Shadow and Verity reappeared in the biomedical lab. Despite his warning and the fact that she was holding his hand, she still nearly fell. She grabbed hold of his shoulder to steady herself. 'Was that Chaos Control?'

'That was Chaos Snap. Jumping two floors doesn't require a lot of precision.'

'Oh. But that's still really cool –'

'You're going to vomit in the next thirty seconds.'

Verity picked up a sheet of pills lying on a nearby metal trolley and dry-swallowed two. She stubbornly shook her head. 'No, I'm not.'

'… You keep telling yourself that.' Shadow looked around and crossed his arms. They weren't the only ones here. The clinical, sterile halls were filled with doctors and bioengineers wearing white uniforms. The sight was more familiar than he would like to admit. 'In the meantime, I need to get bloodwork done so that we can go ahead with the program.'

'The pathology rooms are at the end of the hall –'

Shadow snapped into the nearest room and landed in an examination chair with his arms still crossed.

Verity rushed into the room, and the already startled pathology nurse nearly jumped out of her chair. 'Let me take this one, will you?'

'S-Sure. I don't have a veterinary license anyway.' The nurse scurried out of the room.

Verity sank into the desk chair next to him and booted up the computer.'I'm … sorry, Shadow.'

Shadow shrugged off his uniform jacket. 'It's a more common concern than you might imagine.'

'But this transcends both human and veterinary science – left or right arm?'

'Right. I'm left-handed.'

Verity placed a compressor on his upper arm and yanked the strap. 'As I was saying … There are so many moving parts. There's alien DNA; there's Chaos Energy … Do your organs secrete Chaos Energy, or do you always need a Chaos Emerald to use your powers?'

'T-The former,' Shadow said in a daze.

Her eyes sparkled. 'Really?' Then she winced and swivelled back to her computer. 'Oh, dammit, I'm wasting your time. I'm sorry. Name?'

'Pardon?'

'I have to take your details for verification purposes. I know it's stupid. Name?'

'Shadow the Hedgehog.'

'Surname?'

'Not applicable.'

'Date of birth?'

'19 June 1951.'

She stopped typing. 'Does that mean you're a veteran?'

'… I haven't even served for two years. I don't even qualify.'

'Oh. Right. Of course.' She glanced at the rows of medals on his jacket. 'You must have been busy. Phone number?'

'I don't have a phone.'

'Oh, come on,' she teased.

'I have comms, and I can teleport wherever I want. I don't need a phone.'

'You don't have a work phone?

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a flip phone. 'This is a burner I use for missions. Just put down the linked number, for both our sakes.'

'Thanks,' she said, squinting at the screen. 'Address?'

'I live here. Onsite.'

'Which floor?'

Shadow gave her an unimpressed look. 'It's supposed to be a secure location. Can you put down the headquarters' street address?'

She frowned at the screen. '…Yes, actually. Thank Chaos.' She shoved the keyboard away and pushed a container that held plastic vials into his empty hands. 'Hold this. Are you okay with needles?

'I've done this thousands of times.'

He tapped one finger on the armrest, staring into the middle distance. Despite 50 years passing, very little had changed. The cracked leather of the examination chair. The overflowing intray beside the computer. The medical charts hanging on the wall. He'd done this far too many times … and for what? It hadn't saved Maria, so why did GUN think it could save anyone else?

Verity pulled on a headlamp, removed the compressor and leaned over his arm. 'Sometimes doing something thousands of times doesn't mean that it becomes any easier.'

Her words caught him off guard, and he almost didn't feel the needle slip beneath his skin. Almost. The sting was all too familiar, and his breath caught in his lungs.

'What blood type are you?'

'… O+, why?'

'That's convenient. Have you donated blood before?'

'No. On account of the alien DNA.'

'Right. That's a shame. Given your abilities, you'd make a far more durable blood donor than the average person. Have you had something to drink today?'

'Coffee.'

'Just get yourself a water later –'

'I meant coffee beans.'

All the light and hope faded from Verity's eyes. She wordlessly passed him a plastic water bottle from beneath the computer desk.

He shook his head, uncapped the bottle and downed it in one go before passing it back. 'You were just talking about how durable I am. I'm not going to keel over after one round of bloodwork.'

'If you're going to do this program, then you'll need to start developing better habits. You'll be wishing you'd had that water after having your blood drawn 20 times in one day.' While they'd been talking, Verity had been switching out the vials until they were all filled, then she took the tray out of his hands and placed it to the side. 'All right, you're done.'

She held a cotton ball over the needle wound beneath his fur and reached for adhesive tape. Shadow flinched, and she did a double-take, saying, 'Oh, sorry. Most of my patients don't have fur.' She wrapped a bandage around his elbow instead, fastening it with bandage clips. 'You're done. No heavy lifting for the rest of the day.'

Shadow gave her a look and pulled his jacket back on. 'Or what?'

'In your case? Nothing – unless you care about getting blood on your jacket.'

'I could care less.' He looked her up and down. 'Thank you. You're one of the few people I've worked with recently who tried not to waste my time.'

She smiled brightly. 'Of course. I mean, I'm probably not going to finish my research before I die, so I understand the frustration.'

'… What are you researching?'

'Immune diseases.' She hesitated. 'I heard that GUN had a vested interest in immunology. But I only found out why after I joined.'

Because of Maria. 'And then you realised that vested interest was nothing more than a historical footnote.'

'Yeah.' Verity tried to smile. 'But look at me now. I may not be working with you directly at Central City Children's Hospital, but maybe I'll begin to see some progress in my lifetime.'

Shadow looked away. It wasn't fair. He had all the time in the world but he didn't know what to do with it, whereas people like Verity only had a few decades to accomplish the impossible.

He got up and said, 'Don't hold your breath. I can't make any promises.'

'I understand.' She stood up as well and tied her hair back. 'We'll begin doing tests to check for anomalies. We'll update your medical records as well. As soon as we get the green light from Bridges, we'll start cross-checking your blood samples with potential candidates for compatibility.'

Shadow nodded and took out the Chaos Emerald again. Verity's eyes widened with excitement.

Her eyes were the same shade of green.

'… Chaos Control.'

To be continued...