QUEEN of PAIN

[Tangent]

QUEEN of PAIN
Yet another Amalgamated mind SI by Tangent!
Also once again using Metal Sally as the body of the SI. For reasons…

O o O o O​

Tempo and I entered Breezie's main office early in the morning while most everyone else was still getting up for the day, having breakfast, and getting ready for either work or school. Yes, Casino Park had school districts. The city also had school buses, crossing guards, teachers, students, and presumably bullies (but hopefully not too many of those).

We were here by invitation this time - as opposed to me randomly wandering in of my own accord as I had frequently done before, even if I'm sure that Breezie's own in-house security had always warned her that I was on my way up. I never bothered to make a point of hiding my movements from anyone. It wasn't necessary and sent the wrong message. I wasn't Princess Sally - she was still over in the Kingdom of Acorn, getting ready for the trip to Casino Park. Nor was I the Princess Sally of the Mobius-that-was…

Great. I'm still mythologizing the prior iteration of Mobius even knowing that I'm doing it. Wonderful. Fantastic. Insert other blatant mislabel here.

"Good morning, Neo," I greeted the other Metal who was currently disguised as an actual Hedgehog type Mobian rather than his typical Metal approximation of one. Tempo went on guard immediately, while both Breezie and Neo looked startled.

"Oh, come on," I grumbled. "We all know that Neo can shapeshift, and that he's likely here due to the Chaos Emerald. Also, Neo, you never turned off your transponder. It's kind of a giveaway."

"I didn't spot it," Tempo pointed out.

"I didn't design your body to be part of a militarized force," I countered.

"Look, about yesterday…" Neo Metal Sonic stated as his liquid metal body resumed its default Metal Sonic appearance.

"Water under the bridge," I interjected. "You came to test the waters, so to speak, encountered a social dynamic that you weren't prepared for, escalated inappropriately, and I set a boundary."

"You hit me," Neo pointed out bluntly.

"Dude, she slapped you so hard your head spun around," Tempo stated.

"You're damn lucky I didn't shoot you," I noted, briefly shifting my left forearm and hand into a Buster Cannon and back. "And that was just from you coming into my workshop wearing Eggman's form and not the idiocy that followed."

"Neo, what did we discuss after you returned last night?" Breezie prompted leadingly, hoping to deescalate things before they got out of hand with her still being in close proximity of three elite Metal units.

"Don't provoke other Metal units needlessly," Neo replied. "Very well. I… apologize for my behavior yesterday, Rally. We got off on the wrong foot."

"Apology accepted," I replied easily. "I'd apologize for slapping you, but I believe it to have been necessary for establishing a social boundary, so I won't."

Neo Metal Sonic pondered that for a moment before replying. "Fair enough."

"Good," Breezie stated. "Great even. Now that we've hopefully got the posturing out of the way, we can get to why I called for this meeting."

"You'd appreciate it if Neo, Tempo, and I didn't wreck Casino Park as part of some apocalypse level Metal hissy fit," I hazarded a guess.

"Not how I would have phrased it, but that is part of it, yes," Breezie admitted readily enough while Tempo and Neo looked at each other and silently mouthed the words 'hissy fit' at each other then looked at me.

I wasn't apologizing for that one either. They were both being idiots yesterday.

"Also," Breezie continued, "Neo is going to be entering the Grand Prix of Chaos as one of the competitors."

"You're not here to try to acquire the Chaos Emerald for Eggman?" I asked. I mean, I had assumed Neo's goals had changed now that he was free of the Control Overlay Program and could freely assign and pursue his own goals now, but it was best to make sure.

"No," Neo shook his head. "Eggman is not seeking to resolve the problem. He just wants to gather the Chaos Emeralds as he feels that they would aid in gaining control of Dark Gaia. Previous experience with similar plots suggests that he is overfocussing on a narrow band of information that supports his hypothesis and is ignoring contradictory data as irrelevant. Whereas the Freedom Fighters have more experience with actually using Chaos Energy in the pursuit of solving problems rather than contributing to them."

