《Lost Speed》 I It¡¯s December 19th, 2003. The cameras are put into place to start. It¡¯s the set of the famous tonight with Rick Ravete show, the most popular Friday talk show on air. The stage has been equipped with the latest technology and the set itself has a very modern look and feel to it. Everything is about ready the only thing left is for the cameras to start rolling and the host to show up. At the signal from backstage the host of the show Rick Ravette enters the stage and the crowd cheers. He sits down at his desk in front of him are a bunch of blank papers and a PlayStation 2. Rick even though surrounded by sleek and new technology, dresses and looks like the 70s never went away. An old suit with wide 70s trouser legs, a thick mustache and an outdated oddly shaped hairstyle. Rick¡¯s fashion sense has been a big topic of discussion and has remained mysterious, even more so by the fact that Rick isn¡¯t that old to be wearing that stuff. Many fans of the show argue the clash of new and old gives the show its aesthetic appeal. Rick moves around a bit in his chair to get comfortable, crosses his legs, shuffles around a bunch of those blank papers in front of him and begins the show. ¡°Good evening ladies and gentlemen to those of you that have just joined us we have a very special guest tonight, those of you from my generation know him as the hero who saved the country from an evil mad scientist, the young and kids know him as their favorite video game character, give it up for Sonic the hedgehog!¡± Sonic enters the stage as the crowd gives him a loud applause, he runs around a bit, giving waves like almost every guest does with a big smile on his face. Once he finishes his entrance, he sits down with a very confident posture across from rick. The format of the show isn¡¯t at all that different from other shows of the same type. Rick starts asking Sonic some basic questions with of course a joke thrown in there every so often. ¡°Tell me Sonic, how long has it been since you¡¯ve done some hero work?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure rick, it¡¯s been such a long time since I defeated Ivo Robotnik, was it 20 years ago?¡± ¡°Do you miss being a hero?¡± Sonic paused to think, was he missing his hero work, did he feel happier then, or is he happy now doing the work he does. Sure, being a hero was probably more important and maybe even more fulfilling but doing video games came with its own set of perks. Money and fame, now he enjoyed that very much. Why risk your life and potentially die when you can just make games about yourself. He never even was that keen on the hero job in the first place, a case of being at the right place at the right time. His circumstances made him into a hero and he happened to be the one there and the one to stop Robotnik, or as he is called in the video games, Eggman. Now a retired hero, directing and designing video games loosely based on true events. He doesn¡¯t miss his old life of poverty before transitioning to making games. It¡¯s tough to imagine life without his luxurious penthouse. Did he feel guilty about monetizing his heroic deed and turning it into a video game franchise? Absolutely not, every superhero that saves the world at least once has turned that act into a profitable business be it movies, TV shows, games, etc. It would be stupid not to convert the goodwill you had with people into money and I was not the first nor the last hero to do such a thing. Besides I didn¡¯t become a hero to make it into a profit, the rewards seemed to naturally follow. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! As he was deep within his thoughts he reminded himself that he was on an interview and it demanded an answer from him. ¡°I don¡¯t miss it one-bit¡± Sonic answered firmly. ¡°Is that so, a lot of heroes like you tend to be nostalgic for better days?¡± ¡°Not me, I¡¯m way more comfortable making video games than running around and fighting bad guys. I know my reputation is of the fastest thing alive but I haven¡¯t run fast in quite a while in real life¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that aloud you are ruining some kid¡¯s childhood¡± The crowd chuckled and so did Sonic ¡°You have to know when your time for something has passed, you can¡¯t be a boxer your whole life, for every job you take there comes the time when you have to hang up the gloves and leave,¡± Sonic said. ¡°So returning to being a hero is out of the question for you?¡± ¡°I am way past my prime, there are also plenty of superheroes out there these days.¡± ¡°Maybe even too much,¡± said rick making the crowd chuckle ¡°I don¡¯t feel like the world needs Sonic as a hero¡± Behind both of them was a large screen that so far displayed a generic image of a city. Rick turned to look at it and the screen changed to a promotional poster of Sonic¡¯s new game, ¡®Sonic heroes(2003)¡¯. ¡°Plenty of buzz has been generating about your new game Sonic, care to tell us about it a little bit?¡± Sonic turned to look at the poster and a sense of pride took over him. While he was very fond of the millions of dollars he made from his work and the opulent lifestyle that money allowed him to have, it was more than just work to him, he genuinely enjoyed making video games. This project in particular was very stressful for all that were involved and the development had been pretty rocky. There were a lot of clashes amongst the staff and everyone was working with a very tight schedule. Thankfully it was done, now it was ready to be released and he felt nothing but pride and joy. He always put parts of himself in all of his games, he saw it as his art. Although this was not a solo project, this was a massive collaboration between him, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, Vector, etc. Even so, in his eyes, this game was his, he was chief director after all and he made it a point to insist on that. He justified it as him being the most popular he should get to have his name and his vision dominate the project. Being a successful and popular millionaire gets to your head and Sonic had built up quite a large ego. He and Rick started going on about released dates, features, gameplay, graphics¡­ the usual batch of questions one does in these types of promotional interviews. ¡°I have to ask, does the future worry you?¡± rick said. ¡°Why would the future worry me?¡± ¡°Not long ago SEGA was a big deal in the console market, now the Dreamcast sits discontinued and they have made it clear that they won¡¯t be making any new consoles. ¡®Sonic Heroes (2003)¡¯ will be the first mainline game in the franchise that was developed to be multiplatform, how does that affect you and the future of SEGA as a whole?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t worry about the future at all, SEGA has always been primarily about making good games, whether it be making for our own consoles or consoles made by other companies.¡± ¡°But you must agree that the Dreamcast¡¯s performance greatly damaged the company?¡± ¡°The Dreamcast was a failure by almost every metric however I feel a great passion for making games and I think I¡¯ve never been stronger or more energized. Not just me but every single one of our developers feels the same way. The Dreamcast may be dead but Sonic team is here to stay.¡± Sonic responded with a look of fire in his eyes. His words were definitely sincere. The interview continued for some time, things ran smoothly and after a while, it was time to wrap it up. ¡°Well there you have it ladies and gentlemen ¡®Sonic heroes¡¯ is releasing on the PlayStation 2, [REDACTED] and Xbox systems this holiday season. I know my kid will be wanting a copy on day one, it was a pleasure having you tonight Sonic and I wish you success¡± ¡°Thank you for inviting me rick it has been a pleasure¡± II After finishing the interview Sonic went on to have dinner with everyone involved in the making of ¡¯Sonic heroes(2003)¡¯. They were all currently in the USA on a media tour to promote the game¡¯s launch. This was the final day of that tour with the biggest interview, on one of the more popular talk shows. Tomorrow everyone would be on a plane and back to Japan but for the last night, it was decided to go on a celebration to an expensive restaurant as a sendoff. The restaurant they went to was one of the most well respected and most expensive in the city. The place had an elegant look and the color red dominated the interior. The group reserved a massive table and everyone started going to their seats. ¡°We should¡¯ve gone to a place that was blue,¡± Sonic said. That statement got a lot of eye rolls and sighs from the group. Sonic sat next to Amy, they had been in a relationship for a very long time and it had been mostly good. Sonic could be very egotistical, selfish and had a tendency to have an emotional outburst when he didn¡¯t have things his way but Amy at this point knew how to handle it. She could be very patient and was dominant enough to keep him from getting out of control. Everyone else had a mostly negative opinion of Sonic, they found him to be very immature and unfit to be a leader, and he frequently mistreated the team. While Amy could overlook his flaws, everyone else had no reason to, they just kind of decided to bear with him since he was making them all rich but they had no loyalty or dedication towards him as a person. The only exception was Tails. His relationship with Tails, his once best friend had gotten colder and more of a business nature since the development of ¡¯Sonic Adventure 1(1998)¡¯. It was no longer Sonic and Tails, Sonic was the leading star and he made that very clear to Tails. Money and fame changes people and even though most of the team was negative towards Sonic however Tails couldn¡¯t be mad at him. Tails wondered, would I be like him had I ended up being the lead star? It¡¯s easy to say no from this perspective but you truly can¡¯t know how you react to things unless they happen to you. I miss the days when it was just us, the time when we had an unconditional friendship. Life was a lot more tough living in poverty, there was always a shortage of everything in the forest. We didn¡¯t have anything but I miss it so much. Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, the rest, and me with barely any food on the table but we were laughing all the time. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Now it¡¯s formal business dinners, with the best food in the world but it all feels so empty. It didn¡¯t start out like that. After we stopped Robotnik in 1988. Sonic signed a video game deal with SEGA in 1991. and his first game was a massive hit. He could have forgotten about all of us from the forest but he came to me and asked me to co-author with him ¡¯Sonic the hedgehog 2(1992)¡¯. That job brought me out of the forest and turned me rich. I remember being so happy, we were having so much fun, we constantly bounced off each other creatively and every day I had this sense of this is how things should be. The second game was a massive hit and with the following games he pushed SEGA to keep including the rest of the gang. By Sonic adventure 1(1998) he pretty much pulled everyone out of poverty and away from the forest. The fact that he was SEGA¡¯s leading mascot and that his actions got everyone rich started getting to his head. He felt as though everyone owed him their success and that they should listen to all of his demands. When the development of ¡¯Sonic adventure 2(2001)¡¯ started, Sonic told me, as head director, he decided that I won¡¯t be part of the game and I wasn¡¯t needed for the gameplay. He wanted me to record my cutscenes and leave. I was hurt by this, I thought we were best friends and he just signed me off but a part of me was glad. I wanted to believe this was my time to go back to my old life, I returned to the forest. I tried living there but a decade of a comfortable, rich lifestyle had changed me too. The nights are really cold, there is no easy access to food and it¡¯s boring, there is nothing to do. I just couldn¡¯t live like that again, so he is not the only one that changed. I changed too in ways I''m probably not aware of the same way he has. I was hit with a dreaded sense of loneliness, nobody in the gang was there, just me. What was even the point of being here I wondered. To my surprise some last-minute changes in ¡¯Sonic adventure 2¡¯s¡¯ development made SEGA include me in the gameplay. I was given a call and went straight back to work. Sonic acted towards me as if nothing happened and as angry as I was at first I decided to let it go and move on. I wasn¡¯t owed a spot in his games, it was his goodwill that got me here in the first place. I love the act of making video games, designing my levels, and writing the dialog is fun and satisfying. However, I don¡¯t belong in this world of high life and opulence but I also don¡¯t fit into my old life either. I don¡¯t even know the person I was 12 years ago. Everyone is highly critical of Sonic, usually for good reason and I am not blind to his faults but you can¡¯t ever know if anyone here wouldn¡¯t have been corrupted by the power Sonic holds right now. We¡¯ve all changed, more distant, colder, and full of ourselves. As difficult and egotistical Sonic can be, I am proud of all the games we made together. I guess I just wish that we could all be friends again like we used to be. III Tails was sitting, staring at his expensive dinner, physically present but his mind was absent from the situation. He was looking very gloomy. He raised his head and looked toward Sonic who was babbling about ''Sonic Heroes(2003)'' and how impressive the graphics ended up looking. Amy was nodding along but she looked completely bored. Knuckles was pretending to listen but he was more focused on enjoying his food. He and Sonic clash quite frequently during productions ever since ''Sonic 3 and Knuckles(1995)'', Knuckles'' first appearance. Even though these projects are collaborations, Sonic is still the one in charge and he always makes sure Knuckles is aware of that. Once they were close friends, now they were business associates with a strenuous relationship. Knuckles felt like he was getting shortchanged. Yes, he got paid a lot of money for his work. However, Sonic would in promotions and interviews everything only about himself. Knuckles felt a great injustice that although chief director, Sonic gets all the credit even for the things he had no involvement in. Knuckles thought, it was always Sonic''s game never our game. Their arguments got more and more frequent during development, Knuckles even threatened to quit several times and that anger within him kept growing. This game, ''Sonic Heroes(2003)'', had probably the most intense fights so far. He had reached a boiling point when he was listening to Sonic talk on Rick Ravette¡¯s show. Why does only he get to sit there and none of us, why does he get to pretend like he singlehandedly designed and programmed everything, Knuckles was thinking to himself. For the first game they did together Knuckles was able to strong-arm the board of directors that his name be in the title, so it ended up being ''Sonic 3 and Knuckles''. He also managed to get a seat in every interview along with Sonic and Tails. Unfortunately for Knuckles after that game in 1994. he wasn¡¯t able to influence the company anymore. They were not keen on his last attempt to aggressively push them around and they would take a firm stance against him. In almost all arguments he would have with Sonic the company always sided with Sonic. To add insult to injury he was completely denied any media spotlight, a combination of receiving fewer and fewer interview calls and Sonic using his influence to make sure he doesn¡¯t get a chance. As much as he wanted to have another argument with Sonic he tried to keep his feelings to himself. In order to avoid a fight he decided to ignore everything Sonic was saying and just eat his dinner. While everyone was sitting by the table, Shadow was standing away from everyone, looking through the window and thinking about his last meeting with the president of SEGA. The president told him that the board of directors was considering giving him a solo project where he would be the chief director. Shadow had become incredibly popular because of the previous game, ''Sonic Adventure 2(2001)''. At first, it was meant to be the only game he would be a part of, it even ended with him dying. SEGA saw the money-making potential of his popularity and requested that Shadow be brought back for ''Sonic Heroes (2003)''. Sonic fought to the tooth and nail for Shadow¡¯s in-game character to stay dead. He purposefully wrote the death to be part of the story so he wouldn¡¯t have to share the spotlight with another hedgehog. Even sonic couldn¡¯t stop the decision and was forced to write a contrivance for Shadow¡¯s character to return, he was very displeased about that. He was powerful enough to stop Robotnik¡¯s attempt to conquer the world, but he could do nothing against the mammoth machine that is corporate capitalism. Now SEGA was considering giving Shadow his own game, a nightmare scenario for Sonic. Sonic is yet to be informed, he will probably make a huge fuss but there will be nothing he can do to stop it if the higher-ups decide to go with it. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Shadow feels like he is on top of the world. He is at the height of his popularity and potentially has a project ahead of him. This a chance for him to build a career of his own, no longer a side character in Sonic¡¯s world but the main character in his world. He is already planning out his game and writing the script. He hasn¡¯t gotten the greenlight just yet, but he is very motivated to seize his potential opportunity. Back at the main dinner table, Sonic is going on and on about the graphics and how good they look. Boasting about his achievements and mostly congratulating himself. Everyone was used to Sonic¡¯s egocentrism and need to boast about how cool and great he is after every finished project but it never ceased to get on everyone¡¯s nerves. ¡°I think we heard enough of this Sonic can we move on to something else¡± Amy interrupted Sonic. ¡°I was just getting started,¡± Sonic said. ¡°Nobody cares¡± Knuckles interjected. Sonic was taken aback by Knuckles¡¯ response. Knuckles was just about finishing his meal and was wiping his face with a napkin. He couldn¡¯t stay quiet after all. ¡°We are done with the game and I¡¯m done with my food, so I don¡¯t have to take your shit,¡± Knuckles said. ¡°It''s good to see you are as spineless as ever¡±, sonic responded in a smug tone, ¡°only brave when none of the SEGA executives and board of directors are present, although I never understood why you always insult the hand that feeds you¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need this job¡± ¡°You can trash talk me all you want but both of us know you¡¯re nothing without me¡± ¡°Listen here Sonic, this is the last time I¡¯m working with you¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, I know your routine. If this wasn¡¯t your alleged 4th time quitting and you actually go through with it I might even respect you a little bit. However, as soon as the next game is starting development you crawl back to work. I get it, you want your game Knuckles and it hurts being second fiddle but you will never reach me, learn to deal with it¡± Knuckles hit the table with his hand and stands up, ready to fight. Tails also gets up from his seat and tries to defuse the situation. Often when fights like this break out Tails is the one that has to be the mediator. Amy seemed totally unbothered and pretended as if nothing happened. The rest of the table had their eyes set on Knuckles. Tails extended his hand to knuckles to calm him and spoke. ¡°Knux calm down I¡¯m sure we can-¡° Knuckles cuts off Tails, ignoring him, and looks at Sonic ¡°You think you can act like a garbage person just cause the company made you in charge and cause you¡¯re popular, you realize that your popularity won¡¯t last forever and that position you cling onto might be given to someone else?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll worry about that when that time comes¡± Sonic responded to knuckles arrogantly completely ignoring Tails. He made a pause and put his hands together. ¡°My friend when you stop an evil mad scientist from taking over the world then you can act as smug as you want towards me. When you start making generation-defining art that you put parts of yourself into that makes millions of dollars then you can be my boss, until then you should play the role you were given.¡± ¡°Firstly your memory seems to be failing you, we stopped Robotnik together, not just you. You got lucky that the spotlight fell on you. Secondly, yes you are the chief director of all of our games but you are dead wrong if you think the rap music I made and the levels I designed weren¡¯t my expressions. Those games carry parts of everyone involved, they don¡¯t belong just to you.¡± Knuckles turned his back to Sonic and started walking away. He was about to leave the restaurant but he turned to say one last thing to Sonic, ¡°And I ain¡¯t your friend¡± Knuckles left the place leaving everyone else there. Amy started talking about the food as if nothing had happened. Things resumed for everyone normally except for Tails. He was staring at the door Knuckles had just walked out of. A feeling of regret overcame him instantly for not saying anything while Knuckles was leaving. To this day that moment is still replaying in his head over and over again. Would things have turned out differently if I said something, maybe he would have ignored me like he did when I tried to de-escalate, or maybe it would have changed everything. Maybe Knuckles would have calmed down and maybe Sonic would try to extend an olive branch, maybe they would make up. Maybe I should have been more assertive to keep Sonic¡¯s head out of the clouds before it became too late. Maybe I should have tried to explain to Sonic why Knuckles feels the way he does, maybe he would understand, maybe we would have all been friends again and the catastrophic years that came next would have been avoided. I will never have an answer and will forever swim in the sea of maybes, what-ifs and regrets. In life we always think about all of the wrong things we said in the past, those moments at 3 in the morning when you replay your memories, you go back to cursing your old self for having that poor choice words. I have learned that the most painful memories to go back to aren¡¯t all the times you said something wrong, it¡¯s when you chose to say nothing at all. IV At the end of December ''Sonic Heroes(2003)'' was released first in Japan and a little later in the rest of the world. By all accounts, the game sold well, unfortunately it also became the lowest-scored mainline Sonic game at that point. The average score ended up being between a 6 and 7 out of 10, while certainly not bad, a far cry from the previous games that regularly received 9/10s or 10/10s across the board. Sonic was absolutely devastated. It was a massive blow, he always received nothing but the highest praise. It was now late January 2004 and he had spent several weeks just lying in his bed, not being able to do anything. For the days he had to attend work at SEGA he would just go to the company terrace and stare at the Tokyo skyline. One such day Tails approached him with a cup of coffee while he was sitting on the terrace contemplating. Tails took a chair and sat next to him to try to cheer him up and gave him coffee brewed exactly the way Sonic likes the most. ¡°Sonic it¡¯s not the end of the world, a 7 out of 10 is not bad, besides the game¡¯s sales are pretty good. We¡¯re still very much in business.¡± ¡°How is it a 7? I don¡¯t understand, I put in so much work, and so many sleepless nights and they give me a 7. Have they even played the game?¡± Sonic puts the coffee cup Tails gave him on the table in front of them after taking a sip. ¡°Most of the reviews are pretty clear what the flaws were and that¡¯s okay, we will just do better next time¡± ¡°They think I¡¯m some second-rate director, how could they give me a 7? They gave those upstart mascots at Sony 9s.¡± Sonic placed his hands on his face in anguish and started breathing heavily. ¡°Do you know who also got a 7?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°''I-ninja(2003)''¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Exactly, what the fuck is that. They are putting me in the same bracket as fucking ''I-ninja(2003)'', a game the people who made it forgot it existed¡± Sonic is on the verge of crying, his voice cracking with this last sentence ¡°That¡¯s not fair Sonic that¡¯s also someone else¡¯s work that they feel passionate about the same way you feel about the-¡° ¡°Tails do you think it¡¯s a bad game?¡± ¡°''I-ninja(2003)''?¡± ¡°No damn it, I mean ''Sonic heroes(2003)''?¡± ¡°Of course I don¡¯t I think it¡¯s bad.¡± Tails responded firmly. ¡°I love it. I played to completion and frankly, it¡¯s probably my favorite game so far we made together¡± It was a lie, this was his second favorite, he told this little white lie to try to uplift Sonic. Tails¡¯ number one was ''Sonic 2(1992)'' because it was just the two of them, best friends just having fun working on something together. That time was filled with a lot of treasured memories. ''Sonic Heroes (2003)'' was his second favorite mostly because of the great banter they wrote in the script and the general message of teamwork and the simple story evoked those feelings from the past when things were fine. Hearing the lines they recorded and wrote in the first level: If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Sonic: There they are! Tails: Eggman¡¯s robots! Knuckles: Leave¡¯em to me sonic. That little dialog exchange made him for a brief moment forget the state of the broken friendship between the three of them. It made Tails very nostalgic and happy but also very melancholic and depressed upon finishing the game. A slap to the face, a wake-up to the reality that the three of them are close to each other only in the fiction they make together. Ironic. Apart from the purely personal ways the game moved him, Tails also thought that it was a game that was well-designed, had great pacing¡­ Overall he genuinely thought the game was just as good as ''Sonic Adventure 2(2001)'', the previous game that got 9/10s and 10/10s but he also understood why a lot of people didn¡¯t like it. He continued to tell sonic: ¡°I think it¡¯s a fantastic game. You said yourself that you are proud of it and that you love it. Isn¡¯t that enough?¡± ¡°No.¡± sonic said without hesitation. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you or I think at the end of the day, a game isn¡¯t good unless it gets good scores¡± Sonic was inconsolable and Tails decided to give up leaving him alone. Sonic sat there sulking; it would take him a while to recover. While Sonic had his depression phase the president of SEGA decided to hold a board meeting where an official vote was taken and it was decided to greenlight Shadow¡¯s directorial debut in the form of a game that would hold the name ''Shadow the hedgehog''. Due to the lukewarm reception of ''Sonic Heroes(2003)'', the board was now sure a fresh face was needed to bring new life to the franchise. Shadow would get chief director, scriptwriter and lead designer. The board also voted that Shadow would be the only playable character and was scheduled to release sometime next year in 2005. He was given full creative control something that wasn¡¯t awarded to sonic since his first game in 1991. The day after, Sonic found out about the board meeting. His negative energy which was at first despair turned into anger, he was going to do something about this. He demanded to speak directly to the president of SEGA and arranged a meeting. He went up to the floor of the president¡¯s office and once he got off the elevator, he was faced with a spacious lobby. It was filled with marble naked statues of men and women, there were also marble statues of lions and tigers. A woman was sitting there at a reception desk and in the room, there were several men in black suits carrying uzis. The men were the president¡¯s guards. The woman was the president¡¯s secretary and also served as a kind of receptionist for those waiting to go into the president¡¯s office. The secretary was in her 20s, wore all pink down to the nails and had beautiful natural blonde hair. She also had really large breasts (like comically huge). She was on the phone while the room was empty. Noticing Sonic, she put it on her desk and stood up to greet him. She spoke with a very thick and strange accent, ¡°Hello darling, the president will be with you very soon!¡± The way she said darling made it sound like doooorling. ¡°Can I get you something to drink Sonic?¡± Sonic shook his head. He was kind of bothered that she pronounced his name SOooooonic like she would dooooorling. He sat on a sofa bouncing his feet impatiently as he waited, the guards didn¡¯t even react to him. The secretary sat back down and continued to talk on the phone. From what little Sonic was able to hear she was talking to a friend. He didn¡¯t wait long and then he arrived. Out of the elevator came out a man accompanied by 4 guards also carrying uzis in one arm. He was very tall, looking like he was in his 50s although he had a type of look where most of his life he looked like he was in his 50s so it was hard to tell his actual age. He had black hair, a receding hairline and for some reason even though he was indoors he wore sunglasses. He wore an all-maroon-colored suit worth several thousand dollars, under the suit he wore a white shirt unbuttoned and it showed off a golden necklace. It wasn¡¯t the only golden thing he wore, there was a gold watch and his fingers were covered in almost endless gold and diamond rings. The secretary immediately put her phone down once again, stood up and bowed in silence, all the guards bowed in silence as well. Sonic approached him, the man extended his hand and asked ¡°You wanted to see me?¡± Sonic took his hand, bowed and kissed it. He raised his head and said, ¡°Yes Mr. Polanzo.¡± ¡°Step into my office¡± The man snapped his fingers and everyone stopped bowing. Sonic and he left the lobby room and went to his office. The man was none other than Marchiano Polanzo, president of the SEGA corporation (a subsidiary of SEGA media group). V Sonic, Polanzo and his guards went into the office, the place was filled with more marble statues and even, a golden statue of Polanzo himself. There was a table in the exact center of the room, one chair for the guest and one for the president. They sat across from each other while the guards stood behind the president. Polanzo took out his cigars from his pocket and offered Sonic. He refused, Polanzo put one cigar into his mouth and a guard immediately took out a lighter and lit it up for him. He inhaled his cigar, crossed his legs and leaned back into his chair. ¡°You wanted us to talk, so talk,¡± Polanzo said. ¡°I have nothing but respect for you Mr. Polanzo but I think the last session of the board of directors is outrageous¡± Polanzo inhaled his cigar ¡°You¡¯re mad cause Shadow is getting his own game¡± ¡°Exactly!¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I am supposed to be the star of my franchise¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the first time a spin-off has nothing to do with you¡± Polanzo paused for a second to remember ¡°this was before my term as president but didn¡¯t your fox buddy direct and design ''Tails adventure(1995)'' and ''Tails Skypatrol(1995)''?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not the same¡± ¡°Did he direct those games?¡± ¡°I am trying to say-¡° Polanzo cut him off and raised his index finger, ¡°I asked you a question and you are supposed to answer when I do¡± ¡°Yes he did¡± ¡°Then I see no issue¡± Polanzo shrugged and puffed his cigar ¡°The difference is they were small budget, released on a handheld and no one cared about those games. This will be made with the same budget as ''Sonic Heroes(2003)'' and on the mainline consoles. It''s insulting for someone else other than me to be directing his own game from my franchise!¡± ¡°Let me tell you something Sonic¡± Polanzo put out his cigarette in an already full ashtray. ¡°It¡¯s not your franchise, it belongs to the company. The board of director¡¯s made a vote and the decision has already been made, even if say you managed to convince me, AND let¡¯s just make it clear you haven¡¯t, but let¡¯s say you did. I as president once a vote is made on a project can¡¯t do anything about it¡± ¡°Strange for you to be talking about company legalism¡± Polanzo laughed in his face and looked at his guard. ¡°I like this guy, he is funny¡± Sonic realized he went too far and became immediately apologetic. Polanzo took out another cigarette, it was lit the same way as before by his guard and he continued to speak. ¡°I don¡¯t see why are you getting so worked up about, ''Sonic Heroes(2003)'' still made millions for the company, you ain¡¯t goin¡¯ away as a star with those numbers. Your colleague is popular and has the money-making potential the same as you and you are just gonna have to learn to share the spotlight with him. It is just business in the end, if he can make us money you bet we are going to use him. However, if you want to remain top dog and the face of the company brand then don¡¯t get these embarrassing 7/10s with your next game¡± That last remark felt like a dagger to the stomach for Sonic. He knew Polanzo was right, he had damaged his brand with a game with less-than-stellar reviews. Realizing this meeting is going nowhere and that he can¡¯t stop the project, he gave up. The conversation moved to different topics such as the anticipation of the launch of the PS2 slim, or will Shoko Asahara get the death penalty and the deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq. Sonic left the office defeated but he had a new determination. I am going to merely wait out this Shadow game and for my next game, I will prove to everyone who is number 1. My game is going to be better than his or any other platformer game. The next game isn¡¯t going to be about expression, art for art''s sake, or other dumb ideas I had up until this point. Money and good scores are what are most important. The game is going to fly off the shelves and nothing but 10/10s. The upstarts at Sony, the Italian plumber, everyone is going to be eclipsed by me, I am sure of it. They might be in the lead now but it''s only temporary. The video game throne belongs to me. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Polanzo didn¡¯t only have a meeting with Sonic scheduled for today, Knuckles was also furious with the decision and demanded to speak with the president. However Knuckles was angry for a different reason, he was once again getting shortchanged. Him being a hero just like Sonic and not getting the same media treatment was one thing but giving Shadow his own game was unacceptable. Shadow doesn¡¯t even come from the forest like the rest of them, they only met him on the making of ''Sonic Adventure 2(2001)'', Shadow wasn¡¯t a part of the effort to stop Robotnik. He wasn¡¯t even a hero at any point in his life, he was just an actor. No different than the actor that plays the character of doctor Eggman in the games. Why was he getting his own project and all this attention but didn¡¯t do anything to deserve it? Shadow just showed up and everyone loved him. Knuckles never got that even though he had saved the world once. Knuckles entered the president¡¯s office, and Polanzo was smoking a cigar and talking over the phone. Polanzo snapped his fingers and pointed to Knuckles where to sit, it was completely unnecessary to do that because there was only one chair in the room for a guest to sit. Knuckles sat down and waited for almost 20 minutes for Polanzo to finish his phone call. Once he did he put out his cigarette in the overflowing ashtray, leaned back into his chair, crossed his legs and pulled out another cigarette and it was lit up by the guard once again. He did not offer knuckles one like he did Sonic. ¡°You wanted us to speak, so speak Knuckles,¡± Polanzo said and puffed on his cigarette. ¡°How can this company keep disrespecting me like this¡± ¡°Let me guess the ''Shadow the hedgehog'' game¡± ¡°Why does he an actor get more than me?¡± Knuckles'' voice started to raise ¡°After everything I did for this country and this world I get treated worse than an actor, I want my own game¡± ¡°You a funny guy, now this was before my time as president but didn¡¯t you get to direct your own game back in ''95? Was it called ''Kncuckles Chaotix'' or something like that?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t count¡± ¡°Why¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t a true chance, that game was released on the SEGA 32x a console no one owned and a game nobody could buy, Shadow is releasing on the main consoles!¡± Polanzo put out his cigarette and leaned forward and he put his hands together. ¡°You guys are all so funny. Why do you feel so entitled to think this company owes you a chance to make a game¡± ¡°Cause I saved the world!¡± ¡°Well you ain¡¯t working for the red cross my guy, you are working for a corporation and a corporation has to make money. Let me lay it down on you. Knuckles you are not moneymaking potential. You don¡¯t have the star power of Shadow, hero or not and you don¡¯t got the pull to stand even close to Sonic. You are not important. The fact that you were able to muscle the company to give you that Chaotix mess, or whatever it''s called, is crazy. It''s even crazier that you think you ought to make another game after that game¡¯s financial loss¡± ¡°I never got a true chance, if it was on the main console I could have been successful¡± knuckles muttered to himself. ¡°Whatever console, you are just not popular enough to be the star and that¡¯s the truth. A company should never finance a project that won¡¯t make them money. Why should every hero get a game? What about our boys in Iraq doing humanitarian work, does every JSDF soldier deserve now to direct his own game?¡± Polanzo¡¯s secretary entered the office with a giant plate of food, it was time for lunch, Polanzo accepted the plate and took out of his drawer a golden fork and knife. He started eating looking like he had enough of this conversation and the topic of Shadow. Polanzo attempted to move the conversation to something else. ¡°Anyways do you think they are going to execute that bastard Shoko Asahara, his 8-year trial is close to ending?¡± Polanzo said his mouth half full. ¡°I think I¡¯ve had enough of this. I quit, I don¡¯t want anything to do with this company anymore!¡± Knuckles said furiously and stood up from his chair ¡°You can¡¯t quit¡± ¡°You bet I will¡± ¡°I know the previous president was very nice to all of you and he would always very calmly convince you to stay without forcing you but I am going to lay it on you how it is. You legally can¡¯t quit¡±, Polanzo took a napkin to wipe his face and continued, ¡°You signed a contract back in ¡¯93. You and the name Knuckles are intellectual property of SEGA media group, you can¡¯t leave unless we sell you or turn you into public domain¡± Knuckles remembered the contract and his face turned pale. It was true, he can¡¯t quit. He felt an intense sickness overcoming him. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say I¡¯m not money-making potential why not just let me go?¡± Knuckles asked sounding desperate. ¡°I said you ain¡¯t worth to be director or star but that doesn¡¯t mean you don¡¯t got fans or no sales worth. Be a good boy, do what you¡¯re told and get back to work.¡± ¡°This is unfair¡± ¡°Excuse me, you were the one who chose this life, you chose to commercialize and monetize your heroics. You signed the contract no one forced you to so deal with it¡± Polanzo continued to eat and he waved his hand to signify the conversation is over and for Knuckles to leave. Knuckles left utterly broken. Was it wrong for him to have signed the contract and like Polanzo said ¡®monetize¡¯ his good deeds? When he faced off against Robotnik money was the last thing on his mind. When he saw how rich Sonic became he also wanted to be rewarded and he wanted a better life. He felt insulted that no one ever called him or anyone else from the forest they just called Sonic. He was the only one who SEGA saw as having star potential. He felt humiliated that he was in ''Sonic 3 and knuckles(1994)'' only cause Sonic made it so. Sonic¡¯s charity is the only reason he has a career and Sonic never made him forget that, every argument he would rub that wound with salt. The only chance he got was ''Knuckles Chaotix (1995)'' which was for a system no one owned. He felt like it was doomed from the beginning he believed the game failed cause it was on the wrong game console. However, he would never get another chance. The company was doubly not fond of Knuckles cause of his aggressive nature. Now he was left to forever be in the shadow of others more popular than him, never getting to make his art, never receiving the recognition nor thanks he thought he deserved. A prisoner of the machine he willingly signed to be a part of that he could never escape. His life became miserable. VI More than a year passed and now it was the middle of 2005. ''Shadow the hedgehog(2005)'' was close to its release. Sonic was in his Tokyo penthouse, relaxing in his hot tub while watching TV. It was late at night and just about time for the Rick Ravette show. Tonight¡¯s guest was Shadow the hedgehog to promote his upcoming game of the same name. Sonic was watching the interview and after every statement Shadow would make, Sonic would curse the TV. Amy was walking around the room in silence and Sonic would turn to her to ask her for approval. ¡°I should be there and not this charlatan, you agree don¡¯t you?¡± Sonic pointed at the TV screen looking at Amy for a response. Amy rolled her eyes, took a deep breath and said, ¡°Yes baby you should be there and not him¡±. She said it unconvincingly but in Sonic¡¯s head, he believed that she was being sincere. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been saying this whole time!¡± Amy left the room Sonic was in and he continued to swear and yell at the TV. His ego just couldn¡¯t let him watch and listen to the interview, he was very upset by Shadow¡¯s media presence. Amy couldn¡¯t stand to listen to him anymore and she left the room. ¡°His game is going to be so much worse than anything I ever made then SEGA is going to be begging for the return of the king!¡± Halfway through the interview Sonic took his remote and changed the channel. He started flipping through the program trying to find something to watch not being able to take a second more of Shadow. He stumbled upon a business channel that covered documentaries on successful businessmen. The topic was Marchiano Polanzo, his boss and president of SEGA. Sonic didn¡¯t know much about his boss and most information about him was mysterious and missing. The only thing Sonic knew was that he became president in 2001. And that¡¯s it. He wasn¡¯t concerned much with company politics but with nothing better to do he decided to watch the documentary. The documentary, though, didn¡¯t exactly illuminate anything new. Polanzo¡¯s background before his presidency is shrouded in mystery. His date of birth and even ethnic origin remain unanswered. Polanzo was a captain of a now-defunct subsidiary of a branch of SEGA somewhere in Europe during the 90s. Captains are called those who manage regional subsidiaries, like for example SEGA of America. The documentary didn¡¯t even mention what was the name or location of his branch. The main focus wasn''t to discuss his past but his rise to power. At the turn of the 21st century, SEGA was in a dire situation, the Dreamcast got slashed by the PS2 launch and things were going in the red. At an emergency meeting of the SEGA media group and all of its subsidiaries, Polanzo stepped in and took over the presidency in what the press described as a violent coup. The leadership change was very unstable but eventually, he managed to secure his position. Even though the SEGA corporation was only a part of the wider SEGA media group and a subsidiary, the one who was president of the SEGA corporation de facto held the most power within the group. He quickly bent most to his will. He showed his capabilities as a businessman by canceling the Dreamcast and moving the company to only making software instead of hardware. A bold move and one that ultimately saved the company and turned it into a profitable business once again. Many refused to swear loyalty to him because they believed his seizure of power was illegal. In order to legitimize his presidency he amended the statute of the company, what the constitution is for countries the company statute is for a company. His amendment made it so that a leadership change in any high-ranking office of the SEGA corporation and the wider media group could be done so if the official in question is challenged to a duel. If the challenger beats the official in a fist fight he assumes the position. In that sense, he retroactively legalized his seizure of power and made violence a part of company politics. He consolidated power by making his subordinates depose captains of SEGA¡¯s subsidiaries and other presidents of other companies in the media group through this new duel mechanism. The year 2001. was a very unstable year but it ended with the pro-Polanzo camp winning most executive positions. Even so, Marchiano Polanzo did not wield absolute power. He still faced fierce opposition in many sessions of the board of directors and his captains had a hard time getting the staff to respect them. The board successfully blocked many authoritarian and purely corporatist proposals. The opposition to Polanzo didn¡¯t believe SEGA should become an aggressive corporatist company but one that provides good games and quality products. While the amendment for the transition of power was accepted, the opposition wasn¡¯t going to let him change the soul of the company with other new amendments. As of now things in the company have become stable, and Polanzo gave up on his ambitious authoritarian and corporatist reforms. The company is making money and everything is sailing smoothly. While under Polanzo¡¯s tenure, the company is noticeably less artsy and experimental, more business and profit-oriented, it''s at its core the same company. Currently, the opposition is less aggressive, their strategy seems to be just to wait for Polanzo¡¯s terms to expire, according to the company statute the presidency has term limits. Sonic watched this documentary to the end, he remembered many of the events mentioned in the documentary and when they were happening he chose not to involve in any of that mess. A belief he still holds, don¡¯t get involved in politics. It doesn¡¯t matter who is the president as long as he keeps the company running. He pondered for a moment about the part that talked about corporatism and artistic expression. He still believed that games were an art form and not just a product to be bought and sold. However, no longer would he take an art for art''s sake approach. He did that with all of his previous games but with ''Sonic Heroes(2003)'' he didn¡¯t get praised. He concluded that art was only good if it''s reviewed well and he was going to chase those good reviews from now on and what would come next would only reaffirm this belief. * * * Finally, ''Shadow the hedgehog(2005)'' would release in late 2005. And it was a disaster. While it managed to be commercially successful it received a nearly universal negative reception. Most people found the concept of Shadow carrying guns ridiculous and the game just wasn¡¯t taken seriously. While some of its core was similar to the previous games, the guns, the awful story and the bad design were panned and also made fun of on the internet. Sonic was ecstatic over Shadow¡¯s failure. The day reviews came out he was giddy and made several interviews denouncing the game and pledging to ¡®save the franchise¡¯. Shadow on the other hand locked himself in his house and refused to go out. He couldn¡¯t take the media ridicule and criticism he was receiving and decided to just stay in his home. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Soon a board of directors meeting was called and a vote was held on the next project for the franchise and what direction to take. After the meeting, Sonic was called to the president¡¯s office to be informed of the decisions that were taken and to be given assignments. Sonic¡¯s smugness and overconfidence were back with even more intensity than before the launch of ''Sonic Heroes(2003)''. He sat across Polanzo and said ¡°Tell me Mr. President, how do you want me to save the franchise?¡± ¡°Right to the point, we haven¡¯t yet decided on the name but I¡¯m going to lay out the concept. You are co-directing with Shadow and a newcomer Silver the hedgehog. The game will be broken up into three parts each of you directing your own part and you will have two assistant directors with separate gameplay segments. We are paring you up with your usual lineup, Tails and Knuckles. Even though the two hedgehogs and the assistants will be designing their gameplay you will be writing the general story alone this time¡± This was not the good news Sonic was hoping for, he thought that Shadow would be out of the picture and that he would get the chance to have his uncompromising vision. He also didn¡¯t want to share another game with Tails and Knuckles, let alone a newcomer. ¡°Why? Why are you bringing back Shadow to direct, have you read the reviews? ¡®Awful game 1/10¡¯ and so on. Why are you bringing in a newcomer to direct as well?¡± Sonic said, frustrated and in disbelief. ¡°You see, even though his game was terrible critically, commercially it did very well. We are not throwing out anything that has market value. Frankly, it¡¯s outstanding how the game was profitable even with the bad press. Maybe it was premature for him to direct alone so it¡¯s best he shares with others. The newcomer is pulling great with our test audiences, the kid¡¯s got potential. Besides, he is there to give the whole thing a fresh look¡± ¡°What could be fresher than me, don¡¯t you understand, you need me to do my magic as I did in the 90s¡± ¡°Sonic, my guy, it¡¯s not the 90s anymore and you failed to save the Dreamcast. You are still getting your own whole part of the game to direct, design and write. That should be enough for you to do your magic. If you are as good as you say you don¡¯t need anything more¡± Logically everything Polanzo said made sense to Sonic and the flattery made him accept everything on an emotional level. He was fired up and ready to prove to the world his ¡®creative genius¡¯, 10/10s here I come. ¡°So you said I will be writing the story?¡± Sonic asked to double check ¡°Correct you write the general story and the dialog will be handled by each of the characters individually like it was before¡± They continued to talk about the game, Sonic brainstormed story ideas, already by tomorrow he would start to work. When they finished discussing everything there was to discuss about this new game, Polanzo moved on to more casual chit-chat. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you Sonic, who did you vote for in the general election this year?¡± ¡°What?¡± Sonic was caught off guard by this question, he wasn¡¯t even sure he heard it correctly. ¡°You seem like the type of person who would vote for Jun-chan am I right?¡± ¡°Polanzo-¡° ¡°Mr. Polanzo.¡± ¡°Right sorry, Mr. Polanzo I don¡¯t vote¡± ¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t vote, how can a hero not be involved in politics?