oh." Shadow sat up straighter on the floor and made himself look more presentable as Maria lost balance at the sudden shift in position behind his wings. "Good evening, Professor."
Gerald had a feeling the 'Mobian' had no idea of his granddaughter's experiment. "I have a request for you, my boy, when you're done playing tonight."
"Of course." His hand signaled to not only the giant stack of poker chips on his side, but also candy bars and a few of the young girl's favorite pens. "We can end here. I am feeling… generous."
Maria playfully seethed behind him.
The scientist kept his face neutral. "For now, I need to talk to Maria. Alone."
There was a face of initial confusion, but the Project didn't say anything other than nod, silently handing over to his granddaughter the articles of clothing and shoes that were stockpiled besides a blue cushion. After giving the two a look over – confirming that neither needed him – he skated off towards a side wing. His expression knew something was going on, but as ever polite as always, Shadow gleamed that he'll be notified when 'ready.'
Maria watched the boy leave as well as she pulled up her socks. "So…?"
"They are, indeed, connected, I am afraid."
Blue eyes blinked as she paused zipping up her jacket. "'A-Afraid,' Grandpa…?"
Oh, his precious, naïve, grandchild. Gerald knelt to get to her eye level and placed both hands on her shoulders; squeezed them. He wanted to get his point across to someone that has the reigns on the Project's emotions the best. What should he tell her? "My dear…," the scientist started, trying to think of a proper sentence that wouldn't sound like he was condemning his own creation. It wasn't like Shadow was integrated with the Drives' recipients on purpose – it was just…
The lack of foresight from a foolish man.
He let go of the pressure on her shoulder a little bit. "Maria. You must make a promise to me, now. No more… sneaking off with Shadow to remove 'threats.' We got extraordinarily lucky the last time. Do you understand?"
Her face told him everything he needed to know.
Quickly, he flashed through what the list of enemies could be underneath Maria's more innocent mindset. He felt his eyes squeeze together tightly as a pressure increased in his chest. "You were going to go after the Prototype."
It wasn't a question.
"G-Grandpa. I can – I mean, I can't explain, but-!"
"You cannot let Shadow do that."
"B-But-!"
"Maria Robotnik. The Artificial Chaos feed off his happiness, sadness, and anger. They'll turn on G.U.N. the second they have the opportunity – the second Shadow loses focus on giving them mercy. Can you understand this?"
She looked horrified. Her foot stomped the ground. "He would never! That isn't TRUE!"
Gerald wouldn't yell. He wouldn't. "You must listen to reason. Artificial Chaos weren't designed to process emotions and comprehend morality. They were created to be nothing other than weapons-"
"-B-But you said that they were meant for water rescues-!"
He couldn't hold it back anymore. Something inside him… snapped: the cultivation of months upon months of stress, lack of sleep, and mental disarray. "I LIED, MARIA! TO ME! TO YOU! FOR YOU!"
She stopped speaking.
Damn it! This wasn't what he wanted. [Deep breaths. Regain self control. He could handle this.] Forcefully, his volume returned to normal. "Fear is an incredible motivator. For good. For evil. For both. In my terms, it motivated me to make weapons of mass destruction for the military: the Chaos Drives to fuel their robots, the soon coming Eclipse Cannon to establish them as the top nation and to also kill a warlord, the surrender of the Gizoid when I needed more funding; my magnum opus – the Ultimate Lifeform. Everything that I built, I did for you. I'm scared of the day you'll never wake up again. I'm scared of you being still and broken. I'm scared that I've made a mistake and only shortened your life in my hubris. Yet, I reached out, and will continue to do so, to anyone – anything – that would offer me a way forwards. Do you understand this, Maria?"
Blonde locks moved as she nodded; eyes widened and tear rimmed.
"Just… don't. Don't let this end in… potential negativity. I can finish this. I can cure you. I know I can. I just need time like you needed – time that won't be bought if you tell Shadow to do things that can activate the Artificial Chaos that run off his turmoil. Humanity turns against what they fear, and they'll fear the boy. They'll fear what he's made of. What he can do. And what's not to say that his fear in return won't turn… apocalyptic? Understand?"
Another nod. "I… I g-get it, Grandpa," she whispered.
That response hurt him. So honest. Had he not just killed her innocence of youth, too? She had never seen anything outside the peaceful curtain of the ARK, and now he just dropped upon her that there was an end in sight – a bad one. "I am so proud that in your heart you think of only the best for him and me," he tried again, "but sometimes you just have to understand the scope of what we're dealing with." He wrapped his arms around her, and whispered by her ear so she couldn't see his face. "I'm not mad that you want to help. I just… want to be brought into your plans, alright?"
Shaky hands returned his hug with her own.
Eventually, she offered a distant recollection. The pain of regret and the knowledge of disappointment. "… If the Biolizard stays alive, it'll be... The people on the planet would be…"
Gerald didn't respond to that.
The young girl shook as the tears fell down onto his chest. "I don't want to die, Grandpa. I don't want to see the monster. I want to see the blue skies! The white clouds! The green grass! The colors of Earth!" Her head moved left and right. "I want us to have picnics by a meadow. All of us! Me. You. And Shadow!"
He took in a deep breath. "Shh. Shh. It'll be ok, Maria."
If she wanted the Prototype to be killed, she didn't need to use the boy.
Gerald knew every inch of that failure's beating, sad life.
Every strength.
And weakness.
He'll accomplish the deed himself.