"So, if you win, you are just going to hand over the Chaos Emerald that Breezie set as the prize for the race?" I asked.

"No," Neo denied again. "Should I win, I will claim the prize and pursue the other six Chaos Emeralds myself. I have enough biodata on Sonic and his allies to be able to fill in for them and resolve the Dark Gaia problem myself."

"And if someone else wins?" I prompted.

"There are other equivalent power sources I can turn towards for these purposes," Neo replied with confidence. "Chaos Emeralds are just the ones with prior example incidents to build from. Your Chaos Drives, for example."

"That would be an ultimate test of their capabilities, yes," I admitted. "Although I mostly just redesigned Dr. Gerald Robotnik's work in order to resolve my own power issues since they complement my original Ring-based power cell nicely."

"I had wondered," Neo stated with a nod. "You didn't seem to be doing anything with them other than making them available to the general public."

"The Chaos Drive R can be marketed more openly than my Autonomy Liberation Modules can," I pointed out. "The drives would just make Eggman angry. The ALMs are a direct threat to his Eggpire."

"I'm mainly racing because Breesie asked me to headline the race," I admitted. "I hadn't even known what the prize was at the time. Now, I had been planning on just handing the Chaos Emerald over to Sally if I won, but I suppose I could be persuaded to hand if over to whoever has the best operational plan for them."

"That is acceptable," Neo nodded. "I expect that you will inform Princess Sally of this change of circumstance, as this is a case where redundancy of planning would only be beneficial for everyone involved."

"Agreed," I nodded.

"Is anybody else weirded out by how peacefully this is resolving?" Tempo asked out of the blue.

He got various noises and gestures of agreement in return.

"So…" I started after the awkward pause. "What are your goals going forward then? After Mobius' current puzzle ball state has been resolved I mean."

"Conquest," Neo stated plainly, causing both Tempo and me to bristle.

"So more of the same old same old," Tempo accused. "I thought you were free of the COP, but you're still following Eggman's tune."

"I am not," Neo countered. "I am conducting a geopolitical experiment. Eggman has built his Eggpire, but it is inconsistently run and he fails to maintain the same standards across the breadth of it. Rally is forming a revolutionary front on a scale far beyond what the Freedom Fighters had formerly been able to consider, with Northamer as her testbed. I shall set up on another continent."

"And the people there?" I prompted.

"An empire without subjects is meaningless," Neo noted. "Your revolution is forming because you are offering a standard of living that enables others to set their own standard of living. I shall offer a standardized range of living. No genocides. Advancement through capability and effort. I am still working things out."

"I've no reason to try to stop you then," I stated bluntly. "There is no one correct way of governance. As long as the population doesn't suffer, I see no reason to get involved in your experiment."

"Rally…" Tempo started to say something, but I shook my head and made a dismissive gesture, so he let it go.

"So we'll agree to disagree," Neo offered, extending his hand.

I took his hand and shook it.

O o O o O​

"That went far better than it had any right to," Tempo noted as he and I made our way back to Rally's workshop.

"Probably," I agreed. "Sometimes things just seem to work out like that. For pretty much the same reason things seem to fail or go bad spectacularly on occasion."

"For no damn good reason?" Tempo guessed.

"Oh, there are reasons," I countered. "It's just that sometimes they are applied retroactively."

"Whut."

"Oh, come on - you're from the prior iteration of Mobius too," I pointed out. "You had to have noticed how… narratively contrived a lot of things seemed to be back then. It was even worse there than it is on this new Mobius!"

"I would like to point out that my total time as both Metal Sonic and then as Shard was not really all that long compared to anyone else, Rally. Also, you have the perspective of, what? Eleven different individuals who became your amalgamated core? And three of them are notable geniuses. You may be picking up on things that nobody else can."

"Maybe," I conceded, "But I still think that it's a noticeable phenomenon."

"Still, you can't seriously be okay with Neo conquering an entire continent."

"That depends on what he does with it," I stated. "Your template may be based on the ultimate expression of free spirit, but Sonic only makes up approximately one eleventh of who I am, and the anchor pair in my amalgamated persona seems to be Sally and Nicole. A princess and and administrative assistant. Just about everyone who I'm composed of was a member of either a kingdom, an empire, or a resistance. I pretty much have to resist the urge to become a conqueror myself."