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about politics, I don¡¯t follow politics and I don¡¯t want to ever get involved in politics¡± Polanzo was surprised by Sonic¡¯s firm answer. ¡°A Hero that changed the world doesn¡¯t participate in the only process where everyone can change the world¡± ¡°Nothing good comes out of politics¡± sonic wanted to end the discussion there. ¡°If that¡¯s all you wanted us to discuss I want to make preparations for the project¡± With that, he was off to work. Although development started tomorrow Sonic did several things in advance. He knew the development was going to be very stressful, like always they were probably going to be short on time. Knuckles when he had heard about the new game was soul crushed. Not only was he the side character in Sonic¡¯s story, but the other two main characters were also actors. Shadow was given another shot, something he would never get. He would be very demotivated and depressed during the development process. He would put in minimal effort and felt passionless about the project knowing he was never going to swim out of Sonic¡¯s and Shadow¡¯s shadow. With this new hedgehog Silver, it would make that shadow even larger. Shadow at first had trouble leaving the house and coming to work, due to the harsh reaction to his new game and he would often be made fun of on the street. His image of cool 2000s edge was shattered and was now seen as a joke. Sonic would also ridicule Shadow at every and any opportunity, although that had the effect of motivating Shadow to upstage Sonic and make him eat his words. Even with the rare boost of motivation Shadow would get, he still often missed working days. He would clamp up in his house lying in bed and would even sometimes leave during hours and go home saying that he is feeling ill and needed to go home. Silver the hedgehog as the new guy was way out of his depth. This was his first time in any game, he had the herculean responsibility of directing, and designing the game, none of which he was prepared for. He would get no help from his co-directors, Sonic who was trying to downright sabotage Silver, he wasn¡¯t going to allow a new hedgehog to eclipse his popularity like Shadow did in ''Sonic Adventure 2(2001)''. Shadow wasn¡¯t a skilled director to begin with so he couldn¡¯t give much of any good advice and often wasn¡¯t even at work. Amy had gameplay she had to design for Silver¡¯s segment of the story but she would mostly sleepwalk through the project. Coming in late, not listening to instructions and falling asleep at meetings. There were allegations by some journalists that she was on drugs and/or was drunk most of the time during development. Tails would give his 110%, overworking himself, doing assignments that others were delegated but failed to do, encouraging Shadow and was the only one willing to help Silver. He openly clashed with Sonic for the first time because of Sonic¡¯s treatment of Shadow and Silver. They had a big argument on the SEGA terrace. ¡°Are you out of your mind? Are you trying to ruin this game?¡± Tails shouted at Sonic. ¡°It¡¯s SEGA¡¯s fault for trying to steal my spotlight again, I¡¯m not letting them create another Shadow¡± sonic responded shrugging ¡°Will you get your head out of your ass for once in your life? You¡¯ve lost it, how do you expect us to get that 10/10 you insist on if you sabotage your co-director?¡± ¡°Us? I am getting a 10/10, they will rate my part as a 10/10, Silver and Shadow will be finally removed, and I won¡¯t have to share with anyone my projects.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve always been by your side and have always been your friend but this is crossing the line.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t like it just quit I don¡¯t need you taking away my screen time¡± Tails was hurt. For a moment he paused, he had to take in what he just heard. Although he had been aware of how much Sonic had changed, hearing something like that directly from Sonic was a big emotional blow. ¡°You know what? I would quit this second if I could but my contract forces me to work on this game¡± Tails left the terrace full of anger. He cried for hours once he got home. They were no longer on speaking terms after that fight. Sonic soured the few relationships he had left during this time. Amy was the only person he had left. For Sonic¡¯s part that he had to do with Knuckles and Tails, he would communicate through emails via Amy and their cutscenes the three of them recorded on separate days using CGI for shots they shared. A year had gone by, development process could be described as chaos with no control. In the end, it was released in an unfinished state. It would first release in North America on the 14th of November 20006. a date which will live in infamy. It was one of the worst games of 2006. The game is known as ¡®Sonic 06¡¯. VII Decades later An alarm clock is ringing loudly, the whole room is echoing from the sound of the clock. Tails gets out of bed and turns it off. He is in a messy-looking room, inside there was a run-down bed and a large desk for work. The desk was in the worst state, there were books everywhere, notes and 4 used coffee mugs. Dust covered every inch of the room. ¡°God I need to clean this place up¡± Tails muttered to himself. He slowly walked out of the room and turned on the stove for some coffee. The kitchen sink was overflowing with dirty dishes. While he was waiting for the water to boil, he went to brush his teeth in the bathroom. It was around 6 am and Tails was listlessly going through his morning routine. He was doing his business in the bathroom and the toilet failed to work, soon after water started rising and a complete mess was made in the bathroom. ¡°Ugh again with this¡± He walked slowly out of the bathroom without feeling a hint of panic. He walked up to his roommates¡¯ door. ¡°C¡¯mon wake up!¡± said Tails to the door while knocking. ¡°Let me sleep a little more,¡± said the voice from inside the closed room. ¡°You need to get up right now the toilet broke again¡± ¡°Again? Il be up in a second!¡± Out of the room emerged Sonic. He was holding a toolkit and went straight to the bathroom. ¡°While you fix the bathroom I will make us both breakfast,¡± said Tails. If you were to observe Sonic¡¯s work in the bathroom he looked like a true professional, as if he was fixing a toilet for the millionth time. Even though the mess the toilet made was huge, Sonic was able to quickly clean up the mess and get the toilet in working order. Once he was finished he joined Tails in the living room, on the living room table breakfast and coffee was waiting for him. Sonic got comfy on the couch grabbed his plate and started to eat. Tails turned on the TV and they watched the show ¡®Good morning Tokyo¡¯. They quietly listened to the reporter talk about the weather forecast and ate their breakfast. Once their plate was empty both of them lit cigars and drank their coffee. The program went through the local news and moved on to the guest interview. ¡°Joining us in the studio is the mayor of the Kowareta Yume ward of Tokyo (*wards are municipalities*),¡± ¡°Hey it¡¯s the mayor of our area!¡± Sonic said with a little bit of excitement ¡°Why are you happy that guy sucks,¡± Tails said. ¡°I just heard the name of our ward¡± ¡°This guy right here¡± Tails pointed at the TV screen with a cigar in his hand, ¡°has been the undefeated mayor of the Kowareta Yume ward for over 30 years¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember asking, you know I don¡¯t care about politics¡± ¡°Well listen this is important, this guy has all the power to do what he wants and he still hasn¡¯t fixed this ward¡¯s biggest problem, the fucking sewer system. Every other morning the toilet breaks, not just here but everywhere in this ward, the sewer system is just badly made and needs a change¡± Tails started flailing his arms in anger ¡°I know, I fix it every time¡± ¡°I am not done! Not only that, we are every single year the number one worst ward in all of Tokyo and the worst municipality to live in Japan. We have the dirtiest streets, the most corrupt officials, and the worst traffic planning I mean I can go on for hours, and this guy still landslides every election!¡± Tails¡¯ voice started to rise ¡°Don¡¯t complain too much, it¡¯s cheap to live here¡± ¡°How can you be so nonchalant about this, do you wanna keep fixing the toilet every time it brakes?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good enough reason for you to keep me around¡± Sonic winked trying to sound playful ¡°I am asking you seriously¡± Sonic shrugged ¡°It is what it is, nothin¡¯ I can do to change it¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°That¡¯s why things are terrible here. Because of that attitude, you and the rest of this ward has, this guy will remain mayor!¡± ¡°Look we have this conversation¡± Sonic paused to think for a second, ¡°I think every single election season or whenever this guy gets brought up¡± ¡°I am gonna keep bringing this up!!!¡± Tails finished his cigarette, angrily put it out and lit a new one ¡°You can keep talking about it as much as you want, things won¡¯t change around this part of town and I¡¯m not changing my opinion on that. Some other guy will be the new mayor and things will stay the same so that¡¯s why I will never vote¡± ¡°It¡¯s your civic duty to participate in your democracy and change can only happen if we hold our public officials accountable,¡± Tails said with great determination. ¡°Okay college boy whatever you say,¡± Sonic said in a cheeky tone ¡°Don¡¯t college boy me!¡± Tails groaned, ¡°You will never change and neither will this part of Tokyo.¡± ¡°There you go, so you agree things will never change¡± Sonic sounded proud feeling like he won the argument. ¡°You are missing the point!¡± Tails was losing his patience, ¡°If you keep thinking that nothing will change then nothing will truly change. Change is something you need to believe in!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t know you believe in the law of attraction¡± ¡°You¡¯re purposefully derailing the conversation. The point is to vote when this guy is up for election, that¡¯s how you hold the system accountable!¡± ¡°I just don¡¯t care about politics¡± Tails gave up on pushing on this further. He had lost count of how many times they had this talk and it always goes nowhere both of them set in their ways of thinking. Tails always holds out hope at the start of every conversation that this time he will be able to make Sonic change his mind but it always hits a dead end. Sonic is firm in his apolitical mindset. ¡°When are you going to do the dishes¡± Tails turned around sitting on the couch and looked at the kitchen sink full of dirty dishes, ¡°It¡¯s your turn¡± ¡°I''ll do it tonight¡± ¡°You said that yesterday¡± ¡°Okay I will REALLY do it tonight¡± Tails looked at the clock and said to Sonic ¡°We still have time, so do it now!¡± ¡°Somebody woke up cranky today¡± Sonic rolled his eyes. ¡°Just do the dishes!¡± Sonic raised his arms gesturing a surrender but kept a kind of cheeky smile on his face. He had been holding that smile since they started arguing. Sonic put out his cigar in the ashtray, picked up the plates they used for breakfast and then went to the kitchen to wash the dishes that have been piling up. Tails stayed in the living room watching the morning program and listened to the mayor being interviewed. ¡°I tell ya lady we are going into this year with the greatest growth of jobs in the history of Japan in this ward,¡± the mayor was saying to the reporter lady interviewing him in the studio. ¡°Let me tell you something you are not gonna believe like we have let me tell ya it¡¯s the best years in¡­ um since the boom years of the 1980s I tell ya it¡¯s the best jobs, the best economy, best living standards I tell ya. I heard the other day from a member of the opposition somethin¡¯ about not doing anything for this ward I tell him and I tell ya too in this studio now in case he is watching. When I became mayor I transformed this place into the 21st century, what have you done Mr. you know who you are I am not naming him. It''s crooks like you who steal and poison this country that I will continue to fight against LONG LIVE JAPAN!¡± As he finished his last sentence, he smacked the table with his fist. Tails was even more pissed than he was arguing with Sonic and started shouting at the TV, ¡°Go back to the trash can you crawled out of you old fossil!¡± Sonic chuckled listening to Tails passionately fight with the TV. ¡°But sir you haven¡¯t answered the question,¡± the reporter lady said to the mayor. ¡°What are you going to do about the sewer system? According to polling data, this is the number one problem people have living in the Kowareta Yume. The second is no public transportation and the third place is the trash in the streets. Citizens have been petitioning the local government for-¡° ¡°Let me tell ya, people need to hear this. Back in 1986. Do you know what the communists planned to do to me?¡± the mayor had a posture of almost challenging the reporter to a fight. ¡°I don¡¯t see how this is relevant to the question¡± ¡°This very important let me tell ya and the people need to know. Every time the communists threatened our great country I was there on the other side to oppose them¡± ¡°Sir I have to stop you, we are going way off topic¡± ¡°Back then you had these agents from Mexico, MEXICO CITY to be precise, here in this country and nobody was talking about this except me. They said I was a crazy person but look at where are now. So tell me am I a bad mayor, NO! Was I supposed to be the postman like they were saying?¡± ¡°What are you even talking about,¡± The reporter lady was dumbfounded by this point. ¡°Don¡¯t YOU or the commies or this communist television station funded by those same agents from MEXICO CITY tell me how to run this town! Don¡¯t tell me what it means to be a postman or who was what and what was where in 1986. LONG LIVE JAPAN!¡± Tails turned off the TV. He felt like he received brain damage from this interview. Populism destroys the minds of its supporters, Tails was thinking to himself trying to be profound. It could make a good shareable quote but for real, people like him destroy public discourse and just overflow the discussion with so many digressions and random conspiracies. Tails¡¯ political ponderings were interrupted by Sonic. ¡°The dishes are done and it¡¯s time to go.¡± Tails nodded and the two left their flat and went to the garage of the building. The car they owned was parked there, it was a red Saab 900 turbo. Tails went to the driver''s seat, both entered the car and Tails turned on the engine. He placed his hands on the steering wheel, took a deep breath, and said: ¡°I¡¯m sorry I was cranky this morning. Honestly, I¡¯m just super stressed about the upcoming exam I have for college, I failed it 5 times already and have been stuck on it for so long. I just can¡¯t fail again, I just studied so much and I am very anxious. I¡¯m sorry I took out all the negative energy on you¡± ¡°Hey don¡¯t sweat it, I didn¡¯t take it personally. I find it funny how angry you get about politics and it¡¯s always fun for me to argue with you whatever the topic.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you didn¡¯t take it to heart. Also, the college boy hit a nerve.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Well I am way too old to be a boy anymore and I¡¯m in college. I just thought damn I fucked up a lot if I¡¯m in school at this age.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to insult you. Look at me whenever you think you fucked up. I think I did life a lot worse.¡± Sonic said with great sadness and regret behind his eyes. Tails parked the car out of the garage and the two sat in the car in silence. They drove through their neighborhood, their building was very tall and was surrounded by many other buildings of the same height. The walls were all covered in graffiti and there was trash practically everywhere. Tokyo has a reputation for being one of the cleaner cities in the world, which is true with the exception of the ward known as Kowareta Yume, where Tails and Sonic lived. They were moving through Tokyo traffic, Tails was a very careful driver. Being his passenger one could almost fall asleep as Tails gently accelerated and slowed down, the speed changes were very subtle. Both were silent during most of the car ride up until Sonic decided to break the silence ¡°Thanks," Sonic said. ¡°For what?¡± Tails sounded confused. ¡°For driving me to work, I probably couldn¡¯t even go to work if it wasn¡¯t for you¡± ¡°Well, you COULD have used public transportation IF Kowareta Yume had it and had a change of leadership but noooooo you and other people here don¡¯t care about politics?¡± Sonic didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°For real though¡± Tails continued. ¡°This isn¡¯t a big deal for me. I don¡¯t have anything for college this early in the morning ever and when we don¡¯t have any mandatory classes I just stay home all day and study. So don¡¯t worry, I think it¡¯s healthier for me to have to wake up and have a sleeping schedule unlike before when I just slept all morning.¡± ¡°Still, thanks for driving this washed-up trash to work.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me that self-pity. What did the judge tell you about your driver¡¯s license?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be getting it back anytime soon. The crash I caused didn¡¯t end up hurting anybody but drunk driving is not taken lightly by the courts¡± ¡°Suits me either way, like I said it doesn¡¯t bother me to drive you to work¡± The two of them reached their destination. The car stopped in front of the Smile Burger fast food joint in Kowareta Yume. Sonic walked out of the car and started walking towards the building. Tails opened the window and said to Sonic: ¡°Should I pick you up when you finish work?¡± Sonic nodded and the two parted ways. For Tails, a long day of studying was ahead of him and for Sonic a day of his minimum wage job. Sonic loved the early morning. A routine began for the two of them to watch together ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯ every day and it was a great start. Coffee, arguments and discussions. He enjoyed the simplicity of those moments. However, his job for which he felt passionless was filled with nothing but monotony, and mistreatment by both staff and customers, a place where every second felt like an hour and every hour like a day. VIII Sonic worked at Smile Burger in Kowareta Yume. It was a fairly long drive away from home, it would take too long to walk. There were no other means to get there other than by car, there was no public transportation in Kowareta Yume due to poor infrastructure. On top of that, Sonic losing his driver¡¯s license meant he was completely dependent on Tails to commute. Sonic¡¯s first hours started on a bad note, almost all of the toilets broke down and had needed to fix them alone. He was, amongst the employees, the only one who had the skill to do it. Kowareta Yume had a massive problem with its sewer system, it caused toilets to clog and overflow with water. Even though Sonic would always fix it the best he could, there was no way to permanently make the problem go away, at least not without redoing the entire sewer system. Still, every time the toilets broke, Sonic would get berated by the manager. It was very humiliating to listen to a long lecture in front of his coworkers. While he was fixing the toilets the manager would breathe down his neck to do it faster so that everything works before opening hours. There was no way to do it faster than he was, but Sonic had to put up with this pressure. In the past the phrase going faster was attached to running in green hills, now it was with cleaning toilets. Once opening hours started and the toilets were dealt with, Sonic was placed to work at the cash register. Kowareta Yume even with its low living standards was a highly populated ward. Smile Burger would get very crowded during the day and Sonic would have his hands full with work. Every day there were plenty of annoying and rude customers. Don¡¯t they know who they¡¯re talking to? I''m a hero, a video game superstar, or at least I was once upon a time. I don¡¯t deserve to be treated like a nobody. Sonic would feel miserable every day at work and it showed on his face. The manager would be sure to criticize him for his lack of enthusiasm. ¡°This is Smile Burger, you have to smile whether you feel like it or not,¡± said the manager firmly. Sonic nodded. He continued working at the register with a forced smile that somehow looked even more depressing than him being plain sad. As much as Sonic hated the fact that nobody recognized him, it was so much worse when somebody did. Two young guys were staring at Sonic, and they started whispering. ¡°Oh my god is that him?¡± one said to the other. Sonic noticed the two approaching him and without them even letting out a word Sonic let out a deep sigh. ¡°It really is Sanic!!¡± ¡°Hey, can we take a picture?¡± Sonic shrugged ¡°Sure.¡± They took a picture together. The two young guys laughed and started walking away. ¡°Can¡¯t believe we saw the legend Sanic¡± One of the guys turned around to say to Sonic ¡°You have no idea how much ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ made us laugh please make more¡±, both started laughing and continued on their way. Sonic didn¡¯t say anything, and the two guys left the place. Sonic hated every second of these encounters. It was a stark reminder that he was seen by the people who knew about him as a joke. Back in the old days in the street, I would get only fans approaching, now it¡¯s just people laughing at me. Nobody thinks I¡¯m cool or interesting. I hate this, sometimes I wish I never got big in the first place. Not having anything is better than, getting everything, you want and then losing it. I wish I could just turn back time. Although I¡¯m not out of the ring yet. I¡¯m not giving up, I¡¯ll get another chance and show them and the rest of the world that I am still capable. My comeback opportunity will arrive. They think I¡¯m out of touch or that I only make bad games. I have made good games since ¡®Sonic 06¡¯. Why then does everyone focus on the worst ones and keeps treating me like I joke? Everyone acts like Im some kind of incompetent foo, I¡¯ve made classics, how many of you have made genre-defining classics? The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. They should show me some respect, if not for my video games, then at least for the time I saved the world. I suppose with the abundance of superheroes and superhero media today, it¡¯s just not as impressive as it used to be. Sonic was never able to swallow or move past the fact that he tarnished his reputation. He used to get very defensive when someone would mention ¡®Sonic 06¡¯, but now he accepted the ridicule and kept telling himself that he was still a great game director. He was fantasizing about a comeback. He was always drawing concept art, writing possible drafts for scripts, designing levels and so on. Truth be told it has been years since the last Sonic game. Throughout the years, sales for his games plummeted and the only press Sonic would get would be articles about how bad he is or people making memes. Sonic was desperately holding on to hope that SEGA was going to call him and that he was going to make a grand return. It was clearly an unrealistic fantasy, but it kept him going while working his minimum-wage job. In his mind this job was only temporary, the return to stardom will happen eventually. *** Hours were moving along, and the first wave of customers had passed. Smile Burger was mostly empty during this time of the day, and it would remain that way until the end of Sonic¡¯s shift. While the morning was always hectic and stressful the rest of the day wasn¡¯t so bad. During these calm hours, Sonic would look out the window and daydream, there wasn¡¯t much else to do. A message had arrived and a vibration coming from Sonic¡¯s cell phone interrupted his daydream. Sonic took out his phone and saw a message from Tails, ¡¯There is a problem with the car I will be late to pick you up today, I will call you once I am close wait for me somewhere close to Smile Burger¡¯ I guess I''ll just walk around here after work. Maybe I will eat some lunch at a restaurant in the area if he takes too long. A few hours later Sonic¡¯s shift had come to an end, he turned over his uniform and went outside. Outside the sky was gray, there was no sunlight and the sky looked like there was going to be rain. Sonic decided to spend his time outside and if it rains, he will sit in a caf¨¦ or restaurant if he gets hungry. The area around Smile Burger had a pedestrian-only shopping street. Sonic decided he would spend his time there window-shopping. The shopping street had a very run-down look. Most of the cafes, stores and signs had the look of the 20th century. It felt like a time capsule of Tokyo, that was the general feel of Kowareta Yume, but this street in particular was emblematic of the outdated state of the ward. Sonic drew out a cigarette to light but couldn¡¯t do it, his lighter had just died. A woman who looked to be in her late 40s was walking by and Sonic decided to approach her. ¡°Excuse me do you have a lighter by any chance?¡± The woman stopped and started looking at Sonic strangely. She had long brown hair in a ponytail, she wore glasses and a standard suit most women that work in Japanese offices wear. The woman in question still focused on Sonic started adjusting her glasses and squinting her eyes. Sonic was confused by this reaction and started to walk away. ¡°Hey sorry I thought you might have I lighter I didn¡¯t want to bother you¡°, Sonic said while backing away. ¡°Are you Sonic the Hedgehog?¡± said the woman. Oh great can¡¯t wait to hear about Sanic memes again. Haven¡¯t I been punished enough with this? Sonic let out a sigh and said ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me¡±. ¡°How¡¯s it going, what are you up to, haven¡¯t seen you in such a long time.¡± The woman spoke to him with a kind of friendliness and familiarity. Sonic did recognize the woman and he was taken aback by her friendliness. ¡°Do I know you?¡± ¡°Oh, right you know me by my old look. I used to have pink hair, sing and was 20 years younger.¡± ¡°I have no idea who you are.¡± ¡°It¡¯s me, Ulala.¡± ¡°Who?¡± She quickly changed her demeanor from friendly to annoyed. ¡°Space channel 5?¡± Sonic was still drawing a blank ¡°The Dreamcast rhythm game?¡± ¡°Ohhhh now I think I remember!¡± Ulala felt relieved and she went back to being friendly. ¡°We did that SEGA cross-over tennis game together right?¡± Sonic said. ¡°That¡¯s right¡± she nodded, ¡°Listen I have a lot of time before my next appointment. Do you wanna sit down for a cup of coffee over there to catch up?¡± While they were never what you would call friends, they were familiar with each other. Both were Dreamcast stars and they did a lot of media tours together. They talked about projects at SEGA anniversary events and have gone out on several business dinners. Sonic agreed to get that coffee, he wasn¡¯t terribly enthusiastic, but he had nothing better to do and he had no idea when would Tails arrive. They went to a cafe close by and outside it started to rain. The table they sat at was on the second floor of the caf¨¦, it had a large window with a pretty view of the shopping street. Both of them ordered a cup of coffee and lit cigarettes. Ulala borrowed Sonic her lighter. ¡°So, what are you up to know?¡± Sonic asked. ¡°I do voice coaching for young signers, mostly idols.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t star in any game in a long time, right?¡± Ulala puffed her cigarette and said, ¡°That life is over for me although I never had much of a career, but I¡¯m glad it happened.¡± ¡°Glad about what?¡± ¡°That I got the opportunity to make my own game in the first place. How many people can say that? It was nice, there was this whole spotlight on me for a time, people wrote some articles, there were fan meet-ups, and ultimately, I got to be a celebrity for a time¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you want to go back to that life?¡± Sonic said and inhaled smoke. ¡°Honestly no, it was nice, it happened and I¡¯m over it. I¡¯m too old to be a star anymore and I¡¯m fine where I am right now.¡± ¡°Married?¡± Ulala proudly nodded, ¡°Two kids as well.¡± ¡°I see¡± Sonic put out his cigarette and turned his head to the window next to him. He stared at the rain outside. ¡°What happened to you anyways? I remember reading about ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ when it came out.¡± Sonic shuttered at the mention of that title. It would seem everywhere he would go he would be haunted by that game. Always a reminder of his failures both as a game director and as a person. A reminder of his tarnished reputation, of his status as a laughingstock on the internet and of his lost love. ¡°You started to fall off the radar after that game. What happened to you in those years after that, I always wanted to ask you, but it never felt right to do so. You didn¡¯t look so good when we were making the SEGA tennis game, that was back in ¡¯08 right?¡± Sonic didn¡¯t say anything he still stared at the rain with a dead look in his eyes. ¡°What happened to you back then?¡± Sonic still didn¡¯t utter a word he just continued looking at the rain and began recounting the events of those years in his mind. IX Sonic began to rewind time in his head. 2006. the game came out and it was received even worse than ¡®Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)¡¯, at first I couldn¡¯t believe the reviews. Was it so bad, did I completely fail to see that? How could a game I made be one of the worst games of 2006? My standing in SEGA would change after that, it wasn¡¯t an immediate or sudden change but more gradual. Polanzo slowly moved me away year after year from being the face of SEGA, after all, what good can come to the brand of the company if its face made one of the worst games of all time? I would start getting smaller budgets, lesser media attention and the internet made endless memes and videos mocking me. I was soul crushed at first, I was in an even worse state than when ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ came out. However, unlike that time there were no friends around to comfort me. Something I took for granted, I thought Tails would always be there no matter what I did or said. Never take the people you call friends for granted. I ruined our friendship and he was gone. I tried to reach out to him but he didn¡¯t even want to see my face. Whenever there were meetings at SEGA that we had to attend together he would avoid eye contact with me. I found his ignoring me unbearable but I brought it upon myself. I was thinking okay at least I have Amy with me, she loved me unconditionally, and she would be there for me to lean on. I still remember that night I came earlier than usual from SEGA and saw her packing her things. I tried to stop her but she was determined to see it through. I asked her ¡°Why? Why are you leaving me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t love you anymore, I haven¡¯t loved you for a very long time. The person I fell in love with has been gone for a very long time.¡± That was that, I would never see Amy again. She disappeared from my life. At first, I didn¡¯t even realize what her leaving me meant. Every day I was in a gigantic penthouse with an enormous amount of wealth all alone. Nobody to say welcome home or to keep me company. Looking back at a distance our relationship had been broken for years now. I was so self-absorbed that I didn¡¯t even consider how unhappy Amy was. I miss her so much even now I miss her and I wished I had changed or at least said something to make her stay. Was there anything to even say at this point? For days I would spend my time just sitting alone in complete silence, wondering how and where it all went wrong. Who can I even call for help, who can I even talk to, who would even want to talk to me after everything? There was no one. No one I could call a real friend. Was this what I wanted? One could look back now and say this was what was expected from my behavior toward everyone I knew but I didn¡¯t want to be alone. SEGA was planning to distance themselves from me and they were already making preparations that would not be apparent immediately. Polanzo saw ¡®Sonic 06¡¯s¡¯ that even though the sales dropped in comparison to ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ they were still decent. He saw room for more games and the board of directors with his suggestion signed off on another game to be made. Everything went off as business as usual for now. The game in question is known as ¡®Sonic Unleashed(2008)¡¯. The making of this game brought major changes to the franchise. The group I will refer to as ¡®friends¡¯ (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Cream, basically almost everyone that had appeared in the ¡®Sonic games¡¯) decided to go on a coordinated strike, with the exception of Shadow but I will get to him later. The strike happened because no one wanted to return to work on ¡®Sonic Unleashed(2008)¡¯, or to be more specific no one wanted to return to work with me. I was the problem, everyone had had enough of me and demanded their contracts be renegotiated. They all wanted complete termination of any and all responsibilities and obligations to the ¡®Sonic franchise¡¯. President Polanzo at first said he was going to be tough on the strike, sue everyone and that they were going to be back to work in no time. In the end, the strike drew the attention of the press. Polanzo caved into the pressure and offered the ¡®friends¡¯ certain concessions. Everyone was still obligated to participate if a video game demanded their presence in the story for cutscenes and other story-related material. However, they had no more gameplay obligations which was the most important thing. Many of them including Tails requested the right to never have to be in the same room with me for recording cutscenes. Amy was particularly harsh, she demanded the right to never have to be in the SEGA building if I was there. ¡®Friends¡¯ also still had to make appearances in SEGA crossover games and promotional media, of course with the same right to never be in the same room as me or at the very least to not have to talk with me. These concessions did come at a cost though, each of the ¡®friends¡¯ had to forfeit their merchandising rights which were where the majority of everyone¡¯s income came from. For every piece of merch sold you were given a big percentage if your face was a part of it. The group was so adamant to never have to work with me, that they willingly gave up their biggest source of income. Polanzo was very happy with this deal, to him it was no big deal if they wanted to never talk to me as long as he was able to secure SEGA¡¯s financial interests. This was the reason for the lesser role everyone had in the games that would come. For ¡®Sonic Unleashed(2008)¡¯ I had finally gotten what I wanted. A game where I was the sole main character, I had total control and could direct it any way I wanted to. With ¡®friends¡¯ severing their ties with me and with ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ being criticized for having too many characters anyway, for the company it logically made sense. It felt strange to be able to finally do what I desired, a game that would be truly my own. Finally, I could prove that Sonic games didn¡¯t suck and I wouldn¡¯t be held back by other people¡¯s ideas, no need to compromise or to share. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I was finally ¡°Unleashed¡± you could say, or that¡¯s how I felt at first. Soon an empty feeling in my stomach started to arise, a realization of where I was in life. Completely alone. I would go to work, and talk to no one, at least not talk that wasn¡¯t anything work-related or small talk. Go home, sleep, go to work, rinse, and repeat. Before the strike when Amy left me, I held out hope that maybe I could reconcile with some of them but it was too late, nobody wanted to even look at my face much less hear any notion of being friends again. All of them moved on with their lives and branched out to different things. Knuckles had attempted to go solo with game development, and in the end, he was able to make an indie company with the idea to make the game he always wanted. Since he was going to make it independently, he would have a modest budget but he was able to have full control. The game he made was an RPG and he released it in 2013. Unfortunately, he made a grave mistake and published his game exclusively for the PS VITA. Life can truly be cruel sometimes, yet again like in the days of ¡®Knuckles Chaotix (1995)¡¯ when his game was on a system nobody owned and thus nobody played his game, the fate of his RPG was exactly the same. The PS VITA was a commercial failure and with the system, his game would die, with no audience to play it or see it. After that his indie company went bankrupt and I have no idea what he has been doing since then. As for Shadow, he was absent from the strike and he was absent from work too. Polanzo quietly renegotiated his contract, Shadow would be replaced with a look-alike in the coming games, and his career was killed with that. Why did Shadow not strike or protest his new contract? Apparently, he could not take the harassment he received from both ¡®Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)¡¯ and ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ that he became a shut-in. He did not leave his home and he wanted to not be a public figure anymore. When I say a shut-in I mean he rarely left his home. Tails would attempt to start a business with the capital he accumulated during his years of working in the video game industry. I don¡¯t know much about the details, but the gist of it is that it was going great until some changes happened in the market and his business collapsed. I don¡¯t know what the business was about or why it failed I never asked him to this day. As for Amy, I don¡¯t even know a single thing about her after she left me. What was she doing, how was she doing, I knew nothing. While working on ¡®Sonic Unleashed (2008)¡¯ I wanted to be able to prove to myself and to everyone else that I could still make good games. As part of the script I wrote in Tails and Amy, I thought maybe they would mellow out, maybe I could try to see them, maybe they would forgive me but they stuck to their guns and the game went along without us ever interacting. The actor who played Chip heard all the rumors about me and kept me at a distance, he did not want to be my friend. There was also that SEGA crossover tennis game that Ulala stared in. All the popular SEGA characters were invited to be a part of this project, from ¡®Jet Set Radio¡¯, to ¡®Super Monkey Ball¡¯ etc. I hoped that this would be a chance to maybe make some new friends and while I did get on great with Ulala we weren¡¯t real friends you could say. It was a very surface-level friendship and everyone else was on a strictly business level with me. Tails and a Shadow look alike were also a part of this cross-over game. Unlike me, Tails was able to make friends with all of the cast members and everyone liked him. I was so bitter about the whole situation I couldn¡¯t stand it. The worst day was when the project was finished. Tradition compels all of the crew to go on an expensive dinner together. Everyone was there who worked on the game including Tails of course. During the dinner, people were laughing and having fun but I was not. Tails decided to not even acknowledge I was there, every time I said something he would pretend like he didn¡¯t hear anything and would move the conversation forward. The whole time he avoided any eye contact with me. It was like a dagger to the heart. My best friend wouldn¡¯t even look at me. Not that I didn¡¯t deserve but I still felt horrible. I told myself at the time this would all be worth it. After all, this was the price I had to pay to get my vision to be uncompromised. What a delusional idea but I genuinely thought that this solitude would be worth it once ¡®Sonic Unleashed (2008)¡¯ releases. I would finally get those 10/10s, I would finally be number one and my reputation would be saved. Once the game was released I remember going on the internet to read the first reviews hoping this would finally get that validation and vindication I was searching for since ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯. What I got was only disappointment and rejection. The game averaged around a 6/10 by most critics. What a joke. I had severed all my connections just to be slapped with mediocre scores. I was so convinced in my greatness that I thought that the previous bad reviews were flukes or that others were to blame. Was I just a bad game director and were my masterpieces mistakes? I fell into despair after this game. What was the point of my work, what was the point of my life¡¯s journey? For who¡¯s sake was I being so awful to everyone around me and for what was I so adamant about doing these games alone? In the next years, I would go on spending sprees. I wanted to get the attention of other people, but I couldn¡¯t make friends the regular way and I believed that I should try a different approach. I could show off what I have, lots and lots of money. I would throw elaborate expensive parties, buy random people expensive gifts, and so on. Maybe this way I would gain some friendships. Unfortunately, none of my new friends were real friends. They were there cause I was showering them with money. In the coming years, I would make some games that did get good scores but for every good game I made, I made also a game that was horrendous in the eyes of the public. I could never go back to the reputation I had once before and was doomed to slowly fizzle out. No matter what scores I got, each game would get smaller budgets, less attention and gaps between new Sonic games would widen. Fewer games were made and when they were they got less marketing and in turn, would sell less thus the franchise was slowly dying. It¡¯s been years since the last Sonic game. In those years along with my spending spree, I turned to drinking. Very heavily. That period feels almost like a haze looking back on it. I barely remember much of anything. I would mostly sober up at the times I had to direct a game, but since that became less frequent, I fell deeper into this pit. On one of the days I was sober, I ran into Tails. I tried to start a conversation and we talked for a bit but it soon ended very quickly since he had somewhere to go. Finally, I was running out of money, I had to sell my penthouse and I spent that money too. It seemed like it was all over. I had lost the final thing that I had to show for, my wealth. Then that day came along. I was dead drunk, I have a lot of blank spots in my memory, but according to what Tails told me and other people I sat in my car and in that drunk haze I crashed. Some say that it was a suicide attempt since it seemed like I deliberately crashed the car. Frankly, I don¡¯t remember what I was thinking. Nobody was hurt. The police arrested me and I was in jail. They gave me the right to one phone call. Who was there to call? Apparently, I had called Tails, I said a lot of things I don¡¯t remember but whatever I said had a great effect on him. He paid for my bail and decided to help me. Since I crashed into a public wall, I had to pay for the damages I caused and my car was beyond repair. There went the last bit of money I had, after that, I was flat-broke, homeless and unemployed. But Tails surprised me once more and he invited me to stay at his place until I get back on my feet. Obviously, I wasn¡¯t going to be a parasite I wasn¡¯t going to live on his charity and started job hunting. Lifelong hero and game director don¡¯t give you many opportunities, so the only thing I could get was a job at Smile Burger. I never asked Tails what was the thing I said to him over the phone, frankly, I was so embarrassed by the whole situation that I wanted to forget that day. Tails had decided to enroll in college to get a degree. After his business collapsed, he too like me didn¡¯t have many opportunities. Unlike me, he had a lot of money saved, so much so that he could pay himself tuition and live modestly off his savings until he gets a degree. So here we are. Life for me finally had a kind of normalcy, a routine and while I hated my job, I repaired our friendship. We are living together for the time being and we get along great. Things aren¡¯t the same as the old days, the days from before everything went south, but we are once again close. If there is one thing I¡¯m glad about how my life played out, it¡¯s that I reconciled with my best friend. My job is terrible, but it won¡¯t stay like this too long. It¡¯s been years since the last Sonic game but SEGA will call me eventually. I learned a lot these years, I¡¯m not the same fool I was, Sonic the Hedgehog will return! X ¡°Hey Sonic,¡± said Ulala and waved her hand in front of Sonic¡¯s eyes. ¡°Oh yeah, you said something¡± Sonic shook his head. ¡°You okay? You zoned out and had this thousand-yard stare¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. I just remembered some things. Can you repeat your question?¡± ¡°What happened to you in the years after ¡®Sonic 06¡¯?¡± ¡°You know what¡±, Sonic sighed, ¡°Can we talk about something else, I don¡¯t want to go into that¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, we don¡¯t need to talk about that¡±, Ulala said with a smile, but inside she was disappointed. She wanted to hear some juicy drama about his break up with Amy, but she had to give up on it. Ulala took out a cigarette, ¡°Well anyways what are you doing now in life¡±, she said as she lit her cigarette. ¡°Right now I am working at a shitty job, but only temporarily.¡± Sonic said with optimism. ¡°I am waiting for SEGA to call me for my next game. I¡¯ve been drawing concept art for my new game I have this draft for a script that I think is great, I already drew level design ideas it''s going to be great. You could say I am on stand-by until I start directing and designing my next game!¡± ¡°Why would they call you?¡± Ulala looked a bit confused ¡°What do you mean why would they call me? I am Sonic the Hedgehog!¡± ¡°How long has it been since your last game?¡± ¡°I am not sure, it¡¯s been years¡± ¡°You do realize that it''s entirely possible that they may never call you again?¡± Sonic felt insulted, What the hell is she talking about? I may be down right now but my name still carries weight. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Ulala puffed on her cigarette and said ¡°I am just telling you realistically, there is no guarantee that you will get another game to make. They may call you and they may not. Depending on their market projections they may decide that your franchise isn¡¯t worth continuing¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± ¡°Why are you so sure that it''s impossible, it can happen to everybody. I am not saying that I am nearly as successful as you, but I made two games, I thought I had more to go and I had more spark in me than just two games. However, that was that. Yes, they called me to do those crossover games but I never got a chance to be a director again. Just because you used to make them money doesn¡¯t mean that they think you should keep going forever. ¡°I am not trying to put you down or crush your hopes. I am just saying this as someone that used to hold out hope that I would get called again. I used to dream of a new game, new me, but as the years went along and that never came. I was very depressed but I came to the realization that life moves on and the industry moved on from me. ¡°Did you know that they ended up making another ¡®Space Channel 5¡¯ game in 2020? Some kind of VR game but they made it without me. SEGA hired a young actress to fill my role I was too old at that point to play my role. It can be very unhealthy to cling to this idea that I am surely getting another chance, maybe you are, maybe you aren¡¯t. You should try to find something right now that you can build towards. Sonic lowered his head feeling almost defeated even though this wasn¡¯t a battle. It was like someone had poured cold water onto his face. Ulala¡¯s expression turned into one of embarrassment, she quickly changed her tone in an effort to be less aggressive and said: ¡°I''m sorry, I''m preaching a bit but like I said I''ve been in your situation, and I''m trying to give some advice. To conclude what I''ve been saying, you shouldn¡¯t hold onto the premise that they will call you at some point. Anything is possible but if they never call you, it just means a chapter in life has closed and that¡¯s okay too. You can¡¯t keep doing the same things you were doing when you were young when you get old. Aging is okay we just have to accept it.¡± Before he could fully digest what he had been told his phone started ringing. He picked up his phone, answered the call and said hello. ¡°Listen I finally fixed the car and I¡¯m on my way. I will be there soon wait for me at the Smile Burger¡± Tails said on the other end of the call. ¡°Okay, I will wait for you there.¡± Sonic ended the phone call, told Ulala a quick goodbye and left money for the coffee he ordered. Slowly he walked back to the Smile Burger, outside it was still raining. He didn¡¯t have an umbrella, but he didn¡¯t mind getting a little wet from the rain. Once he got there, he found a place where he could hide from the rain while he waited for Tails. While he waited, he thought about everything Ulala had said to him. It wasn¡¯t long before Tails arrived, he parked the red Saab 900 and exited the car. Sonic approached him and said ¡°Why did you get out of the car?¡± ¡°Listen I fixed the main issue with the car but I just can''t get the passenger door open. You will need to get in through the driver¡¯s seat.¡± The red Saab 900 had seats for up to 5 people but only two doors. With one door now unable to open, any passenger would have to ride in the back and could enter through the now-only functional door. With that Sonic sat in the back, Tails sat to drive and they were on their way home. During the drive, Sonic was completely silent and was looking through the window. He was still thinking about his talk with Ulala. ¡°What¡¯s got you thinking?¡± said Tails, looking at Sonic through the rearview mirror. ¡°You know who I ran into today? Do you remember Ulala?¡± ¡°The Dreamcast rhythm game?¡± Tails said squinting his eyes trying to remember. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the one. She pissed me off. Some washed-up singer giving me lectures.¡± Sonic said and started looking back at Tails through the rearview mirror. ¡°What did she say?¡± ¡°She is just jealous her career ended after two games. She told me to give up my dreams because she gave up on hers and that made her feel better. I''ll take your advice when you make more than two games.¡± Sonic crossed his arms in frustration, still looking out of the window. ¡°Mhm,¡± Tails nodded and didn¡¯t say anything. He had a feeling that wasn¡¯t exactly what she had told Sonic. Tails thought she probably said something bad about ¡®Sonic games¡¯ and that was what made him upset. Sonic never kindly took criticism. Since Tails wasn¡¯t present for the conversation, it was best just to let Sonic vent and move on to something else. ¡°By the way, today is Friday!¡± Tails said with excitement. ¡°I know, the best day of the week,¡± Sonic said and his mood already improved. ¡°Who is the guest tonight?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know I haven¡¯t checked¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, whoever it is Rick Ravette always makes it interesting to listen to.¡± ¡°You know I never could have imagined his show would be going on for that long. You¡¯d think he would have run out of steam at this point.¡± Sonic and Tails continued to chat until they got home. Since they started living together, they had two rituals they always did together. One, every morning had to start with coffee and watching ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯ together. Two, watching tonight with Rick Ravette every Friday evening. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. These rituals became very important to the two. It was time they spent together having fun, laughing and discussing. For Sonic it provided an escape from his realty of working his horrible job. For Tails they were brakes in between endless study sessions. They both greatly enjoyed each other¡¯s company. Even though the show is American, it airs on Thursday night in America and gets a rerun on Japanese television on Friday night. Over the years, it has become more popular in Japan than in the US. The reason for this isn¡¯t clear but the show has in turn become very Japanese-centric. *** The sun had set and Sonic and Tails were in their apartment. Soon Rick Ravette would start, and the two of them got comfortable on the couch and had snacks prepared. The show began and Rick was on the screen. He hadn¡¯t changed that much from the 2000s. He had a few more wrinkles on his face and a few gray hairs he didn¡¯t have before. He also still wore the same suits and had the same mustache. The first part of the show was always Rick telling a few jokes, like a little stand-up performance. Sonic and Tails laughed out loud at a few jokes. For the next part, it was time to announce the guest. ¡°Good evening ladies and gentlemen, tonight¡¯s guest is a stranger to no one. A legend in the video game industry, director of one of the most well-regarded video game franchises, formerly a criminal now a force for good, give it up for Kiryu Kazuma!