Shadow stood in silence. His hands hung at his sides. At the edge of his vision, he saw the two guards exchanging nervous glances. 'Are you all right?' one of them asked.

Shadow tapped one heel on the ground, and his air shoes ignited. With the barest of movements, he skated away. He passed the same agents that he'd passed on the way down – except this time, they were animate. Curious. Wary. Sympathetic. Concerned. Jealous. Hopeful. They were eyes, faces and bodies strung together by small talk and a semblance of purpose.

He drew to a halt beneath the atrium at the heart of the GUN headquarters and looked up. With another tap, fire bloomed beneath his feet, and he ascended upwards. He withdrew the Chaos Emerald and stared into its facets. Staircases spiralled around him like the strands of a double helix. He could just teleport to the rooftop … but what was the point of reaching your destination faster when you had all the time in the world to get there? He remembered scoffing at Rouge only moments ago, saying that he valued his time too much to waste it. Had he even meant those words in the first place?

He reached the top floor and cleared the railing, setting foot on solid ground once again. He stowed the emerald again and trudged up the steps to the rooftop access door.

The stationed guard stepped in front of him. 'Clearance?'

'Clear off.'

'I won't ask again –'

Shadow swiped a grenade from the soldier's vest, pulled the pin out with his teeth, wrapped the soldier's hand around it and let go. 'And neither will I.'

He heard the the man choke.

''The bomb squad's office is on level three.' Shadow pushed past him. 'How's your grip strength?'

Shadow heard the clatter of boots on metal as the soldier ran down the stairs. He stepped out onto the rooftop and shut the door behind him.

It was raining again.

Rouge stood beside the door, leaning against the wall, huddled beneath an overhang.

'I told you to go inside.'

'I thought you'd still come back here.' Raindrops fell from her eyelashes. She attempted to smile. 'And I was right. Besides, I'm the team leader. I give the orders, not you –'

'Why didn't you warn me?'

Her smile faded, and she crossed her arms. 'You were the one who decided to use Chaos Control –'

'You still knew! You knew what the proposal was, and you could have told me – I saw you hesitate!'

'Of course I hesitated!' Rouge snapped. 'They wanted me to ask you to join the program, Shadow!' She threw her hands up in the air. 'And what do you think would have happened? Would you have said yes if the proposal came from me instead of them?'

'I don't know what I would have said, because no one –' He turned away and slammed a fist against the wall. A spiderweb of cracks whorled out through the concrete. 'No one even … asked me.'

Beneath their feet, thousands of agents went about their business, oblivious to the world above and around them.

'Do you want to know why I didn't ask you?' Rouge's ears were twitching. There was concrete dust on her bare shoulders. 'Because I didn't want to influence your decision.' Her eyes were bright – too bright – and they reflected the kaleidoscopic sea of neon below them. 'I didn't want you to go against your better judgement for my sake. Believe it or not, at least one person in this agency who still gives a damn about what you want!'

Shadow glared at her. 'Do you honestly think I would do something just because you asked me to?'

A pained expression flashed across her face. She wrenched open the rooftop door and stepped over the threshold. 'Of course you wouldn't, you stubborn jerk.'

He caught her by the arm, stopping her. 'I wouldn't do something just because you asked me to – so you shouldn't be afraid to ask.'

Rouge turned back to him. Her eyes gleamed like sapphires. Why did her eyes have to be blue? Why did they have to look familiar in a certain light?

She stepped back down and leaned against the wall again. The door fell shut. The cracks in the concrete swirled around her like a static vortex. 'Well? Are you going to go along with it?'

Shadow finally let go of her arm and stepped back. 'I … can't.'

'Can't? Or won't?'

Shadow turned away and walked back to the railing. Rouge stepped out from under the overhang and joined him, standing by his side. He leaned on the railing and looked out over the cityscape. He could see the Central City Children's Hospital from here. Guilt stabbed him in the gut, and he could feel the blade twisting. 'I don't even know who this is supposed to be for.' His voice cracked – a phenomenon he'd never experienced before. His eyes widened slightly, and he cleared his throat. 'Because it's not just for those damn kids, that's for certain.'

'I don't know. For GUN?' Rouge hesitated. 'For you?'