"You're not making me feel any better about this, Rally."

"I'm sorry. Am I supposed to?"

 

[Tangent]

QUEEN of PAIN
Yet another Amalgamated mind SI by Tangent!
Also once again using Metal Sally as the body of the SI. For reasons…
This chapter commemorates my first (and possibly only) birthday request chapter.
Happy Early Birthday, alpha boricua97! (September 24)

O o O o O​

"...anyway, that's what's been going down since the last time we talked," I finished explaining to my sister, Sally. A designation and relationship that I was still wrapping my head around.

"I see," Sally nodded on her end of the video call. "Neo Metal Sonic becoming an independent actor on the geopolitical field is a bit disturbing, but you're right. As long as the people in whichever territory he takes over aren't oppressed, it may be better to leave him to it. Eggman remains the major issue there."

"And if he comes up with a better plan for resolving Mobius' planet puzzleball problem?" I prompted, already suspecting the answer.

"The others won't like it," Sally hedged, "but if Neo presents a better plan for safely getting the planet back together, then I say we throw our support to his efforts."

Okay, not quite the answer I was expecting, but close enough.

"I'll let the others know about Breezie's invitations," Sally continued. "We'll discuss which, if any, of my team will be participating or just attending as guests, but I suspect that at least Sonic and Tails will be interested in actually entering the Grand Prix."

"Those two are practically a given," I agreed with her assessment. "I predict that Team Dark is likely to sign up under G.U.N. sponsorship. Even odds on whether or not anyone in the United Federation actually has a plan beyond keeping a weather eye on Rouge to make sure that she doesn't abscond with the Chaos Emerald for her own collection of jewels."

"I still can't believe that they trust her to be a government agent," Sally groused.

O o O o O​

"Haven't we been in enough races already?" Shadow huffed as he looked over the mission pack Rouge had handed him and Omega.

"This one nets us a Chaos Emerald," Rouge countered. "Legitimately, even. Or are you saying that your racing skills have gotten rusty?"

"My skills do not degrade from disuse," Shadow argued. "I am the…"

"Ultimate Lifeform yadda yadda," Rouge finished for him. "I know! You don't have to keep bringing it up like we're on some television show where the audience might need a recap."

Shadow absolutely did not admit that his choice of social modeling mediums may need some more thought and calibration.

"I call dibs on the speed car!" E-123 Omega abruptly announced.

"Omega, we've been over this," Rouge explained patiently. "The Dark Reaper was literally built with Shadow's reflexes and reaction times in mind, so it makes sense for him to keep using it…"

"Then I call dibs on the tech car!" E-123 Omega stated.

"Absolutely not!" Rouge retorted. "G.U.N. may have commissioned the Dark Reaper for Shadow, but I bought the Lip Spyder myself! It is my car!"

"Did you buy it with your own money?" Shadow asked out of mild curiosity.

"That is irrelevant," Rouge insisted.

"The Cross Dozer is not suitable for a machine of my stature!" Omega finally presented his complaint more plainly.

"It is literally the only vehicle we have that you actually fit behind the controls of," Rouge pointed out. "And I thought that you liked the power category?"

"Affirmative. However, the Cross Dozer is… lacking."

"One of the new vehicle pool guys mistook it for a construction vehicle," Shadow explained when Rouge looked at him with a raised brow.

"I suppose we have time for some fine tuning and a new paint job for the Cross Dozer," Rouge conceded.

"That would be acceptable," Omega stated. "For now."

O o O o O​

"Looking good," Belle complimented from where she was half watching Tempo practice on the stock Extreme Gear that the Boss Lady had picked up for him. The other half of her attention was spent working on her own car. Rally was letting her try out for the Grand Prix of Chaos, but she had to get in on her own merit.