¡± Kiryu entered the stage, he was wearing his iconic white suit. Sonic up until this point was in a good mood but that quickly changed once he had heard the guest''s name and his face turned pale. Rick went on to interview Kiryu. They sat across from each other and most of the interview was centered around the new ¡¯Yakuza¡¯ game Kiryu appears in. ¡°So Kiryu you don¡¯t direct or write the games anymore?¡± said Rick. ¡°I am now just an actor in these games. I haven¡¯t been in the director¡¯s chair since ¡®Yakuza 6(2016).¡± said Kiryu. ¡°Tell me why is that?¡± ¡°These games have been about my journey, the lessons I¡¯ve learned, and trying to leave the player with some kind of message. I¡¯ve lived a very colorful life as most players of my games can tell but I also felt like I don¡¯t want to do this forever. There comes a point when you¡¯ve fought your last fight.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying you got tired?¡± ¡°Kind of. While these stories are mostly autobiographical, I wanted them to have closure and I wanted to give the fictional Kiryu I play in the games an ending. I''ve accomplished that with ¡®Yakuza 6(2016)¡¯ and I¡¯m happy I was able to do that. I¡¯ve said everything I wanted to say in the series, some things maybe multiple times.¡± The crowd chuckled and Kiryu continued to talk. ¡°I felt like it was a good moment to stop there and so, I did. So many stories endlessly go on and on, I didn¡¯t want that to become of me. Life doesn¡¯t go on forever after all.¡± ¡°You may have wanted the fictional Kiryu to have an ending but SEGA keeps bringing you back to cameo or to star in them. How do you feel about that?¡± said Rick while adjusting his seat. ¡°Honestly I am not happy at all. Back in 2016. I wanted that to be the last time I appear in any video game ever. However, the contract I signed says they can call me back for whatever reason they see fit. I¡¯m not too angry about it, I do get paid very handsomely every time. SEGA can keep making up reasons for fictional Kiryu to return from retirement but in my heart, I was able to retire him in ¡®Yakuza 6(2016)¡¯ and they can never take that away from me.¡± Kiryu gave a soft smile. ¡°So you would never direct or write a game ever again, even if someone else was the main star?¡± ¡°No. I have expressed everything I wanted to express as both director and writer.¡± ¡°What do you now?¡± ¡°I run an orphanage. I think I feel really fulfilled being a father, especially to those who never had one. I''ve had a tough life and I know how hard it is to grow up without parents. You always feel lonely and disconnected even when surrounded by other people. I am trying to provide to those kids the life they deserve, the love and safety every child deserves.¡± Rick shuffled his papers and asked, ¡°Are you happy where you are right now?¡± ¡°I think I have never been happier. Players of ¡®Yakuza 3(2009)¡¯ will remember that I was the happiest when I started an orphanage. I always wanted to keep running the orphanage but my past kept getting in the way of that. Now I can finally do what I always wanted and with these appearances in new ¡®Yakuza¡¯ games I have infinite money to keep the orphanage well-funded.¡± ¡°Do you have any regrets?¡± Rick¡¯s expression became more serious. ¡°I live with many regrets. There are plenty of things I wish I would have done differently. Most of my life has been trying to fix the mistakes I¡¯ve made and atoning for my past as a Yakuza. Most of all I wish I was able to beat fate and save a friend, but we can¡¯t turn back time. We have to keep moving forward.¡± ¡°Speaking of friends, do you keep up with Majima and the rest?¡± Rick changed to a more lighthearted tone. ¡°We don¡¯t see each other all the time but all of us are still very close friends.¡± ¡°Finally, I have to ask, did the substories actually happen?¡± The crowd burst into laughter and Kiryu laughed along. ¡°Some of them were made up to give the games a bit of pizazz, but most of them did happen.¡± ¡°There you have it ladies and gentlemen. The legend himself Kazuma Kiryu. Tune in next week, we won''t be having a guest. Instead, I am very happy to announce that I will be making my own movie and we will have an opportunity to talk about it.¡± Kiryu extended his hand to Rick and said, ¡°I wish you success on your film debut¡±, Rick shook hands with Kiryu and the show ended. Sonic fell into a state of depression after the show. He just sat staring at the TV screen in silence. Tails asked him, ¡°Are you okay?¡± in a deeply concerned tone. ¡°I¡¯m fine, I am just gonna go to the balcony for a smoke if that¡¯s okay¡± Sonic went to the balcony, lit his cigarette, and looked up at the night sky. The rain had ended some time ago and the sky was completely clear. He turned his gaze from the sky to the city. Tails¡¯ apartment was on the 18th floor, it had a very nice view of Tokyo. A sea of buildings seemed to stretch on forever. Sonic began to contemplate in his head. Kiryu is the literal antithesis of everything I am and was. The new face of SEGA. The games he made were all great, and all of them were reviewed highly. He hasn¡¯t lost his entire wealth. He hasn¡¯t screwed up his relationships, he is happy. He knew when it was time to quit, even with that he still enjoys a successful career. He is well respected, and he didn¡¯t let the success destroy him. What Ulala said earlier to me, maybe she is right. Maybe I should just give up on the dream. Maybe I don¡¯t have it in me, and the industry just doesn¡¯t want me anymore. But what do I do? I don¡¯t want to work at Smile Burger anymore, but where can I go at this point? I am clinging on to the dream of a return and I don¡¯t think I can let go of it. It¡¯s the thing that helps me get through the day, it''s what helps me get through the morning. It¡¯s the thing that gives me meaning. What am I waking up for without that dream? I don¡¯t know. I honestly have almost nothing to live for. As sad as that sounds, it is true. What do I even want to do with my life at this point? Ulala can be a voice coach, ¡®cause she can sing. She started a family. I can''t run fast anymore, I haven¡¯t run fast in real life since the 1980s. I can''t start a family, Amy is long gone. I don¡¯t have something to build like the orphanage that Kiryu has. I haven¡¯t done any meaningful hero stuff since Robotnik. Kiryu never stopped trying to help people even with the wealth, the success, the games, and everything else. I spat on the faces of all the people just cause I could at the time. I hate myself. I am terrible, worthless, nothing I ever did amounted to anything. Looking at Tokyo and seeing the near infinite skyscrapers, the small squares of light coming from all of the windows. I wonder how are they doing. Are these people¡¯s lives any better? Do they have their lives put together? Are they living for something? Do they also have unattainable dreams? Are they happy with themselves? Tails joined Sonic on the balcony and interrupted his thoughts. ¡°What¡¯s got you thinking?¡± said Tails. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I am going to do with my life,¡± Sonic said sounding very depressed. ¡°In what sense?¡± ¡°Every day I wake up thinking that soon SEGA will call me and I will get another game to direct¡± ¡°I know, you talk about all your ideas and concepts all of the time¡± Sonic puffed on his cigarette and said, ¡°I sleepwalk through my work, I obsessively about directing games and I may never get another chance to do it. What if I¡¯m a spent mascot and it''s over? SEGA hasn¡¯t called me in years.¡± ¡°Is that what Ulala talked to you about?¡± ¡°Yeah, and I¡¯ve been thinking about it the whole day.¡± Tails proudly congratulated himself in his head for figuring out that Sonic wasn¡¯t honest about what Ulala said to him. Sonic put out his cigarette and continued, ¡°This interview we watched with Kiryu today hit me hard. Objectively he is the new face of SEGA. Am I like Ulala or Ristar, a mascot of a dead franchise? Thinking about it I just can''t be content with the idea that I¡¯ve made my last game.¡± ¡°Why is it so bad if you made your last game?¡± Tails said trying to be understanding and empathetic. ¡°I just can¡¯t accept that my legacy is going to be terrible. I will go down in history as a great artist, instead someone to be laughed at. I want to prove to the world that I can still make a 10/10 game. That I''ve still got it in me. I have made games that did get good reviews like ¡®Sonic Generations(2011)¡¯ but that isn¡¯t really a classic. I have to make one more classic before I can let it go. Kiryu was smart to stop before he tarnished his franchise.¡± Tails put his palms together and said very gently, ¡°Have you thought about what are you going to do if there are no more ¡®Sonic games¡¯? I am not the franchise is dead but let¡¯s say in a scenario that you don¡¯t get another chance. What would you do?¡± ¡°I have been thinking about that too. I don¡¯t know. There isn¡¯t an option for me to explore that. I have to get up every morning and go to that shitty Smile Burger, I don¡¯t have any real opportunities to work besides other minimum wage jobs. What can I even put on my CV? I stopped a mad scientist once upon a time and a former game director. What use has anyone for that? Who would want to employ me? ¡°Better yet even if I had the option to choose whatever field or place to work I don¡¯t know what I would choose. What am I passionate about other than video games? Is there even anything out there I would enjoy? Is there any work I would find fulfilling? Maybe it''s even useless to think about because I won''t be able to leave the job I am at right now.¡± Tails stood silent for a bit and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m not sure what to say. I can¡¯t give you an answer, all I can do is listen and try to be supportive.¡± ¡°I know and thank you for listening, I don¡¯t know if I feel better but still thank you¡± ¡°You know¡±, Tails took a moment to think, ¡°Kiryu probably didn¡¯t have everything figured out at first, nobody does. You just keep fighting and try to figure out where you want to go. For the moment you are stuck where you are but don¡¯t give up. Also, you may get another game at SEGA that isn¡¯t off the table!¡± ¡°I know, but like you said, I have to be ready in case I already had my last chance to make a game.¡± Sonic took out to light another cigarette but the previous one was the last he had. ¡°Damn it. Anyways, I envy you. You seem to have it together¡± ¡°Not really. I do have plenty of money in savings to keep living in Kowareta Yume for a long time and I have enough to pay for my tuition. However, I am very much stuck on this one exam. I¡¯ve been stuck on it for some time now and failed it 5 times already. Sometimes I wonder do I even want to finish this college. Am I content with doing this for a living? Was this a mistake?¡± Tails now became just as gloomy as Sonic. Both just sunk deeper into depression. ¡°At least if you graduate you will be making a lot of money,¡± Sonic said. ¡°I think I¡¯ve had enough of doom for one night,¡± Tails said. ¡°Let''s play who would win¡± It became an unwritten rule that if both of them would fall into depressive episodes, they would lift each other¡¯s spirits by playing a stupid game they made up together. Sonic smiled, ¡°You¡¯re right. Alright, what¡¯ve you got?¡± ¡°Okay so, if Samba from ¡®Samba de Amigo¡¯ and Spiderman fought Junichiro Koizumi and Jotaro Kujo, who would win?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a tough one¡­ I think Jun-chan and Jotaro would win by a sliver.¡± ¡°Think about it, Samba could distract Jun with his music-¡° ¡°But Jun likes Elvis, I don¡¯t think he would vibe with Samba¡¯s music. They are too different. Jun could probably overpower Samba. Spiderman and Jotaro would have a very long fight, and once Jun would finish his battle he would jump in to help Jotaro¡± Tails squinted his eyes and thought about Sonic¡¯s scenario. ¡°Yeah your right, they would end up winning.¡± ¡°Now, listen to this!¡± It was Sonic¡¯s turn now to make a scenario. ¡°Futaba from Persona 5 and Bob the Builder versus Themistocles and Vin Dizel. Who would win?¡± ¡°Are we talking Vin Dizel the actor or Dominic Toreto?¡± ¡°The actor¡± Tails shrugged ¡°Pffft then it''s Futaba and Bob.¡± ¡°Themistocles¡¯ fleet?¡± ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°I mean it¡¯s a fleet¡± Tails was very confused and said, ¡°Please elaborate¡± ¡°So his fleet is from the 400s BCE, Futaba can¡¯t hack it!¡± ¡°Well, Bob the builder would deal with the fleet!¡± ¡°He is a builder, not a destroyer.¡± ¡°Vin Dizel the actor is like -4000 debuff. If you said Toretto then I¡¯d vote for team 2.¡± ¡°True he is quite the debuff.¡± ¡°That alone makes team 1 the winner. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right¡± Sonic conceded. ¡°Now my turn. Madara Uchiha and Mojo Jojo versus Lupin the 3rd.¡± ¡°This is the easiest battle so far. Lupin would DESTROY them¡± Sonic said with speed and confidence. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. Whenever Lupin is involved you always say he wins.¡± ¡°He is too powerful. You just don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get it!¡± ¡°He is literally the most powerful. There is nothing to debate here.¡± The two broke the despair that was in the atmosphere and continued to play their game into the late hours of the night. Arguing and laughing, they had for now put aside thinking about the future and enjoyed this peaceful moment. Once they got tired each went to their rooms and fell into a deep sleep. XI The next morning Sonic and Tails woke up around 9 am. It was Saturday after all so there was no rush to get up quickly. Despite feeling anxious and depressed the previous day, Sonic was able to sleep soundly and got up well rested. Once both of them got out of bed, they met in the living room. ¡°I will make us breakfast today, you can sit on the couch?¡± Tails said. ¡°I can make us something?" Sonic said feeling confused about Tails¡¯ wish to make it alone. ¡°No, I insist¡±, Tails shook his head aggressively, ¡°I am in the mood for some omelet, and last time you tried to make it you nearly caused a fire.¡± ¡°Fair point¡±, Sonic smiled and went to sit on the couch. Tails began to prepare the omelet and Sonic turned on the TV to listen to ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯, because it was Saturday the program started later than it did during working days. The smell of eggs filled the flat from the kitchen. The first part of the program on TV was the weather forecast, Sonic wasn¡¯t too interested and he grabbed his cell phone. He would browse his phone while waiting for the food and the guest interview to start. One thing that immediately caught his eye was an email he had received that he didn¡¯t understand. It went, Media Protection United has filed a suit under the provisions of the Rights and privileges intellectual property defense act. You have damaged the integrity of you our IP and have used it in ways we haven¡¯t intended. Therefore we ask you to cease and desist, you shall be issued a fine for this breach and we will use all legal mechanisms at our disposal should you infringe on our intellectual property once more. Sonic also had an email from his bank saying money was deducted from his account due to a fine. All of these were things he didn¡¯t understand. Tails brought two plates of delicious omelets prepared after his favorite omelet recipe and two cups of coffee. Sonic showed him the two emails he received and asked him if he knew anything about this. ¡°Oh this is because of that new law coming into effect,¡± Tails said and nodded. ¡°This Rights and privileges intellectual¡­ whatever act?¡± Sonic spoke tripping over his words. ¡°What does that law do and why was I fined?¡± ¡°You see there had been increasing pressure to regulate the internet from big corporations to defend their IPs. A lot of them were very frustrated due to the many fan art, fan works, fan projects and so on that were as they say damaging their brand. They wanted the power to be able to remove these ¡®threatening¡¯ fan works¡± Tails took a pause to take a bite of food and then continued speaking. ¡°Anyways, as I was saying, this new law would empower companies to be able to hunt down any content they don¡¯t like that contains say their characters, the goal was to kill even noncommercial works that fell under fair use. The expansion of powers wasn¡¯t just fan work, it is much more sinister. For example, you can¡¯t even say a company¡¯s name without getting permission anymore, or any copyrighted word for that matter.¡± ¡°No way,¡± Sonic said in disbelief ¡°Eat your food before it gets cold¡± Tails pointed his fork at Sonic. Sonic started to eat, he had forgotten about the food. Tails took a small piece of the omelet, chewed, swallowed, and continued to speak. ¡°One of the big players that pushed this change was the big one, you know the one with the mouse?¡± Sonic simply nodded, his mouth was full but he understood which company he was talking about. ¡°One of the new powers included the ability to remove copyrighted material retroactively.¡± Tails said, took a sip of his coffee and continued. ¡°Let''s say there was an interview I did in 2003. And I said a word that was copyrighted, the rights holder could get that word redacted from all videos of that interview on the internet, isn¡¯t that crazy?¡± ¡°I already know what company would abuse the hell out of it¡±, Sonic said with a smirk. ¡°I don¡¯t want to say their name because I don¡¯t want to get another copyright fine but the one that has that famous Italian plumber employed¡± ¡°Yeah they are one of the worst ones¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t get why was I fined¡± ¡°Well, today¡¯s algorithms are so powerful that you can''t even say them out loud in the privacy of your home. Our phones¡¯ microphones are constantly listening for the use of copyrighted words and automatically notify the rights holder if they detect an infringement. You probably said the name of some character while we played who would win and some company saw that a breach and they fined you.¡± ¡°But wait¡±, Sonic put his index finger on his mouth as if he realized something, ¡°most of the characters we mentioned were copyrighted, you said names out loud too how come you didn¡¯t get a fine?¡± Tails was chewing on his food, he waited to swallow and said, ¡°Not all companies are the same. Some are very aggressive like the mentioned Italian plumber one or the mouse one, but most of them aren¡¯t as bad as those. You probably said a character name that belonged to a company that¡¯s more like the former. The law went into effect recently and many fan works, fan art, fan fiction, videos, and doujinshi got deleted from the internet. Remember doujins? You had that one that you really liked, the one with the twins¡± Sonic said mumbling and barely containing his laughter. ¡°Oh I remember the twins alright¡± ¡°I hope that explains the fine you got.¡± ¡°I wonder, are there still Sonic fan works on the internet?¡± ¡°SEGA always had a relaxed policy when it comes to fan works so everything should be the same.¡± ¡°SEGA does what redactedon¡¯t!¡± Sonic said feeling proud of his little joke. ¡°I do remember though back when Polanzo came into power he did want to change the company statute to make it aggressively pursue copyright protection but he was stopped by the opposition. Things like that can always change.¡± Tails took a large chunk of his omelet, finally finishing his meal, and continued, ¡°I wonder who is now president of SEGA? Polanzo¡¯s term limits should long have expired at this point¡± ¡°You seriously ignored my brilliant joke?¡± Sonic said making an exaggerated sad face. ¡°Oh sorry, forgot to laugh,¡± Tails said rolling his eyes and sipping his coffee. ¡°At least I try¡± Sonic theatrically raised his arms as if he was an actor in a tragedy. He was able to get a chuckle from Tails due to this performance. ¡°To answer your question¡±, Sonic spoke normally again, ¡°Polanzo was still president when I directed my last game, although that was years ago¡± ¡°Even so it''s highly irregular for him to have been president after so long. Nothing is regular about that bastard, from his dubious origins to the way he seized power in the company.¡± ¡°So let me just check if I got everything. There is this new law, it gives companies the power to literally fine you for even saying a word that they have copyrighted, from character names to even just the name of the company. Not all of them abuse this power and I got fined by one of the ones that do?¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Tails gave a simple nod. Sonic took the last bite of his omelet and finished eating. ¡°Insane world we live in¡± Sonic sighed. ¡°You know stuff like this is also politics but you don¡¯t care right?¡± Tails said sounding a bit bitter. ¡°I care about-¡° ¡°I know you care about politics only when it¡¯s something that directly affects you doesn¡¯t it? Like every apolitical person in the world.¡± Tails waved his hand in frustration. Sonic didn¡¯t want to argue, he didn¡¯t really have any arguments to respond with so he was just silent. Tails said all he had to say and went silent too. Silence filled the room, the only thing that can be heard is the low volume of the television. To avoid making the atmosphere at home tense the two quickly moved on to other topics. The two talked about breakfast, Sonic thought it was good. He didn¡¯t dive any deeper into thinking about the food he consumed. Tails was talking about all of the things he missed this time, things he could add to the recipe, mistakes he made, and ways it could be better next time. It was by no means a bad meal, Tails always looked at ways he could improve his cooking. During the weekdays when he studies all day, he eats whatever he can as quickly as possible, he often orders food too when he gets too lazy to cook. However, during the weekends he took great pleasure in preparing meals meticulously. He had decided to not study on the weekends unless exams were very close. On ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯ there was a discussion with multiple guests. A film director, a writer, 3 actors, and a producer were the guests. They talked about speculations about what Rick Ravette¡¯s upcoming movie will be like and what they thought about him becoming a film director. Each of them talked in depth and shared their thoughts. Sonic and Tails were both fans of Rick and were very excited to hear more about this project. Yesterday¡¯s conversation made them forget about that announcement almost entirely. At the end of the interview, Sonic had to go to the bathroom. The toilet broke again, and Sonic once again like a professional fixed it. Tails mumbled about the mayor of Kowareta Yume. He then tried to do his best impression of the mayor and joked about agents from Mexico, MEXICO CITY to be precise being the reason Sonic had to fix the toilet. With that Saturday morning had ended. *** Sonic and Tails were sitting in the living room browsing on their phones trying to look for a place they could go to in the afternoon. It was Saturday and both of them wanted to go out and do something together. ¡°We could go watch a movie¡±, said Tails putting his phone down and turning his head to Sonic. ¡°I can''t afford it. Tickets are way too expensive these days and I don¡¯t want you to pay.¡± Sonic said and shook his head. ¡°You paid for my tickets last time we went and id feel bad if I was leeching off you again. You help me out a lot as is already.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Tails was thinking of alternatives, he was really in the mood to watch a movie today. ¡°Oh I know, we can go to that retro theater in Kowareta Yume. It¡¯s very run down but tickets are dirt cheap because they only show old films. Want me to see what are they showing today?¡± Sonic thought about this proposal for a moment, ¡°Tell me first what are they showing¡± Tails excitedly grabbed his phone and searched on the internet. He crossed his fingers in the hope that there was going to be something they would both be interested in. Tails opened the webpage, ¡°Here we go, tonight the film ¡®Jackie Brown(1997)¡¯ is on the menu¡± ¡°¡¯Jackie Brown(1997)¡¯? Never heard of it¡± Sonic didn¡¯t sound very enthusiastic ¡°It''s from the director who made ¡®Once Upon a Time in Hollywood(2019)¡¯¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s enough to convince me!¡±, Sonic suddenly became very excited about this Jackie Brown film. ¡°I love ¡®Once Upon a Time in Hollywood(2019)¡¯, you know that movie kind of reminds me of us.¡± Tails thought about it for a moment as he was rewinding the plot of that film in his head, ¡°I can see what you¡¯re saying. You are definitely very similar to Dicaprio¡¯s character and you are struggling with similar problems to him. I wish I was as strong and cool as Brad Pitt.¡± ¡°Brad Pitt is so powerful there. He can even beat Bruce Lee¡± ¡°Hold on, I just thought of something, you have to tell me. Who would win, Brad Pitt¡¯s character from ¡®Once Upon a Time in Hollywood(2019)¡¯ or Lupin the 3rd?¡± ¡°That¡¯s too easy, Lupin the 3rd of course¡± ¡°How? I don¡¯t get it. It''s always Lupin the 3rd, why do you think he is that strong?¡± Tails said grabbing his head in confusion. Sonic shrugged ¡°He just is¡± With laughter and confusion, the duo made their way to the car and drove to the cinema. On the way Sonic bought cigarettes and they sat in what was a mostly empty theater. Their phones were put on silent to not disturb the other people there. The film started and Sonic fell in love with it. Jackie Brown, the main character, is a down-on-her-luck middle-aged black woman, working at a dead-end job as a stewardess. Things are going miserable for her but she meets a bail bondsman Max Cherry, and a subtle romance starts to bloom between the two of them. They get an opportunity to pull off a heist and make a lot of money. Things aren¡¯t so easy. The money belongs to a criminal who sells illegal weapons who Jackie is indebted to and the police are also after the money. Not to go into too much detail about the film''s plot it''s more than just a heist movie, many things happen and there are plenty of colorful characters all written with punchy dialog. Sonic would recommend everyone go see it. The thing that captivated Sonic about the movie was Jackie Brown¡¯s struggle to turn her life around, to get the financial freedom she wants and will never get from working her job. She is someone who messed up her life and is now middle-aged with no chance to change where she is. That is until this heist opportunity that came seemingly out of nowhere. Suddenly there is a possibility of a second chance, that fantasy of getting a second chance at everything is what Sonic found very appealing. Jackie Brown is also surrounded by men more powerful than her that also want to seize the money, she is determined to come out on top. She schemes, she plans, and she fights for her chance with all she¡¯s got. For her, this truly is the last stop to escape the prison of the dead-end job. Sonic sat practically on the edge of his seat in anticipation. With all his heart he wanted Jackie Brown to win. It meant if she could win, maybe he could win too and plan his way out of his life situation. At the end of the movie (*author¡¯s note: spoilers for the ¡®Jakcie Brown(1997)¡¯ movie ending I guess, seriously go see it*), Jackie Brown wins. She successfully with Max Cherry pulls off the heist. She has won her financial freedom and has outsmarted the rest. She is driving her car with Bobby Womback¡¯s Across the 110th Street playing in the background. She looks back at the journey it took to get here, she drives crying, and softly smiling. She is happy and overwhelmed with emotion, she has finally reached the point she has chased the whole movie. There is a fade to black and the credits roll. The movie is over. Sonic and Tails went to their car, the red Saab, Tails sat in the front and Sonic in the back like they did yesterday due to the yet to be repaired passenger door. On their way home they discussed the movie. Tails liked the movie a lot but Sonic was in love with it. ¡°What was your favorite thing about the movie?¡± said Sonic looking at Tails through the rearview mirror. ¡°I think it was Jackie herself,¡± said Tails raising one hand from the steering wheel trying to explain what he means. ¡°The moment when she grabs the gun in the begging she is like, I am taking control of the situation, I am not going to be a victim. That was so cool. What about you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know where to begin¡± Sonic had a long rant about so many things he liked, from the pacing to the characters to the music, and so on. ¡°This might be my new favorite movie¡±, Sonic said and rubbed his eyes with his hand. ¡°I think I just want to get what she gets in this movie.¡± ¡°What do you mean¡± Tails raised an eyebrow. ¡°A second chance,¡± Sonic said. Tails kept his eyebrow raised which prompted Sonic to shake his hands as if to clear a misunderstanding, ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, you gave me a second chance, that is something I will never forget. I am grateful you are still my friend¡± Tails gave a soft smile to Sonic through the mirror which disarmed a potential conflict. If Sonic didn¡¯t word this properly it''s possible Tails would have gotten deeply insulted. He felt like he gave Sonic a second chance and it seemed almost like Sonic was ungrateful. Tails realized he wasn''t talking about friendships but about something else and decided to listen. Sonic continued to talk: ¡°What I mean is a chance to escape the dead-end job where I am at. You know the whole thing we talked about yesterday. I wish for something extraordinary, an opportunity for my Jackie Brown-styled heist where I am financially free again, my reputation is fixed and I am making the games I love that are getting 10/10 reviews¡± ¡°That would be one weird heist¡± Tails laughed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be a heist literally. I mean that wild one-in-a-million chance to do something crazy that could change your life. On the one hand, those kinds of things happen only in fiction, and on the other hand, defeating Robotnik already kind of was that so maybe I¡¯ve already ruined that once-in-a-lifetime chance.¡± Sonic said the last part with a bit of sadness in his eyes. Tails didn¡¯t say anything, he could feel Sonic had more he wanted to say, so he gave a hand gesture as if to tell Sonic it was okay to let it out. Sonic understood and continued to talk. ¡°Watching Jackie Brown driving that car at the end with Across the 110th Street in the background. Seeing her getting everything together, succeeding in her goals, being happy, and crying at the same time. She must have thought, finally I am here. the place I wanted to reach. I am happy. Everything is alright now. I wonder will I ever be able to have that moment. ¡°It made me imagine myself in the future. I am driving your red Saab 900, listening to 110th Street just like her. I have made all the wrongs I made right. I am alone and I can truly tell myself that I am happy. Everything is okay. I can''t get that image of myself out of my head. It makes me want to cry knowing I may never be able to reach that point. Maybe I am doomed to be trapped. ¡°Maybe I am being too childish. Maybe the Jackie Brown heist is the friendship we rebuilt and I am not able to fully appreciate it. I am sorry Tails. I am sorry I was so awful to you and thank you for forgiving me. However, I just can''t look myself in the mirror and say, yes I am happy flipping burgers and repairing toilets for the rest of my life and being remembered as the guy who made ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ when I die.¡± Tears began to well up in Sonic¡¯s eyes as he was speaking. ¡°Hey, Sonic calm down it''s okay.¡± Tails spoke softly trying to comfort Sonic. ¡°I will help you in any way I can and I am glad we are friends too. I remember when you were in your ego trip period in the 2000s I just wanted my old friend back. You¡¯re back now and we are okay. As for the other thing, there are no easy answers to solving questions like how to do fulfilling work¡± ¡°Thank you for bearing with me when I am like this.¡± Sonic put his hands on his eyes to wipe off the tears on his face. The car stopped at a red light. A lot of traffic piled up in the street they were in. The car was left to stand in place for some time and a depressing atmosphere filled the red Saab. Tails did not want the two of them to fall into nihilism on a Saturday night after watching an excellent film. Tails took out his phone while the car was still standing in place and connected it to the car¡¯s stereo. ¡°What was the name of the song? Across the 110th Street right? I want to hear it again¡± Tails said and played that song through his phone. It was a better alternative than just sitting in silence and the mood began to improve. A smile returned to Sonic¡¯s face upon hearing the melody. To finalize Tails¡¯ attempt at making sure the night wouldn¡¯t end on a sour note, he asked Sonic: ¡°Who would win, Jackie Brown or Lupin the 3rd?¡± Tails was genuinely curious about what Sonic would say. ¡°As cool and smart as Jackie is, Lupin is still the king.¡± ¡°Really?? I was sure Jackie Brown was the one who would dethrone him in your eyes.¡± Talks continued about why was Lupin so powerful. Tails still wouldn¡¯t get a satisfying answer and they drove home. However, unbeknownst to Sonic because his phone was in silent mode due to the movie theater demanding it, he had received an email. It was an email from none other than SEGA. XII
Sonic was ecstatic when he read the email from SEGA the next morning. The email was a call to discuss Sonic¡¯s involvement in a new video game project and if he was interested to meet with the president of SEGA in his office at noon on Monday. Throughout the whole day, he spent planning out how he was going to present himself in the meeting. How he was going to pitch his ideas and how he was going to promote the game. He had years to think of all the various things he wanted to do with a project and was full of creative concepts. This email seemed like destiny to Sonic. Yesterday he had talked about a Jackie Brown heist opportunity that would turn his situation around. This was it. This was what he yearned for. Finally, he was going to make this new break-out hit that would clear his name. He was going to escape the poverty he had found himself in. He was going to help out Tails with the money he was about to get so that they can both move out of Kowareta Yume. He was going to buy a new car, and even though his driver¡¯s license was taken away by the court, he would patiently wait for the court to return it to him. Everything was going to be okay. Things would go out as he planned and he would get his cathartic ending. He was going to be driving in his new car, smiling and listening to Across the 110th Street like Jackie Brown at the end of the movie. Maybe Tails and he would go on a vacation. After Tails¡¯ exam that is. He jokingly asked Tails if he wanted to go to Mexico, MEXICO CITY to be precise, and they both laughed. Sonic told himself that he wasn¡¯t going to let his ego destroy his friendship. He wasn¡¯t going to spend all of his money. He wasn¡¯t going to going to make a bad game and if by some chance he finds a new girlfriend he wasn¡¯t going to treat her as badly as he treated Amy. Everything was going to be different. Sonic had a grand vision of his now bright future. He was now wiser. He was not going to screw this up. He imagined himself being the main character of his own story. He was a bad person, had learned his lesson, had his redemption arc and it was time for the catharsis. Tails mostly acted as support, he was happy that his friend had finally gotten what he had wanted for so long. One question that he was very curious about getting an answer to was who the president of SEGA was now. Sonic realized that his current job wasn¡¯t going to allow him to go to this meeting at SEGA since his working hours were at the same time as his meeting. He had wanted to quit his job but Tails convinced him to just call in a sick leave. Just in case the meeting doesn¡¯t go well. Sonic agreed in the end but got anxious at the idea of the meeting going wrong. The meeting not being what he was imagining was a very scary idea. One that he ended up repressing. How could things go wrong? They just can¡¯t. It¡¯s now or never, if this meeting doesn¡¯t go as planned there is nothing I can look forward to. Jackie Brown heists don¡¯t happen twice. Sonic was thinking to himself. Sunday would go by with great enthusiasm and a little bit of fear. Sonic was barely able to fall asleep from the excitement. *** Monday morning arrived and Sonic and Tails woke up to coffee and ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯. The guest this time was a famous basketball coach. Sonic and Tails half listened since it was a topic both of them had very little interest in. Sonic constantly looked at the clock if it was time to go and Tails was in his usual morning grumpiness. Tails always seemed to be grumpy in the morning. The toilet of course had broke again and Sonic fixed it again. He wondered what households that don¡¯t have someone to fix the toilet do every day. Do they constantly call the plumber? Is there in every neighborhood one plumber that patrols the streets and waits for people to call him to save the day? That would make an interesting TV show maybe? Finally, it was time to leave and the two got into Tails¡¯ red Saab, with like usual Tails in the front, and Sonic in the back. Tails drove them to SEGA HQ, which was located in Shinagawa City in Tokyo, a long drive from Kowareta Yume. Sonic looked outside the window, the sky outside was clear and sunny. Both of them were very quiet since they sat in the car. To break the silence Sonic decided to start the conversation: You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°When are you going to fix the front passenger door¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how to fix it. It will take me a lot of time to figure out what the problem is, so I will probably fix it once the exam season passes.¡± Tails said smiling. His mood had greatly improved since the morning. ¡°I noticed something,¡± Sonic said turning his gaze to the rearview mirror to look at Tails. ¡°You are always so grumpy in the morning.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, am I?¡± ¡°You definitely are, every morning you are in such a bad mood but you seem okay later¡± Tails pondered rewinding his memory, ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. I am very grumpy in the mornings. I don¡¯t exactly know why that is.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I mind. It¡¯s just something I noticed is all.¡± Sonic said in a playful tone. ¡°I think it¡¯s probably because I think of how much I need to study and how much work ahead of me I have. I get agitated thinking about failing the exam I failed five times at this point. But once the coffee and the food do their thing I feel better.¡± Sonic and Tails continued talking about random topics until they reached their destination. In front of them was a very tall skyscraper covered in blue glass. The SEGA HQ. Both of them haven¡¯t been here in a long time. It felt nostalgic to be standing in front of it like this together. ¡°Feels like the old days,¡± Tails said. ¡°It sure does. Where will you be while I''m at the meeting?¡± Sonic said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know how long you would take so I brought my book to study while I wait for you. I will sit in a caf¨¦ nearby so call me when you finish up.¡± ¡°You got it!¡± Sonic gave Tails a wink and confidently entered the SEGA building. Sonic entered the president¡¯s office. It was nearly unchanged after all of these years. The room was full of marble statues and had golden furniture. There was still the golden statue of Polanzo and in the center of the room sat in a golden chair, the man himself, President Marchiano Polanzo. Surrounded by his two bodyguards, always armed with Uzis. ¡°Glad to see you,¡± Polanzo said with a mischievous smile. He looked exactly like he used to. Still eternally 50 years old only with some gray hairs on his head. Wearing the same all-maroon-colored suit and sunglasses, even though they were indoors. He extended his arm to Sonic, his fingers had endless diamond and gold rings on them. Sonic bowed. ¡°Mr. President,¡± Sonic said and raised his head. ¡°I would always respond to a call from you.¡± Polanzo snapped his fingers and pointed Sonic to sit. They were sitting across from each other and Sonic fidgeted barely containing himself. Sonic couldn¡¯t resist himself and started to talk: ¡°Okay, so I had this idea to-¡° ¡°Excuse me did I ask for your opinion on anything¡± Polanzo cut him off and put a cigar into his mouth. One of his bodyguards who pulled out a lighter wordlessly lighted the cigar. Polanzo inhaled and authoritatively said, ¡°If I want your opinion on anything I would pay you to give it to me. Unless you are asked for I don¡¯t care. Do you understand me?¡± ¡°Yes sir. I apologize¡± ¡°Good. Now on to business. I called you here over your appearance in a game SEGA is partnered with. It''s called ¡®Super cooking run 4: diamond deluxe wild ride¡¯. It¡¯s become this super popular game for mobile phones. I don¡¯t what¡¯s the appeal of those. Haven¡¯t played them, what about you?¡± Sonic shook his head. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t played those, sir.¡± ¡°See that¡¯s how you do it, I ask you an opinion and you give it to me.¡± Polanzo puffed on his cigar and continued. ¡°Anyways, I see many of our competition lease their popular characters to cameo in these types of games. I want you to appear as a cameo in their game. It won¡¯t take too much of your time, although I doubt you have much going on in your life but you will be paid very handsomely for a little labor.¡± Sonic¡¯s heart shattered. There was no video game directing job waiting for him, there was no Jackie Brown heist, just a cameo appearance. Ulala¡¯s words were ringing in his ears. His career had really come to an end. He was on the highway to irrelevance most video game characters have traveled on. This was his future, no more big games where he was the star. Only small little appearances until he would eventually fizzle out of the public¡¯s conciseness. All of the plans that he made for himself had vanished in an instant. Nothing about his life was going to change, not his reputation, not his financial situation, and not his opportunities. Was the universe or god going to hand me a million dollars just because I wasn¡¯t an asshole to Tails this time around? How narcissistic I am, Sonic thought to himself. I didn¡¯t do anything exceptional or outstanding. Once upon a time I had at least defeated Robotnik, since then I haven¡¯t done anything heroic or even virtuous. The only thing I did was not be horrible to Tails, I haven¡¯t even been that good of a friend. Even if had done something incredible, why did I expect some kind of reward in the first place? Are you truly a good person if you are doing good things only because you do it for a reward? I had been lucky that the fight against Robotnik resulted in video games but most people that do some heroic deeds don¡¯t get anything. Jackie Brown revived my fantasy of happy endings but, life¡¯s journeys aren¡¯t as clean as films. I wanted to be like Jackie, to climb to the top and fix everything. I wanted to look back at my journey with a sense of pride and accomplishment. I wanted to feel what she felt at the ending and I wanted to tell myself everything was finally okay. I was so desperate for that feeling that completely overlooked how ridiculous my way of thinking was. There was no indication in the email that this was going to be a new ¡®Sonic game¡¯. I projected my fantasy to what was otherwise a standard email. The fact that it has anything to do with video games I should be surprised, it could have been a toy deal, a photo op and so on. I desperately wanted it to be a new video game directing offer. I guess I didn¡¯t learn any kind of lesson if this was what I had hoped for. The reputation of a laughing stock I deserve to have. I brought it upon myself and this self-centeredness that had led me to be here is still in me. Sonic was at a loss for words and just blankly stared at Polanzo. Polanzo looked at his gold watch and raised his eyebrows in a slight panic. He put out his cigar and said, ¡°Listen I have to leave right now, I am needed elsewhere, I will leave the rest of the explanation to my new vice president. You two know each other so you¡¯ll get along very nicely.¡± Sonic was still recovering from the disappointment so he just listlessly nodded. Polanzo stood up from his chair and began to leave the room with his bodyguards. The door of the office opened and Polanzo as he was leaving shouted to Sonic ¡°Meet the vice president.¡± The vice president entered the room and Sonic stood up from his chair to greet him. Sonic''s eyes met the vice president and he was shocked to see it was Knuckles the Echidna.