He laughed bitterly. 'For me? I doubt that. But if it is, then I don't want it. I don't need any more closure.' The rain had faded into mist over the course of their conversation. Moonlight glistened on the wet concrete. Shadow looked up, and Rouge followed his gaze. Space Colony Ark floated above the full moon in the night sky. 'I've already let go of my past. I left it behind, on that space station and in White Space. I've said my goodbyes to Maria, to Gerald – and to my old self.' He gritted his teeth. I've moved on, but GUN hasn't.'

'Forget about GUN for a minute, sweetheart.'

Shadow looked at Rouge in bewilderment. 'What?'

'As hard as it sounds – as inextricable as GUN's history and your past are – try to put GUN aside and look at the big picture. What do you want to do?'

He could still see the hospital. Each window was no larger than a pixel at this distance. Many were illuminated, but some weren't.

'I don't know.'

He'd often wondered if Maria's wish had stripped him of his agency and free will, as though he was a marionette being puppeteered by a well-intentioned goddess. But it turned out that he'd chosen his own destiny in White Space before Maria ever voiced her wish aloud. She had wanted him to give everyone a chance to be happy, and now he was guided by her wish, not bound by it. Her words were like the light of the North Star, not a set of coordinates. Sometimes, their desires aligned through space and time, but sometimes, they diverged.

Rouge tapped her fingers on the railing. 'This isn't just about your past. It's about what you are.' She gave the hospital a calculated glance. 'You were designed to be a cure, but you were turned into a weapon. Is there a reason why you can't be both?'

'There's a reason why GUN has only ever used me as a weapon – because I couldn't be a cure, and nothing has changed since then.' Shadow twisted one of his inhibitor rings as he spoke. 'I told Maria that I had let go of that destructive anger, but I nearly killed everyone in that damn conference room. I told them that I wasn't sure whether GUN has changed, but … maybe I haven't changed either.'

'You have changed, Shadow.' Rouge put a hand on his shoulder. 'But you're still allowed to be angry. Anger is an emotion, just like any other. Maria just didn't want that anger to destroy you.'

'Maria was … kind. If my soul was really based on hers, then why …' He gritted his teeth. 'Then why am I like this?'

'Because you have just cause to be angry.' She followed his gaze, taking in the graffiti, gunshots and sirens. 'You still have to live in the world that Maria left behind. And despite how much she loved the Earth, it's still a cruel place.'

'I couldn't cure her, Rouge.'

'Because you ran out of time.' She shrugged elegantly. 'But now you have all the time in the world –'

'Don't remind me!' he snapped. 'What's the point of having all the time in the world if I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it?'

Rouge pressed her lips together, and her voice was terse when she spoke again. 'Then at least you'll have the time to figure it out.'

Suddenly, her ears pricked up, as did his own. Someone was coming up the stairs, approaching the rooftop access door.

'Is that the Commander?' Shadow muttered.

Rouge tilted her head. 'Sounds like it.'

He turned away and took out the Chaos Emerald. 'I'm leaving. I would recommend that you do the same.'

She stepped onto the railing. The moonlight outlined her wings in silver. 'You'll have to come to a decision eventually.'

'I'm aware.'

Rouge spread her arms and began to fall backwards. 'Goodnight, darling.' She smiled, but it was forced. 'Try to be back before dawn?'

He held the Chaos Emerald up and watched through its facets as she somersaulted into the night. 'Hmph.'

He heard the creak of hinges behind him. He vaulted onto the railing and leaned backwards. A winged shadow swept across the moon as the door swung open. He caught a glimpse of Abraham stepping through the door, the man's eyes widening as he saw Shadow falling from the railing

For Shadow, it had only been a year since he had sat beside Abraham on Space Colony Ark, viciously needling him about his lack of algebra skills, even despite the fact that Shadow himself could never turn in a homework assignment on time. For Abraham, it had been over 50 years since Shadow had caused the death of everyone the man had ever known and loved.

'Shadow, wait –'

Shadow fell backwards and plummeted, ignoring Abraham's terrified shout. Mere seconds before he hit the ground, a loud snap split the air and a bright green glow swirled around him.

The last thing he saw was the afterimage of Abraham's panicked expression as the commander leaned over the railing. The green glow of Chaos Snap was reflected in his eyes.

What are you so afraid of? Shadow thought wearily. I can't die.

The snap echoed, and Shadow disappeared.

To be continued…