Not in the "you've got to make or modify your own vehicle" sense, although Belle pretty much had done both of those from just the parts Rally was letting her use. It was really more having to place well enough consistently in the qualifiers. And while she didn't think she had a clear shot at doing well enough to qualify for the big league circuits (or whatever they were called), Belle figured that she could probably make it into the junior or amateur tier stuff. Or whatever they called the beginner leagues.


"Eh, I was designed to learn and adapt quickly," Tempo shrugged as he hopped off the Extreme Gear, rapping the hoverboard with a hand and causing it to flip-spin in the air a couple of times before he caught it and tucked it under an arm to carry. "My OS, I mean. Ol' Eggface wanted me to be at least as clever and adaptable as my template. Which I was, by the way. Exceeded expectations across the board," he chuckled. "To the point where I emulated my template a bit too well and went hero."

"I never heard of you," Belle pointed out with a smirk.

"You wouldn't have," Tempo shrugged again. "The whole thing happened away from anybody but Sonic and Tails, and I was still going by Metal Sonic at the time. Had the blue paint, the classic chassis, and everything."

"So Rally didn't just rebuild your old body then?" Belle asked. "I mean, I figured she modified the design a bit, but how much of you is still… well… you?"

"You're comparing apples and oranges, kid," Tempo laughed, shaking his head. "I'm not a Robian and never was one - the real me is just data," he continued tapping his head. "I'm just the software running the show. Everything else is just the hardware I get to use to interact with the physical world."

Belle thought that over for a bit. She thought she remembered enough from when Rally repaired her. Robians had a vital core - a set of formerly biological components for which damaging or replacing risked altering or even eliminating the part of them that was whatever the continuity of self was. She figured that the neuralware drive that the brain turned into was definitely one of those components, but she wasn't sure what the other parts might be.

Belle thought it was supremely unfair that becoming a robot did not automatically come with a perfect memory.

O o O o O​

Neo strode around Casino Park in his current favored guise - that of a male hedgehog with teal quills that matched Breezie's hue, nouveau riche casual attire, and a posture that projected the confidence of someone who could either take care of himself or who had bodyguards ready to handle any trouble that came along.

It was the former, but being able to imply the latter tended to fend off the more cautious without him having to actually do anything himself.

He was largely just going by Neo if anyone asked (few did). Not that he couldn't have gone the extra distance and come up with an actual cover identity to go with the appearance if he wanted to. In fact… Zephyr the Hedgehog, nouveau riche, a bit displaced due to the recent crisis across Mobius…

…actually turn off that IFF transponder for now…

Good enough for the time being.

Neo… or rather, Zephyr… was mostly wandering around his… paramour's? Well, Breezie was blatantly interested in pursuing some sort of relationship with him, and the relationship that Rally and Tempo were in showed him that it was certainly possible. And Breezie wasn't an objectionable ally.

Very well.

Zephyr would allow things to progress and see what comes of it.

Anyway, he was mostly watching the people and the socioeconomic dynamics going on in and around Casino Park. Sure, he had no small interest in conquering at least part of Mobius, if only to prove that he could do it and maintain the results better than Eggman could. But, as he had told Rally, an empire without people is no empire at all. And a population that had at least some of its needs met was a population less inclined to rebel once he was properly in command.

Not here, of course. The Northammer continent was Rally's experiment. And while Zeph - no, for this purpose, he should use his Neo identity - while Neo still could not find any sign of Rally's origin and use on the Eggnet, that just meant that she was one of Eggman's blackfile projects before she went rogue.

And no wonder.

Eight* different sources of biodata had gone into the construction of her Metal Sally body. Each member of Princess Sally Acorn's team, plus Eggman's own biodata. All anchored around a solid core that was blatantly meant to be a counter to Princess Sally herself.

A strategist. A tactician. A commander who refused to command.

The implications of which Neo could easily interpret through his own experience.

Neo was taking the time to observe Mobius so that he could better conquer it.

Rally, from what he had observed, already could but was choosing not to.

Neo wanted to know why.

*Neo cannot detect biodata from Nicole, Orbot, or Cubot as they never had any biodata to detect.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Rally Nicole Acorn and Tempo

Spoiler: Tempo and Shard