XIII Sonic was shocked to see Knuckles as the vice president of SEGA. He remembered Knuckles as a good-natured meathead from the days when they were friends. Knuckles wearing a business suit and inhabiting the world of corporate politics was in Sonic¡¯s mind the furthest thing from what Knuckles could be. What in the world happened to Knuckles to end up here is the question that rang in Sonic¡¯s head. Polanzo had left the room with his bodyguards and now the two old friends were left alone. Knuckles began to speak to Sonic about his new job. He explained to Sonic the work was supposed to do for this mobile game. The work he would do would require him to spend a few hours in the SEGA studio, provide his face for the game and record a few voice lines. The amount of money offered wasn¡¯t even a fraction of what Sonic used to make in his heyday, but now considering how much he made at Smile Burger, it was a huge amount of money. Especially with how few hours he would have to work to get it. Knuckles did not offer Sonic a ¡®hello¡¯ or a ¡®how¡¯ve you been doing¡¯, he spoke to Sonic with a coldness. He talked as if he would talk with any client or employee he talks with during the day. Sonic¡¯s first impression was that Knuckles wasn¡¯t happy at all to see him but he wasn¡¯t resentful either. Knuckles looked like he was above all, indifferent. Knuckles¡¯ demeanor didn¡¯t bother Sonic. He too shared the indifference Knuckles radiated. While the two of them were great friends, that was ancient history. Their relationship had broken as soon as Knuckles entered the realm of video games. Unlike with Tails who stuck with Sonic through the worst of Sonic¡¯s egoism, Knuckles and Sonic had mutually ended their friendship over during the development of ¡®Sonic 3 and Knuckles(1994)¡¯. There was of course never a formal word that their friendship was over but both had turned hostile to one another after completing that game. Sonic had regretted ever bringing Knuckles into the video game world and Knuckles had always felt it was unfair that Sonic got all of the credit. Both had no particular reason to be glad to see the other. Their friendship was nothing but a distant and fading memory at this point. For Sonic, he had lost his status in the video game world and he no longer saw Knuckles as a threat to him as he had nothing to lose. Knuckles was just some guy to him now and so he was indifferent to him. For Knuckles, the indifference was merely a fa?ade. He was still resentful towards Sonic and had been wishing for them to encounter like this. His thoughts were filled with various things he had wanted to tell Sonic now that he was finally above him in terms of power. Sonic¡¯s thoughts were about the offer he had received. The staring in the mobile game. That was the pressing matter to Sonic. What was to become of him as a video game mascot? Should I accept this embarrassing and degrading job? On one hand, if I do I might get ridiculed by people even more now that after all this time this is my comeback and first appearance in any game in years. On the other hand, it¡¯s the only offer I will probably ever get, If I don¡¯t accept this I might never be in any game. ¡°When do I need to give my answer?¡± Sonic said. ¡°What kind of answer?¡± ¡°If I want to star in this ¡®Super cooking run 4: diamond deluxe wild ride¡¯ game or not¡± Knuckles scoffed and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to agree right now but tomorrow is supposed to be the day we get this done. You should email SEGA offices if you want this job by the evening and if you do end up agreeing show up tomorrow at the same time as today.¡± ¡°Okay¡± ¡°That¡¯s it? No snarky comment or witty remark?¡± Knuckles lost his cool, ¡°Where is the arrogance, did the money finally stop coming your way? Where do you live now, I hear you had to sell your penthouse, is it true you live in that shithole Kowareta Yume?¡± Knuckles¡¯ fa?ade of indifference fell off. He tried to contain himself at first but he wanted to bask in the satisfaction of finally being on top of Sonic. For most of his life, he had spent in Sonic¡¯s shadow. Sonic got all of the glory, wealth, status, and video games. Finally, Knuckles was more successful and he wanted to savor this moment. He began to brag to Sonic about how much money he was making, what car he owned, the expensive apartment he lived in, successful he had become, and ridiculed Sonic for living in Kowareta Yume, losing his driver¡¯s license and working in Smile Burger. Knuckles had hoped Sonic would be angered, insulted, and humiliated by his show-off. He wanted Sonic to have a look of defeat and to be jealous of his success. Unfortunately for Knuckles, Sonic wasn¡¯t at all fazed or moved by where Knuckles is in life. Sure Knuckles is making more money now than Sonic, but at least for Sonic it was never about the money. It was about the video games and the status that came with them. The fact that Knuckles was vice president of SEGA was a very unenviable position for Sonic. He might as well have said he was the vice president of x company and it wouldn¡¯t have made a difference. His job has nothing to do with the creation of video games or the art that goes into it. Not only that but he wasn¡¯t even the president, he held no real power as vice president. He was only but a lackey of Polanzo. To Sonic, he found Knuckles¡¯ ¡®flexing¡¯ to be annoying. He rolled his eyes and responded to Knuckles with an uninterested: ¡°There isn¡¯t a single molecule in me that cares how much money you make or what you bought with it. I have things to think about. Tell your boss I¡¯ll send him an email later today about whether or not I accept this mobile game offer.¡± He had then left the room, he wanted to discuss with Tails what does he think about the offer and wanted a quiet place to think. Knuckles was left alone in the president¡¯s office feeling dumbfounded and frustrated. Knuckles had envisioned this encounter very differently. What was supposed to be a triumphant victory ended up feeling hollow. He expected to feel cathartic when he encountered Sonic, to be able to put him in his place when their places in society were switched. There was no feeling of satisfaction, only disappointment, and emptiness. Maybe if Sonic reacted in the way Knuckles would have expected he would have felt happy. Knuckles continued sitting in the office alone with his thoughts. Sonic made his way to the caf¨¦ where Tails was waiting for him. Tails was comfortably sitting in a chair, studying and sipping his coffee. The caf¨¦ had a very low-key atmosphere, the music wasn¡¯t very loud and there weren¡¯t many people around. One could easily lose themselves in whatever they were reading. Tails became worried once he saw Sonic wearing a sad expression on his face, clearly the meeting did not go as planned. Sonic told him everything that had happened, Polanzo is still president, the offer to cameo in a mobile, and Knuckles¡¯ new position of vice president of SEGA. Sonic despite realizing how silly it was to think the email meant a new video game he was going to direct, was still heartbroken that his dreams were shattered. He was so full of positivity and optimism in the morning and now he was depressed again. ¡°Not only is it not a new Sonic game but a goddamn mobile game. It feels so degrading to have to work on a mobile game after being what I was before,¡± said Sonic while his hands were on his head in despair. ¡°Sonic, as bad as it may look at first I don¡¯t think this a bad thing necessarily,¡± said Tails. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The offer is not what you wanted, a new ¡®Sonic game¡¯ for you to direct, but I still think the offer you got is a good deal. You will only work for a few hours and you will get paid a large sum of money for so little of your time. Think about what possibilities that open for you¡± Sonic squinted his eyes, he wasn¡¯t sure what Tails was talking about and looked at him to elaborate more. Tails continued: ¡°The amount of money you would get from this mobile game cameo is equivalent to what you would get working 12 months at Smile Burger. This is not exactly a Jackie Brown heist turnaround but this gives you so many new opportunities. You can take months off, you don¡¯t need to work for some time until you figure things out. ¡°If you live like you¡¯ve been living up until now you could stay away from work for a whole year. During that time you have the freedom to do soul searching to find a type of work that makes you happy, you could try out different jobs for the heck of it to see how they are without having to worry about food in your mouth. This job like I already said isn¡¯t the dream job you wanted but it does offer you a degree of financial freedom to relax and think. You should accept the offer¡± Sonic had an epiphany. The depression he was feeling almost instantly vanished and a kind of euphoria took over him. Tails is right, he thought, this is a great thing. This isn¡¯t exactly what he wanted but it is a great opportunity. ¡°Thank you Tails¡± Sonic grinned. ¡°I feel a lot better. I am going to send them an email right now and tell them I am accepting the job.¡± Sonic took his phone and started to type his email to SEGA. ¡°Did not expect your mood to shift so quickly,¡± Tails laughed. ¡°I am glad I was able to help. By the way, I want to talk about the other things that happened at SEGA. How is Polanzo still president? That is concerning. Did he abolish term limits? Why does the board of directors still keep him there? Something is very wrong there.¡± ¡°Who cares¡± Sonic waved his hand dismissing the subject, ¡°It''s not important, Polanzo can be president for life for all I care. Some other guy would be the same as him. The more interesting part in Knuckles¡± ¡°I honestly can¡¯t imagine Knuckles at meetings, making graphs, shaking hands¡­ I guess you never know where life takes you. He probably would be shocked if he heard I was in college now. You should¡¯ve asked him for his business card, you know how yuppies are obsessed with those¡± ¡°I wonder if his has a watermark,¡± Sonic said and they both laughed. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Sonic and Tails continued their chit-chat for a little while and they decided to head home. They left the caf¨¦ and went to the parking lot where Tails parked his red Saab. At the parking lot, they saw a familiar face. It was Vector the crocodile, he was walking around the parking lot as if he was searching for something. ¡°Where the hell did those two go¡± Vector grumbled to himself. Sonic and Tails approached him and said hello. Vector was happy to see them and they began talking to each other. Team Chaotix was never that close with Sonic, they were more acquaintances rather than friends. They were never resentful towards Sonic and they never had a large role in the video games apart from ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ and ¡®Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)¡¯. Team Chaotix participated in the renegotiation strike mostly because they wanted to sever their ties with SEGA and move on to other things. Because of all that Vector didn¡¯t mind giving Sonic a friendly greeting and talking to him. ¡°I lost Charmy and Espio, I can¡¯t find them,¡± Vector said. ¡°What are you guys up to these days,¡± Sonic said. ¡°We work as private investigators. Right now we are looking into a very important case I can¡¯t tell you anything about it. It¡¯s top secret.¡± ¡°Do you have a business card?¡± Tails said jokingly. ¡°Of course we do!¡± To the great surprise of Tails, Vector pulled out a card and gave it to them. Tails was looking to make a joke about yuppies and Paul Allen but they did have a card and it had a watermark. Tails read the text on the business card, it said ¡®Team Chaotix, they¡¯re detectives you want on your side, the truth can run but not hide¡¯, it sounded very familiar but he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on from where. ¡°Anyways I would love to stay and chat,¡± Vector said, ¡°but I have to find these two. We have an important job to do. If you guys want to, we can see each other some other time over a cup of coffee. Also, call us if need any private investigating done.¡± Vector gave them a wave and left to search for his friends. Sonic and Tails went to their car and drove home. They started chatting in the car on their way home. ¡°I¡¯ve run into so many of our past friends these last couple of days,¡± Sonic said. ¡°Yeah, I am surprised how many of them showed up in random places. Knuckles is probably the strangest encounter. I wonder if he is happy doing the work he does.¡± Tails said. ¡°He didn¡¯t look happy to me.¡± ¡°I¡¯d take up on Vector¡¯s offer. I would like to see team Chaotix at some point.¡± Sonic nodded. ¡°I agree we should call them and catch up and see how they¡¯re doing.¡± Sonic closed his eyes trying to remember something. ¡°Vector said they are private detectives now, weren¡¯t they always private detectives or was that only their role in the games?¡± ¡°I think I remember reading an article a long time ago that they were using their image they had from ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ as marketing for launching their agency. There was some legal trouble with SEGA but they settled it. This may be totally a fake memory by the way, I may be mixing this whole thing up with something else.¡± They continued talking, jumping to various topics until they reached home. *** The rest of the day the two spent separately. Tails was alone in his room, drinking more coffee and working hard to prepare for his upcoming exam. Sonic spent the day on his phone, surfing the internet and reading articles in the hope that he would get some ideas on what to do next. He called Smile Burger and told them he won''t be coming back, he felt a great sense of relief that he would probably never have to spend another hour of his life working there. The evening had arrived and the two met in the living room. They usually spent evenings doing something together. ¡°Do you want to watch a movie together, I downloaded a bunch of them but I am not sure which one to watch¡± said Tails. Tails showed Sonic the films he had downloaded, all of them were old films from foreign countries, their titles in languages Sonic couldn¡¯t understand. To Sonic it didn¡¯t matter which one they would watch because he knew nothing about the films and since Tails was the one to recommend ¡®Jackie Brown(1997)¡¯ he would let him decide what they were going to watch. Choosing what film to watch should be a simple and easy decision. However, Sonic noticed Tails was abnormally stressing over this. The decision was causing Tails mental anguish, at least that¡¯s what one would conclude by looking at his facial expression. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Sonic said. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s a dilemma I have often but it''s not important, I don¡¯t want to bore you¡± Tails tried to shrug off the issue but he was still visibly bothered. ¡°You can tell me¡±, Sonic came closer to Tails with compassion in his voice. ¡°You have listened to me go on and on about video games, directing, my existential angst, and so on. I want to be there for you the same way you¡¯ve been there for me. You can tell me all about it.¡± Sonic thought a lot about everything he had done because of the meeting at SEGA. He realized that he hasn¡¯t been that great of a friend to Tails, he wasn¡¯t mean or awful but as he turned back time to when they started living together, it''s always been Tails supporting him and listening to his problems. He had made a promise to himself that he was going to be more mindful of Tails¡¯ problems and try to reciprocate the same support he has been getting from Tails in the best way he can. Friendships and relationships in general are never 1:1 but some amount of reciprocity is necessary. A lesson he had learned the hard way and a mistake he wasn¡¯t going to allow himself to repeat. ¡°Are you sure you want to listen¡±, Tails sighed and continued, ¡°This is going to be a long one.¡± ¡°I¡¯m all ears¡± Sonic sat comfortably on the couch, preparing himself to listen. ¡°Okay. I am terrified of the idea of wasting time. Since I stopped actively participating in making games with you after ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ I look back at everything I had done from then up until now and this whole period seems like a giant blur. Nothing I have done can I truly say that I am proud of. The business I¡¯ve started failed and I am a college student when I should already have had my life put together and a career. ¡°It¡¯s been so long since ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ and I feel like I haven¡¯t moved an inch. More than a decade and what have I got to show for it? Nothing, only a failed business, and an incomplete degree. What have I been doing then if I have nothing to show for it? At least when we made games I could look at them and think, that¡¯s something I can feel was worth the effort. You can visually and physically see the labor you put into it and there are fans that admire your work. ¡°I think that after ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ I have just been wasting time. Life is finite, there is no endless supply of time, one day you die. I wasted a decade of my life, a decade I will never get back. I can''t waste any more time like that. I can''t allow myself to wake up, look back and think well there goes another decade. I want to think that when my time is up that I have truly done something with it that was worthwhile.¡± Sonic stopped to think about everything Tails had said to him. He didn¡¯t know how to respond, after all, he was never the listener. It surprised him how Tails had never mentioned it before, although he never asked. Sonic thought about what to say but the only thing that came to mind was: ¡°I am not sure how this is related to choosing what movie we were going to watch?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to waste my time,¡± Tails said while gesturing with his arms to try to explain. ¡°I have the option to choose what I am going to watch, I won''t like every film I see. I don¡¯t want to watch something I am going to dislike or worst of all, something that I think is mediocre. You don¡¯t have the time in the world to see everything and I don¡¯t want to spend time watching mediocre things.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Sonic was getting a better understanding. ¡°Why not read reviews before choosing what to watch?¡± ¡°Reviews are good pointers for what to avoid however they are also not the end all be all. I¡¯ve watched plenty of bad films that had rave reviews, and horribly reviewed movies that I liked. Usually, when most reviewers say something sucks it probably sucks and the opposite is the case. Unfortunately, that¡¯s not always the case, sometimes you have to gamble, and I don¡¯t like that. I don¡¯t want to gamble, I don¡¯t want to waste my time. Death will come to us all and I want to make the most of life before it''s over¡± ¡°Hmmmmm¡± Sonic didn¡¯t have an answer for Tails. ¡°I do understand on some level what the issue is. Death is something I am also afraid of. You still have your life ahead of you though. You are not old yet. So don¡¯t worry.¡± Tails didn¡¯t calm down at all. Sonic seeing his first attempt fail tried again and said: ¡°Listen if you keep stressing about wasting time, you are inadvertently wasting time¡± ¡°oh my god, you are right¡± Tails sunk into even deeper despair. Sonic grabbed his head and thought to himself what the hell am I doing, I am making things worse. ¡°Listen to me,¡± Sonic said authoritatively. ¡°Sit down on the couch, take deep breaths. You have more life ahead of you, no one goes through life with everything figured out. You are not wasting time.¡± Sonic went to the refrigerator and brought Tails a can of beer. ¡°Take some beer, I am going to choose what film we are watching. Even if it ends up being bad, we will have a funny memory out of it.¡± ¡°A funny memory?¡± Tails opened his can of beer and took a sip. He became slightly calmer. ¡°Remember when we watched ¡®Le Samourai(1967)¡¯, the movie everyone says is amazing?¡± Tails nodded ¡°I remember¡± ¡°We were bored out of our fucking minds with that film, but we had a good joke out of it. We laughed at how slow it was and how nonsensical parts of it were. We also constantly used that idiotic phrase the protagonist says ¡®I never lose, not completely¡¯. Remember how much we used that quote in the most random situations?¡± ¡°That was such a funny film for all of the wrong reasons,¡± Tails said and laughed ¡°Exactly. Was it so bad to watch it? I don¡¯t think so. There is value in the time you spend that isn¡¯t spent perfectly.¡± Tails had cheered up immensely from Sonic¡¯s pep talk, there was no longer a face of dread and anguish on Tails. Sonic was surprised at how successful he was and how he had accidentally arrived at a sort of wisdom about life that he wasn¡¯t even aware of. He felt very proud of himself. In the end, they both sat on the couch with cans of beer on the table in front of them and watched a film that Sonic picked at random. It was a foreign film from a country Sonic knew nothing about. The film was depressing and gloomy. The sky in the film was always gray, with barely any sunlight, the characters were all depressed and everything looked run down. It was one of those stories where almost nothing ever good happens to any of the characters. It of course had a sad ending. What was supposed to be a night that was going to end on a happy note, ended with a film that filled the room with a suffocating and hopeless atmosphere. There was one scene in particular that stuck out. A father was teaching his son English, the son knew very little English and had asked his father: ¡°Daddy, what does ¡®Happy ending¡¯ mean?¡± ¡°That¡¯s something that doesn¡¯t exist in life,¡± said the father in a deadpan and cold voice. After the film ended Sonic and Tails looked at each other and Sonic said: ¡°Well, that was unbelievably depressing. I am sorry for choosing this one I wanted to cheer you up.¡± ¡°You chose randomly so don¡¯t worry. You didn¡¯t know what type of film it was going to be.¡± Tails started laughing. ¡°I do find it hilarious though that out of all the films I downloaded I think this one is the most depressing by far.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my luck for ya.¡± Sonic also started laughing. ¡°Well, we will have a memory to look back on in a couple of months. We are going to laugh at this situation and be like ¡®Remember when I wanted to cheer you up and chose the most depressing film imaginable''.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, this is something funny to me right now,¡± Tails said.¡°You mentioned ¡®Le Samourai(1967)¡¯, do you think would the main character from that film be able to defeat Lupin the 3rd?¡± Sonic smirked, ¡°You have to be kidding me, you know my answer. Lupin the 3rd!¡± ¡°But the le Samourai guy never loses, not completely¡± ¡°He would completely lose to Lupin though¡± Sonic and Tails continued laughing and talking into the night and they went to sleep. *** The next day Tails drove Sonic to SEGA HQ to complete his cameo appearance in the mobile game. It was an easy job, mostly recording a few voice lines, grunts, and reaction noises. Knuckles oversaw the job and he instructed Sonic on what he was supposed to do. There was an awkward and tense atmosphere in the air. Knuckles used a few opportunities to gloat and threw jabs at Sonic about how Knuckles is now in charge of him and not the other way around like before. Sonic wasn¡¯t too bothered by this. His job at Smile Burger had made him get used to being berated by someone above him in the workplace hierarchy and he mostly felt bad for Knuckles. He thought God was I like this when I was his boss? No wonder everyone ended up hating me. I must¡¯ve been unbearable to work with. I feel sorry that Knuckles is now like this, I wish I could say something to him but from the experience of my own life, he will have to have a realization by himself. There is nothing anyone can tell you to make you come to your senses. Once the work was complete, Sonic received his payment right away. It had been such a large sum of money, he hadn¡¯t seen so much money in quite some time. He returned home with Tails and he had a feeling of liberation in him. He was now for a year if he spends his money wisely free to find work. However, as happy as Sonic was he also felt lost. He was free from work but he also had no idea where to go next. The rest of the day he spent walking around the house, smoking cigarettes, and surfing the internet. Tails was immersed in his studies and would study until the evening like most days. For the next couple of days, Sonic would wander aimlessly. He would take long walks around the neighborhood and drink coffee on the balcony looking at the Tokyo skyline trying to find answers for himself. Sonic found a way to keep himself busy for the time being. Apart from his regular responsibility of fixing the toilet whenever it would have its problems, he took it upon himself to take care of cocking duties. Tails was always too preoccupied with studying that during the weekdays he would just mash up some whatever food. He wanted to eat as quickly as possible in order to get back to studying. Now that Sonic had so much free time on his hands, he thought he should prepare lunch. He bought a cookbook and would start to learn. He found the process very relaxing and rewarding. Sonic had tried to cook before but it always ended in disaster. He didn¡¯t have any experience or knowledge, but now with time on his hands, he was determined to get good. These relatively uneventful couple of days had gone by quickly. Sonic and Tails would watch the morning show together, after that Tails would study, and Sonic would learn about cocking and make lunch. He still had no idea about the future. In the evening they would watch a movie together and this routine would repeat until Friday. Friday was the day Rick Ravette¡¯s show would air. Even though the show airs a day later in Japan, the two always made sure to avoid any details about the episode on the internet. They usually wanted to not know who would be the guest and what would be the topic. Sometimes they would look it up but they enjoyed the element of surprise. This week they had known what the topic was going to be, Rick Ravette¡¯s upcoming film he was going to direct. They were excitedly waiting that Friday to hear more details about it from the man himself. They had no idea what they were about to hear. It was Friday evening and Sonic and Tails sat next to each other on the couch, prepared for the new episode. The show started and the one on the screen was not Rick but some middle-aged woman and she looked terribly sad. She held a piece of paper and said: ¡°Most of you watching have probably already heard the news. However, we at the studio felt that it was necessary to air an episode. Rick Ravette has died of a heart attack at age 58.¡± XIV ¡°Rick Ravette has died of a heart attack at age 58.¡± Upon hearing those words come from the television Sonic and Tails sat on the couch in shock. Rick wasn¡¯t a close friend but he was someone they were fans of and had known personally. Both of them didn¡¯t know how to articulate their feelings at the moment. The pair watched the TV in silence. The show, which scheduled an episode to be about Rick¡¯s upcoming film, was obviously canceled. Instead what replaced it was an in-memoriam episode dedicated to Rick, his time as host of his show, and his personal life. ¡°Do you want to go out for a drive? I don¡¯t want to watch this right now?¡± said Tails. ¡°A drive?¡± ¡°I will drive us around and we can talk. When I feel like I need to clear my head I usually drive around a bit.¡± Sonic agreed and they both headed out. It was nighttime outside with a light fog. There wasn¡¯t much traffic since it had been fairly late. At first, the two didn¡¯t say anything, Tails drove and Sonic sat in the back looking through the window. The radio was turned off and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of the motor. The two had a lot of things they wanted to say but just couldn¡¯t find a way to express it. ¡°58 years is too early. To go out so suddenly without any warning also is terrible. As far as I know, he didn¡¯t have any health issues. I don¡¯t even know what to say. It''s always sad when you hear something like this¡± Sonic said. ¡°Whenever I hear about things like this it gets me anxious. Do you remember our talk a couple of days ago?¡± Tails said looking at Sonic through the rearview mirror. ¡°The thing about how terrified you are about wasting time and spending it on mediocre things?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Tails firmly gripped the steering wheel. ¡°That fear comes from the possibility of things like this happening. Your life can be cut short with an event you couldn¡¯t see coming. We all make all sorts of plans for the future, we have ambitions and dreams on what we are going to do, and then poof all of it vanishes with your death. I think how I could meet the same fate as Rick at any point. Not necessarily a heart attack of course but some unforeseen thing that kills me. ¡°What would my life amount to? What have I done with my time and did I manage to achieve everything I wanted to do? If I died tomorrow I haven¡¯t finished college. Currently, I am going nowhere, there is so many things I want to do. I may not get to do them and everything could be over. I am sorry, I¡¯m spewing my random thoughts onto you, I feel lost, afraid, and sad is all.¡± ¡°No need to be sorry, we¡¯re talking so say everything you want to say¡±, Sonic said and smiled at Tails through the rearview mirror. ¡°I don¡¯t know what more to say. I don¡¯t want to die prematurely and there is no way to impact if it''s something random. You can take care of your health, you can be careful and you could still be killed by something random. That is extremely scary to me and I wish to finish everything I want to do before my time is up.¡± Sonic waited for a moment before saying anything. He looked through his window and observed the Tokyo buildings around him. ¡°I understand what you are feeling. A while back when I was still chasing for the next ¡®Sonic game¡¯ opportunity it did cross my mind that I could die. I would never fix my reputation and my legacy would be making bad games. I comforted myself that I with the idea that I was destined to get a second chance. ¡°I believed in the idea of a happy ending. Surely things won¡¯t end the way they are now right? You are right though, things could end at any moment. Life isn¡¯t clean like a film and in truth, there are no happy endings. They don¡¯t exist. We all die at some point. Some die later, some die sooner, and many never accomplish their goals or attain their dreams. I learned with this experience with the mobile game offer that I will probably never get the shot at SEGA that I had been hoping for. I will never get the comeback I was dreaming of most likely.¡± ¡°that¡¯s not true.¡± Tails cut Sonic off. ¡°You can''t be sure, they might want to make another Sonic game¡± ¡°It''s always possible but I think I should let that dream go¡± Sonic continued. ¡°It might sound like sinking into doom and gloom but I''m not. I won''t ever get to be the video game star I was hoping to be and that¡¯s okay. I realized that I was so focused on the future that I didn¡¯t see what was right in front of me. ¡°The time outside of work we spent arguing, talking, and watching movies is what I¡¯ve overlooked. I feel the best when the two of us do just about anything together. Our friendship is always something I¡¯ve taken for granted and now I realize looking back some of my fondest memories are with you. It doesn¡¯t matter to me that happy endings don¡¯t exist, what matters to me is to spend the time until the end feeling happy. ¡°Right now I have to figure out what kind of job I am going to be doing and I know the time I spent making video games wasn¡¯t a waste either since I do love making them. I think you should relax. I am sure you will finish college, you have to keep pushing yourself and both of us are probably going to find work that makes us feel fulfilled.¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Tails started to digest everything Sonic had said to him. ¡°What if we die before we find fulfilling work¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay too. The point is are you happy right now¡± Tails frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡± ¡°Is there something you wish to change?¡± ¡°I do want to finish college.¡± ¡°Work on that then, influence things you can. Death is, like you said earlier, something you cant influence. If it''s something you have no control over then don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Sonic said sounding inspired. ¡°I am surprised how quickly you became so positive¡± ¡°I think I came to some revelations¡± ¡°You are right though. There is no point in worrying about things you have no control over. Also, I love the time we hang out too. In those moments I almost forget about all of my worries. You have always been my best friend.¡± Sonic had an embarrassed look on his face. ¡°Well not always¡­¡± Tails shook his arm in dismissal. ¡°Ah forget about that. It¡¯s over and behind us.¡± Sonic and Tails were alluding to their fight on the making of Sonic 06. ¡°I just want to say, thank you for forgiving me and giving me a second chance. I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you, what did I say to you when I called you from jail? I don¡¯t remember a thing I said. What did I say to you that made you forgive me?¡± Tails once again shook his arm in dismissal. ¡°It¡¯s really not important anymore trust me, I don¡¯t remember myself that much. All of that is behind us¡± ¡°Alright if you say so.¡± Sonic shrugged. Suddenly the thought came back to Sonic that Rick Ravette had died. Through this conversation, they moved far away from that. Upon remembering, he had a sad look on his face. The topic changed back to Rick and the enthusiastic atmosphere had gone away. ¡°What do you think, would have Rick been able to defeat Lupin the 3rd if he was still alive?¡± Tails attempted to lift the mood with their standard thing that always made them laugh. ¡°You know the answer. It¡¯s Lupin¡± ¡°I know. I just wanted to ask.¡± Both of them chuckled but they weren¡¯t laughing out loud like ¡®who would win¡¯ usually brings out. This time it only slightly improved the mood. After talking and driving a bit more they went back home. Tails was in his room thinking to himself. When I remember the days back in the forest. Before the games, before Robotnik, when all of us were friends, Amy, Knuckles¡­ when Sonic and I were inseparable. Sonic to me seemed larger than life. He was so cool, so confident and so capable. I looked up to him, he was like an idol to me. He also greatly depended on me. There were many things he didn¡¯t know about or things he didn¡¯t know how to do. He often fell back on me for help and always wanted me to watch his back. It felt so great being needed by someone, especially since I looked up to him. We were also best friends. While we were close, we were also great friends with everyone else. All of us were a tight nit group of friends. Always laughing together even though we were poor. Everything changed after Robotnik and the video games. Retrospectively, looking at things now it wasn¡¯t Sonic the only one who changed back then. Everyone changed and we all grew apart. Even though money and power changed the group, Sonic was without a doubt the worst. He became an unrecognizable person from the one he was before the fame. I wanted to believe that he could change. I wanted to believe that we could be close friends again. I wanted to believe that we would be a duo once again. His ego was so far up in the clouds that he was unreachable. I had finally had enough of him during ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ and had decided to end our friendship. It was a very hard decision. He was someone I knew for most of my life and my closest friend. During the years after our separation, I realized I had zero close friends left. I had lost contact with Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Rouge¡­ and I was alone now. I had ¡®friends¡¯ but no close friends. Nobody who I was truly intimate with. Only people I knew on a surface level. Usually, at social events, I felt lonely. After entering college I lead an almost completely isolated life. Studying all the time, barely seeing anyone for weeks sometimes. I thought I did something very wrong. If I ended up here I must¡¯ve made a mistake, being alone all of the time. Should I have never left the game industry? Should I have stayed with Sonic and kept bearing the mistreatment? Everything changed once I received the call. I was told that Sonic had a crash and he was in jail, he was told that he could make one call and he chose to call me. Over the phone Sonic kept repeating over and over how sorry he was. He must¡¯ve said I¡¯m sorry a million times. If I remember correctly he said something along the lines of ¡®I have no one left in the world to turn to. You¡¯ve always been my one and only best friend. The brother I never had. Please forgive me. Please give me a chance. Ive changed. Im going to change. Please, I need you buddy. I¡¯m sorry¡­¡¯ he went on for quite a bit and rambled. He sounded drunk out of his mind. Not even for one second did I believe that it was possible that he would ever change. I thought that after all of the years together working in SEGA he was long gone. So why did I forgive him and offered to help him? A part of me still had the memories of our friendship and felt like because of those years I owed it to him as a once-upon-a-time best friend a helping hand. Since he was drunk I knew that his words were at least sincere. If he was calling me then he must¡¯ve been really desperate. I also thought that maybe he would try to make things between us amicable at the very least. He said he desired to change, he probably wants to but I thought that it wouldn¡¯t happen. Still, he said he wanted to, maybe I should give him a chance. However, the biggest reason why I forgave him is because I wanted to feel needed again. I wanted to feel like someone is depending on me. Exactly like he used to do when we were a duo before the video games. I wanted to have a sense of superiority over someone that utterly destroyed his life, to be able to compare to mine and be like, hmmm I did it better than him. For this selfish and disgusting reason, I decided to help him. I got a rush when he said I needed to drive him to work since they took away his license. It was exactly what I wanted. He needed me to literally survive. In the beginning, I was getting exactly what I wanted. Sonic also liked to obsess over how his reputation had been tarnished and how he was a laughing stock. I felt vindicated at first since I thought, aha he truly hasn¡¯t changed. He is obsessing over his image and how critics perceive him. Still the narcissist he was during our time together at SEGA. I listened to his rants, something he loved. It was evident he hadn¡¯t had a chance to talk about this with anyone or if he has no one was willing to listen to him. Very soon something happened that I couldn¡¯t have imagined. We actually became friends again. I am not sure when did this happen exactly or how. I started to notice us together having fun while watching the morning show. I noticed we started laughing together. We began to have these rituals and I genuinely enjoyed his company. Our friendship had been repaired somehow. I wanted to resist it. I didn¡¯t want to write everything off and the way he treated me and everyone else. I wanted him to never be my friend again after ¡®Sonic 06¡¯. I couldn¡¯t influence how I was going to feel but soon I saw him as my best friend again. I was so ashamed of myself for the reasons I forgave him. I was so disgusted that he had a genuine attempt to reconcile and I accepted his hand purely out of a desire to be needed. I could never bring myself to tell him all of this. He sees me as a pure and kind-hearted person. I don¡¯t want him to ever find out what horrible thoughts led me to help him. In the end, I was also proven wrong in my belief that he was unable to change. Little by little I see the small steps he takes and how hard he tries to improve himself. He is right, there are no happy endings but I want to try as hard as I can that are friendship does have one. I think he feels the same way too. Sonic and Tails continued with their lives after today¡¯s events settled. Tails studied hard for his exams and Sonic kept searching for his ideal job still without an idea what it is. XV A few months later Tails had finally passed the exam that was giving him so much trouble and continued with his studies. He was far from getting his degree but he was getting closer. He still had his obsession with wasting time and death, but was a lot more relaxed about things than before. Sonic still hadn¡¯t found his purpose or the work that he wanted to do. He drifted from jobs but nothing was fulfilling to him. However, Sonic wasn¡¯t just sitting around and doing nothing, he had several new routines. Every day he jogged around the neighborhood in order to get back into shape and he quit smoking for good. During these jogs, he saw many parts of Kowareta Yume that he otherwise would¡¯ve never gone to because of his reliance on Tails¡¯ car. As for Sonic¡¯s driver¡¯s license, he would have to wait to get it back. If he were to find a job he would still be reliant on Tails to go around. Sonic also started another routine, every day he would try to create something. Either a simple drawing or some kind of short story. He figured since there was no chance for him to get his old job as video game director back, Sonic might as well try out other mediums of art. Despite not being required to wake up early anymore The routine of waking up early for morning Smile Burger shifts still stuck with him. He had nowhere he needed to go but both of them liked the idea of having a set time when they needed to wake up because it gave them a consistent sleep schedule. Not only was it beneficial to their health but Sonic and Tails grew quite fond of their morning routine of watching the morning show on TV together. Right now it was morning, Sonic and Tails are in their apartment, watching ¡®good morning Tokyo¡¯ with breakfast and coffee. The mayor of Kowareta Yume was the guest and he was arguing with the reporter on the TV. ¡°Many residents are skeptical of the city¡¯s new redevelopment plan.¡± Said the reporter to the mayor in a neutral tone. ¡°Why are we tearing down another residential area with green spaces in order to build Hotels, casinos, and shopping malls?¡± ¡°I am glad you asked me that question.¡± Said the Mayor. ¡°I have to tell you this, last year we had growth of 4%, that¡¯s the best growth in the history of this nation has ever had for any nation in any place. Just look at China and ask yourself can they do that in China? No. of course they can. Can they do that in Korea? No. This is a moment to look at what¡¯ve achieved and look at what our neighbors haven¡¯t achieved and you will see exactly what I am-¡° ¡°I am sorry Mr. Mayor but that¡¯s not the question,¡± the reporter cut him off. ¡°I asked you about the redevelopment plan, not what Korea or China are doing.¡± ¡°I would answer your question if this communist television would ever let me finish what I have to say. Now, you have to consider, what are possibilities are and what we as a nation want to do. What do we want to think when our children ask us what do they do with the future? It''s crystal clear to me that it''s their future. We are building the future for them and it has to be for them.¡± ¡°What about the redevelopment plan¡± the reporter pressed on, still with a neutral tone. ¡°What about it?¡± the mayor shrugged. ¡°Well, citizens are concerned that yet another part of the ward of Kowareta Yume, which was a residential area with parks, will be turned into casinos and hotels. You have received criticism for the way that the land sale was conducted. No transparency was present and all of the ones that received the land got their permits by dubious means. There is even a protest organized today against this measure.¡± ¡°So what?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you-¡° ¡°Let me tell you something directly now. To you and the communists and the opposition politicians. I know all of you are Chinese-paid agents here to destroy our nation. You sabotage every good thing. Why? Because you hate our country. You hate your own people. As long as I am alive I won''t let you communists destroy us, that has been my career since I started. LONG LIVE JAPAN!¡± Tails cursed at the TV: ¡°Fuck that old fossil. Can you believe this guy? For 30 years he¡¯s been the undefeated mayor of Kowareta Yume and he keeps making things worse. He never answers any questions, his only ideology or belief is pure populism and he has no policies to actually improve the town. No wonder no one wants to live in Kowareta Yume.¡± ¡°Aha,¡± Sonic said, sounding totally absent. ¡°Were you even watching?¡± Tails threw up his arms in frustration. ¡°Sorry, I zoned out once I realized the mayor was the guest.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know you don¡¯t care about politics. I am going to the protest against the redevelopment plan later today, I¡¯d invite you to join but I know already that you would never go to something like that.¡± Tails remarked with an eye roll. ¡°I don¡¯t care and the protest is not going to change anything¡± Sonic took a sip of his coffee. ¡°Anyways¡±, Tails quickly changed the subject before he got heated. ¡° How¡¯s writing and drawing been going?¡± ¡°Not bad. I¡¯ve written a few stories that I¡¯m proud of and have managed to learn how to draw. None of what I make is that good but I understand that it takes time to get better. For the video games they kind of wrote themselves honestly, writing something from zero is very different than when I did it for the games. The biggest problem right now is that sometimes I just stare at a blank paper for hours not knowing what I¡¯m going to do¡± ¡°I think anyone that has ever done any kind of creative work deals with blocks. I wanted to ask you what is exactly your goal with all the drawing and writing. Do you plan to post that somewhere or are you making it for yourself?¡± ¡°The idea is that once I¡¯m good enough I can monetize it,¡± Sonic said. ¡°I think living off creative work is what I would like to do. Obviously, I wish I was making video games but that¡¯s not the only thing in the world. Hopefully, soon I will be able to write or draw well enough that people will start paying me for it. I guess I need to figure out if I want to draw or write though.¡± Sonic chuckled. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve got time to figure it out¡± Tails patted Sonic¡¯s back. ¡°That¡¯s the thing. I don¡¯t have infinite time. I finally understand your anxieties about time wasting. The money I made from the mobile game isn¡¯t going to last me forever. At some point, if I don¡¯t get my shit together I will have to find a regular job and it''s going to be probably again something I hate. Right, I constantly fear like I¡¯m wasting time, especially when a day passes and I haven¡¯t done anything. Nothing I make is worth uploading to the internet and I don¡¯t even know what kind of art I would make if I was getting paid for it.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Don¡¯t spiral down this train of thought you are going to make me anxious about wasting time¡± Tails said jokingly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry, you are not wasting time. You are practicing and that counts for something. Also, you are on this break from work because you don¡¯t have answers to all these questions. You will find them eventually, I know it!¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I will figure this out. I am on a time limit, but it''s not the first time I''ve been on one. I gotta go fast!¡± sonic winked. ¡°Haven¡¯t heard that in a long time.¡° Tails chuckled, took one final sip of his coffee, and stood up from the couch. ¡°I better go get some studying done. Since I¡¯m going to the protest later and that¡¯s going to take a large chunk of the day.¡± ¡°I will stay home today, I will try to write or draw something. I will go out for my usual jog later, I can leave at the same time you go off to protest.¡± With that, the two parted ways, and each went to their own room to work on their task. Tails studied and Sonic worked on a story he had been writing. The toilet broke again and Sonic fixed it like he always does. He wasn¡¯t even bothered by the toilet braking, it became something that he figured he would just have to always do. Later that day they left the house, Sonic for his routine jog and Tails to go the center of Kowareta Yume. What he saw there could hardly be called a protest. There were around two dozen people there, not even close enough to make an impact. The small number made Tails very depressed and hopeless. He was always someone who was optimistic about change but the people of Kowareta Yume were okay with the mayor treating the town as his personal property. There was no pushback against him, there was no will to fight back. Everyone was content with the situation, the ward will remain an awful place to live in and he will win the next election for sure. Thirty years and with many more of the same corruption and poor management. People have resigned to the mentality of ¡®things won''t get better so why try¡¯. After the protest, a disappointed Tails returned home. Sonic was sitting on the couch holding his phone and reading an email. ¡°Hey, Tails we got invited to the SEGA anniversary event.¡± ¡°They still hold those? Are you sure they invited me? I haven¡¯t been to one in a decade.¡± ¡°Well, I am invited and I can bring anyone along so that means you¡¯re invited too.¡± The two discussed going to the event, and they decided that they were going to go and that they should wear something a little bit more formal. Tails was excited, he hadn¡¯t seen anyone from those days in over 10 years. Sonic on the other hand felt more of an obligation to show up. In his mind, if he didn¡¯t go, everyone will think that he wasn¡¯t invited because he is irrelevant. Despite letting go of his dream of directing another game he still had pride in him. He wanted to show that his name still meant something to the company since he was invited. *** It was the day of the SEGA anniversary party and Tails was driving with Sonic in his red Saab to the event, both of them were wearing suits. The event was being held at the SEGA HQ. Tails parked the car in front and the pair stared at the blue glass-covered skyscraper. Months had passed since Sonic had been here but it felt like yesterday he got the offer for the mobile game. Tails looked at Sonic and noticed that he was getting teary-eyed. Tails said to him: ¡°Hey, what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I started thinking,¡± Sonic said his voice cracking and eyes full of tears, ¡°I can''t face that Kazuma Kiryu guy.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because what if he starts treating me like I used to treat everyone. He is now the number one video game director at SEGA, I couldn¡¯t bear it if started to make fun of me and put me down. I know what you''re going to say. Well, Knuckles made fun of you too.¡± Soinc raised his voice an octive in an attempt to mimic Tails and then continued normally. ¡°But that¡¯s different. Knuckles was, and still is, a nobody. Sure, he may be vice president, but he doesn¡¯t work on games, he just compares business cards all day and watches the stock market or something. I can''t take it if someone like Kiryu would put me down because I know it''s my fault that he has taken my place and I know I kind of deserve it I just don¡¯t want to hear it¡± Sonic said and covered his eyes. ¡°Firstly, don¡¯t let the Mexicans see you cry.¡± Tails said and Sonic laughed at the movie reference. ¡°Mexicans from MEXICO CITY¡±. Sonic wiped his tears and smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right. Secondly, who cares what he has to say. He is at the end of the day some guy. Besides, even if he is number one now, the company would be nothing without you. You built SEGA to where it is today, you¡¯re Sonic the fucking Hedgehog.¡± ¡°?You know what?¡° Sonic looked up at Tails, ?You¡¯re right! I am Sonic the fucking Hedgehog!¡° Sonic started heading towards the SEGA building, his chest puffed up in confidence. Tails knew it was dangerous to feed Sonic¡¯s ego but he felt in this case it was okay to do. He did want both of them to have a good time today and knew exactly what Sonic needed to hear to get him to feel better. The pair made their way inside and as they approached the elevator they ran into Ulala from space channel 5. She was wearing an elegant red dress. Ulala asked them if they were planning to sit with anyone, since Sonic and Tails had no such plans they agreed that the three of them will share a table. The three of them entered the elevator on floor 28 was the space which was made to be the place for the celebration. It was a wide large space, with tables arranged with Cutlery and wine glasses, a red carpet, and blue SEGA balloons. The room exuded solemnity. They sat at their table, were offered appetizers, and were asked what kind of wine they wanted to drink. Sonic and Tails¡¯ current modest lifestyle was in complete contrast to the extravagance of the party. They were taken aback by how expensive it felt to be here even though as guests everything was free. Tails and Ulala started making small talk, since Sonic had seen Ualala before he didn¡¯t pay much attention to the conversation. He didn¡¯t want to listen to the same stuff for a second time about how Ualala is married now and has two kids. He decided to leave Tails to steer the conversation. Sonic instead began scanning the room. He checked out who exactly had come to this celebration. On one side of the room, there were many old but forgotten characters like Samba de Amigo, Beat from Jet Set Radio, Nights, Ristar, and so on. He used to look down on them but now he was just as washed up as them, all of them looked like they were having a good time. On the other side of the room were seats for the many executives and big managers of the SEGA media group and its subsidiaries. There was the captain of SEGA of Europe, captain of SEGA of America, captain SEGA of China¡­ There was also the president of Atlus and the captain of Atlus of America. Many others were there too, they all looked more like Italian mobsters and Japanese yakuza than businessmen. Looking at these ¡®business men¡¯ Sonic was reminded of a documentary he watched long ago. How Polanzo instituted an amendment that allowed you to assume someone¡¯s position if you would beat them in a fistfight. It was basically the way Polanzo gained power in the company. Sonic wondered was that amendment was still active and how many of those sitting at that part of the room have their position because they beat the previous holder up. From the way everyone looked it would be easy to assume all of them. Finally, the center of the room was the most opulent table, and its where Kiryu was seated, along with other characters from the ¡®Yakuza games¡¯, as well as Knuckles as vice president and of course the president himself Marchiano Polanzo. Polanzo wasn¡¯t dressed any differently than usual, he still was covered with golden accessories and wore his maroon-colored suit. Next to Polanzo were standing two guards, carrying their uzis in the open and waiting for Polanzo to pull out a cigar for them to light it. Kiryu was talking to his friends while Polanzo was discussing business-related stuff with his vice president Knuckles. Staring at that table Sonic reminisced about how, when he was a big deal, he would sit at that table, the same way Kiryu and his friends are sitting now. It would be him, the SEGA president, and all of the ¡®Sonic friends¡¯. He remembered how those were casual hangouts at first but as the years went along and he became egotistical, how no one looked like they wanted to be there. Kiryu and his friends look like they are all having fun and laughing. It''s been so long since Sonic laughed with his former friends. Speaking of Sonic¡¯s friends, as Sonic scanned the room he noticed none of them were there. They probably weren¡¯t invited or if they were it''s understandable why they wouldn¡¯t want to show up. A part of Sonic hoped he would maybe run into Amy and attempt to reconcile. Sonic zoned out in his own thoughts not realizing the whole time he was looking directly at Polanzo. He was wearing sunglasses so it was unclear which direction he was looking at. Sonic realized that Polanzo was looking back at him. He signaled his guard and whispered something into the guard¡¯s ear. As he was whispering he pointed his index finger at Sonic. Sonic panicked thinking he did something wrong. The guard approached Sonic and said: ¡°The president wishes to speak with you.¡± ¡°Be right back, I will go see what he wants,¡± Sonic said to Tails and walked to the President¡¯s table. Sonic approached Polanzo and greeted him, ¡°How¡¯s the blue blur?¡± ¡°Not bad, you said you wanted to speak with me?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, but first let me introduce you to our number one guy right now. I believe you two haven¡¯t met¡± Polanzo turned to Kiryu and pointed at him. ¡°Sonic meet Kiryu, Kiryu meets Sonic.¡± The two of them awkwardly shook hands. ¡°We haven¡¯t met but I know your work,¡± said Kiryu to Sonic. ¡°I know your work too¡±. Sonic began to spiral in his head, what does he mean he knows my work. Is he talking about Sonic 06, is he making fun of me. He is, right now he is going to turn to Majima and he is going to make a Sanic joke. He is probably going to mock my voice and repeat one of my cringe quotes. They are all going to laugh at me. Sonic¡¯s spiral was interrupted by Polanzo¡¯s finger snap. As he snapped his fingers, he turned to Knuckles and said: ¡°Listen you stand up and let the blue blur sit there. I can¡¯t have my boy standing while I discuss business¡± ¡°But where will I sit?¡± knuckles protested. ¡°You can stand. We¡¯ve finished our conversation.¡± ¡°Sir, you can''t let this washed-up loser sit here. I mean it''s-¡°, Polanzo interrupted Knuckles and with raising his voice he said: ¡°Knuckles, I pay you to give me your opinion. Now tell me, did I ask for it? I did not. That means you shut up and do as you are told. Understand me? Now stand the fuck up and let the blue boy sit.¡± Knuckles got up from his seat without a word and Sonic took his place. Polanzo took out a cigarette and offered it to Sonic. ¡°No thank you. I quit smoking.¡± ¡°Aha, I see.¡± Polanzo placed his hand on Sonic¡¯s shoulder. ¡°let me get straight down to the point. We at SEGA are planning on producing, not one, but two new Sonic games.¡± XVI Polanzo placed his hand on Sonic¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Let me get straight down to the point. We at SEGA are planning on producing, not one, but two new Sonic games.¡± Sonic was speechless. He couldn¡¯t believe what he just heard. He thought that he had misheard. Not one but two Sonic games? There has to be a catch. They probably didn¡¯t mean directing, maybe he was going to be a side character in someone else¡¯s game. Sonic said: ¡°Okay so you want me to cameo in two new games like I did for the mobile game right?¡± ¡°no no¡± Polanzo shook his head. ¡°Two new Sonic games where you will be the star and will have the privilege of directing.¡± ¡°You have to be joking¡± ¡°I never joke about business. What you don¡¯t like about the offer?¡± ¡°I just can''t believe I am getting this opportunity. What is the reason for this?¡± ¡°Our media market analysts have concluded that there is a great demand for new Sonic games. The company could make a lot of money if we made two one after the other. You see, it has been a long time since the last game you made so people are starved for new content. Not only that but this anniversary event has apparently triggered a wave of ¡®Sonic games¡¯ related posts on social media. People are going on and on about the good old days, there is a general 2000s nostalgia boom going on.¡± A waiter brought Polanzo an amazingly tasty-looking steak. Polanzo crushed his cigarette and took a bite and continued to talk. ¡°You should order the steak here its incredible. Anyways, where was I? Oh yes, 2000s nostalgia. I personally think it¡¯s stupid but the customer is always right and they want some trip down memory lane. So that¡¯s the situation, we want you to do one after the other, it would be great if you could sign a contract right away.¡± Sonic was struck with a sense of euphoria. He couldn¡¯t contain how happy and excited he was. Right when he had given up on his dream and moved on it came back with fire. Not one but two games! Two main-line Sonic games back to back where he is the star again and directing. It felt like he was dreaming. ¡°I accept your offer!¡± Sonic said excitedly with a spark in his eyes. ¡°I want to sign right away¡± Polanzo snapped his fingers and one of his bodyguards brought the paperwork and a golden pen for Sonic to use. Just as Sonic was about to sign Polanzo stopped him ¡°Oh one more thing before you sign. Part of the whole 2000s nostalgia thing is that we want Shadow the Hedgehog to appear for two levels¡± ¡°Okay so?¡± This wasn¡¯t something that was a deal breaker at all to Sonic. The old him would have perceived this as a tragedy, having to share the spotlight with another hedgehog was an insult to his ego. But now he was humbler, more mature, he didn¡¯t mind that Shadow would be a small part of the game. Sonic would still be the director. Sonic also thought that this would be a good chance to start over with Shadow. Shadow was one of the few that didn¡¯t come from the forest and the stopping Robotnik days. He wasn¡¯t a hero or an old friend. He was just a colleague that Sonic clashed with a lot. Maybe now that Sonic had grown he could try to be friendly and actually get a sense of what kind of person is Shadow. ¡°the thing is¡± Polanzo took a bite of his steak. ¡°Our media analysts say he is crucial for the financial success of the next game. Even though it''s only two levels, people want to remind themselves of Shadow, not really play as him for a whole game. Understand me? It¡¯s strange but that¡¯s just how it is.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see what the problem with this is?¡± ¡°Well, we can¡¯t find Shadow anywhere. He is like a ghost. Totally off the radar. Even if we did find him there is no way to know if he will even agree to this offer. If you remember he was very traumatized by the negative comments he got so he didn¡¯t want to do video games anymore. We changed his contract and replaced him with a lookalike during all these years but the audience want the real deal. No one wants look-alike with this advent of AI and all that jazz. Everyone can AI generate their own Shadow the Hedgehog at home, there are infinite Shadow AI imitations but only one Shadow the Hedgehog, you understand me?¡± Sonic nodded along and listened to Polanzo continue: ¡°Because we renegotiated his contract to kick him out of the franchise during the ¡®Sonic Unleashed(2008)¡¯ strike we have kind of fucked ourselves in the ass because we can¡¯t contractually obligate him to appear in any games anymore.¡± ¡°What does this have to do with me?¡± ¡°I want you, to find Shadow, wherever he is, and make him co-star in this new game with you. If you can¡¯t find him or get him to agree to participate there will be no new game, no two games, no nothing games. Do you understand me?¡± ¡°Loud and clear!¡± Sonic said enthusiastically. ¡°But how do I find him?¡± Polanzo face palmed and raised his voice. ¡°Are you even listening you schmuck? HELLO! We can¡¯t find him, that¡¯s why I want you to do it¡± ¡°Oh right sorry. Okay, I accept your terms and will be off to find him!¡± Sonic said and took the golden pen and started to sign the contract. Knuckles who was silent up to this point chimed in: ¡°Sir, our media analysts can make mistakes. Are we sure to-¡° ¡°Knuckles¡± Polanzo turned towards him and raised his index finger. ¡°What the fuck did I say about your opinion?¡± Knuckles didn¡¯t say anything in response. ¡°Exactly,¡± Polanzo said. ¡°Mr. President I have one more question?¡± Sonic said after he had signed the contract. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I wanted to ask you about Tails?¡± ¡°What the little fox boy?¡± ¡°Can maybe he get a role in this game too?¡± ¡°Is he money potential? No, he isn¡¯t. He gets no part¡± Sonic nodded without protest. As much as he wanted to help out his buddy the biggest thing he wanted was to get to make another game. Sonic took the copies of the contract that were for him and left Polanzo¡¯s table. As he was getting up he noticed that Kiryu wanted to say something to him but Sonic pretended not to notice and left. He feared that it was something about how terrible ¡®Sonic games¡¯ are and how amazing ¡®Yakuza games¡¯ have been. Sonic wanted to spare himself the potential ridicule and went back to his table. Back at his table Tails was sitting alone, bored, and playing a mobile game. Ulala had left to chat with Samba de Amigo since they both used to be part of rhythm games on the SEGA Dreamcast and were pretty close during those days. ¡°Took ya long enough, I¡¯ve been sitting alone here for so long,¡± Tails said. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Sonic told Tails about the offer, the two games he was going to direct, the quest to find Shadow, and the contract he signed. ¡°That¡¯s about the gist of it,¡± Sonic said. ¡°That¡¯s amazing! I guess you really ended up getting that Jackie Brown heist offer after all¡± ¡°YES! I can finally prove to the world that I don¡¯t suck at making games¡± ¡°What are you going to do about Shadow though. If I remember he became a shut-in after ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ and basically fell off the earth. No one has heard about him since.¡± Sonic closed his eyes to think. ¡°I have no idea.¡± ¡°It''s going to be tough figuring this out¡± ¡°Oh, there is one thing I wanted to tell you.¡± Sonic¡¯s voice was full of anxiety. ¡°I did ask Polanzo about you getting a role in the new game. I figured it would help you out financially but he said no.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care either way. I am happy because you¡¯re happy! I don¡¯t have the desire to go back to making video games¡± Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. A part of him felt a little guilty for not pulling up Tails with him but not enough to push for his inclusion nor did affect his euphoric mood. He got slightly anxious at the possibility of Tails getting angry for not being a part of the new games but with Tails¡¯ indifference, Sonic felt justified in his selfishness. Ulala returned to the table and the three of them had ordered food. Sonic ordered the steak that Polanzo was having which made Tails and Ulala curious so they ordered the same. The steak was absolutely delicious and later they were treated to one of the best desserts they had in their lives. While they were eating the dessert Sonic got hit with an idea. They¡¯re detectives you want on your side, the truth can run but not hide. ¡°Team Chaotix!¡± Sonic yelled out and scared Ulala and Tails. They had been sitting there in silence for some time, the sudden outburst startled them. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Tails looked at Sonic like he had gone insane. ¡°That¡¯s who¡¯s going to find Shadow for me. They are private investigators. This is the exact type of job for them. Do you still have that business card they gave us?¡± ¡°I think I left it in the glove compartment.¡± ¡°Give me the keys. I will go to the car right now. I want to call them as soon as possible¡± Sonic said and rushed out of his seat. He impatiently fidgeted in the elevator as it made its way down the SEGA skyscraper. There was a window in the elevator and it had a gorgeous view of the city. Outside it was dusk and the sky was covered in a pleasant orange color. Sonic found the business card in Tails¡¯ red Saab and called the Team Chaotix office. On the other side of the phone line Vector the Crocodile answered. ¡°Do you guys take requests?¡± Sonic said. ¡°What kind of request?¡± ¡°I need you guys to find Shadow the Hedgehog. Do you remember him? You guys were in that game in ¡¯05 together.¡± ¡°I remember Shadow. What¡¯s the deal? Is he dead?¡± ¡°No.¡± Sonic squinted his eyes in frustration. ¡°I need him found, he has become unreachable and I need to talk to him about something. Do you think you can do that?¡± ¡°It''s going to cost ya¡± ¡°How much?¡± Vector told him the price and Sonic felt ill when he heard it. It would cost the entirety of his savings that he made from the SEGA mobile game. Sonic would be placing a major gamble here. If he paid them the money and they didn¡¯t find him he would have to give up on his dreams and go back to a horrible day job. If they did find him and Shadow refused to be a part of this new game well that would also be a waste. The capital Sonic had accumulated that gave him his current financial freedom would be placed on the whims of fate. The comfortable life he made for himself could vanish. He finally had time to explore other options that aren¡¯t video games. The more he thought the less he was sure what the ¡®safe¡¯ option was. On one hand, video games were something he was comfortable making and he knew he loved doing that. He also had a motivation to prove himself. However, whether or not he gets to make the games depends on one big if, Shadow. He could lose the safety he had and risk the chance to feel fulfilled again. On the other hand, he could choose to not gamble away his money and enjoy the free time to explore other avenues of fulfillment. However, there was no guarantee he was going to find any fulfillment outside of video games. He could waste away in his apartment doing these little scribbles he had been doing so far and when the money runs out go back to a job like flipping burgers or cleaning toilets. What to do? ¡°Hello? You there?¡± Vector said after a long moment of silence on the other side of the line. ¡°I¡¯m here, wait a moment¡± ¡°I can¡¯t talk to you forever, we¡¯ve got other cases waiting.¡± After deliberating with himself, Sonic came to a decision and said: ¡°Okay, I want you to find him. Do it.¡± ¡°Foreword the money to our bank account and we will start as soon as we have confirmation of the payment.¡± ¡°I will send it to you right after our call through my bank app on the phone.¡± ¡°Whatever suits you¡± Vector shrugged. ¡°When will you find him¡±, Sonic said aggressively. ¡°Whoa slow down, I know you want to go fast but it will take us a few days. But we will find him, remember our motto, The truth can run but not hide¡± ¡°Make sure you call me when you find anything out.¡± Just as Sonic was ready to end the call Vector said, ¡°One last thing. Sonic Heroes what your problem needs¡­¡± ¡°What are you even saying?¡± Sonic was thrown off and confused. ¡°You were supposed to say TEAM CHAOTIX. I thought you remembered ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ and the amazing theme song we made for ourselves.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry dude. I don¡¯t remember every song from every game I was in. I will listen to it when I get home.¡± With Vector¡¯s disappointment and Sonic¡¯s newfound resolve the call ended. Sonic returned to the anniversary party. There he told Tails about what he had decided and forwarded the necessary funds. Tails was outwardly supportive to Sonic but he was worried. He remembered how Sonic used to be when he was a game director. He was also worried about how all the money Sonic earned was gone and if this thing fails its back paycheck to paycheck. In Tails¡¯ mind, the worst-case scenario was playing out. How will Sonic survive if they don¡¯t find him or if he rejects the offer? He will be miserable maybe even suicidal. What the hell will I do if it comes to that. For now, the future was something they will have to think about at a later time. Right now they were going to enjoy this SEGA anniversary party, drink wine and chat with Ulala. *** For the next few days, Sonic would be a nervous wreck. He barely slept. He constantly walked in circles around the house. He went on long aimless walks. He stopped writing and drawing. He didn¡¯t take care of himself. He looked like someone who wasn¡¯t mentally stable. Tails had tried to cheer him up and calm him down but nothing would work. Sonic had a need to every 5 minutes check his phone if there were any missed calls. Everything was riding on the investigation he paid for. He couldn¡¯t do anything until he got closure on it. The only moments Sonic was calm is when he was watching TV. He would get immersed if he would watch a TV show or movie and for a moment would forget about his trouble if only for a moment. Sonic was sitting on the balcony. He swayed in his seat from the anticipation and anxiety. Tails brought him a cup of coffee, brewed exactly how Sonic likes it. Sonic took the cup and said: ¡°I¡¯m sorry Tails I¡¯m like this now. I just need to know the answer. Is it we found him or we couldn¡¯t? That¡¯s it and I will be chill.¡± ¡°It''s okay I understand.¡± ¡°I appreciate the coffee thought. Thank you.¡± Sonic smiled at Tails and continued to talk. ¡°Another thing, I am really sorry I am freeloading right now. I promise you if it succeeds I will have loads of money in no time and if it doesn¡¯t well fuck, I will get a job and things will be like they were before and I will chip in my fair share.¡± Tails spoke in a reassuring tone, ¡°Trust me I truly understand, it¡¯s okay. The situation is the way it is and I see why you are so anxious. I know right now nothing will say will make things better but know that the answer will come.¡± The moment Tails said that Sonic¡¯s phone began to ring and it was a call from Vector. Sonic grabbed his phone and with lightning speed answered the call. ¡°Talk to me. Show me the money?¡± Sonic said. ¡°We found ¡®em.¡± Vector said. ¡°YES!!!¡± Sonic jumped out of his seat and hugged Tails. ¡°THEY FUCKING FOUND HIM! Where is he? I want to go to him right now¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t tell you that over the phone.¡± ¡°Why? Have you done something illegal?¡± ¡°It¡¯s part of our code at Team Chaotix. Nothing can be said over the phone about information our clients request. We have to meet at a special place¡± ¡°What code? What the fuck does that even mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s our code of honor. We can¡¯t break it.¡± Sonic started flailing his arms in frustration. ¡°Are you on some kind of drugs? You are telling me that the reason you can¡¯t just tell me over the phone where Shadow is, is cause you guys have an imaginary code of honor?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not imaginary,¡± Vector said feeling a little insulted. ¡°The problem with today¡¯s world is there is no sense of honor or chivalry. These kinds of old-fashioned ideals are dying out. You need to have a code and uphold it. That¡¯s what makes you a true man, especially if you are in this business.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Sonic took a deep breath to calm down. ¡°So where is this special place where your ¡®code of honor¡¯ says we have to meet.¡± ¡°Caf¨¦ Alps in Kamurocho.¡± ¡°I swear Vector, If this information ends up not being correct things will not end well.¡± Sonic raised his voice. ¡°You are really pushing me right now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the code, we have to uphold it¡± The call ended. Sonic with great anger relayed everything they talked about in the call. He asked if Tails could drive them to caf¨¦ Alps where they were supposed to meet. Tails of course agreed and they were off to their red Saab 900. During the drive to their destination, Sonic ranted the whole way while Tails drove in silence letting his buddy vent it out. ¡°Since when were the Chaotix samurai and became obsessed with codes and honor. I swear everyone in this country is obsessed with formalism in the stupidest of situations. You start working in any corporation in Japan and everyone acts as if they are samurai or knights when acting out the rules. It¡¯s like the rules that the company has is sacred or something. Can you believe that? Is that why they made up a stupid code to fit in more with Japanese businesses?¡± Sonic continued to rant until they arrived at the underground parking lot in Kamurocho. Sonic and Tails walked to the caf¨¦ and inside they saw Vector, Charmy, and Espio waiting for them. Sonic and Tails joined them and they all sat at the table together. ¡°Okay tell me now where is Shadow.¡± Sonic was ready to jump out of his skin from the anticipation. ¡°Hold on.¡± Vector said. ¡°We first order coffee. Wait for it to arrive. Then we tell you. It¡¯s the code. We have to respect it.¡± Sonic was about to yell but Tails made a gesture for him to calm down and just accept it. A waitress came and everyone ordered coffee. As they waited for the coffee to arrive vector said, ¡°By the way you two haven¡¯t seen Charmy and Espio in a while.¡± ¡°Hey, guys what''s up?¡± Tails tried to start some friendly chit-chat. Sonic was silent, he was way too pent up to make small talk right now. ¡°I''m fully focused, man, my money on my mind Got a mil'' out the deal and I''m still on the grind¡± Charmy rapped. Tails was so surprised he froze. Vector and Espio rolled their eyes and sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t pay attention to him,¡± Espio said. ¡°Charmy has this thing where he listens to a rapper then he decides he is going to talk only in the verses of that rapper. Right now he is in a 50-cent phase. Trust me, you don¡¯t know how it feels like when he does this every day all day.¡± ¡°My flow, my show brought me the dough That bought me all my fancy things¡± Charmy rapped. Are these guys even private detectives at all or are they scammers, Tails thought to himself. The waitress brought the coffee. Sonic screamed out: ¡°NOW CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHERE SHADOW IS!?¡± ¡°Yes, I can. Don¡¯t be mad at me, I didn¡¯t come up with the code (he did come up with the code). Can I just ask you first why do you want to see him?¡± Vector said. ¡°I don¡¯t think that matters to you. Why do you want to know?¡± Sonic said. ¡°We found a lot of information about Shadow.¡± Vector made a pause and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to put this. Shadow is kind of Nazi now.¡± xvii ¡°Shadow is a nazi? What? How? Why?¡± Tails didn¡¯t know that sentence could exist and was very shocked. Sonic accepted this information as if he had heard how the weather is outside and waited for Vector to continue. Vector pulled out his phone and read off of it the information. ¡°We found his social media account. He obviously isn¡¯t using his real name, the account is called ambivalence2387469837497389023092193. I have no idea why he used so many numbers, I guess there were a lot of accounts named ambivalence. What is that number? Is that his social security number or something? ¡°Anyways, his account is full of posts of holocaust denial, anti-Semitism, why the Axis weren¡¯t actually that bad, pictures of Japanese war criminals¡­ You get the point. He shares videos other people made that promote conspiracy theories and that deny war crimes. He also posts a comic book that he makes all by himself and lives off contributions from fans. That comic book is his main source of income.¡± ¡°None of this is relevant. I want to know where he lives. That¡¯s what I paid for.¡± Sonic stopped Vector. ¡°Hold on!¡± Tails jumped at Sonic. ¡°This is very relevant. Do you want to work together with a literal neo nazi?¡± Sonic responded, ¡°I don¡¯t care if he is a Nazi or whatever. The important thing is to get him to agree to the game.¡± ¡°Ahem¡±, Vector stopped a potential argument between the two and continued, ¡°You ask where he lives? Well, Shadow is actually your neighbor. He is a 10-minute car ride from your apartment building. He lives in the residential area the mayor of Kowareta Yume plans to tear down to build casinos and hotels. You probably heard about it on the news.¡± ¡°To think he lived so close to us all this time yet we had no idea,¡± Sonic said. ¡°Shadow has lived a very isolated life.¡± Vector said. ¡°Since ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ he has rarely left his home, he couldn¡¯t take the ridicule. He has almost no friends except a few online ones. He practically lives on the internet. That maybe explains his current views. I think he is in his home right now so if you want to see him knock on the doorbell.¡± ¡°Thank you for the information Team Chaotix. Can''t say it was a pleasure doing business with you but you did get me all the information I need.¡± Sonic stood up to shake Vector¡¯s hand and was about to leave. ¡°You haven¡¯t told me why you wanted to find out where Shadow lives?¡± ¡°I have to get him to agree to be in a video game with me.¡± The two groups parted ways, Sonic and Tails were now walking through Kamurocho on their way to the car. Sonic was bursting with excitement, he felt like he was just on the cusp of his big break. Tails was wary of the situation and said to Sonic: ¡°Are you sure you want to do this with Shadow he is a Nazi after all?¡± Sonic scoffed. ¡°I really don¡¯t care what he is. I am not going to drop this just because he is an idiot. He is my ticket to success and I will do whatever it takes to get him to agree.¡± ¡°How are you going to get him to agree anyway?¡± ¡°I will think of something.¡± Sonic and Tails drove back to Kowareta Yume in silence. Tails drove to the address Vector gave them. They had passed through that street countless times and never once saw Shadow. They arrived and parked the red Saab close to Shadow¡¯s home. Sonic and Tails exited and Sonic noticed Tails wasn¡¯t planning on coming with him. ¡°You¡¯re going to stay here?¡± ¡°I understand why you want to do this but I don¡¯t want any part in it. He is a Nazi, I don¡¯t even want to talk to him. You go do your thing and will wait here.¡± Sonic shrugged. ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Sonic approached Shadow¡¯s house. The entire neighborhood was a row of samey-looking houses. Shadow¡¯s home didn¡¯t look any different than any other house in the area, it looked completely ordinary. Sonic noticed lights flickering inside the house and he could hear sounds from the TV, Shadow must be home! Sonic rang the doorbell but no answer came. He rang the doorbell once again and nothing happened. Sonic kept ringing the doorbell, he knew Shadow was in there and he wasn¡¯t going to give up. He kept ringing until finally Shadow¡¯s voice was heard from the inside: ¡°Go away!¡± ¡°Shadow is that you?¡± ¡°I said go away!¡± ¡°I came to talk to you. It¡¯s me Sonic the Hedgehog, remember me? We used to work together on video games¡± Shadow had a slight panic in his voice. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see you! I am busy, my toilet broke and I am dealing with the mess¡± ¡°Is it because of the sewer system?¡± Sonic said and Shadow replied with a yes. Sonic continued with confidence, ¡°I am pretty good at fixing that problem. Let me in, I can help you out.¡± A beat of silence passed where Sonic almost thought Shadow wasn¡¯t going to respond. ¡°You promise you know how to fix toilets?¡± Shadow said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t lie about something like that¡± Shadow opened the door and Sonic came inside. They avoided a handshake since Shadow¡¯s hands were dirty. ¡°Fix the toilet and we can talk afterward about anything you want,¡± Shadow said and pointed Sonic to the problem. Despite the outward appearance, the house inside looked anything but ordinary. It was a total mess. Clothes were in piles on the floor or on furniture, there were knocked-over trash cans with trash on the floor, and the entire place had a kind of unpleasant smell. It was the most disorderly home Sonic had ever seen in his life. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Sonic made his way to the bathroom and like a professional in no time fixed the problem. He was a natural at this, he had to do this every day at work and every so often in Tails¡¯ home. Due to the nature of the sewer system of Kowareta Yume, his fixes could only be temporary, some places had the problem more often than others but there was nothing Sonic or anyone else could do but delay the next time it happens. A complete overhaul of the entire sewer system was necessary for the problem to go away, there is only so much an individual could do. After finishing up in the bathroom, Sonic made his way into the living room where Shadow was waiting for him. The living room had outdated furniture from the 70s and everything was dusty and dirty. ¡°I got some soda in the fridge if you want? Sorry, I wasn¡¯t expecting guests so there isn¡¯t anything else I can offer you.¡± Shadow said. ¡°Soda is fine.¡± Sonic finally got a good look at Shadow, they haven¡¯t seen each other in more than a decade. Shadow looked pale and unhealthy. One look at him and you knew he never gets out of the house. Shadow poured Sonic a glass of soda and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. ¡°Want one?¡± Sonic shook his head. ¡°No thanks, I quit.¡± Shadow lit his cigarette and sat across from Sonic, ¡°How did you find me? I made myself untraceable¡± ¡°I have my ways. The truth can run but not hide.¡± Sonic said in an elusive tone trying to impress Shadow. ¡°That the Team Chaotix motto? They were at my house a year ago. I made the website for their detective agency. How are they doing?¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Sonic grabbed his head in frustration. ¡°They know where you live?¡± Shadow was taken aback, ¡°Yeah like I said they were here a year ago. I helped them with their website. We are still in touch whenever they need some assistance with anything computer related.¡± ¡°I will strangle those motherfucking scammers next time I see them. I paid them so much money for them to ¡®find¡¯ you and you¡¯re telling me they already knew where you were. They kept me on the edge for days as if they were searching for you. I can''t believe I got scammed so hard and that stupid code of honor.¡± ¡°Hey don¡¯t hate them ''cause of the code. I think it''s admirable they have a principle they stick to and they didn¡¯t make up the code.¡± Sonic made a glare of death towards Shadow but Shadow was unfazed and continued. ¡°You have no right to be mad, they are information traders. You bought information from them, simple as that.¡± As much as Sonic wanted to argue with Shadow about this he calmed himself down and ignored talking about the Chaotix any further. Shadow puffed on his cigarette and said: ¡°So what did you want to talk about with me¡± Sonic proceeded to tell Shadow about the video game contract offers, Shadow¡¯s role, and the money they would receive. Sonic made a huge effort to pitch this idea as enthusiastically as possible and he made the offer sound really good. Shadow merely listened and smoked his cigarette. Once Sonic was done with his pitch Shadow said: ¡°Thanks but no thanks. I¡¯m not interested.¡± Shadow crushed his cigarette in the ashtray. ¡°But why¡± Sonic was soul crushed. ¡°The money we¡¯d be getting is incredible. I can¡¯t do this without you, Shadow, please. I bet you need some financial help.¡± Sonic didn¡¯t about lose all hope. He was going to try to push Shadow as much as he could. ¡°Let me tell you what kind of help I need.¡± Shadow took out another cigarette and lit it. ¡°I need a new home. As you may have heard the news this neighborhood is getting torn down. The local government has appropriated the land and is redeveloping it. All of us folk who live here have to leave. Fuck you if you want to keep living here. You are out and you have no say in it.¡± ¡°Will you get compensation for your house getting appropriated?¡± ¡°Of course. They can¡¯t just take away something that¡¯s yours without paying. However, the catch is I get that money in several years. The money isn¡¯t the pressing issue right now though. Where the hell am I going to live, there are no more places to rent in Kowareta Yume and that¡¯s the only part of Tokyo that I can afford.¡± ¡°Why not move out to a different, less expensive city?¡± Shadow hit the table ¡°NEVER! I know what this land appropriation is about! It¡¯s the Jews. They want to replace us. They want to kick us out. It¡¯s all a Jewish conspiracy. They saw me posting on the internet and they want to silence me! You think it¡¯s an accident out of all the places in the world I have to move out! Well, I won¡¯t let the Jews win. If I move out of Tokyo that would be capitulation. I won¡¯t give them that victory, I will fight as long as I live. That¡¯s why I have to keep on living in Tokyo.¡± Sonic thought to himself, Maybe Tails was right. Working with someone so brain-dead seems awful. I don¡¯t know much about politics but I doubt some group of Jews is out there chasing the shut-in loser Shadow the Hedgehog. However, I have to get him to agree to make the game with me, I need him for my own sake. He said he needed a place to live. I have an idea. ¡°Listen Shadow, I have an offer for you. I am living with Tails maybe 10 minutes away by car from where you live right now. I could ask him for you to live with us for a while, I think we have an empty room you could use. In return, you have to agree to do this video game deal with me. I get what I want and you get to keep fighting the Jewish world order or whatever.¡± Shadow thought about the offer, he knew wasn¡¯t going to get a better deal than this. While he wasn¡¯t enthusiastic about the prospect of making another video game considering how badly it went the last two times. This time Sonic would have his hand on the wheel and he would have more of a supporting role, he realized he wasn¡¯t going to take the blame if the game ends up being horrible. He would have a short gameplay segment so the main director is still Sonic. Not only that but the money offered was no small amount. With the restitution, Shadow would receive from getting his home appropriated and the money he would make from the video game, he had a great financial situation looking at him. And most importantly in his mind, he gets to keep on living in Tokyo. In the end, Shadow agreed, the only thing left was for Sonic to convince Tails to agree. It was Tails¡¯ apartment so without his approval this deal is dead on arrival. ¡°Wait just a second. Tails is waiting outside, I need to ask him first if he is okay with you moving in with us.¡± Sonic made his way confidently to Tails. Tails was sitting in the car watching the news on his phone. The mayor of Kowareta Yume making a speech about the land appropriation and Tails kept cursing at the screen. Sonic knocked on his window and Tails got out of the car. The two stood outside and Sonic told Tails about everything he and Shadow talked about. He told Tails about the offer he made to Shadow and asked Tails if it was okay for Shadow to temporarily move in with them. ¡°Absolutely not¡± Tails gave a firm answer. ¡°Oh come on why not?¡± Sonic replied frustrated. He had to bargain with him too now. Can one thing just work out for me? ¡°He is a fucking Nazi and a crazy conspiracy theorist. I don¡¯t want someone like that sharing the same living space with me.¡± ¡°Buddy, please. I really need this. Can you do this for me¡± Sonic pleaded and made a pressed his palms as if he was praying. ¡°I am sorry but no. You know I am always there to support you when you need it. This crosses the line for me. I don¡¯t want a neo-Nazi in the house. End of discussion. Find another way.¡± Sonic felt betrayed. Everything was crashing down on him. There was no other way unless Tails agrees. He expected Tails to have his back no matter what and that he would help. Sonic selfishly believed that his desires supersede everyone else¡¯s, including his best friend. Just as he was about to lose all hope he saw Tails¡¯ phone in the car. The phone was on the driver''s seat and the news was still on the screen, Tails forgot to lock his phone. On the screen, the mayor of Kowareta Yume was still giving his speech. As Sonic looked at the mayor an idea came to him. ¡°Don¡¯t you think you are betraying your principles?¡± Sonic crossed his arms. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I thought you cared about the land appropriation the mayor of Kowareta Yume has signed. Here we have a victim of this policy and you are turning your back on him. Why? Because you disagree with his beliefs! So what if he has stupid and crazy opinions. He is still a victim of the mayor, he will have no place to live. If you truly cared about this issue you would help Shadow.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying if I cared about the land appropriation I would need to help everyone? What a dumb thing to say.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not saying you have to help everyone. You are in a position to help one person, you have the space to house him, it''s someone we both know personally. I think if you are truly against the mayor¡¯s policies you should help his victims regardless of their beliefs. If you really are serious about your beliefs then practice them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re only saying this cause you want that video game deal.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter what I say in this situation. It matters what you do and whether are you truly principled.¡± Sonic¡¯s words hit Tails like a train. It made him completely reconsider everything he said before. Sonic knew exactly which buttons to push and Tails was ready to agree for Shadow to move in with them. Tails knew that Sonic is only thinking about the video game but his words had an air of truth to them in Tails¡¯ mind. What kind of person am I if I don¡¯t practice what I preach. I am no better than the thousands of hypocrites out there if I reject to help Shadow. Sonic knew he playing dirty. He couldn¡¯t care less about the mayor or the people of Kowareta Yume that had to move out. He knew this was something Tails cared about because he was so outspoken about it and even attended a protest. Sonic consciously manipulated his friend. A small part of Sonic felt bad that he pulled something like this on his best friend, it didn¡¯t feel right. However, a bigger part of Sonic was prepared to get his video game deal by any means necessary. It was his ticket to a new life and he wasn¡¯t going to let anything or anyone stop him. ¡°Okay,¡± Tails took a deep breath. ¡°You¡¯re right. I should help him. I don¡¯t want him to have to leave Tokyo because of the mayor and that I was able to prevent that. Regardless of what he thinks and if he blames the Jews he doesn¡¯t deserve to be thrown out of his home. You can go tell him that he can move in with us.¡± ¡°Excellent!¡± Sonic grinned. He went to the car and took the necessary paperwork given to him by Polanzo that Shadow needs to sign. He gleefully walked towards Shadow¡¯s home. As he was walking Tails shouted to him: ¡°I can¡¯t promise I will get along with Shadow though.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to be friends with him or ever talk to him. The only thing he needs is a place to stay.¡± Sonic sat back in Shadow¡¯s living room where Shadow was waiting for him smoking cigarettes. He told Shadow that Tails agreed for him to move in with them and that he needed to sign contracts for the video game deal. Shadow nodded, he signed the necessary papers and with that, they parted ways. Shadow said he will move in with them in a week. Sonic and Tails drove back to their home, they didn¡¯t speak for the rest of the day. Sonic sat on the terrace alone, looking at the endless Tokyo skyline. In one hand he held the contracts Shadow signed and felt a sense of pride, mission accomplished. He grabbed his phone and called Polanzo. ¡°Talk to me Sonic baby. Bring the good news?¡± Polanzo said on the other side of the line. ¡°Shadow has been found and has signed the paperwork agreeing to do the video game with me.¡± ¡°Oh amazin¡¯ I knew you could do it. All I have to say is congratulations and welcome back. You are working for SEGA as a video game director again.¡± Sonic was overjoyed hearing those words. He was on his way to stardom once again. Everything was going to change now. However, he couldn¡¯t shake this empty feeling he had in his stomach. The victory felt a bit hollow. Was it really worth emotionally manipulating my best friend for this? xviii Early morning and sounds of alarm clocks start ringing in Tails¡¯ apartment. It has been several weeks since Sonic and Tails came to the agreement of Shadow moving in with them. Not much has changed with the morning routine with Shadow now in the house. They would all wake up in the early morning, have breakfast together, watch ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯ and Tails would drive Sonic and Shadow to work at the SEGA HQ. Right now Tails was making breakfast for the group, Shadow was still in his room and Sonic was once again fixing the toilet. The sewer system was the same as always, still causing the same problems and Sonic had to fix them every time. The three gathered in the living room and watched TV. The morning show had several lawyers arguing about the parole system. When and how someone should or shouldn¡¯t get parole. ¡°They didn¡¯t have any interesting guests for a long time,¡± Sonic said. ¡°Hey Tails,¡± Shadow said. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you don¡¯t want to talk about the Holocaust, I¡¯m just asking questions.¡± ¡°Why must you start this every fucking day with this.¡± Tails grabbed his head. ¡°I¡¯m just asking questions.¡± Shadow shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything better to do than obsess about the Holocaust every day?¡± Shadow and Tails continued to bicker while Sonic blocked their sounds from his head. Tails in the beginning attempted to debate Shadow on many of his outrageous opinions but at this point, he had given up. The moment Shadow brings up something politics related Tails immediately shuts him down. It was pointless to try to debate someone so far dug into his own beliefs and beliefs so stupid and untrue as Shadow¡¯s were. Sonic had a different approach, he would simply ignore any of Shadow¡¯s weird ramblings. He would nod in silence and wait for Shadow to finish and then Sonic would change the topic. He didn¡¯t have the interest nor the energy to engage with Shadow. ¡°Anyways what do you guys think about our parole system,¡± Sonic said trying to change the subject. But the two of them said nothing. They would remain silent for the rest of the morning. Tails drove them to the SEGA HQ after they finished breakfast. As they were driving Tails was the one to finally break the silence. ¡°You guys mentioned yesterday that there is a lounge on the top floor of the SEGA building now?¡± ¡°Yeah¡±, Shadow said, ¡°It¡¯s a place for employees to go on break and get a cup of coffee. The place also works as a caf¨¦ and restaurant, it¡¯s not well known but even non-employees can eat there. It actually works 24/7 and during the night people from that neighborhood go to drink there.¡± ¡°Things changed so much since I was last there, couldn¡¯t have imagined that the SEGA building had its own caf¨¦/restaurant.¡± ¡°When I did the mobile game I didn¡¯t even know the place existed since I was there only for a day,¡± Sonic said. ¡°You can come to have lunch with us after your down with your things in college¡± ¡°It is a little far away but I think I will join you guys. Beats eating lunch alone.¡± The three arrived at the SEGA HQ and parted ways. Even though Shadow and Sonic were working on the same game they worked on different floors. Not only did they work on different floors but they also got different types of employee cards. The employee cards were a new thing that the SEGA corporation introduced. In order to access certain parts of the building you needed the key card to open certain doors. A lot of areas were off-limits but places like the lounge on the top floor were open to everyone. Shadow got a low-level access card since he wasn¡¯t playing an important role in the upcoming video game. Sonic on the other hand received the highest level access card an employee could get since he was game director again. For today¡¯s work, Shadow had to record his voice lines and Sonic had to design the levels for the game. Sonic¡¯s job was easy for him, in these past years he had a ton of concepts and ideas he wanted to try out and he finally had an opportunity to put them into practice. Shadow had a harder time, it was over a decade since he had done any actual voice-acting work, and needed to repeat a lot of lines. Once Sonic completed his work he made his way to the lounge. Shadow hadn¡¯t yet finished his part so Sonic sat in the lounge alone for now. The lounge had a giant window that gave a gorgeous view of Tokyo since the lounge was on the top floor. Sonic ordered a cup of coffee and absent-mindedly flicked through his phone as he waited for Shadow to join him. He texted Tails: ¡°I¡¯m done with work, Shadow will be done soon too, when will you be able to come over.¡± Tails replied: ¡°I am just about to finish on my end and will be there in about half an hour.¡± ¡°Excellent! We won''t order our lunch until you arrive¡± While Sonic was texting he hadn¡¯t noticed that a person approached him. It was Kiryu Kazuma. As Sonic raised his head and noticed Kiryu, a sense of dread overcame him. He didn¡¯t get the chance at the anniversary event and now he is here to make fun of me. I was trying to avoid him but I guess there is nowhere to run now. I better take the ridicule and get it over with. ¡°Sonic the Hedgehog?¡± Kiryu said timidly. ¡°I apologize if I¡¯m bothering you. I just wanted to say since I didn¡¯t get the chance earlier, I really admire your work.¡± ¡°Nice joke. C¡¯mon give the punch line, what¡¯s it gonna be, a ¡®Sonic 06¡¯ quote?¡± ¡°No no, I am being sincere. I honestly really like your video games.¡± Sonic was completely taken aback. It has been so long since he had heard any kind of praise for his video games that wasn¡¯t steeped in irony. He felt unbelievably good. ¡°Thank you¡± Sonic gave a big smile. ¡°That means a lot. Especially coming from someone as great as you. I didn¡¯t even know you played any ¡®Sonic games¡¯¡± ¡°Back in 2005. when I got the video game deal for the first ¡®Yakuza game¡¯ I realized that since my 10 years in prison, I haven¡¯t played any video games. I had no idea what was contemporary now so I bought a Playstation 2 and played so many games to understand what was I going to make. One of the games I played the most was ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ so the games made by you and your friends were games I always liked.¡± Sonic gave a nervous weak smile, ¡°I guess you haven¡¯t played any of the newer ones huh?¡± ¡°Actually I¡¯ve played all of them. I like almost all of your video games to some degree.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly rare.¡± Sonic laughed. ¡°I read about your history too. I think I¡¯ve done some impressive things in my life but you and your friends defeated Dr. Robotnik. You literally saved the world. Few people can say something like that about themselves.¡± It was a long time since Sonic heard nice things about his video games and it was an even longer time since anyone mentioned Robotnik. Sonic himself sometimes forgets the battle with Robotnik. It feels so long ago. Almost like a different lifetime from where he was now. Once upon a time, he was an actual hero, running fast and not just a video game developer. That life is something Sonic has buried within his memories and now with Kiryu mentioning Robotnik, it unlocked Sonic''s many old memories. The time when he was together with Amy and when You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°The Robotnik thing was such a long time ago. The Sonic and friends that fought him might as well have been different people.¡± Sonic said with sadness in his eyes. ¡°I apologize if I brought back some painful memories.¡± ¡°No need to apologize.¡± Shadow entered the lounge and approached Sonic¡¯s table. ¡°Well I don¡¯t take any more of your time, just wanted to say that I am a fan,¡± Kiryu said and left. Shadow sat next to Sonic and ordered a cup of tea. ¡°When is Tails arriving?¡± Shadow said looking impatient. ¡°He should be here soon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m starving, I can¡¯t wait to eat.¡± ¡°So Shadow, how do you like the work so far¡± Sonic wanted to start a topic to prevent Shadow to start another rant about how the Holocaust didn¡¯t happen. ¡°I forgot how much fun making video games is. My voice acting is out of practice so I had to repeat a lot of lines but I enjoyed the process. What about you?¡± ¡°I feel really happy. I¡¯ve been waiting to come back to video games for years now. Finally, I am doing a job that I love doing. Finally, I can prove myself to the world that I am able to make good games and I can save my reputation.¡± As happy as Sonic sounded, deep inside he felt like something was missing. He wasn¡¯t sure what and he wasn¡¯t prepared to admit to Shadow or to himself. There was an emptiness that Sonic didn¡¯t know how to fill, he repressed that feeling and continued to tell himself that he was on the right path. Before Sonic was able to get introspective Tails arrived and joined the table. Shadow grinned when he saw him since it meant he could finally eat. The group ordered lunch and made casual chit-chat about what each of them did during the day. The lunch arrived and the food disappeared from their plates as soon as it arrived. ¡°Damn, this place serves some good food. You wouldn¡¯t expect a company lounge would serve food like this.¡± Tails remarked. ¡°The best part is since we are employees we get it for free and if we bring someone along that person gets a discount,¡± Sonic said. ¡°I want to eat here every day from now on.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry for changing the subject,¡± Shadow said and made Sonic and Tails eye roll and sigh. The two thought he was going to go on another Holocaust denial spiel. ¡°I wanted to ask what are we going to do tonight.¡± Tails breathed a sigh of relief and said: ¡°That¡¯s a good question. Yesterday we played that co-op shooter, it was a lot of fun. Especially the airplane level¡± ¡°I wish we recorded that session, we laughed so much on that airplane level,¡± Sonic said. ¡°However, as fun as that was yesterday I think we should do something different tonight.¡± Tails nodded in agreement. ¡°If I may suggest,¡± Shadow pressed his arms together. ¡°I know you guys have already seen it but I would for us to watch that ¡®Jackie Brown(1997)¡¯ movie. You guys talk about it all the time and I feel like I¡¯m missing out. I want to see what it¡¯s all about.¡± ¡°I am always down to watching that movie again. It¡¯s one of my new favorite movies.¡± Sonic said gleefully. Tails nodded once again in agreement. ¡°I have an assignment to write for tomorrow but I probably won¡¯t finish it till tonight. I guess I will take a break to watch the film with you guys and I will pull an all-nighter to finish it.¡± ¡°Shadow doesn¡¯t need to go to work tomorrow and I will take a taxi to the SEGA building.¡± The three of them actually got along really well when politics isn¡¯t involved. They enjoyed each other¡¯s company especially when it came to video games and movies. They often found themselves laughing together at the stupidest of things. Shadow enjoyed it the most because he had been alone for so long. He often considered himself a loner and that he didn¡¯t need any friends but these days he realized how wrong he was. ¡°Shadow, I wanted to ask you how is your comic book coming along?¡± Tails said. ¡°I have this chapter I have to finish before the deadline.¡± ¡°Will you be able to meet it?¡± ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t think there will be a problem.¡± Shadow said without a hint of stress. Despite Shadow¡¯s flaws both Sonic and Tails found things about him that they both admired. For Tails, it was Shadow¡¯s attitude towards life. He didn¡¯t seem to be in any kind of hurry for anything. Sonic was always chasing his big break and Tails was obsessed with wasting time. Shadow never felt like he wasted his time nor was he stressing about his comic or about work. Shadow worked, never missed a deadline, and was stress-free all the time. It was very fascinating to Tails how easily Shadow navigated work including hearing from Sonic how relaxed he was at SEGA. For Sonic he found Shadow¡¯s creative endeavors really impressive. Shadow was making what he wanted when he wanted for an audience that supported him. He wasn¡¯t beholden to a corporation or a boss. Shadow was his own boss. He had achieved something Sonic had always wanted, a truly independent and solo artist. Although for Sonic that was much less easily attainable because the video games Sonic would like to make cost millions. Money that Sonic, even at his peak wealth, never had. ¡°I thought I told you I wanted the steak to be well done, what the hell is this? You call this well done?¡± Someone yelled from the back of the lounge. The three turned to look what was happening and they saw Knuckles berating a waitress. Knuckles had been sitting in the lounge the whole time but our group didn¡¯t notice him up until now. He was unfairly treating the staff poorly, he knew that because he was vice president of SEGA they had to take his verbal abuse. ¡°What a fucking loser,¡± Tails said. Sonic would normally make some kind of joke at Knuckles¡¯ expense right now but the conversation earlier with Kiryu made him remember how in the past they were close friends and now Knuckles is an unrecognizable person. ¡°You guys know him from before,¡± Shadow said. ¡°Was he always like this?¡± ¡°No, he wasn¡¯t. It didn¡¯t used to be this way.¡± Sonic said melancholically. He is acting exactly like I used to be, Sonic thought to himself. Maybe I should say something to him. Maybe I can do something. On second thought what good would that do? He is alone and eating and I¡¯m with these two. Maybe if I get a chance sometime in the future we could talk. *** It was the evening and Sonic, Tails, and Shadow were back home and had just finished watching ¡®Jackie Brown(1997)¡¯. Shadow had greatly enjoyed the movie and the three went into a long discussion about it. He didn¡¯t love it as much as Sonic did but he still saw it as an excellent film. Sonic reminded himself of his fantasy. He wanted to one day be able to drive Tails¡¯ red Saab 900, playing Across the 110th Street song in the background, looking back at his journey and crying happy tears knowing he had reached his happy ending. Exactly as Jackie Brown does at the end of her journey. If he learned anything these past few months was that life wasn¡¯t going to give him a clear-cut path on a plate and he may never reach his desired happy ending. A hedgehog can still dream, can he? After their film discussion, they moved on to playing who would win. They explained to Shadow how the game works. ¡°What about the copyright strike fines? You know they can fine you when you say copyrighted words as our phone microphones pick up any protected words.¡± Shadow said. ¡°We learned that the hard way,¡± Tails said. ¡°Just avoid using characters that are owned by the companies that are known to aggressively protect their intellectual property¡± ¡°I got it¡± Shadow nodded. ¡°Did you know by the letter of the law you aren¡¯t supposed to even be able to dream about copyrighted material?¡± ¡°I heard about that but how would that even be enforced.¡± ¡°They always find a way¡± Before Shadow was able to start talking about Jews Sonic started the game. After a few rounds, Tails said: ¡°Wait I got something just for you.¡± Tails leaned in closer to Shadow. ¡°Sonic don¡¯t say anything to him, I need to know his genuine response.¡± Sonic and Shadow were both confused but they let Tails move on with his question. ¡°Who would win Shadow, Superman, or Lupin the 3rd¡± ¡°That¡¯s super easy, Lupin the 3rd of course,¡± Shadow said without a moment of hesitation. ¡°You too¡± Tails was shocked. ¡°Is there something I don¡¯t get?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it¡± Sonic grinned. ¡°It''s always Lupin the 3rd.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what is there to get,¡± Shadow said. ¡°It¡¯s just obvious. Lupin the 3rd would defeat almost anybody.¡± After some time of playing who would win, Tails went to his room to finish writing his assignment. Sonic and Shadow stayed up for a bit longer and then they both went to sleep. *** It was 4 am and Tails was almost done writing. He looked through his window and watched the quiet city. The sun has yet to show up and it is pitch black outside. In this part of the morning, the city was at its quietest and Tails found the atmosphere the city radiated very calming and relaxing. His eyes were hurting from the computer screen he had been staring at for the entire night. He wrote the last few sentences and with the final press, he was done. Before Tails could go to sleep his stomach growled at him. He realized he needed to eat something before going to sleep. He exited his room and went to the kitchen and was startled to see Shadow. Shadow had headphones on and listened to something while he poured himself a glass of milk. Tails approached him and asked him what was he doing up so early. ¡°Oh, I started watching this guy¡¯s videos. He is a life guru and he says all successful people of the world get up at 4 in the morning. You eat 4/5 of a banana and drink exactly 283 ml of milk, that¡¯s what all the millionaires of the world do and that¡¯s what you do if you want to be successful.¡± ¡°Oh my god that¡¯s so stupid.¡± ¡°You¡¯re stupid.¡± ¡°You do realize he is lying to you and scamming you.¡± ¡°Why would he be lying. If he made an online video about it, it''s probably true.¡± Tails wanted to argue this but he had an idea. Shadow is probably a Nazi because he watches videos of Nazis. He must¡¯ve watched one and the algorithm online is feeding him more and more. He doesn¡¯t have any media literacy and just eats up whatever the algorithm serves him. Maybe the way for him to change his mind is for me to send him videos that debunk Nazis? ¡°You are staying home today right?¡± Tails said. Shadow nodded. ¡°Can I send you some videos for you to watch today?¡± ¡°Sure, I have time send me whatever you want.¡± Tails gave a mischievous smile as if he was about to execute an evil plan. He found some popular videos debunking holocaust denial and sent them to Shadow and went to sleep. *** Tails slept until noon, Shadow was awake when Sonic got up and saw him off to work. Sonic took a taxi to SEGA as they had agreed. Shadow tried to be awake, he watched the videos Tails sent him and watched many new videos the internet algorithm was feeding him but around 9 am got very sleepy. He wasn¡¯t prepared to wake up at 4 am and collapsed into sleep in his room. All three behaved today like they lived in different time zones. It was the first time in a long time that Sonic and Tails didn¡¯t watch ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯. In fact, all three had somehow missed the big news of the day. Later that evening all three were finally together again and they ate dinner. ¡°Guys I have something to say,¡± Shadow said as if he was about to give a speech. ¡°I am no longer a Nazi. I see now how stupid and wrong I was.¡± Tails had a proud smile on his face. He felt like he had outsmarted Shadow and did the world a favor by indirectly giving the world one less Nazi. Sonic was glad he wasn¡¯t going to listen to Shadow¡¯s unhinged rants and that mornings weren¡¯t going to be political battlegrounds anymore. Shadow continued. ¡°I¡¯ve seen videos online of the opposing viewpoints and have realized that my opinion just wasn¡¯t correct. I want to tell you that now I am a communist. Speaking of which, hot take but the Holodomor didn¡¯t happen.¡± Tails grabbed his head in despair. ¡°What have I done?¡± ¡°So Tails,¡± Shadow said. ¡°Do you really think the Holodomor happened? I think it¡¯s a capitalist lie.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a Holodomor,¡± Sonic said confused. ¡°He is jumping from one genocide denial to another one.¡± Tails said still in despair. ¡°I am just asking questions,¡± Shadow said. Sonic in an attempt to move the conversation away turned on the TV and said to the other two: ¡°Hey guys we missed the morning show. Let¡¯s watch the evening news together.¡± As those words came out of his mouth all of them turned their heads to the TV and were shocked at what they saw. Doctor Robotnik has been granted parole and is out of prison. xix Doctor Robotnik has been granted parole and is out of prison. The news came as quite a shock. Doctor Robotnik had been sentenced to life in prison, and Sonic and his friends thought that he would never get out. Apparently, some mysterious person had paid a lot of money to some of the finest lawyers in Japan to get Robotnik paroled and they managed to succeed. ¡°Can you guys fill me in on Robotnik? I know he wanted to take over the world or something but this was before my time.¡± Shadow said. ¡°Oh yeah, I honestly forget that you are an actor and that we didn¡¯t even know each other back then,¡± Sonic said. ¡°There really isn¡¯t that much to tell. Robotnik tried to take over the world, we were at the right place at the right time and we stopped him.¡± ¡°What are we going to do Sonic?¡± Tails sounded very worried. ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Sonic shrugged. ¡°I think we will do nothing about this. We are too old to be doing any hero business, if he tries some shit again like before let someone younger do the job I honestly don¡¯t care. Besides what is Robotnik going to do at this point. He is 72 years old at this point, he has no resources, he is probably going to get a job and work until he dies.¡± As much as Sonic¡¯s attitude frustrated Tails it had a ring of truth to it. What was Robotnik going to do in his age? The Japanese government confiscated all of his robots once he was arrested. He could build new ones but he doesn¡¯t have the money. Sonic continued: ¡°We also have other things to worry about. You have your exams you need to study for and I have my game to design and direct. We are not in the same positions we were back in the old days.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, we should ignore this,¡± Tails nodded. The group continued their day as if no news of Robotnik ever came. Sonic had practically erased Robotnik from his mind while Tails still worried about what was going to happen next. *** Months have passed since the news of Robotnik¡¯s release dropped. Since then, no new updates were given about Robotnik, Sonic, and Tails thought that would be the last they would ever hear from him. They believed Robotnik retired to a quiet life. Sonic was in the SEGA building working on his new video game. Shadow had already completed his part of the game and now Sonic was alone there. During his work hours, Tails would be studying and Shadow would be at home working on his comic book or surfing on the internet. The video game Sonic was working on was in its final stages, a few more weeks and it would be done. After finishing work on one of the levels Sonic walked around the SEGA building. He wanted to go to the company lounge and drink some coffee but before that, he decided to walk around for a bit. The company hallways were spotless and sterile. Everything looked efficient and clean but lacked any kind of soul. It looked like the interior of most giant corporations. While he was walking he heard a familiar voice in the distance: ¡°I can¡¯t find the computer room.¡± The voice was unmistakably Vector the crocodile. Sonic walked towards him. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Sonic was angry. He still hadn¡¯t forgotten how he got scammed. ¡°I am looking for the computer room,¡± Vector replied confidently as if it was completely normal for him to be snooping around the SEGA building. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re not supposed to be here. Give me one good reason why I shouldn¡¯t call security.¡± Vector¡¯s demeanor changed, his expression became that of panic. ¡°You can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°I fucking should you scammer.¡± ¡°I gave you the right information about Shadow. We charged you for the valuable information we possessed. You would have never found Shadow if you didn¡¯t turn to us and you would not be directing your game right now. You should be thanking us.¡± Vector gave a cheeky smile. Sonic was fuming now, there was no way he was going to let this scammer just walk free. A way to get a little revenge. There was a phone on the wall one could call if they needed security. Sonic began to walk towards it and Vector grabbed his arm to stop him. ¡°You wanna fight me?!¡± Sonic jumped away from Vector and clenched his fists. ¡°Listen, I know you are not going to believe me but the reason I am here is of international importance.¡± Vector leaned in closer and had a very serious expression. ¡°Bullshit. I am not getting tricked by you twice. You guys aren¡¯t even detectives.¡± ¡°I swear I am telling the truth.¡± Sonic crossed his arms. ¡°Okay then prove it. Tell me what is this international importance that brings you here.¡± ¡°I am afraid I can¡¯t tell you that. It¡¯s classified. I need permission from my clients.¡± Sonic smirked. ¡°You must think I am very stupid If you think I am going to believe this?¡± ¡°I SWEAR I AM TELLING THE TRUTH YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!¡± Vector yelled and the whole hallway echoed. He had real sincerity and seriousness on his face. ¡°Is everything all right here?¡± A SEGA security guard emerged from the other side of the hallway and began approaching them. He came this way because he had heard Vector¡¯s yelling. ¡°Is this person bothering you Mr. Sonic? Should I remove him from the premises?¡± Sonic really wanted to tell the guard ¡®Yes get this charlatan and scammer out of here¡¯ but Vector¡¯s yell really made him question himself. The way Vector spoke and his seriousness didn¡¯t seem like he was lying, would he really go to such lengths if it wasn¡¯t something truly important. Then again he and his gang are professional scammers, he wants me to believe him in order for him to keep snooping around. His story is also absolutely ridiculous. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The guard stood there waiting for Sonic¡¯s response. Sonic looked at Vector and Vector¡¯s eyes were begging him not to say anything to the guard. ¡°Nah, this guy is with me. We started yelling ''cause we were excited about a new video game coming up.¡± Sonic caved into Vector¡¯s pleas. The guard nodded and left. ¡°Thank you. I promise you won¡¯t regret this.¡± Vector said. ¡°Look you owe me for this and you better not attempt to scam me again.¡± ¡°I never scammed you. I sold you information.¡± Sonic immediately regretted his decision. ¡°You know I can still call security to kick you out.¡± ¡°Haha, I¡¯m just joking Sonic c¡¯mon.¡± (Vector wasn¡¯t joking, he still firmly believes that he didn¡¯t scam Sonic but it was best to drop the issue if he wanted to keep searching the SEGA building). The two went their separate ways. Vector would continue searching for the computer room while Sonic went to the lounge. He sat at his usual table and ordered coffee. He looked at the city skyline through the giant windows, outside the sky was gray and a thunderstorm was beginning. I feel like I should have reported that crocodile but I somehow want to believe him, Sonic thought to himself. He took out his phone and texted Tails. Tails told him that he was going to pick him up later in the day. Sonic would eat lunch alone this time and he will have to wait in the SEGA building until the evening. It wasn''t the first time Sonic had to wait so long, so he promptly sat down at the SEGA lounge and started mindlessly going through his phone. ¡°Excuse me may I join you?¡± Kiryu approached Sonic¡¯s table, Sonic blinked up from his phone in surprise, he hadn¡¯t noticed him at all. ¡°Oh, of course, sit down. I am alone today.¡± Sonic said. During these past few months, Kiryu and Sonic had started talking every so often in the company lounge. Kiryu, while not a game director anymore, still had a lot of things he was called for at SEGA. Many promotions, mobile games, merchandise, etc. The Yakuza games franchise is one of SEGA¡¯s most profitable properties at the moment. Because of this, there is always something new to sell. Kiryu had hoped that after ¡®Yakuza 6(2016)¡¯ he would be done with video games but his contract compels him otherwise. He doesn¡¯t have any major roles anymore in the production of new Yakuza games but he is still kept busy. ¡°How is your game coming along?¡± Kiryu said and sat down. ¡°We¡¯re almost done. The company finally decided on a title too.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it going to be called?¡± ¡° ¡¯Sonic: Revelations¡¯ ¡± Sonic said and Kiryu didn¡¯t say anything. After a pause, Sonic continued, ¡°I know it is a horrible title. I tried to explain it to the higher-ups but they wouldn¡¯t budge. There was this trend in the early 2010s for every franchise to have a Revelations-named entry. It¡¯s a little too late to do it now but they are very insistent on having this name.¡± ¡°I do agree it is a very generic and outdated title but what can you do. However, the title isn¡¯t that important anyway. People will still want to play it because it¡¯s a new Sonic game. Are you happy with the project?¡± ¡°I feel really proud of myself this time. I poured my heart into it. I loved designing the levels and writing the story. I think I¡¯m finally going to prove to everyone that I still have what it takes. I will finally be a star again and I will finally get the 10/10s¡± Kiryu raised an eyebrow, ¡°I notice you always talk about proving yourself and scores, why are you so obsessed with it?¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t get it.¡± Sonic became a little frustrated. ¡°You always had success, nobody ever mocked your entire career. I don¡¯t want my legacy to be that of an internet laughing stock. I need to fix my reputation then I will be able to walk away from video games.¡± ¡°You are only making games to prove that you can get good scores?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then what is it then?¡± Before Sonic was able to answer Kiryu¡¯s phone started ringing. Kiryu looked at the caller ID and said: ¡°Sorry I have to leave right away, we can continue this some other time if that¡¯s okay.¡± Kiryu stood up and started fast walking towards the elevator leaving Sonic with his thoughts. Is he trying to tell me that if the only thing I want is good scores and I have been so inconsistent throughout my career that it¡¯s time to walk away? He walked away before he made a bad game. Maybe the point he wanted to make was that I should stop with this before I stack my list of works with more bad games. I will show him too soon. This time, this game is getting the 10/10s. I will not walk away until I make an amazing game for every bad one. *** The next few weeks passed in typical crunch fever. The game was releasing soon and all of Sonic''s focus went into making sure every detail of the level design was perfect. The days blurred together and now Sonic was waking up with just one day left before the release of ''Sonic: Revelations". He had to go to SEGA to fill in some paperwork. The entire game was finished and Sonic went to a couple of interviews during this period. Shadow and Sonic even appeared on ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯ to talk about the upcoming game. Although he didn¡¯t get a high-profile interview as he could in the past with Rick Ravette. Sonic, Tails, and Shadow gathered in the living room with breakfast and watched ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯ together. A well-established ritual by this point. ¡°Joining us in the studio today,¡± said the reporter on TV, ¡°A famous person that fell from grace that hit rock bottom and ended up in prison, has managed to turn his life around and is now a successful inventor and entrepreneur. The one, the only Dr. Robotnik.¡± ¡°You gotta be fucking kidding me,¡± Tails cursed at the TV and flailed his arms in anger, ¡°Why the fuck is this maniac on TV? Are they turning him into a celebrity now?¡± The reporter turned his gaze from the camera and onto Robotnik who was sitting across from him in the studio. Robotnik wore a standard suit most Japanese salary men would wear. He looked very old with a lot of wrinkles on his face and his hair and mustache gray. ¡°Thank you for inviting me to the show,¡± Robotnik said. ¡°You have been in prison for over 40 years, how does it feel to be out?¡± ¡°It feels strange. You get used to a kind of regimented life and now that I have my freedom again at first I didn¡¯t know what to do with it.¡± The interview first started with casual chit-chat before they moved on to the topic. ¡°The reason We¡¯ve invited you on to the show Dr. Robotnik was to discuss your latest invention. Many technophiles have written extensive articles about it and I hear you are already in talks with many corporations who would like to purchase it from you. I suspect many in the audience are already familiar with what I am talking about but in case there are those who don¡¯t know would you care to explain?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± Robotnik grabbed a silver box and placed it on the table in the studio. ¡°I call this invention Dr. Robotnik¡¯s mean bean machine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just a silver box¡± Tails shouted at the TV. ¡°What does the machine do?¡± The reporter said. ¡°I assume you and the audience are familiar with the ¡®Rights and privileges intellectual property defense act¡¯. The law has allowed companies to fine people if they say a copyrighted, be that a character¡¯s name or anything. Up until now, they have been using microphones on phones with algorithms to detect if a copyrighted word is being spoken and would automatically fine the person that has said it.¡± The reporter nodded and waited for Robotnik to continue. ¡°One provision of the law which isn¡¯t that familiar to many people is that you are also not allowed to dream about copyrighted material. In theory, if a well-known Italian plumber who jumps a lot were to show up in your dreams, his rights holder would be in their right to fine you for it. This provision didn¡¯t make any sense because how would they enforce it?¡± ¡°Well until now it was impossible. However, this is about to change with Dr. Robotnik¡¯s Mean Bean Machine. This invention will be able to track the dreams of all the people in the world and the machine with its sophisticated flagging system would be able to detect the presence of any and all copyrighted material.¡± The reporter excitedly clapped. ¡°What a wonderful creation. This will truly be a game changer.¡± ¡°What dystopian garbage is this?¡± Tails said. ¡°Okay, this is pretty bad.¡± Sonic reluctantly admitted. ¡°This is a big problem.¡± ¡°There is nothing we can do about this though. Everything he is doing is legal. He is selling a product in line with this law even though the law is absurd. I somehow miss the old days when you were a psychopathic maniac you would try to conquer the world, in our times you just work in the corporate world.¡± ¡°At least SEGA is safe from this hell machine. There is no way that machine would end up being used there. On the topic of SEGA, isn¡¯t ¡®Dr. Robotnik¡¯s Mean Bean Machine¡¯ the name of the Western version of the Puyo Puyo game?¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Tails nodded. ¡°That is true. Doesn¡¯t SEGA own the rights to that name? Is he allowed to call his invention by that name?¡± ¡°SEGA probably doesn¡¯t care and he knows that they don¡¯t care. Anyways, there must be something we can do about Robotnik.¡± ¡°I have an idea.¡± Shadow jumped into the conversation. He had been silent up until now. ¡°The problem isn¡¯t Robotik, it¡¯s capitalism. What we need is a revolution. Overthrow capitalism and you solve the problem¡± Sonic and Tails sighed. ¡°Bravo Shadow, excellent idea.¡± Tails said. Tails and Sonic both reacted in a way when a child says something dumb and wants approval from their parents. ¡°What? It¡¯s a legit idea.¡± Shadow was surprised by the reaction he got. ¡°And how are you going to do this revolution?¡± Tails said. ¡°We just have to overthrow global capitalism and seize the means of production.¡± ¡°That sounds super easy. Also, we worked out great for the Soviet Union.¡± ¡°First of all the Holodomor is a Western capitalist lie, secondly real communism hasn¡¯t been tried yet.¡± ¡°You know Shadow I don¡¯t think you will get far in your revolution by denying genocides and history.¡± ¡°Guys,¡± Sonic cut their conversation, he didn¡¯t want to sit there listening to them argue. ¡°I thought about how would a Rick Ravette interview of Robotnik look like? Now that he is out of prison and will be on a media tour it would be interesting to see that if Rick was still alive.¡± ¡°I hate Rick Ravette,¡± Shadow said firmly. ¡°Why?¡± Sonic asked in frustrated confusion. ¡°Ravette said that he voted for Nixon in 1972. that basically makes him a fascist. That¡¯s why I hate him.¡± ¡°You were literally a Nazi a few months ago Shadow. Also, how was Rick even able to vote in 1972. if he was born in 1964?¡± Tails said Shadow shook his head. ¡°My situation is different. I don¡¯t count. Ravette is-¡° ¡°You know Shadow¡± Sonic cut Shadow off and slightly raised his voice and spoke in a mocking tone, ¡°How about you just shut up for a bit huh. I think we had enough of your intellectual insights.¡± Silence overcame the room and the Robotnik question loomed in the air unanswered. Sonic and Tails didn¡¯t know what to do about Robotnik, what they could even do, or if they even should do anything about it. Tails drove Sonic to work and Robotnik quickly evaporated from Sonic¡¯s head once again. He remembered that tomorrow was the release day of his new game, ¡®Sonic: Revelations¡¯. Tails studied the rest of the day, although unsuccessfully. He couldn¡¯t get Robotnik out of his head or his dystopian invention. Shadow stayed in his room poisoning himself with vacuous political videos and posts on social media. That evening all Sonic would be able to think about was the reception of his new game. Tomorrow it would be the moment of truth. xx It was early morning and Sonic was getting ready to go to work. He knew by the time he would arrive at the SEGA HQ the review scores would be published and he could see the reception of his new game. If he had the power he would speed up time, he wanted to receive that closure. He wanted to know if had he saved his reputation. Tails was praying that the game would be well received, he knew how depressed Sonic would be if the alternative would happen. He remembered the days of ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ and ¡®Sonic 06¡¯. He remembered how inconsolable Sonic was. Shadow seemed unbothered by the launch of the game. Even though he worked on it too, to him it was just a job he did on the side. The game and its reception did not affect him. As Tails drove Sonic in his red Saab, he noticed the anxiety in Sonic¡¯s eyes. He tried to talk to Sonic and said: ¡°Try to relax. It¡¯s not the end of the world, whatever happens, happens.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be able to relax until I see those review scores.¡± Realizing that continuing this conversation was futile, Tails drove Sonic the rest of the way in silence. Outside the sky was gray, and the clouds block almost all sunlight. To Sonic this was a very bad omen. Sonic arrived at the SEGA building, at the entrance the news was posted. ¡®Sonic Revelations¡¯ averages between a 6 and a 7 out of 10. It received lukewarm reception. Soul crushing news for Sonic. The game did end up selling beyond expectations. However, the good sales were not going to cheer Sonic up. He was devastated. Thinking to himself, I should have never accepted this offer to return to video games. I am embarrassing myself yet again. I should have walked away like Kiryu. I should stop with this fixing my reputation business. Clearly, I am not good enough and I never will be good enough. The few games I made that did get good scores like Generations were just flukes. I have lost my touch and I will never make a game like the ones in the 90s. I will never be a star again. I should just tell Polanzo that I don¡¯t want to make the next game. Ugh, I signed that contract and with these good sales, he is bound to make me do it. I guess it is just one more game. I will sleepwalk through that one, put out some garbage game, and leave this life behind. Time to hang up the gloves like I did my hero business a long time ago. I honestly want to disappear right now. Sonic walked to the company lounge, sat at a table, ordered some coffee, and was on the verge of tears thinking about his current situation. Knuckles was already in the lounge and he noticed how sad Sonic looked. He came to make fun of Sonic for the average reviews the game got. ¡°I guess ¡®Sonic Revelations¡¯ didn¡¯t set the world on fire huh?¡± Knuckles said wanting to gloat at his former friend¡¯s defeat. Before Sonic could say anything Polanzo approached Sonic from behind and said, ¡°Excellent work blue boy, the game is flying off the shelves, it has stronger opening sales than your three previous games combined. Even though our media analysts said there was a good profit potential, they couldn¡¯t have predicted this.¡± After giving the congratulations to Sonic, Polanzo snapped his fingers at Knuckles commanding him to leave the lounge with him. Knuckles obeyed without saying a word and Sonic was left alone. The words of praise meant nothing to Sonic. He was still sad about the scores and how much of a poor game director he felt he was. However, he would not be sitting alone for long. Kiryu approached his table soon after Polanzo and Knuckles left. When Sonic saw Kiryu coming, he groaned. Right now he wanted to be left alone and just sulk by himself. ¡°You look really down what¡¯s wrong?¡± Kiryu said. ¡°What the fuck is right is a better question.¡± ¡°Well if it¡¯s a long story I can listen.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°Listen,¡± Kiryu said in a stern tone, ¡°I can sit here and you can tell me what the problem is, I have time for whatever time it takes for you to tell me. I can try to give advice and try to help so we can find a solution together. Or I can walk away right now and you can continue being edgy by yourself.¡± Sonic was surprised by Kiryu¡¯s tone. He was used to getting babied by Tails whenever he was in a bad mood. ¡°Okay, if you are willing to listen sit down, it''s going to take a while,¡± Sonic said. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Kiryu sat at the table across from Sonic and ordered coffee as well. So began Sonic¡¯s retelling of his journey to Kiryu so far. He told him about his downward since ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ and how it affected him, the break up with Amy and most of his friends, losing his wealth, reconnecting with Tails, and finally the making of ¡®Sonic: Revelations¡¯. Kiryu had listened to Sonic without saying much waiting for Sonic to finish his story. Once Sonic had finished Kiryu spoke: ¡°I feel like I understand. I did know a lot about you and your history but it was good to hear it from your perspective. I will ask the same question I asked you a while back. Why are you making games?¡± Sonic took a deep breath, ¡°I wanted to prove to everyone that I can still be good at it.¡± ¡°Was that really the only reason?¡± Sonic was confused, he wasn¡¯t sure what Kiryu was getting at. ¡°How did you feel when you came back to directing games after your long pause?¡± Kiryu said. ¡°I felt happy, I was having a lot of fun, and making it was very fulfilling to me.¡± ¡°I think that is the core of why you want to make games. Any creative work you do should be done because you want to do it. You want to do it for the sake of doing it. Art can be made as an expression of an emotion, it can be to make the audience think or it can be just for entertainment, hell it can even exist without any purpose.¡± Sonic lightly nodded and waited for Kiryu to continue. ¡°You loved making video games more than anything else. Shouldn¡¯t the fact that you feel like you want to make more games just because you want to do it be the thing that motivates you.¡± ¡°But you walked away, didn¡¯t you? You walked away while you didn¡¯t tarnish your reputation.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t walk away because I had a reputation to uphold or because of some review scores. I walked away because I didn¡¯t want to make games anymore. That was that. If you feel like you don¡¯t have any passion for the creative work you do, you shouldn¡¯t do it. You clearly show so much passion. Your eyes light up when you talk about the parts of the games you are really proud of and you are ecstatic when you are designing levels and so on.¡± Sonic grabbed his head, ¡°Even if I love doing it what good does that mean if all I get is criticism and ridicule? All the critics judge me to be making awful or average games.¡± ¡°When you are making any kind of art or creative project there is only one judge¡¯s opinion that you should care about.¡± Kiryu raised his index finger. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°You,¡± Kiryu pointed at Sonic. ¡°You should be the ultimate judge of your own work. Your own opinion of your work is what should matter most to you. Are you proud of the games you made?¡± ¡°Almost all of them.¡± ¡°Then that should be enough. You need no one else¡¯s approval.¡± Kiryu said. ¡°Now obviously I don¡¯t mean this literally, you should listen to constructive criticism so you can improve your work. Also, in our business of video games, we have to make something that¡¯s going to sell well if you want to keep making more games.¡± Sonic began to lighten up, ¡°You¡¯re right. It is pretty simple when you think about it. I do truly love making video games. It should be enough for me if I¡¯m proud of my work. I was also so obsessed over the score itself that I didn¡¯t even think what the substance of the critiques was to try to improve. I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t understand something like this for so long.¡± ¡°Another thing I noticed, you tend to overlook the contributions of others. Making video games is very much a team effort. A big reason many of your friends started to resent you is because you didn¡¯t appreciate the work they put in. A lot of them cared just as much as you did about the project. Even in the projects you did ¡®solo¡¯ you still didn¡¯t make the game alone. ¡°For example, ¡®Sonic Unleashed(2008)¡¯, a game you made without your friends. I think one of the best qualities of that game was the soundtrack. In my opinion, it¡¯s probably the best in the series. The songs that played in the hub worlds complimented the environments beautifully, the daytime and nighttime songs brought a very different vibe and feel to those places. The stage music was also on point, the fast-paced songs were perfect for the running levels and the jazzy songs made the combat levels very relaxing when you are platforming.¡± Sonic nodded. ¡°I do agree the music is fantastic in that game.¡± ¡°Who was the composer for the music in ¡®Sonic Unleashed(2008)¡¯¡± Sonic squinted his eyes trying to remember, ¡°I think the credits listed 6 composers but unfortunately I don¡¯t remember their names.¡± ¡°I think those people deserve more credit and in your new game, Shadow was a part of it too right? You should be more mindful of the contributions other people bring to the games you make with them. It¡¯s easy as a director to see it as your game but the reality is everyone puts a little bit of themselves in the work they do, your part is probably the biggest but don¡¯t look over everyone else.¡± Sonic felt like a lightbulb in his head had turned on. He had been told many of these things before, but now for the first time, he was willing to listen. Everything Kiryu said was making sense to him and he now felt really good about his new game despite the disappointing reviews. ¡°I hope it''s not too late to change course now,¡± Sonic said. ¡°I don¡¯t see why it would be too late. The Revelations game is selling well, you have a new game coming up because of the contract you signed. Everything is working out in your favor. One last thing I would like to say. You obsess over the ridicule you receive online but under all of the memes you still have a dedicated fan base that is looking forward to the new things you make. Keep that in mind.¡± Kiryu looked at his wristwatch and stood up. ¡°Sorry, I have to leave right now. I hope I was able to be helpful.¡± Sonic smiled and said, ¡°Thank you, you really were a big help.¡± Kiryu walked away and Sonic was left to drink his coffee. Sonic had to go do his work soon too. *** After working hours were over, Sonic was waiting for Tails to pick him up in front of the SEGA building. Sonic¡¯s day was mostly spent on paperwork and other similar bureaucratic work. The sky had cleared up and it was sunny and bright outside. Tails arrived and Sonic got into the car. What Tails expected was to see his friend depressed and in a horrible mood, instead Sonic had a smile on his face and he was very cheerful. Tails saw the less-than-stellar reviews and expected Sonic to be his usual depressed self on these occasions. ¡°You seem in a good mood?¡± Tails said. ¡°I feel good.¡± Tails was happy and pleasantly surprised. Sonic sat in the car and Tails drove them home. On the way, Sonic told Tails about the talk he had with Kiryu and how that changed his perspective. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking,¡± Sonic said while looking out the window. ¡°Since the ¡®Sonic: Revelations¡¯ is selling well right now and it turns out to be a great success I might have some negotiating power in the company again like I used to.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± Tails wasn¡¯t sure where Sonic was going with this. ¡°I can maybe demand them to include you too. I know you said you have no desire to go back but I figured you might have said that so that I don¡¯t feel guilty over the offer. I couldn¡¯t fight for your inclusion but now I think I can. With the profit I brought the company, I can make demands like I did in the past. They can still reject me but I can try if you want to. It could be used to, it can be like old times. I promise I won¡¯t be a jerk this time around though.¡± Tails thought about it for a moment. While he never considered going back to video games he did remember the fond memories he had from when they made ¡®Sonic the Hedgehog 2(1992)¡¯ together. ¡°You know I would actually love that. I have a few more exams left and I will finally get my degree. I would love for us to make a game together again.¡± Tails smiled at Sonic. ¡°The game won¡¯t be anytime soon. There has to be a pause between releases if you remember. We will probably start early development in like 6 months or something.¡± ¡°Will Shadow be a part of the next game?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if the higher-ups have plans to include him next time. I will ask Shadow if he wants to do another one and if he says yes, I will demand the same as I will for you.¡± Sonic looks at Tails through the rear-view mirror. ¡°Is it a problem if Shadow is with us?¡± ¡°Why would it be a problem?¡± Tails raised an eyebrow. ¡°I don¡¯t know I thought you might hate him working with us considering how against you were him moving in with us?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t hate Shadow. He still denies genocides but I think fundamentally he is a good guy. He is good at heart and he is a lot of fun to hang around. It¡¯s just that he is getting poisoned by these horrible videos online and dumb social media posts.¡± ¡°I agree. He makes me mad sometimes with his brain-dead politics but I guess nobody is perfect.¡± On the drive home, Sonic and Tails were in high spirits and talked about video games and movies on the way. They were both excited about the future and the prospect of making a game together. Finally, this time I will do it right. I won¡¯t make the same mistakes I¡¯ve been making all of my life, Sonic thought to himself. xxi It was morning and Sonic was waking up in his room. Life had slowed down for the hedgehog, he was on standby until the development cycle of his next game would start. For now, he had to occasionally come to SEGA, do some paperwork, some promotional jobs, and after a few hours return home. He wasn¡¯t working for a time. He could hear the calls of Tails to come to the bathroom to fix the malfunctioning toilet once again. While he was fixing the toilet he was listening to Tails¡¯ standard rants about the sewer system. Sonic¡¯s days were spent with him jogging around the neighborhood and writing ideas for the upcoming game. During his daily jogs, he was reminded of how awful Kowareta Yume was, trash over the streets, dysfunctional roads, and walls of buildings were covered in messy and ugly graffiti. It has and it will always be like this, Sonic thought to himself while jogging. Despite how slow everything was moving at the moment Sonic enjoyed the break he got after the relatively stressful period of game development. He was excited about the prospects of the next game but now he let himself be at ease over his free time. Tails started having a good streak at his college. He had passed several tough exams in a row with flying colors. His graduation was not far away from him. He was happy about the idea of getting another chance at video games but he wasn¡¯t holding out too much hope considering it was something totally out of his control. He let himself daydream but with a dose of realism about the situation. Sonic and Tails sat in the living room and were getting ready to watch ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯ with breakfast plates and cups of coffee in front of them. They both had real enthusiastic energy. Unfortunately, Shadow had the polar opposite attitude. He stayed in his room and was in a very bad mood. These last few days he had been miserable and asocial. Many times Sonic and Tails had attempted to talk to him about why he was feeling this way but ultimately Shadow refused. Sonic and Tails watched the morning show and once it was over Tails went over to Shadow¡¯s room and knocked on his door. ¡°Shadow will you come out and talk to us. What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s been bothering ya?¡± Tails said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it. You guys will laugh at me.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t I promise. How bad can it be?¡± Shadow reluctantly agreed. Before moving in with these two he was used to living alone and dealing with situations like this on his own. It was a long time before he opened up to others. He joined the other two in the living room and they began to talk. Tails asked him what the problem was. ¡°Well, you see. I¡¯ve realized something. I will never ever get the see the communist utopia.¡± Shadow said. ¡°Get the fuck outta here.¡± Tails grabbed his head in frustration. ¡°I thought you were actually dealing with something serious.¡± ¡°THIS IS SERIOUS!¡± Shadow lashed out almost like a teenager would when they want to make sure you know that it¡¯s not a faze mom. ¡°You mean to tell me you didn¡¯t talk with us because of something this stupid.¡± Tails rolled his eyes. ¡°Wait wait. I want to hear him out.¡± Sonic gestured at Tails to tone down. ¡°Let¡¯s hear him out first fully. Okay, so no communist utopia. Go on.¡± ¡°Anyways,¡± Shadow continued. ¡°Every communist country failed. The more I learned about them, the more I realized they were just totalitarian hellholes. They didn¡¯t make the world a better place, nor did they meet any of their utopic goals. They made the lives of their citizens miserable while the Soviet Union was engaged in an imperialistic struggle with the US. They were never about helping people but a project of empire building like the US. ¡°I realized that things like world hunger, disease, wars, and so on. None of these global problems will ever be solved. The world is doomed to be a fucked up and cruel place forever. There is nothing that I or any person or group can do to change the state of the planet. We are stuck to forever be in a state of chaos, injustice, and cruelty.¡± ¡°Man. You really need to get off social media,¡± Sonic sighed. ¡°You guys just don¡¯t take me seriously. You think this is all a joke?¡± Shadow felt offended but it was the reaction he expected of them. ¡°Listen I got an idea for you, Tails and I have made plans to have lunch with Kiryu. Why don¡¯t you come with us? The way I see you don¡¯t interact with anybody besides the two of us and I hear you don¡¯t get along well with your coworkers at SEGA. I think it will do you good to get out of the house and chill out with us. What do you say?¡± ¡°You just don¡¯t understand what I¡¯m going through.¡± Shadow crossed his arms. ¡°Maybe we don¡¯t get you,¡± Tails leaned towards Shadow, ¡°but Kiryu could. He loves giving life advice and helping people who feel lost. Maybe he has some advice for you that would help. In your case, you have only the chains of your room to lose and the world to gain.¡± Tails winked at Shadow feeling proud of himself for remembering to quote Marx at Shadow. ¡°Okay. If you guys insist I will come along. Oh and for the record, I am no longer a communist. I see now that it doesn¡¯t work¡± ¡°Can¡¯t wait for your anarcho-syndicalist faze or whatever cocky politics you plan to attach yourself to.¡± Tails said sarcastically while Sonic had no idea what he had just said. All this talk of politics was making him bored. *** At Kamurocho the three of them were in the restaurant Kanrai eating lunch with Kiryu. Sonic and Tails were talking and laughing with Kiryu while Shadow stayed mostly silent. Shadow was still moping and didn¡¯t attempt to join their conversation. His mind was elsewhere thinking about the state of the world and how impossible is to fix it. Sonic, Tails, and Kiryu were having a lot of fun and they were talking about various topics. Sonic started to feel bad because Shadow was so depressed. He remembered Tails¡¯ joking remark about Kiryu giving Shadow advice and he thought to himself, maybe Kiryu could help as he helped me. Sonic gestured at Kiryu to stand up and he walked with him away from the table leaving Tails and Shadow alone. He wanted to talk to Kiryu privately. ¡°Listen Kiryu could you do something for me? Shadow over there has been really out of it these past few days. I told you about him remember? A good guy at heart but poisoned by online politics. Think maybe you could help him?¡± ¡°I can try,¡± Kiryu said. ¡°Good. I will say to Tails that we have to take care of some business and we will leave you two to talk it out. We will be back of course but we will leave you two for some time. Is that okay?¡± Kiryu nodded and with that, the plan was in motion. Sonic and Tails left Kanrai and went to the SEGA arcade nearby to give these two some space. Shadow listlessly looked into his empty plate. ¡°I notice somethings bothering you Shadow. I know we are not close but you can tell me if you want to?¡± Kiryu said. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°They said you like listening and giving advice so here I go.¡± Shadow proceeded to tell Kiryu about his current thoughts and his political journey from Nazi to communist and now finally doomer. ¡°I used to think,¡± Shadow said, ¡°that if get rid of the Jews the world would be great. Then I thought if we overthrow global capitalism things will be fixed. Now I see that achieving something so big is impossible and even if we did manage to do it the world would still probably be fucked in all sorts of ways. Global problem solving is much more complicated than removing one thing and things magically getting better you see?¡± ¡°I agree with what you¡¯ve been saying. Things like solving world hunger or any other macro problems are impossible to do as an individual and even if you were in a position of power, you probably wouldn¡¯t be able to fix something so big of an issue. Because of that, it''s pointless to stress and think about things that are so out of your control.¡± Shadow flailed his arms, ¡°That¡¯s the problem I don¡¯t want to resign myself to the way the world is! I don¡¯t want to be someone like Sonic that doesn¡¯t care about anything that doesn¡¯t directly affect him at the moment and who refuses to engage in politics.¡± Kiryu raised his palms to calm down Shadow. ¡°Hold on, I wasn¡¯t finished. I am not saying that you should resign yourself. There are ways you can make the world a better place that doesn¡¯t involve some global earth-shattering change. You can start by changing things that you have control over.¡± ¡°Oh my god, you are gonna give me the clich¨¦d ¡®clean your room¡¯,¡± Shadow said still sounding frustrated and angry. ¡°For starters yes. You have control over the place you live. Firstly, you get your immediate surroundings in order. However, you don¡¯t stop there, you look at the building you live in, are there any problems that need fixing or ways to improve it. Then you move on to your neighborhood, see if there are problems, you can fix them, and so on and so on. You start from the little things that you can change and then you move on to the bigger things. If you constantly focus on those problems that are out of your reach you will just end up cynical and miserable.¡± ¡°But are those smaller problems even worth fixing? They amount to nothing in the world or in the course of history.¡± ¡°Nothing we do amounts to changes in the world or history. Very few individuals end up changing the course of history and the world. They were at the right place at the right time and were lucky. However if all of us try in the ways we can fix our little corners of the world that will amount to something.¡± ¡°Do you really believe that?¡± ¡°How much do you know about my life?¡± Kiryu said and ordered his second cup of coffee. ¡°I¡¯ve played all of the ¡®Yakuza games¡¯ you were in.¡± ¡°If you have then you must remember the substories. Most of that did really happen, except for the really goofy ones of course. The point is I truly believe that the small things you do to improve your part of the world do matter. I try to help every person I can and that does amount to something. It amounts to little but it is an impact. If I didn¡¯t believe in that I wouldn¡¯t be talking to you right now. By doing these small gestures you create ripples and these ripples spill to other places and slowly you are changing the world in ways you can.¡± Kiryu¡¯s coffee arrived. He took a sip and continued to talk: ¡°If we can''t do the little things, how can we expect to be able to do the big things. I¡¯m not saying fixing big things is not possible or that you give up on it forever. Who knows maybe someday on your journey you will end up prime minister of Japan and you have control over truly gargantuan things. But until then, focus on the stuff you have control over right now. And one final thing, you won''t be able to do anything if you waste away hours of your life in front of a computer or phone typing angry comments, watching poorly made video essays, and reading posts by other terminally online people.¡± ¡°So if understood, start with small problems, fix things I have control over, and on that journey, I can maybe move on to bigger problems?¡± Kiryu nodded. Shadow¡¯s doomer mindset had begun to disappear. He already had ideas on what could be done and what he was going to do next. A wave of enthusiasm went through his body and he couldn¡¯t wait to get back home and start. By the time Sonic and Tails came back, they saw Kiryu and Shadow actively talking about video games and Shadow had a smile on his face. Sonic and Tails joined them and they all talked with each other laughing and having fun. ¡°Hey, Kiryu can I ask you something?¡± Tails said. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°In the video games, you can beat up like over a hundred guys, you never lose in a fight and you seem indestructible. Are you really that strong?¡± Kiryu raised an eyebrow not sure where this line of questioning is going. ¡°Obviously in the video games, it¡¯s a little played up because you need levels and enemies to fight but I am very strong. I have taken out rooms full of yakuza in fist fights.¡± ¡°So you are probably the strongest person I¡¯ve ever met. Tell me, let''s say hypothetically if you fought Lupin the 3rd, who would win?¡± ¡°Lupin the 3rd no contest. He is way too powerful,¡± Kiryu firmly replied. ¡°Everyone thinks he is the most powerful I don¡¯t get it?¡± Sonic chimed in, ¡°I¡¯ve been telling you all this time and you don¡¯t believe me. No one can beat Lupin the 3rd.¡± *** Later that day Sonic, Tails, and Shadow were back home in their apartment. Shadow had cleaned the entire apartment spotless and had asked Sonic and Tails to meet in the living room. He had an idea he wanted to pitch to them, and they reluctantly agreed being unsure whether it was going to be a good idea or something insane. ¡°Here¡¯s the deal,¡± Shadow said and pressed his palms together, ¡°our building is in a terrible state. It¡¯s covered in graffiti, the paint is falling apart and it¡¯s just overall really ugly. I propose we go from door to door, we ask people for a donation and we get a permit to renovate the exterior paint and to paint over the graffiti.¡± ¡°Is it possible to even do that?¡± Tails asked. ¡°We can easily get the permit if we have the money to do it. We just need to get it from our neighbors to cover the paint and to pay a company that does these kinds of jobs.¡± ¡°Aha, I see. That¡¯s not a bad idea at all. Let¡¯s do it!¡± ¡°I am kinda bothered too by how ugly the building is too. I¡¯m in.¡± Sonic said. The three of them went from door to door to present their idea for this project. What they got was mostly rejection. Nobody wanted to participate. As soon as someone hears of having to give some kind of money, they immediately closed the door. Most of the neighbors rejected it. Only 5% of the people gave money and some said that they will pay for it after the project is completed. Shadow was devastated by his failure. All of his enthusiasm disappeared, and he fell to the ground at the first step he took. He felt completely demoralized and was ready to give up on the whole thing and return to his former doomerism. To everyone¡¯s surprise, Sonic had offered to cover the entire expense. With ¡®Sonic: Revelations¡¯ great financial success he was currently the richest of the three. Sonic said: ¡°The thing is, ever since I started earning a lot of money I have never spent it on anything meaningful. It was only on expensive shit I never truly needed. I think this is something worth forking over the cash. It¡¯s the place where we live after all.¡± ¡°Are you sure, you will be covering most of the expenses?¡± Shadow asked concerned. Sonic gave a firm yes and they could proceed. Next was convincing the government¡¯s renovation building offices to green light their project. After a lot of standing in lines, filling in paperwork, and meetings with government Bureaucrats later they were able to get their project greenlit. A little while later and their apartment building looked brand new. It looked like it didn¡¯t belong in the area or the whole of Kowareta Yume for that matter. After the renovation project, they moved on to the next objective. The street where their apartment building was situated was filled with trash everywhere. The street looked like a landfill. Once again they went and knocked on the doors of their neighbors, their pitch was that the three of them and whoever wants to volunteer would clean up the streets. They did get some motivated people to show up and they were successfully able to clean up the place. Their actions were not unnoticed. Shadow had made a new social media account called ¡®LET''S GET MOVING¡¯ where he posted their accomplishments and before and after photos. Him being terminally online for so long made him quite media savvy and he was able to get followers and engagement on his account. Soon people in the area heard about their exploits, they saw how nice their building and street looked liked and they started getting more and more volunteers. The three of them along with their volunteers went from building to building and street to street and they were transforming their area of Kowareta Yume. The news stations started talking about them and since they were all video game characters people knew they started getting financial support from their fans. Over the course of a few months what started as the three of them on a passion project turned into a full-blown organization. Shadow along with Tails and Sonic founded an organization called ¡®Not all of me, all of us¡¯ and they were organizing these actions all over Kowareta Yume. Not just clean-ups and renovations but petitions, local protests, and other social actions. It was a huge surprise how many motivated people started showing up to work for their organization. Kowareta Yume was known for its apolitical and demotivated population, something Tails witness attending protests where a dozen people would show up. Things were different now. Our three heroes had managed to change the landscape. Within the organization, Shadow was seen as its face. He was the person who was to show up on television interviews on behalf of the organization, he was the one who was making the speeches and generally, he was seen by everyone as the leader. He had a natural talent for public speaking and was able to bring out enthusiasm and optimism in people when he spoke. Tails was the brains of the organization. Shadow never was a sophisticated thinker, he would look for guidance and advice from Tails. Before he would argue with Tails about everything but he came to accept that Tails was smarter than him and knew more about these things than he did. Tails was in charge of planning events and managing the budget. On the flip side Tails was a terrible public speaker, which is why as passionate about politics as he was he could never be the one to lead people. Even though all of his life he had media appearances since he was a video game character he could never get over the anxiety of speaking in front of large crowds or in front of cameras. Sonic had a very passive role in their organization. He always did what Shadow and Tails would tell him to do. While he wasn¡¯t used to being the one taking orders he knew that this was out of his lane and that it be best to do what he is told. His expertise was directing video games, not local social actions. He did enjoy this work though, it made him feel really good about himself. He felt like the work he did had meaning. *** Sometime later. Early morning and Sonic, Tails, and Shadow are at home getting ready to watch ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯. The show starts and the reporter on TV says: ¡°Good Morning Tokyo, today joining us is Mr. Kenji Tanaka, the undefeated mayor of Kowareta Yume¡± ¡°Go back to the trash can you crawled out of you old fossil!¡± Tails yelled at the TV. ¡°Mr. Tanaka,¡± said the reporter, ¡°Today marks 31 years since you¡¯ve been mayor of your ward, Kowareta Yume. Soon local elections will be held there. Do you plan to run again?¡± ¡°I tell ya here that I plan to run as long as I live. Someone has to keep this part of town afloat and prevent the socialist to turn it into a hell hole of crime and foreigners.¡± ¡°Does this guy have anything worthwhile to say that isn¡¯t populist platitudes!¡± Tails yelled at the TV again. The reporter continues, ¡°If you were to win this upcoming local election you would be the mayor of that ward for 35 years. Yet it seems that it is still the worst place to live. None of the issues have ever been addressed. The sewer system is a primary concern-¡° ¡°Let me tell you something,¡± the mayor cuts him off, ¡°you Chinese-funded communist traitor you listen to me, I know you people, all of you hate Japan. You hate Japan more than anything in the world. That¡¯s your problem. But let me tell ya, all of you just hate yourselves.¡± ¡°Sir, you¡¯re not answering my question.¡± The interview continued into nothingness, the mayor continued insulting the reporter and not answering a single question. ¡°Kenji Tanaka, huh. I always keep forgetting what¡¯s his name. It¡¯s so forgettable. In my head, he has always been MEXICO CITY.¡± Sonic said. ¡°One good thing about him is he hadn¡¯t teared down my home the three of us would have never been friends,¡± Shadow said. Just as Shadow had spoken those words an idea popped into Sonic¡¯s mind. Like in cartoons when a light bulb turns on over someone¡¯s head. Sonic screamed out: ¡°GUYS LISTEN TO THIS, I HAVE AN IDEA!¡± Shadow and Tails froze waiting for him to reveal. ¡°Shadow you should run for mayor of Kowareta Yume in the upcoming election!¡± xxii ¡°Shadow you should run for mayor of Kowareta Yume in the upcoming election!¡± ¡°Where did this idea come from?¡± said Tails confused. ¡°I am someone who has never voted in his life. I generally don¡¯t care about politics. But you Shadow, I know you. I would totally vote for you.¡± Tails laughed, ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how most people are going to think.¡± Tails paused and thought about Sonic¡¯s idea for a bit. ¡°Actually people might actually think that way. Most people in Kowareta Yume have heard of him and he is pretty popular because of the ¡®Not all of me, all of us¡¯ organization and what we were able to do.¡± Shadow shook his head, ¡°I am not sure about this. You Tails should be the candidate, you are the politics guy and you know the most about these things.¡± ¡°Nobody knows who I am, or better yet everyone knows who you are. You are the face of the organization and I couldn¡¯t do public speaking in front of large crowds even if my life depended on it. It¡¯s gotta be you.¡± ¡°How would we convince the majority of people to vote for me?¡± Tails turned his head to the bathroom of their apartment and the toilet. ¡°We with run fixing the fucking sewer system. Everyone complains about it. Mayor Tanaka will never fix it and he never even tried. We can make that the big thing about your campaign. Also, we can pledge to continue cleaning up the city like we have been doing so far. Finally, there is the question of the urban redevelopment plans.¡± Sonic and Shadow nodded along and Tails continued. ¡°This is more of a me thing than something most people think about. If you remember I went to a protest against the redevelopment of Shadow¡¯s neighborhood. We have to put a stop to those shady investments they are only good for the ultra-rich at the expense of the rest of us. However, maybe now people will be willing to fight against it. I have never seen such energy and enthusiasm in this ward for change. There are actual protests now instead of gatherings of 12 people. I feel like we have a good chance to dethrone Kowareta Yume¡¯s 31 years in a row-mayor.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Shadow said. ¡°While I am kind of thankful that I got kicked out of my house, we wouldn¡¯t be even talking right now if it wasn¡¯t for it, I do agree that practices like the redevelopment plans should be stopped. Cleaning up the whole ward, that¡¯s a given. Most of all I love the idea of fixing the sewer system. I think that¡¯s a real winning issue. The only thing we need is to ask the members of ¡®Not all of me, all of us¡¯ if they would support me. If they say yes there are enough people there for the necessary signatures to be a candidate.¡± The more Shadow thought about the idea of being the mayor the more he liked it. Kiryu¡¯s words were ringing in his head. If he won the election he could truly instigate change. Reforming the sewer system isn¡¯t some kind of global revolution but that is something that would directly impact the lives of the people that live in Kowareta Yume. Urban planning and cleaning up the streets would impact it too but this is something that is such a measurable and clear thing. Something if he succeeds would be an everyday reminder of success. Shadow was determined to win this. ¡°I just have questions for you two,¡± Shadow said. ¡°Tails would you be my chief of staff or vice-mayor or whatever is the number 2 position in the municipal government if we win? I want to be able to make good decisions when we get there and you are someone I can trust and someone who is very knowledgeable. You showed that to me by how excellently you managed ¡®Not all of me, all of us¡¯.¡± ¡°You can count on me!¡± Tails gave a firm thumbs up. ¡°Sonic, will you help me in this campaign?¡± Shadow said. ¡°Of course. I mean it was my idea for you to do this. I want to support you all the way! By the way, soon the next ¡®Sonic game¡¯ development cycle will start. When I have a meeting with Polanzo I will push him to include you guys. Now that the franchise is making some money I can do that.¡± ¡°Do that,¡± Shadow nodded. ¡°It will be cool if the three of us make a game together. I can do game development even if I am the mayor right?¡± ¡°Yes, you can.¡± Tails said. ¡°On the subject of being mayor that reminds me. Shadow, you have to delete your social media account ambivalence2387469837497389023092193 before we kick off your candidacy.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°What the fuck do you mean why? Dude, you posted holocaust and Holodomor denialism. If people discover that is your account you can kiss your chances of being mayor goodbye.¡± Shadow was dumbfounded. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why. My views have changed. I cringe at my former self. Why would people attack me for opinions I no longer have.¡± ¡°Hello!?¡± Tails threw his arms up in frustration. ¡°Do you hear yourself right now? You as the terminally online person should know that people on the internet don¡¯t care about that. If they see that, it doesn¡¯t matter if you believe it still or not, they will tear you apart. Didn¡¯t you post stuff against Rick Ravette for him being a supposed Nixon supporter even though he couldn¡¯t have been since he was 8 years old at the time?¡± Shadow grits his teeth as he realizes Tails is right. ¡°Oh shit. I have to delete that immediately.¡± Tails continued, ¡°If it was enough for you to cancel a dead guy over false information that you didn¡¯t even bother to check, how do you think people will react to you actually being a Nazi and a Stalinist at some point? Mayor Tanaka loves attacking people on the basis of being communists, he is going to love that this time it might even have some merit.¡± Shadow was no longer arguing the issue. He had grabbed his phone and expressly deleted his old account. The only thing he could hope was that no one was going to find out about ambivalence2387469837497389023092193. *** A couple of days later, Shadow had yet to announce to the public his candidacy. He was making preparations behind closed doors in his organization ¡®Not all of me, all of us¡¯, with Tails. They were discussing strategies, tactics, and logistics for this upcoming battle. Sonic was at SEGA HQ completing some simple paperwork. While walking in the hallway he ran into President Polanzo, still wearing his maroon-colored suit, and sunglasses and accompanied by guards. ¡°Excuse me, sir may I ask you something.¡± Sonic politely approached Polanzo. ¡°Shoot.¡± ¡°When is the next ¡®Sonic game¡¯ development starting.¡± ¡°Excited I see. Very soon.¡± ¡°I wanted to ask,¡± Sonic said in probably the most polite tone he ever spoke in his life. ¡°Is it possible for Tails and Shadow to co-direct the next game with me? I think both would be invaluable assets and they could boost the sales of the franchise. There are fans who love seeing them just as much as seeing me. I am not demanding anything like always you have the final word but I think this would be beneficial to the franchise and the company as a whole.¡± Sonic bowed his head in true Japanese business style. He really wanted to get the green light for this. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Are you okay man? You never talked like this before.¡± Polanzo scratched his head. ¡°Fox boy and Edgy the hedgy huh? Well, edgy was a good boost for ¡®Sonic: Revelations¡¯, the critics hated his inclusion but the fans seemed to have responded well to him. Fox Boy hasn¡¯t been a playable character in a long time but we could play into the nostalgia aspect of it¡­¡± Sonic stayed with his head bowed and waited for Polanzo¡¯s answer. ¡°You know what? I think that would be a good idea.¡± Polanzo said. ¡°Please stop acting like a samurai you¡¯re creeping me out. Also, didn¡¯t you bitch to me your whole career about wanting to work alone? Jesus you stars can never make up your goddamn mind!¡± Sonic raised his head. ¡°Thank you so much, you won¡¯t regret your decision.¡± Polanzo waved his hand and disappeared from the hallways with his guards. Sonic was absolutely ecstatic. Finally, he would be making a game just for the sake of making it, like he used to in the old days. He would enjoy the work not obsessing over scores or reviews and he would get to do it in the company of his best friends. He wasn¡¯t going to disrespect anybody during the process and he was going to honor everyone¡¯s contribution. Finally, he would reach his Jackie Brown happy ending that he had always desired. Finally, he was in life where he wanted to be. It was all so close, he wanted to start working on the game right now but he had to wait for the official date to start. Everything was falling into place. Also, Sonic was happy that Tails and Shadow were getting along. He felt a real sense of relief when Shadow asked Tails to be his number 2 when he becomes mayor. At first, Sonic was guilt-ridden over manipulating Tails to accept Shadow into their home, especially when the two would argue over politics. Now that the two genuinely are getting along well, there was no reason to feel bad about it. However, Sonic promised himself that would be the last time he would manipulate Tails, or any of his friends for that matter. It wasn¡¯t worth it even though things worked out in this case. Sonic¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He had received a text message from Vector the Crocodile. ¡°Meet me at caf¨¦ Alps. It¡¯s important,¡± said the text message. What could this be? It was highly unusual for Vector to contact him like this. The two hadn¡¯t spoken since they ran into each other in the same hallways Sonic was standing right now. Back then, Vector was snooping around for some unexplained reason. Could this be related? The only way Sonic was going to get answers was to meet Vector and find out. Sonic made his way to caf¨¦ Alps. It wasn¡¯t far away, Sonic could easily walk his way there. Sonic entered the cigar smoke-filled caf¨¦ and witnessed Vector right away. He made his way over to his table and sat there. ¡°What is it you wanted to talk about?¡± Sonic was concerned. ¡°You gotta order something first before I tell you, it''s part of the code.¡± ¡°You green piece of shit,¡± Sonic raised his voice, ¡°I swear if you are wasting my time or scamming I will jump over this table and strangle you!¡± ¡°You¡¯re order sir?¡± said the waitress standing next to the table and looking at Sonic. She had a terrified expression. She had been standing there while Sonic made his death threats unbeknownst to Sonic. ¡°Black coffee please,¡± Sonic fake smiled at her. Sonic then crossed his legs and impatiently waited for the coffee to arrive so that Vector could talk according to his ¡°code¡±. The two sat in an awkward silence until the waitress brought the coffee, she was still scared of Sonic. ¡°Now can you tell me what this is about??¡± Sonic hit his hands on the table and his cup shook spilling a little bit of coffee. ¡°Okay, I will cut to the chase. You are a certified game director at SEGA, right? That means you have the highest-level security access card an employee could get. The only ones that have security clearance above you are the president of the company and other senior officials in the company.¡± ¡°Yes, all of that is true.¡± Sonic took a sip of his coffee. ¡°The Team Chaotix agency is currently investigating President Polanzo under the request of international bodies. I can''t tell you exactly which but I think you get the point.¡± ¡°Ohhhh, that¡¯s why you said international importance way back when I saw you in the hallway. Okay, what does this have to do with me?¡± Vector leaned in a bit closer to Sonic and said: ¡°There is a collection of files crucial to our investigation. These files are in a room where I or any of the Chaotix can¡¯t enter, no lower-level employee of SEGA could enter either. However, a high-level employee could enter that room with his security clearance, like say a game director.¡± Vector winked at Sonic. ¡°You want me to commit corporate espionage for you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Fuck off I ain¡¯t doing it¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Vector sounded surprised. ¡°You do realize this is of international importance. This is bigger than you can imagine.¡± ¡°Bro I could lose my job and be barred from making video games for the rest of my life if I do something like this. I am not going to do it.¡± ¡°Okay listen,¡± Vector took a deep breath. ¡°I am under strict orders not to discuss the details of the case to anyone but I guess I will clue you in on some of the details we have discovered. Polanzo is not what he seems.¡± As those words came out of Vector¡¯s mouth he realized just how obviously Polanzo looked like some kind of gangster or yakuza. ¡°Scratch that, Polanzo is exactly what he seems.¡± ¡°Big deal,¡± Sonic said in a mocking tone. ¡°Every major company¡¯s president does some shady shit. You gotta give me something more than vague allusions.¡± ¡°How about this! Dr. Robotnik¡¯s parole was because of Polanzo! Polanzo is the one who paid Robotnik¡¯s lawyers that got him paroled. The mean bean machine or whatever, you know the dystopian copyright claim your dreams machine. Well, that project was financed by Polanzo and by the SEGA Corporation. That¡¯s why the thing is called Mean Bean Machine, a name that is SEGA¡¯s intellectual property. They have a patent on that machine and they are planning to put it on the market soon.¡± ¡°You¡¯re bullshitting me. There is no way this is true. SEGA would never hire Robotnik.¡± Vector pulled out a file out of his backpack that was under the table up to this point. He gave the file to Sonic. Sonic opened the file and it said CLASSIFIED: DR. IVO ROBOTNIK, EMPLOYED IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SEGA CORPORATION ¡°Oh my god. It is true,¡± Sonic grabbed his head in shock. ¡°Something is rotten in the company of SEGA.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I am trying to tell you. Do you see what we are dealing with here? Will you help us?¡± ¡°I am sorry but my answer is still no¡± Vector was deeply disappointed. ¡°Why? I thought you of all people, the person that stopped Robotnik once upon a time, the former hero would understand how important this is.¡± ¡°I do understand all right but it doesn¡¯t concern me. First of all, you are asking the wrong person. I haven¡¯t been in the hero business in a long time and I don¡¯t plan on returning to that job ever. Secondly, from everything you¡¯ve told me they aren¡¯t doing anything illegal. All I see is a company financing a product and putting it on the market.¡± ¡°I know you don¡¯t believe that market argument. You must know how fucked up this dream machine is. I¡¯ve only scratched the surface of Polanzo¡¯s activities. I can¡¯t reveal any more to you but I hoped the Robotnik part would move you.¡± Sonic shrugged. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t help you.¡± ¡°Just say it how it is. You don¡¯t want to help me. Anyways, sorry for wasting you¡¯re time.¡± Vector stood up and was preparing to leave. The ¡®you don¡¯t want to help us¡¯ stung Sonic, he said: ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask Kiryu the big hero huh?¡± ¡°Kiryu couldn¡¯t help us even if he wanted to. He isn¡¯t a game director anymore and hasn¡¯t been since 2016. He doesn¡¯t have the security clearance.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask some other game director?¡± ¡°Nobody is going to help us. Nobody there was an actual hero like you or Kiryu in the past. They are just regular employees. I guess I misjudged you. Anyways we will find some other way to get those files. See you around.¡± Vector left the caf¨¦ and Sonic sat at the table alone. He sat there drinking his coffee. Conflicted in his heart. He knew how dangerous the mean bean machine is. He knew that it was wrong that he was working for the same company that was building such a machine. A company that financed a psychopath like Robotnik out of prison. Robotnik was probably using this as a means to fulfill his world-domination ideas. Only this time he was doing it through legal means. Sonic knew in his heart that he should do something. He feels that he should help. Part of his soul is telling him to go through with this, that his career was less important than something that was apparently in Vector¡¯s words of international importance. However, I can¡¯t help him. I want to but I can¡¯t. I am so close to happiness. If I give him those files, I am throwing away video game development as a job for the rest of my life. I can¡¯t do that. I am only happy when I am making games. I¡¯ve tried different things and that¡¯s the only thing that is really fulfilling to me. I can¡¯t do it, especially not now. Now that I am supposed to work on a project with Tails and Shadow. Now that I am released from my obsession with reviews and scores. Now that I am a few steps away from success. They will find another way without me. If Robotnik tries to do something illegal there is the police and if it goes to the scale like it was in the old days some other new and young hero is going to stop him. That¡¯s right, this isn¡¯t the job for me. I hung up the hero gloves a long time ago. Kiryu even said that you have to hang up those gloves at some point and it''s good to know when it¡¯s the right time. I walked away at the right time. There is no need to go back. *** One week later, Shadow formally and publically announced he was running for mayor. The campaign was in full swing. There was a lot of excitement in the streets of Kowareta Yume. For the first time in a long time, Mayor Tanaka seemed beatable. The organization ¡®Not all of me, all of us¡¯ was using all of its resources to help Shadow¡¯s campaign. Its purpose was to clean up Kowareta Yume, all of the members saw Shadow¡¯s candidacy as an extension of that goal. He had the full support of its members. Despite being a relatively new organization, it had plenty of muscle to flex on the local level. It was a formidable foe to the political party of mayor Kenji Tanaka. Sonic had put all of his heart into this campaign. He felt firsthand how it is to have to fix the toilet every single day. He knew how important of a change it would be for everyone. He ran all over Kowareta Yume, giving pamphlets, gluing posters on walls, talking to people on the street, and convincing them to vote for Shadow. Every day Sonic was constantly running. Since he had jogged in the previous months he was in shape and could run quite a while without getting tired. He could run a third of his top speed from the days before he became a video game director but even that was still fast. Sonic hadn¡¯t spoken a word to Tails and Shadow about the Vector situation. He felt embarrassed by his decision and he believed that they would be very disappointed in him. That they were going to attack him for putting his selfish needs of wanting to make video games above international threats. In his mind, he was redeeming himself by helping Shadow get elected. If Shadow would get elected he would do some good to the world. Shadow would fix the sewers, the urban planning thing that Sonic didn¡¯t pay attention to when Tails was talking and the trash would be gone. This way, Sonic believed things would balance out. One good thing, one bad thing. Sonic stays neutral. At least that¡¯s what he had continually told himself. Guilt was eating away at him. Somehow he felt he was making a mistake, but not enough to actually give Vector the ¡®crucial files¡¯. He remembered the emotional manipulation towards Tails but this time he wasn¡¯t doing anything. Doing nothing isn¡¯t as bad as manipulating someone. I am a better person now than I was before, Sonic told himself. *** On one morning, Sonic was waking up, getting ready to do his duties, give pamphlets on the streets, and run around Kowareta Yume. He was interrupted by a text message from his phone. Sonic looked at his phone and saw it was from Knuckles. ¡°Get to SEGA HQ, we need to discuss business.¡± An unusual text message, Sonic thought. It¡¯s probably about the new Sonic game, nothing to worry about. Polanzo did say the development would start soon. Despite believing it was going to be a simple meeting, a sense of dread overcame Sonic. He was ready for the worst. xxiii
Sonic had received a text message to meet Knuckles at SEGA HQ, he had no idea what the meeting was going to be about. On the way there, Sonic comforted himself that it was going to be about the new game. It was true, the meeting was about the new game, just not how Sonic envisioned it. He entered the SEGA company lounge, Knuckles was waiting for him there sitting at a table and eating an expensive-looking meal. Sonic approached the table and sat with Knuckles. ¡°Want something to eat?¡± Knuckles said. ¡°Nah, coffee is good.¡± After an awkward pause, Sonic said: ¡°Why did you want to see me?¡± ¡°I am here to talk to you on behalf of Polanzo about your political activities.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Knuckles cleared his throat. ¡°Your friend Shadow, you are supporting him in his bid for mayor. That¡¯s no good. We want you to publicly denounce him. It will be a good show considering how close you two have become, people will believe whatever you say. Make up some allegations and say you don¡¯t support him anymore.¡± ¡°Why would I do that?¡± ¡°Because he is running against Kenji Tanaka, Kowareta Yume¡¯s 31-year consecutive mayor. If you must know, Tanaka is one of Polanzo¡¯s close business associates. Polanzo has bribed Tanaka to tear down residential areas so that SEGA can build casinos there. Shadow has pledged to cancel that deal. We can¡¯t have you, one of SEGA¡¯s most important assets, go against its financial interests. You understand?¡± ¡°What if I refuse?¡± Sonic nervously sipped his coffee. ¡°Then no next game, no game directing at SEGA ever for that matter. You can only expect mobile game cameos at the most.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just cancel the next game. I signed a contract.¡± ¡°SO what?¡± Knuckles shrugged. ¡°What do you mean so what?¡± ¡°Exactly what I said. What are you going to sue us? You can try to, we have some of the best lawyers in the country. It would be very stupid of you if you think you could beat the company in court.¡± ¡°Knuckles don¡¯t you think this is wrong? What does my being friends with Shadow have to do with my game directing? Polanzo is stepping out of line with this. Did you know that he has hired Robotnik to work for SEGA? He working on the Mean Bean Machine with our company¡¯s money?¡± ¡°How the hell do you know that?¡± Knuckles furrowed his eyebrows. ¡°How do I know? How do you know?¡± Sonic said with a mix of anger and disappointment. He expected Knuckles to be shocked. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter how you found out.¡± Knuckles shrugged again. ¡°Bottom line is you know how powerful SEGA¡¯s legal team is if they were able to get Robotnik out of prison, so don¡¯t think your little contract is going to stand against them.¡± ¡°So you are fine with Polanzo doing this? Robotnik, the psycho who tried to take over the world? You are fine being the second in command of someone who is financing him and his dystopian dream project?¡± Knuckles slammed the table. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare lecture me about what right! I don¡¯t remember you saying a word when Polanzo seized power in 2001. nor did you ever try to confront him about anything that was clearly objectionable. Even now, you knew about the Robotnik thing yet you still would have worked on the new game. When things don¡¯t inconvenience you personally, you will go along with whatever. However, the moment you are affected suddenly you are the paragon. Don¡¯t come at me with morality, you¡¯ve been bankrupt with it for a long time.¡± All of Knuckles¡¯ words rang true, Sonic didn¡¯t have anything to say in his defense and tried to deflect: ¡°Well don¡¯t you as vice president think that financing Robotnik is wrong?¡± ¡°I do my job and my job is to do what the president wishes.¡± Knuckles stood up from his seat. ¡°I¡¯m done with this conversation. I¡¯ve said everything I had to say. If you want the next game you got to speak out against Shadow and his bid for mayor.¡± ¡°You¡¯re asking me to sell out my friend.¡± ¡°Whatever way you phrase it that¡¯s what you have to do.¡± Knuckles finally left the lounge and Sonic was left to sit alone at the table. Sonic had remembered Vector¡¯s warnings about the dealings at SEGA. In his head, he turned back the clock to the early 2000s, Polanzo¡¯s coup and usurpation of the presidency, his violence in removing senior executives, his abolishment of term limits, and so on. He also remembered how many times Tails had said something was wrong at SEGA and Polanzo specifically but he brushed it off. He was willingly closing his eyes to the increasing authoritarianism within the company even though he was in a position to stop it. Now it¡¯s too late to stop it. He had effectively had two choices in this matter. Option A: Sell out his friends. If he were to do that he would permanently lose the only two people in his life that he had left. He was once alone before and Tails forgave him, he realized that if he were to do this now, he would never get a chance at forgiveness again. He would sever his ties with Tails and Shadow forever. Option B: ruin his career. If he doesn¡¯t denounce and go against Shadow, considering Polanzo isn¡¯t going to step down as president anytime soon. He will not get another chance to direct another video game ever again. He had finally gained some momentum with ¡®Sonic: Revelations¡¯ and now that could vanish. He would forever be stuck working jobs he doesn¡¯t like nearly as much as making video games. Going the indie game route also wasn¡¯t an option because he had spent most of his newly earned money from Revelations on Shadows campaign. No matter how you look at it, there is no happy ending. Sonic has to sacrifice one thing and both are very important to him. I have to go grab cigarettes to think this through, Sonic thought to himself. I told myself that I would quit smoking forever but right now I need to get some to calm down. *** Sonic was waking up in his bed. He was in a spacious, polished, and slick apartment. It wasn¡¯t as impressive as his penthouse from the 2000s but it was quite luxurious compared to the place he shared with Tails back in Kowareta Yume. He made himself some breakfast and turned on the TV to watch the morning show. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He had gotten used to watching it with Tails all of the time, but now he was performing this morning routine alone. In fact, he hadn¡¯t spoken to Tails or Shadow since that mayoral election business. He doesn¡¯t speak much to anybody these days. He is completely alone in his life. Sonic had made a comeback with his new video games, he was relevant again and people were buying his games. He was employed at SEGA and directed whatever games he wanted to. He had stopped reading reviews, that doesn¡¯t stress him anymore. Making the games he wants, when he wants to make them. A sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu had crawled up in his head. Sonic was in this position before. When he had developed ¡®Sonic Unleashed¡¯. He had gotten what he wanted, a game on his own terms but in solitude. Was this what his goal in life always was? To end up alone and miserable to get the career he wanted. No money, or slick apartment, game-directing opportunities could fill the void in his heart. The moments when he and Tails were sitting together in that shitty apartment, drinking coffee, laughing, and playing dumb games like who would win. Sonic was getting ready to go to SEGA on his new game. Commuting from home to work would be something Sonic would do for the rest of his life, with no one in his life but himself with his selfishness and ego. ¡°Would you like a refill?¡± Sonic opened his eyes and saw a waitress in front of him. He wasn¡¯t in any new apartment or working on a new game. He was still in the SEGA lounge, right after his conversation with Knuckles. He was so engrossed in his imagination that he felt transported into his future and lost himself in his fantasy. ¡°Yes please.¡± Sonic extended his empty coffee cup to the waitress and she poured hot coffee. Sonic realized that his cigarette had burnt up while he was daydreaming. He took another one from his newly bought pack, which he acquired in the SEGA lounge. He placed the cigarette in his mouth and inhaled. There really isn¡¯t anything much more to think about. Only one choice is the right one. Sonic thought to himself. Sonic grabbed his SEGA security clearance card and stared at it. If I¡¯m about to ruin my video game career forever I might as well go all the way. Sonic reached for his cell phone and called Vector. ¡°Hello! Vector the files we talked about before, Which ones did you want me to get?¡± ¡°DFUJ30i203ir02 in the computer room,¡± Vector said on the other side of the line. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Did you get them?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Well, I am about to get them for you right now.¡± ¡°Are you serious?!¡± Shock and excitement overcame Vector. ¡°What made you change your mind?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be working for SEGA anymore soon. I might as well get them for you while I still am employed there.¡± ¡°You have no idea how big this is. Are you sure about this? You will never get to work at SEGA or any video game company ever again?¡± Sonic took a deep breath. ¡°Yes, I know the consequences. I am prepared for them. I am about to go get those files. Let¡¯s meet at caf¨¦ Alps in an hour.¡± Sonic walked to the computer room and casually grabbed the files Vector asked for. Nobody asked him anything on his way nor did anyone notice that the files were taken. The operation was quick and smooth. He thought it was kind of anticlimactic, his whole life as a videogame director, ending with just a simple folder of papers. After obtaining the files Sonic met with Vector and handed him what was requested. Sonic told Vector what had happened with Knuckles and what made him change his mind. Vector reassured him that he made the right choice, thanked him and they parted ways. For the first time in a long time, I have finally made a decision that I won¡¯t regret later. *** A couple of days had passed since Sonic had taken the files. He didn¡¯t receive any new messages from SEGA and nothing changed in his life. A long time might pass before anyone at SEGA finds out that anything is missing from the computer room considering how many things were. Even when they do by that point it will be very hard to figure out who took them. In that sense, Sonic was clear from facing charges for disclosing company or trade secrets. Right now Sonic was with Tails and Shadow organizing an event. Shadow was supposed to have a rally and speech in a venue and the three of them were making preparations for the event. Sonic never said a word to the two of them about Knuckles or Vector¡¯s request. He kept the whole thing to himself. For the future with SEGA, Sonic had decided to simply let it go and to ignore any new texts from Knuckles demanding he denounce Shadow or any other meetings with him or Polanzo. He had made his peace that his career was over and like once before when it came to being a hero he had decided to hang up the boxing gloves once and for all. As the three were preparing the venue for the big event, team Chaotix entered the place and approached Sonic. ¡°What is it? Did I get the right files?¡± Sonic asked feeling worried he had made some kind of mistake. ¡°No no, everything is fine on that front,¡± Vector said in a reassuring tone. ¡°In fact, the files you gave me helped us complete our investigation. We came to thank you personally.¡± Vector extended his hand. Sonic before he could shake Vector¡¯s hand was interrupted by Tails, ¡°Why is team Chaotix here?¡± ¡°They came to thank me,¡± Sonic said not wanting to reveal to Tails what had transpired. ¡°You mean you didn¡¯t tell them about the files?¡± Vector was surprised. ¡°What¡¯s this about files,¡± Shadow heard the commotion and joined the conversation. ¡°It¡¯s really nothing,¡± Sonic tried to move away from the subject. ¡°I will tell you about it,¡± Vector ignoring Sonic¡¯s wishes told Tails and Shadow exactly what had transpired. About Robotnik working for SEGA, Polanzo, Knuckles¡¯ threat, and Sonic taking the files. ¡°That¡¯s about it. The three of us are about to go to our employer, we need to fly over to the Netherlands.¡± ¡°Based off the way we was branded Face it, Jerome get more time than Brandon And at the airport they check all through my bag And tell me that it''s random,¡± Charmy the Bee rapped followed by a massive sigh from Vector and Espio. ¡°Charmy does this where he only talks in verses of rappers he listens to,¡± Espio reminded everyone. ¡°Ignore him, he is on a Kanye West phase now.¡± ¡°Were you a Kanye West fan Shadow when you were a Nazi,¡± Tails looked at Shadow and spoke in a cheeky tone. ¡°I want to forget that part of my life,¡± Shadow nervously laughed. He thought about how if anyone found out about his past beliefs his shot at being mayor would be destroyed. ¡°Anyways,¡± Vector said, ¡°We better get going. Thank you Sonic once more for helping us. We will call you guys when we get back.¡± Team Chaotix left. As they were leaving, Charmy kept rapping Kanye West verses and you could hear groans from Vector and Espio. Our three heroes were now alone and Tails turned his gaze to Sonic. Tails looked at Sonic with an angry face. ¡°I know what you¡¯re going to say,¡± Sonic said and was embarrassed by himself. ¡°I should have helped Vector the first time he asked me, I should¡¯ve listened to you all these years when you kept bringing up Polanzo. I¡¯m no good and I understand why you¡¯re mad.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? That¡¯s not why I¡¯m mad at all,¡± Tails snapped back. ¡°Then what is it then?¡± Sonic was taken aback. ¡°I¡¯m mad because you didn¡¯t ask for our help. Why did you take on this alone? You should have talked with us too. We¡¯re a team aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°I just felt horrible about not wanting to help. I was so selfish that I wanted to keep my career and close my eyes to everything wrong that was transpiring. Only when it affected me did I jump in to help. I¡¯m a terrible person.¡± Sonic lowered his head. ¡°You¡¯re wrong. What you did was good, also I¡¯m certain the Sonic I got into a fight with from 2006. wouldn¡¯t have made the choice you made now. I think you did real good.¡± Tails tapped Sonic¡¯s arm. ¡°I just wish you would have relied on us you know. We could have taken those files instead of you.¡± Tails chuckled and Sonic cheered up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I promise I will lean on you guys next time I¡¯m in a similar situation. I do think I made the right choice about the files, I don¡¯t regret it one bit.¡± ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Shadow chimed in. He sounded worried. ¡°Not to be a downer but since I moved in, most of what you talk about is video games. It¡¯s your main passion and you said to yourself you are the happiest when you direct games. Are you sure you¡¯re going to be okay with that door closed to you forever?¡± ¡°Yeah he¡¯s right,¡± Tails nodded, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay with that.¡± ¡°Guys, there is nowhere in the world where I would rather be than with you.¡± Sonic placed his hands on Tails¡¯ and Shadow¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Whatever and wherever I want to be with my best friends. I made the mistake before when I took the people closest to me for granted. As clich¨¦d as it sounds the most important thing in life is to be surrounded by the people you care about the most. So don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯ll think of something in the future. You know me.¡± Sonic winked and smiled at them. ¡°Let¡¯s worry about you getting elected mayor,¡± Sonic said and looked at Shadow. Shadow gave him a nod and the three continued to work on the preparations for the rally. Tails was moved by Sonic¡¯s words. While Tails liked being depended on by Sonic, he was happy that Sonic came to his decision by himself. It spelled out true growth and change. Only under pressure and in bad circumstances do people show how they truly are inside. In Tails'' eyes, Sonic had shown that he still had a little bit of hero left inside him. In fact, as Sonic spoke he had a real sincerity behind his voice. He also exuded confidence and a kind carefree attitude. He wasn¡¯t bothered at all about his career. His mind was completely at ease. To Tails for a moment it was like all the years had disappeared, Sonic looked like he did from the days of living in the forest and fighting Robotnik. His old friend was back! *** Weeks later, Sonic and Tails were waking up in their apartment. It was early morning and both were going through their usual routine. However, Shadow was nowhere in sight. Tails made breakfast and coffee and the two sat in front of the TV. They turned the TV on to watch ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯, a staple routine both were quite fond of. ¡°Good Morning Tokyo, today at the studio we have a very special guest,¡± said the reporter on the TV, ¡°Kowareta Yume¡¯s mayor, Shadow the Hedgehog!¡± Shadow entered the stage and Sonic and Tails felt a great sense of pride seeing him there. ¡°Thank you for inviting me to the show,¡± Shadow said. ¡°How does it feel to dethrone Kowareta Yume¡¯s 31 years in a row mayor. It must¡¯ve been a tough election cycle.¡± ¡°It was quite the battle but I think the main thing was that the people were motivated, there was a great enthusiasm for change. An enthusiasm that seemed to have been dead because of broken promises and apathy.¡± ¡°What can we expect differently from you Shadow in comparison to the previous mayor Mr. Tanaka.¡± ¡°Well the obvious thing is that we have canceled all urban redevelopment deals that were made under suspicious or dubious means, but the biggest thing is that today we have signed a piece of legislation that will finally replace the ward¡¯s terrible sewer system! We don¡¯t plan to stop there of course. It is my hope that by the end of my term, Kowareta Yume will be transformed into a pleasant place to live in.¡± The reporter adjusted his seat, ¡°Do you feel like you will be able to achieve everything you plan to? Will the people be satisfied with the change you bring?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard to say now, but I can say I was someone who used to be very bitter and nihilistic about the world. I felt like it was impossible to fix any problem and that the world we live in was doomed. When you think about big problems you will lead yourself down this path. However, recently I realized that we can impact and change the little things. That¡¯s why I started my organization ¡®Not all of me, all of us¡¯. ¡°The sewer system was something is something that affected everyone living in Kowareta Yume and by the end of my term that problem will be a thing of the past. So little by little if all of us try to do what we can, the world will be a better place. I sincerely believe that to be true.¡± ¡°Now that¡¯s our fucking mayor!¡± Tails yelled enthusiastically at the TV. Sonic laughed and cheered Shadow on by yelling at the TV with Tails. xxiv After the mayoral elections, Shadow was diligently working on his new job as mayor with Tails was serving as his assistant and advisor. They were both engaged full-time with their new job. The Kowareta Yume ward was in much worse shape than it seemed on the outside. They had their hands full with many problems that needed fixing. Even though there was a large workload they were highly motivated to tackle the issues. Sonic on the other hand was very static during this period. He was out of the job with SEGA and he spent most of his time home. To keep himself busy he took it upon himself to do housework in the apartment. It was the only thing he could do while he waited for Vector to come back from the Netherlands. Sonic was curious to hear about what would come out of that mysterious investigation and what was it for. For now Sonic was doing the dishes, vacuuming, and grocery shopping. In his free time, he kept up with jogging and he was getting more and more in shape as well as becoming faster. Sonic also took on the responsibility of preparing lunch for the Shadow and Tails. All of this made him feel kind of like a housewife but as a temporary situation, he enjoyed living a bit slower after stressing out so much during these past few months. The three of them still spent their mornings together watching ¡®Good Morning Tokyo¡¯ and watching movies in the evenings. Shadow was particularly happy with himself knowing that he was finally making a small difference in his part of the world. Tails was also happy to assist Shadow, who listened to Tails¡¯ advice closely. Most of these days blurred together in Sonic¡¯s mind, they were fairly mundane and uneventful. However, there was one day that would leave a mark. It was noon and Sonic went grocery shopping. He went to a shopping mall in Kowareta Yume, apart from the groceries he wanted to do a bit of window shopping. The mall was an old one but it had a very cheerful atmosphere and the place was in good shape. Despite being outdated it was a popular and welcoming place. As Sonic walked through the mall, looking at the various shops he ran into a familiar face. In front of him stood Amy. Sonic hadn¡¯t seen her in over a decade. It was surreal seeing her in person after so long. They both awkwardly waved at each other and said hello. ¡°Hey, long time no see,¡± Sonic said trying to sound carefree. ¡°Long time indeed,¡± Amy said. ¡°How are you doing?¡± ¡°Alright, I guess. You?¡± ¡°Good.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re not in a hurry would you like to go for a cup of coffee?¡± Sonic said. ¡°Maybe we could catch up.¡± Sonic hopes that this is a chance to start over with Amy. He felt like he had changed so much since then. He was able to start over with Tails after breaking off with him for so long. Maybe they could start talking and repair their relationship. Sonic felt like he had redeemed himself since the old days. All he had to do was show her. If they got close again, maybe they could even be together again. Amy took a moment to respond and said: ¡°I have a little bit of time. I can¡¯t stay for too long but we could sit down for a coffee.¡± Sonic and Amy sat down at a caf¨¦ in the mall. It was on the third floor and was next to large windows that had a view of the outside. It was a sunny day outside. They both ordered coffee. ¡°So what are you doing these days?¡± Sonic said. ¡°I am a photographer now,¡± Amy said. ¡°Oh cool. I didn¡¯t know you were interested in photography.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s my job now.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about photography honestly.¡± Awkward silence. ¡°What about you? What do you do?¡± Amy said. ¡°Right now I¡¯m unemployed,¡± Sonic said and immediately corrected himself realizing how bad this sounds, ¡°but I¡¯m not doing nothing! I¡¯ve been quite busy these past few months. I have had a new game recently out. ¡®Sonic Revelations¡¯ it¡¯s called, have you seen it?¡± Amy shook her head, ¡°No, I haven¡¯t seen it or played it. I don¡¯t play video games anymore. I haven¡¯t played them in a long time.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Another awkward silence. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°There was also this,¡± Sonic said excitedly, ¡°I live in Kowareta Yume now. You¡¯ve probably seen this on the news, Shadow becoming the new mayor of Kowareta Yume.¡± ¡°Shadow the hedgehog?¡± Amy raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yes! That Shadow. We are close friends now, I actually helped him win this election!¡± Sonic said feeling proud of himself. ¡°Since when are you interested in politics?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m interested but this was an important change in ou-¡° ¡°Whatever, I don¡¯t follow politics at all and I don¡¯t want to know anything about it.¡± Is this how looked to Tails when I would cut him off, Sonic thought to himself. He felt very annoyed that Amy wasn''t willing to hear him out. Awkward silence. Unfortunately, the conversation didn¡¯t go as Sonic envisioned. Any topic they would start ended in an awkward silence after only a few sentences. They have known each other their whole lives but more than 10 years have passed since they last saw each other. People change a lot over the course of 10 years. Both had experiences that the other couldn¡¯t relate to. They were different people now, strangers to one another. The sense of familiarity they shared was gone. Sonic was lucky that he and Tails were able to click again after their separation. The ways the two of them had changed hadn¡¯t impacted their reconnection. Now Sonic was faced with a situation where there was no going back, no chance for a restart. After about half an hour of awkward silences, Amy called the waiter and left saying she needed to go. ¡°Maybe we can talk again some other time,¡± she said. Amy had regretted accepting the offer to sit with him and she had no desire to speak with him again. She had hoped for a fun catching up but instead, she got an agonizingly unpleasant conversation. She wasn¡¯t putting herself in this situation again. Sonic sat for a little bit longer feeling disappointed. While Sonic didn¡¯t spend his days agonizing or obsessing over encountering Amy, in the back of his mind he had always hoped for a random encounter with her. An encounter that would be a jumping-off point for them to start something new. Was there anything he could have done differently? Maybe if he said this or that this encounter, which he had hoped for would have turned out differently. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t true. He had to accept that some people drift apart and they drift apart forever. * Sonic arrived back home. Shadow and Tails were there too. The three of them talked, bantered, and laughed. While Sonic had been physically present his mind was absent. He looked at Tails and realized how grateful and appreciative he was that everything worked out between them and that they were best friends again. How supportive Tails was and all the little moments of mundanity they shared together. The moments that seemed inconsequential but that looking back made him smile. He looked over at Shadow and wondered what outrageous circumstances had brought them together. Shadow was someone Sonic used to despise during the 2000s and someone he could never have imagined he would ever be friends with. Life¡¯s journey is always unpredictable and mysterious. It didn¡¯t go as Sonic planned but he was genuinely happy that he was surrounded by two wonderful friends. Sonic¡¯s mind turned towards Knuckles. He wondered if Knuckles had also changed to a point of no return? Had he missed his chance long ago? Maybe there was a point where he could have talked to him before he had left SEGA to stop the path Knuckles was moving towards. Sonic felt angry at himself for not seizing any of the opportunities in the SEGA lounge. Tails had once told Sonic that the most painful memories to go back to aren¡¯t all the times you said something wrong, it¡¯s when you chose to say nothing at all. Those words kept ringing over and over to Sonic. If only he wasn¡¯t so self-absorbed and more honest he could have told Knuckles how similar he had become to Sonic during his worst years. Maybe Knuckles would have brushed off those words but he can¡¯t know because he never tried. Sonic made a resolution to himself, the next time he encounters Knuckles and they have a chance to talk he is going to attempt to say what he should have always said. Maybe it is too late now but he decided that he was still going to try. As for Amy, Sonic wondered if he even wanted to reconnect with Amy at this point. There wasn¡¯t anything to go back to. The time they spent was only a distant memory. Someone he used to know, for the Amy he talked to today was a complete stranger. Sonic decided to move on and try to forget about Amy. * After some time had passed, Sonic was finally contacted by Vector the crocodile. During the afternoon Sonic¡¯s phone started ringing and he responded: ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me, Vector. We¡¯re finally back from the Netherlands. We had a lot of work to do but we are finally done with our investigation.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°I am going to have to ask for your help again.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t work with SEGA anymore,¡± Sonic chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to find someone else if you want corporate secrets.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t give you the details over the phone we should-¡° ¡°Let me guess, meet at caf¨¦ Alps, part of the code?¡± ¡°Yes, it would be great for us to meet there. However, it would be good for you to ask all of your friends to join us. We are going to need all the help we can get with this one. Invite Kiryu too!¡± ¡°Alright, can I know at least what the job is about?¡± ¡°I will tell you everything once we meet. I have permission from our employer to finally disclose to you the nature of our investigation into Polanzo and SEGA.¡± ¡°See you later this evening!¡± Sonic asked Tails and Shadow to join him and they both, of course, agreed to help. After which he called Kiryu and he also accepted the invitation. They arranged for Tails to drive them to the caf¨¦, while on the way he picks up Kiryu. The passenger door was fixed in the meantime and the red Saab could now comfortably fit 4 people inside. When the evening rolled around it was time to head out and the drive to the caf¨¦ went according to plan. The group arrived in front of the caf¨¦ Alps. They were standing in the busy streets of Kamurocho. What confused them was that the caf¨¦ from the outside looked like it was closed. ¡°You sure you got the meeting time and place right?¡± Tails said. ¡°We spoke hours ago. I wouldn¡¯t mess this up. He said to come here. I will call him now and see what¡¯s up?¡± Sonic said. He pulled out his phone and just as he started dialing Vector¡¯s phone number, the door of the caf¨¦ opened and Vector appeared in front of them. He made a gesture with his hand for all of them to enter. Inside, the caf¨¦ was empty. Inside the only people there were team Chaotix. ¡°I paid the owner to give us some privacy so we can discuss things,¡± Vector said feeling proud of himself. ¡°We could have just met at my place,¡± Tails rolled his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s against the code, it has to be caf¨¦ Alps,¡± Vector said. ¡°I didn¡¯t make up the code¡± (he did make up the code). ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s get down to business. Everyone, get yourself a seat and get comfortable.¡± Everyone grabbed a chair and they formed a circle around Vector to hear what he had to say. ¡°Sonic said to bring help, why do you need us?¡± Kiryu said. ¡°Okay this is going to be a long story so I hope you are all ready for it,¡± Vector took a deep breath. ¡°Team Chaotix was hired by the ICC(International Criminal Court) in the Hague, Netherlands to investigate Marchiano Polanzo.¡± ¡°The International Criminal Court?!¡± Tails jumped out of his seat. ¡°Oh so that¡¯s why you kept saying the investigation of Polanzo was of international importance,¡± Sonic said connecting the dots. ¡°What could have Polanzo done to warrant an investigation by them.¡± ¡°As you all may know,¡± Vector cleared his throat. ¡°Polanzo¡¯s history before the president has been quite elusive. In fact, Polanzo isn¡¯t even his real name, it¡¯s an alias he has been using. He has had many fake names throughout his life. Our investigation was to find the truth about his past and to assemble a clear picture of the man.¡± ¡°Was your investigation successful?¡± Kiryu said. ¡°Yes,¡± Vector nodded. ¡°The key files we needed were given to us by Sonic and we have enough for the court to make a formal indictment.¡± ¡°So why do you need our help?¡± Kiryu said. ¡°You still haven¡¯t told us what is he guilty of?¡± Tails jumped in. ¡°One at a time,¡± Vector raised his arms. ¡°I will first tell you who exactly he is. Who his parents were and why is he being investigated by the ICC. However, this is a long story, and I want all of you to save your questions after I tell you all of the information. I don¡¯t want anyone to interrupt me while I speak. Everything will be clear once I¡¯m done.¡± The group nodded and leaned in closer to Vector. Vector began telling them the life story of Marchiano Polanzo. xxv
Vector began telling them the life story of Marchiano Polanzo. So, to be clear, Polanzo has had many names and aliases, in order to avoid confusion I will be referring to him by the name we all know him by. Secondly, any questions save for later. I want to be able to tell this story without interruptions. Before we get to Polanzo we will start with his parents. Polanzo¡¯s father, Goran was born in 1923. in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, on the coast of Montenegro. He was of mixed Italian and Montenegrin descent. His life, in the beginning, was pretty uneventful, Goran pursued an education, was a good student, and so on. Goran¡¯s life would take a dramatic turn during World War 2 and the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941. The country faced brutal repression and a resistance against the occupation was formed, the communist partisans. Goran would join the communist party and the resistance where he distinguished himself as an excellent organizer of party and resistance activities. After the war, the communists won and Yugoslavia became a communist country. Goran went on a mission to Japan in 1946. to help the communist party of Japan in the defeated and allied occupied Japan. The party was poorly organized and they needed people like Goran with exceptional skills in this area to help them get off the ground, a job Goran gladly accepted. During his stay in Japan, he met a woman named Yuko, about the same age as him. Yuko was a member of the Japanese communist party and they became involved in many political activities together and eventually fell in love together. Yuko would later become the mother of Polanzo. Once Goran¡¯s time in Japan was up somewhere around the end of 1949. he had to return to his home. Yuko went along with him and they lived on the coast of Montenegro. Goran was for his services offered a high position in the Montenegrin branch of the Yugoslav communist party and they both enjoyed a luxurious life during the 1950s. They lived in a large villa on the beach, Yuko learned the language and she was well-liked by the locals. In late March of 1962. Polanzo was born in Montenegro. He was their first child and they had him pretty late. However, Goran would come into conflict with the federal government, and fearing prosecution, He, Yuko, and Polanzo moved away to Japan in 1965. Polanzo was of mixed racial and ethnic origin, which made him a target of bullying by the largely xenophobic Japan of the 20th century. Polanzo had a lot of violent outbursts during his early childhood, he would often get into fights in school with other kids and even assaulted a teacher physically. His violent tendencies probably come from his father Goran, who would frequently beat him up whenever the young Polanzo would misbehave. During Polanzo¡¯s teens, he would turn to petty robberies and other forms of juvenile delinquency. During this time he started to wear sunglasses all of the time to hide his eyes and his ethnicity. The glasses made him look Japanese. In 1977. Polanzo was arrested for the first time for vandalism. Eventually, when he turned 18 in 1980. Polanzo would join the Yakuza. The Dojima family to be precise, your old buddies Kiryu. You may have run into him during the 1980s but you probably don¡¯t remember him because he wasn¡¯t someone important at the time. Polanzo was head of racketeering shops and business in the northern part of Kamurocho as part of the Dojima family and he had his sights set on the SEGA arcade there. Eventually, he basically forced his way into a managerial role within the arcade and SEGA had to accept him. SEGA was powerless against the yakuza and had to bow down to any of their aggressions. Polanzo operated in Kamurocho and that arcade from 1982. to 1987. With Polanzo managing this one small arcade and leading his small group of crooks he had decided to move up and to go for something bigger. An idea struck him and he started thinking about his second homeland. Yugoslavia. In the late 1980s, most communist countries were moving away from communism, market reforms were started to be implemented, and slowly they were opening up to the rest of the world. It would eventually lead to the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and communism entirely due to a wave of protests but at this point, they still haven¡¯t reached it. Polanzo made a pitch to both his superiors at the Dojima family and the executives at SEGA. Polanzo had suggested that he open up a branch of the Dojima family in Montenegro, opening up casinos and other businesses in this new land of opportunity. To SEGA he suggested opening a branch of SEGA in Yugoslavia, which he would use as a front for his criminal activities. The Dojima family saw the money-making potential and the executives at SEGA were happy to accept hoping that he would leave the country and them alone. Both groups agreed and Polanzo went with capital and people to start his business venture in the summer of 1987. He opened up the new SEGA of Yugoslavia, a subsidiary of the SEGA Corporation, with its seat in Montenegro, the town of Budva. Polanzo was selling SEGA products, however, his true business was smuggling through the Adriatic Sea. Naturally, nobody would suspect a video game company to smuggle various goods and drugs, in the beginning, this business venture was highly successful. Polanzo was sending a share of the profits to the Dojima family and even to SEGA of Japan to appease them for allowing this to happen. Eventually, the federal Yugoslav government would catch wind of this, and in 1988. and Polanzo was arrested. However, he would be immediately set free. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Wonder why they would release a criminal? Well, they recruited him. The communist government of Yugoslavia would arrest and release gangsters like him and make them work for them by doing dirty work they couldn¡¯t do themselves. Assassinations of journalists and dissidents, intimidations, threats, beating up protesters, and so on. The government could keep itself clean and use gangsters for such activities while the gangsters in turn would be able to keep doing their criminal activities and their criminal empires would remain intact. Polanzo certainly had an empire after his arrest. During the late 1980s, he was so powerful that he became more powerful than the Dojima family that he was officially working for. The Dojima family wanted to control him but it was no use. Polanzo was a continent away and he was making so much money on his own. As captain of SEGA of Yugoslavia Polanzo started opening Hotels, casinos, and trading in real estate. It seemed like he was unstoppable. Things would take a bloody turn. In 1991. the breakup of Yugoslavia began, a bloody civil war that tore that country apart and Polanzo was caught right in the middle of it. Since he resided in Montenegro, which remained in a state of union with Serbia at the time, the company he ran, SEGA of Yugoslavia was hit by international sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro, and the company¡¯s assets were frozen. SEGA of Japan also cut ties with him. Polanzo as he was unofficially employed by the Serbian government was drafted into the war in Bosnia like many of his gangster colleagues. His empire had shambled, not long ago he was managing hotels and smuggling drugs, now he was in the middle of Bosnia, commanding troops and fighting in a bloody civil war. The Dojima family had lost contact with him before the war and weren¡¯t even aware of his activities anymore, while SEGA of Japan believed that they were finally done with Polanzo¡¯s terror over their company. During the war, Polanzo committed many crimes against humanity with the troops he commanded. They raped, pillaged, and murdered indiscriminately civilians. Unfortunately, those things were very widespread in the Bosnian war. In 1995. the war was finally over with the signing of the Dayton Agreement. The sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro were lifted and Polanzo decided to settle in Belgrade, Serbia¡¯s capital after the war. In Japan during that same year, Kiryu, you set in motion events that brought about the destruction of the Dojima family. I¡¯m sure you remember. With the boss of the Dojima dead and many of his subordinates left without a master, Polanzo contacted them. It was through them that he pressured SEGA of Japan with threats to reinstate him SEGA of Yugoslavia, which he wanted to operate in Belgrade. With SEGA again being powerless, they caved into his demands and they sent him funds to restart his enterprise. After that was done many of those masterless yakuza joined Polanzo in Belgrade and they served them. President Milo?evi? ruled Serbia during the 1990s. Milo?evi? had made the country isolated from the rest of the world and turned it into an autocratic and kleptocratic failed state. Inflation, unemployment, and basic necessities were scarce, and civil liberties were constantly trampled over. It was after the war that Polanzo became a close associate with Milo?evi?. Polanzo continued to offer his state much like he did before, assassinating, intimidating, and beating up journalists, dissidents, protesters, and anyone that threatened the Milo?evi? government. In return, Polanzo could build a criminal enterprise without any consequences. This career was offered to many of the gangsters who served in the war in Bosnia or Croatia. As such it was an almost Mafia-controlled state. Milo?evi? and his associates enriched themselves while they pushed their populace to poverty, ethnic wars, and international sanctions. All while accusing those against them of being the real problem in the country. While Polanzo had gotten rich before the war, he had gotten insanely rich after the war. He would drive the most expensive cars, and eat the most luxurious food while living in a penthouse, all the while the regular person stood in very long lines in the convenience store just to get a loaf of breed. This was not going to last forever. Again, everything would soon change in the year 2000. The DOS(Democratic Opposition of Serbia), a coalition of various liberal parties that were against the Milo?evi? regime came together and were able to finally beat him in an election. He at first didn¡¯t accept defeat but due to massive demonstrations in October of that year, Milo?evi? resigned. The wind of change that had hit Europe after the fall of communism finally arrived in Serbia a decade later and a new era began. The country was now coming back on its feet recovering from the damage of wars, sanctions, and organized crime. It also took its first steps into becoming a true democracy. The new prime minister whose name was ?in?i? at the time decided to extradite Milo?evi? to the Hauge, to the International courts to face justice for what he had done. However, the new government wasn¡¯t going to stop at just the president, he was going to extradite all those responsible for crimes against humanity and he was determined to fight against organized crime. Among those was Polanzo. Polanzo left Serbia in December of 2000. fearing he was going to get sent to the Hauge and went to Japan. He closed SEGA of Yugoslavia and became involved with company politics within SEGA of Japan. Soon it became clear that Japan might extradite him to the Hauge as Japan recognized the international courts, Polanzo realized he was cornered and had nowhere to run. That¡¯s when Polanzo came up with an idea, an event I¡¯m sure you remember and are familiar with. Polanzo in a coup, forcibly seized power and became the president of the SEGA corporation. Why did he do that? The president of the SEGA corporation has legal immunity, which keeps him safe from Hauge''s extradition request. With his changing aliases and identities throughout the years he was also under everyone¡¯s radar and managed to keep his identity and past hidden. That¡¯s why he has clung to his power as president of SEGA with his abolishment of term limits. He knows it¡¯s the only way he is permanently safe from prosecution, so he keeps his grip tight on his position. In Serbia, the prime minister I mentioned, ?in?i? was assassinated in 2003. The assassination was done and organized by those gangster associates of Milo?evi? who were facing the consequences of a decade of crime they brought on the entire country. Unfortunately, the project of democracy in Serbia and the principles of the DOS failed. Today Serbia is ruled by many of the same people complicit in the horrors of the 1990s. Civil liberties are once again at risk and the state employs gangsters to do its dirty work while they remain immune from the law. All the while the new president creates ethnic tension within the region and his associates enrich themselves through illegal means very similar to Milo?evi? of the 1990s. To bring it back to Polanzo, as you already know he has helped Robotnik out of prison by paying for the best lawyers in Japan. He has financed the Mean Bean Machine which can see people¡¯s dreams. Its purpose is to ensure copyright law but who knows what kind of sick plan men like Polanzo and Robotnik could use it for. I hope you all understand that we must stop them! You wonder how and why? Well, that¡¯s why I brought you all together. If you remember after Polanzo seized power in SEGA, he amended the company statute and retroactively legitimized his rule. A leadership change in any high-ranking office of the SEGA corporation and the wider media group could be done so if the official in question is challenged to a duel. If the challenger beats the official in a fist fight, he assumes the position. That amendment is still in effect. In fact, that¡¯s exactly how Knuckles became vice president. He just fought and won against the previous vice president. Tonight, all of the SEGA high-ranking officials are meeting in the HQ. If all of us come together, we can take them on, win, and free our company from the evil of Polanzo. Once Polanzo is defeated, he can be extradited to the International Criminal Court in the Hauge to face justice for crimes against humanity in Bosnia and we can stop Robotnik¡¯s machine from ever entering the market. I know this is a sudden thing to ask. Especially since all of you are retired heroes. I know Sonic you said many times that you are never going back. But please, I hope you see how important this is. Let¡¯s all do this together to defeat Polanzo and Robotnik! xxvi
¡°But please, I hope you see how important this is. Let¡¯s all do this together, to defeat Polanzo and Robotnik!¡± Vector said. ¡°So wait,¡± Tails said, ¡°You¡¯re saying you want us to go to the SEGA building and beat up the higher-ups?¡± ¡°Well yes. That¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m asking. If we beat all of them up we would have the power to stop the Mean Bean Machine project, dethrone Polanzo, and return the company to better hands.¡± ¡°Would this even work?¡± Sonic asked, ¡°Defeating the executives and Polanzo in a fistfight?¡± ¡°According to the company statute,¡± Tails said. ¡°If Polanzo¡¯s law is still in effect if someone defeats him in a fight they become the president. It has to be a one-on-one though.¡± Sonic turned to Kiryu: ¡°What do you think, you¡¯ve been pretty quiet?¡± Kiryu held his arm on his chin, ¡°Hmm there isn¡¯t enough of us.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°If all of us in this caf¨¦ were to storm the SEGA building we wouldn¡¯t be able to take over all of the leadership positions. Fights have to be one-on-one and you can''t hold two positions at the same time. For example, I can''t be the vice president and the captain of SEGA of America.¡± ¡°Oh crap,¡± Vector sighed. ¡°I guess I haven¡¯t thought about that.¡± ¡°I do have a solution, I can call my friends and allies to come and help. I think I know enough people that if we put them all together we could take on every single SEGA executive. That way we would be able to truly seize power away from Polanzo and all of his associates.¡± Kiryu pulled out his phone prepared to make the necessary phone calls. ¡°Are we all on board with this?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me twice,¡± Tails said resolutely. ¡°Heh,¡± Sonic chuckled. ¡°Are you up for this?¡± Tails asked Sonic with concern behind his voice. He worried that his friend will reject this idea. ¡°I am absolutely on board with this,¡± Tails was relieved and felt proud of his friend while Sonic continued talking. ¡°I was thinking how ironic I think this whole situation is. A long time ago, I became a hero by happenstance. The situation happened to call for someone to stop Robotnik and I along with you Tails and the rest of us were there to stop him. I left the idea of being a hero and I said I was never going to do something like that again. ¡°But here we are. Decades later, that very same Robotnik, indirectly involved in all of this is pulling us back and we have to stop him again. I don¡¯t feel like I am here because I wanted to, again circumstances out of my control made me be here. If Vector knew someone else who had the same security clearance as me he would have asked that person and that person would be standing here and not me. I feel like only do the right thing because I am made to and not by choice.¡± ¡°I disagree,¡± Vector said. ¡°I don¡¯t think you are as passive as you think, you chose to help us and give us the files. I think a lot of people would have chosen their careers over their friends.¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. Well, I¡¯m ready. This will be like old times.¡± Sonic said and turned to Tails. ¡°Only this time,¡± Tails lowered his head as he spoke, ¡°Knuckles is on the other side.¡± The mood immediately soured. He was going to have to go up against his friend who in a lot of ways reminded Sonic of how he used to be for a long time. Sonic thought about all of the things he should¡¯ve said before it eventually came to this. However, on the flip side maybe this was an opportunity for them to talk it out. Maybe now it was time to say all of the things he should¡¯ve said. To try to reconcile and to start over their friendship. Maybe Knuckles had changed so much that there was nothing left to salvage. Maybe he was going to be disappointed like he was when he met with Amy. Or maybe just maybe they could be friends again. A lot of scenarios were going through Sonic¡¯s head but either way, he was going to find out very soon. ¡°I''m in too!¡± Shadow enthusiastically yelled out. He hadn¡¯t said anything up until now. ¡°I think it¡¯s time for a revolution.¡± ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t Mr. Mayor.¡± Tails said. ¡°Hello! You¡¯re the mayor. You can''t be a part of this. Mayors don¡¯t go and beat up businessmen. How would the people of Kowareta Yume perceive you if they heard you went into a private company and had a fistfight with an executive. Japan isn¡¯t some banana republic.¡± ¡°Oh no,¡± Shadow¡¯s bubble burst and he slid into depression. ¡°I am now a part of the system, I am no longer a revolutionary. I am a traitor to the revolution.¡± Shadow dramatically crouched and grabbed his head with his hands. Never was a thinking kind of person. ¡°God, Shadow don¡¯t be a baby,¡± Tails snapped at him. ¡°You haven¡¯t been in a fight in your whole life, didn¡¯t you forget, you were always an actor and game director. You don¡¯t even know how to fight! What are you gonna do, drama class you''re way through a fight and audit their taxes?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Sonic said. ¡°Tails is right. You wouldn¡¯t be any help in this situation even if you weren¡¯t the mayor.¡± ¡°Sorry I forgot Shadow wasn¡¯t with us fighting Robotnik back in the old days,¡± Vector said apologizing to the group. ¡°Well, what do I do now?¡± Shadow raised his hands in frustration. ¡°You can like stay here and watch TV and wait until we are done,¡± Sonic shrugged. ¡°If everything is settled I will start calling my friends,¡± Kiryu said impatiently still holding his phone. ¡°If only you had Lupin the 3rd¡¯s number, this would be a cakewalk,¡± Sonic sighed. ¡°I wish I did,¡± Kiryu started to make many calls. He briefed each of them and after making the calls all of them started arriving at caf¨¦ Alps to go on this mission together. Majima, Akiyama, Saejima¡­ and many others. Practically anyone Kiryu was close with and that could handle himself in a fight. Once everyone arrived talks began on planning the entry and who was going to fight who. They didn¡¯t have time to reminisce or make small talk, they needed to organize themselves quickly. Kiryu and his friends were going to have to have a casual get-together some other time. All while this was happening Shadow sat in the corner and scrolled through random stuff on his phone. Everyone got a designated person they were going to challenge and fight. Most importantly, Kiryu was going to fight the president, Marchiano Polanzo and Sonic was going to fight the vice president, Knuckles. As the final details were being ironed out the group decided to call taxis and make their way over to the SEGA building. It was already nighttime and they would need several cars to get to their destination. Sonic split away from the rest of the group, insisting that he needed to bring his backpack from their apartment. He was met with a few odd looks, even a slightly concerned one from Tails, but they agreed to meet him in front of SEGA HQ. And so, Sonic went outside, he had decided that he wasn¡¯t going to take any kind of Taxi like the rest of the group. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Sonic was about to put all of his jogging and training these past few months to the test and run his way to the apartment and then to SEGA. He walked out to a starting place and went into a full sprint. As he was speeding up, the buildings, night lights, and other surroundings began to blur. He broke the sound barrier creating a Sonic Boom and causing a shock wave as he reached a speed faster than the speed of sound. He couldn¡¯t make out the faces of the people he was sprinting by and the cars he was overtaking on the road were disappearing from his sight in an instant leaving only a small blue trail behind him. His breathing was steady and he was in full control of himself. He reached his top speed, the speed at which he ran so many decades ago. Sonic felt light like a feather. All the threads and regrets he had on his mind for such a long part of his life had been resolved. For the first time in a very long time, he felt like he was truly free. Free to run, but mostly free from himself. Apart from his physical condition, the things that had mostly been weighing him down were regret, pride, and selfishness, He had been on a pathway to redemption and the goal was in sight. In fact, the only thread left unresolved and without closure was Knuckles. Sonic¡¯s focus was dead center on the task at hand and he was going to do and say all of the things he should have already said. Even if he fails to reconcile with Knuckles he is determined to do right and to make amends. He felt the thing he was going to take from his apartment was going to be the key to this. Sonic reached his apartment, grabbed what he needed to take placed it inside his backpack, and off to the SEGA HQ he went. Once again he hit full sprint and he reached his top speed. A sense of euphoria overcame Sonic, he brought back his lost speed and he was fully in shape. Like the hero he once was. Sonic was naturally the first to arrive at the SEGA HQ and he waited patiently for the rest of the gang to arrive in the parking lot. He was so giddy and happy with himself that he cried a little from the joy. He noticed he got a lot more tired than he did in the past. He was able to get in shape but age had caught up to him. This older Sonic gets tired a lot more quickly than his young self. He wondered how Kiryu managed to be so fit and ageless despite being so old. However, he wasn¡¯t going to get depressed about his age at this moment, he was still young enough to be able to run at top speed. Sonic felt a degree of confidence he didn¡¯t think he had in himself anymore with just the right degree of cocky. Since he arrived earlier than the rest of the group he could take the time to rest before the big fight. Eventually, everyone came to the SEGA HQ and right through the front door they entered. A woman was at the reception and she panicked once she saw this unexpected group marching angrily inside the building. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but if you don¡¯t have an appointment with the president I am going to ask you all to leave,¡± The receptionist said. ¡°We don¡¯t have an appointment but we came to see the president anyway. He does whatever he wants so we thought we¡¯d follow in his footsteps,¡± Sonic said and smirked the receptionist. ¡°Choto matte!¡± An unfamiliar voice shouted from the end of the hallway. ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere!¡± A group of men in suits entered the reception area surrounding Sonic and his allies. The group of suits that entered all looked like Yakuza members. They were definitely Polanzo¡¯s goons. They were going to have to fight their way through. *** After fighting many nameless Goons Sonic made his way in front of Polanzo¡¯s office. The group had split up, and everyone was off to fight the person they were supposed to fight. Sonic opened the doors to the office filled with golden furniture and a golden statue of Polanzo, inside the opulent room sat Knuckles in the presidential chair. ¡°They said I¡¯d found you here.¡± ¡°What the hell are you and your mob planning on?¡± Knuckles said. ¡°I came to challenge you,¡± Sonic raised his arm and pointed at Knuckles, ¡°for your position of vice president. If I win I get to take your place.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s how it is,¡± Knuckles stood up from his seat. ¡°We don¡¯t have to do this. In fact, I¡¯d much rather we talk this out but I doubt you¡¯d listen to me without a fight.¡± Knuckles snapped at Sonic and slammed the table, ¡°You took everything away from me! I¡¯m not letting you take this away too! It¡¯s bad enough that you being here is ruining my plan!¡± ¡°Your plan?¡± ¡°Enough talk! You said you wanted a fight!¡± "Not like I didn''t expect a fight first." Sonic and Knuckles clenched their fists and charged at each other. *** Kiryu had found out that Polanzo was on the roof. He climbed his way up the stairs until finally reaching the very top of the SEGA HQ. On the roof was a giant helideck, the SEGA HQ was a massive skyscraper. One could get an impressive view of Tokyo from up there. It was a clear night sky with a light wind blowing. On the helideck, Polanzo stood there, in his maroon-colored suit next to his black helicopter. Polanzo had his sunglasses on and lit up a cigarette as he saw Kiryu approaching him. ¡°My subordinates tell me you¡¯re here to challenge me for the presidency is that right?¡± Polanzo inhaled his cigarette. Kiryu simply nodded. ¡°Might I ask why am I being challenged?¡± Polanzo said in a mocking tone. ¡°I found out about your plan.¡± ¡°So?¡± Kiryu was confused. ¡°And so what?¡± Polanzo continued to speak as if he was mocking Kiryu. ¡°What do you mean so what?¡± ¡°What about my plan upsets you?¡± ¡°The mean bean machine that¡¯s meant to monetize people¡¯s dreams.¡± Polanzo shrugged. ¡°I was under the impression that the leader of a company is supposed to make the most money possible. This project is going to make us millions and I don¡¯t see any reason why the company shouldn¡¯t use the talents of someone like Robotnik. Before you say anything please spare me a lecture on ethics. You are an ex-Yakuza and an ex-convict. You¡¯re the last person I want to hear from about this company employing a criminal, despite that same company filling your pockets with millions of yen.¡± ¡°Just because I made money employed by SEGA doesn¡¯t mean I will agree with all of its decisions. I won¡¯t let you put the Mean Bean Machine on the market. That¡¯s not the only reason I¡¯m here. I found out about your past and who you really are.¡± ¡°That crocodile must¡¯ve told you didn¡¯t he,¡± Polanzo puffed on his cigarette. ¡°And so what?¡± ¡°Again with your so what.¡± ¡°So what about my past, tell me what about it upsets you Kiryu?¡± ¡°You need to pay for your crimes against humanity and stand trial in the international courts. You may have fooled everyone in SEGA to support you but once the word gets out on who you really are, everyone will turn against you!¡± Polanzo laughed. ¡°You honestly believe in something so stupid to be true. The employees at SEGA turning on me?¡± ¡°Why are you so sure of yourself?¡± ¡°Do you think you are the first one to bring up my past? Do you think you are the first person to oppose me or challenge me for the presidency in my now over 20 years of ruling this company? Let me tell you some things that have gone over your head. When I seized power of the company in 2001. a lot of the then-company elite despised me. ¡°They wrote articles about me, made little gestures of protest calling on me to resign, they said I was a violent brute and a gangster that had no business running a video game company. They said I was an autocrat. Do you know how the president of SEGA is chosen?¡± ¡°Every employee of SEGA votes like any democratic election every 4 years.¡± ¡°Bravo. That¡¯s correct. In every election, I won in a landslide. I was accused of stealing or rigging elections but I never did such a thing. The employees of SEGA chose me themselves, every time. Do you know why? I was the guy that was raising their pay. I was the guy who brought this company out of the red and failure of the Dreamcast era they remember. All anyone ever cares about is money. They get paid, and they are happy. They get paid more they are even happier.¡± Polanzo inhaled his cigarette and continued to speak. ¡°All anyone ever cares about are themselves and does something personally affect them. The common employee of SEGA and its subsidiaries wasn¡¯t affected by any of the bad things my opponents kept saying about me.¡± ¡°The employees never had a chance to hear about your true identity and your crimes.¡± Polanzo dismissively shook his hand. ¡°Oh, my time in Bosnia was mentioned in the 2000s quite a bit by some of my opponents. In fact, most of what that crocodile told you about is public information that can be found on the internet. We live in an age where you can''t really hide what you did in your past life. Such are the times. But you know what¡¯s funny about this whole thing? ¡°People like to grandstand on social media pretending they care about various issues, but at the end of the day, people don¡¯t give a shit about anything. They read about some grave evil in the world, some disaster or tragedy, they say oh that¡¯s terrible they shrug and they move on with their lives as if nothing happened. Many of my opponents warned the employees of me being a literal war criminal.¡± Polanzo started laughing loudly, he took a moment to regain his composure and then continued. ¡°The people working at SEGA just didn¡¯t care, they shrugged or thought oh that¡¯s bad and didn¡¯t lift a finger. I don¡¯t blame these employees they are like everyone else. You look at most of these autocratic countries of today, they aren¡¯t like what communist governments of the past century were like. Total control of all media, one-party state, murdering and jailing opponents¡­ ¡°Those methods are pass¨¦ at this point. Now you keep your population well fed and well paid, a little populism with platitudes like LONG LIVE JAPAN, you let little opposition parties oppose your rule and you constantly push the envelope of what is acceptable in society by tearing down checks and balances little by little. You give them a chance to beat you in an unfair but mostly free election. Any time anybody challenges you shrug and say so what, dismissing any evil you committed and you project a sense of power and intimidation into everyone so that if anyone disagrees with you they are afraid to speak up. ¡°Voila, you have guaranteed, permanent rule. If the majority is well-fed and well-paid, they don¡¯t give a fuck about any evil you committed. People forget everything and they just don¡¯t care. The majority willingly surrenders to you. You might get some dissonant voices here and there but tell me, do you know the name of any person in SEGA that dared to oppose me? You don¡¯t, or you don''t remember because they were swept away with winds of time only to be little white noise in people¡¯s screens for a day until they were forgotten. The majority never stands to defend those voices¡± Kiryu shook his head. ¡°You talk about having the majority supporting you, but that support is based on fear and intimidation, your whole rule is built on violence, violence which you used to seize things from other people that didn¡¯t belong to you, including the presidency of this company. Your whole vision for the future is greed and misfortune. Of course, people didn¡¯t vote against you because they were afraid of you.¡± Polanzo chuckled, puffed his cigarette, and said: ¡°When I abolished presidential term limits, there was a big talk in the company for everyone to get together and stop me in the upcoming election. That could have happened. Despite me threatening and intimidating a few, every employee could have simply circled the opposing candidate¡¯s name and I¡¯d be rotting in a prison in the Netherlands. I can¡¯t influence a person¡¯s free will and what they circle on the ballot. But the apathetic and spineless majority still supported me. ¡°Why? Because oh well nothing bad he does affects me personally and he keeps my pay high. He keeps the company running okay it''s best to do nothing. I wouldn¡¯t call you a spineless and cowardly person, but even a paragon like yourself heard about my past for the first time today, right? You could have informed yourself about me and researched about my legal troubles on the internet all these previous election cycles? But you didn¡¯t. Why? Because it never affected you. You were too busy making video games for SEGA to care. You¡¯ll give me excuses on how you¡¯re handling troubles in the Tojo clan or running your little orphanage. But that¡¯s how it always is. Everyone has an excuse for themself on why they allowed evil to happen when they had the power to prevent it.¡± Kiryu didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°I think we babbled on long enough.¡± Polanzo threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it with his shoe. ¡°I believe you came here for a fight.¡± In one singular motion, Polanzo threw his Maroon suit to the ground and was shirtless. He revealed a muscular and ripped body. On his face, Polanzo looked over 50 years old, but his body looked like he was a 25-year-old athlete. On Polanzo¡¯s back was a tattoo of a double-headed eagle with a lot of monarchic symbolism. The double-headed eagle looked like a mix of the Montenegrin and Serbian doubled-headed eagle used on their coats of arms. Kiryu also took off his upper suit, age hadn¡¯t changed him at all, he was still fit like he always was and still carried his Dragon of Dojima tattoo on his back. Now the two men were ready for a brawl. xxvii Knuckles and Sonic were fighting in the presidential SEGA office. Knuckles was losing. He was no match for Sonic. While Sonic had spent these past months training and getting into shape, Knuckles was the company''s vice president. He didn¡¯t have a very active life. Like most vice presidents of companies, he only attended business meetings and conference calls. The last time Knuckles had been physically active was when he defeated the previous vice president in a fight. That was a long time ago and now Knuckles was an out-of-shape Japanese businessman. He was no match for Sonic who was running circles around him. ¡°This can''t be happening,¡± Knuckles was out of breath. He was about to collapse. ¡°Not this again. I¡¯m not letting you take this away from me. Everything in my life you took away from me not this too.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Sonic said. ¡°You ruined everything for me. I should¡¯ve had a career. I fought Robotnik just as hard as you did but they gave you all the credit. They gave you the reins of a video game franchise. While I got nothing. I got one chance on the 32X with that ¡®Knuckles Chaotix¡¯ or my PS VITA game. Both games are for systems nobody owned, and nobody played. I was screwed from the start. You were allowed to make so many bad games, yet they always called you back for more while I got nothing.¡± ¡°I understand your frustration Knuckles-¡° ¡°You understand?!¡± Knuckles snapped at Sonic. ¡°What do you know about anything?¡± Sonic tried to speak softly, ¡°I understand why you hold resentment towards me. I deserve it. I wasn¡¯t the best person back then-¡° ¡°Not the best? You always held it over my head that you were the boss. You never made anyone forget how important you were.¡± ¡°Okay, scratch what I said earlier, I was a terrible, horrible person. If I had a time machine I would go back and undo everything I did. For what it¡¯s worth I¡¯m sorry. Truly. From the bottom of my heart, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Sonic said very apologetically. ¡°Oh now you say you¡¯re-¡° Sonic changed his tone and said firmly, ¡°As bad as I was back then, that doesn¡¯t excuse what you are doing now. Polanzo¡¯s plan and Robotnik¡¯s new machine are a real evil threat. Whatever wrongs I did to you, doesn¡¯t justify supporting a wanted war criminal and a machine meant to monetize dreams.¡± ¡°I never would have allowed that to happen.¡± Sonic raised an eyebrow. ¡°What?¡± Knuckles sat on the ground. His strength had given out from their fight. He was outmatched and he was ready to give up. ¡°Since I¡¯m losing to you, I might as well tell you my plan. I was fully aware of Polanzo¡¯s plans from the start like you already knew. I wanted to push the Mean Bean machine situation to the breaking point. Then, in the last minute, I would challenge Polanzo to a fight.¡± ¡°Challenge Polanzo?¡± Sonic got closer to Knuckles and also sat on the ground. ¡°Yes. The idea was that after I would defeat him, I would become president and cancel the mean bean machine project. I wouldn¡¯t have let it ever take off.¡± ¡°Why on earth did you plan this?¡± Sonic squinted his eyes. ¡°I wanted to be finally seen as a hero. I figured what got you your video game career was being recognized as a hero. If I did something where I was seen as the sole hero, I could have potentially gotten my own video game franchise.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a really convoluted plan. You do realize that even with all that it was possible that you wouldn¡¯t have gotten a game franchise. Many heroes exist in the world. Most of them don¡¯t get to be video game directors.¡± ¡°Still, I would have been the president of SEGA. I would have wielded a ton of power and could have given myself what I wanted. But that all was the plan. Now none of that matters.¡± Knuckles fell into his hands. ¡°Now you¡¯re taking that away from me like you did everything else.¡± Sonic paused for a moment to clear his thoughts. ¡°I understand how you-¡° ¡°You don¡¯t understand nothing!¡± Knuckles snapped and interrupted Sonic. ¡°Can you please at least hear what I have to say,¡± Sonic said in a joking manner. ¡°You have the hear someone¡¯s opinion first before you decide to toss it away.¡± Knuckles sighed. ¡°Okay. Say what you have to say.¡± ¡°I get how you ended up with your wacky plan. In fact, I was exactly like you until recently. I thought success and recognition was the most important thing in life. I was willing to sacrifice anything and everything just to taste success. I have been in both the highest and lowest you could be in this industry. And let me tell you, ain¡¯t nothing particularly interesting at the top. You get a lot of money but that¡¯s about it.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Easy for you to say when you received recognition for your work. I never had any fame or sales. Any fame I got was off of your back.¡± ¡°Fame and success are very fickle. Just because you never got to be a superstar doesn¡¯t mean you don¡¯t have qualities or things you are incredible at. For example, I could never in my life make the music you make. I think it would be impossible for me to reach your level. And you do have a lot of fans that love the music you make.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool but my games never made any impact. The games I directed never saw any spotlight.¡± Sonic shrugged. ¡°So?¡± ¡°What do you mean so?¡± Knuckles raised his voice a bit. ¡°They were failures. Who even remembers ¡®Knuckles¡¯ Chaotix(1995)¡¯ or the other PS VITA game I made.¡± ¡°Well, I love those games. My pride never allowed me to tell you this, but I am telling you now. I think the games you made were fantastic. Especially that weird RPG game you published independently for the PS VITA.¡± Knuckles scoffed. ¡°Bullshit. You¡¯re lying. You never even played my PS VITA game. Why would Mr. Important even look at that game? Especially back then, you were still SEGA¡¯s star.¡± Sonic made a soft smile. ¡°I knew you wouldn¡¯t believe me. I came prepared to prove it to you.¡± Sonic took his backpack and pulled something out of it. ¡°I went to my apartment to get it before our fight so I can show you.¡± Sonic gave Knuckles a PS VITA. Knuckles didn¡¯t know what to make of it. ¡°This yours?¡± Sonic nodded. ¡°I haven¡¯t used it in a long time but take a look.¡± Knuckles booted up the PS VITA. He scrolled the many apps installed and saw among the bubble icons the indie game he published. Knuckles opened the game and saw a 100% completed safe file. At first, he didn¡¯t believe it. He thought it was a fabrication. A way to trick him but Knuckles opened the trophy list. The save file could be a fake but you can¡¯t fabricate trophies on the PlayStation network. Scrolling through the trophy list Knuckles found his game. 100% completion with a platinum trophy dated in 2013. when the game came out. It was true. He did admire Knuckles¡¯ game. Sonic just never told him. Knuckles was moved and flattered seeing the 100% completion. Judging from Sonic¡¯s trophy list, Sonic rarely completes every single facet of a game. The only games he went so hard for were games he truly loved playing so much. It was to Knuckles a genuine compliment. ¡°I never told you because,¡± Sonic lowered his head, ¡°at the time I felt so envious. I had tarnished my reputation and despite a few good games I made, I felt like your tiny little game no one heard with almost no budget was better than I made in years. I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to admit to you how I felt. In a weak display of insecurity, I remember I made fun of you back then for releasing it on the PS VITA and having poor sales. I¡¯m sorry. I was conceited I could accept that someone was better than me.¡± Knuckles didn¡¯t say anything. He had accepted the apology though. In his mind, he never got any recognition for his games. To hear a sincere ¡®good job¡¯ from someone who put him down for so many decades, had him ready to forgive. The chasm between them was gone and all it took was a simple kind word. Knuckles smiled and said: ¡°While I am flattered by your platinum trophy it still doesn¡¯t change that except for a few people nobody seems to like my game. It might as well have never existed.¡± ¡°I have to ask you, what do you think of the games you made? Not about the sales or the reception. What do you think about them as games and as your projects?¡± ¡°I like them.¡± ¡°Are you proud of them?¡± ¡°Of course, I am. I put in a lot of work!¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s all that should matter. It might sound a bit corny but, a wise man taught me recently. When you are making any kind of art or creative project there is only one judge¡¯s opinion that you should care about.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Sonic said, trying his best to imitate Kiryu, and pointed at Knuckles: ¡°You. You should be the ultimate judge of your own work. Your own opinion of your work is what should matter most to you. Chasing fame and success just for their own sake leads you to emptiness. You start resenting everyone else, you become bitter, and you become unhappy and lonely. Convinced that your success is the most important thing in the world. ¡°There are far more important things in life than being famous and recognized. Success should be just a by-product of your work, not the goal. Whatever you make should be because it makes you happy. And if you get famous and rich from it then that¡¯s amazing. So many artists never get any recognition and fame, yet they work so hard. You should be fulfilled from the work itself.¡± Knuckles nodded. Everything Sonic said clicked for him. Sonic continued: ¡°I don¡¯t want to come off too much like a romantic. Obviously in our industry if you want to keep directing you need good sales, if art is your only work then it¡¯s terrible if you don¡¯t make any money. You should always have a backup and bla bla bla¡­ You get it. To cap it off. Success is good and important. But it isn¡¯t the end all be all. The art you create should be good and enough for you. Everyone else is just a plus. There. Went a little bit too preachy but being with Kiryu does that to you.¡± ¡°I never got to truly meet Kiryu. We only talked on business occasions.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ll get to meet him.¡± Sonic stood up. ¡°So, are we ready to drop this convoluted plan to stop Robotnik? And can we start over as friends? Are we cool?¡± Sonic said a bit nervously. He still wasn¡¯t sure if he had convinced Knuckles. Knuckles stood up. ¡°Yeah, we cool.¡± He grinned and extended his hand to Sonic. Sonic shook Knuckles¡¯ hand and the two finally made up. Knuckles continued shaking Sonic¡¯s hand and said: ¡°Congratulations on defeating me. You are now officially the vice president of SEGA under the company statute. I transfer my power to you.¡± *** Meanwhile, on the SEGA roof. Polanzo was lying on the ground. Bloodied and defeated by Kiryu. Kiryu had done this rooftop final fight many times in his life. He was also in perfect shape. Random people in the street still challenged Kiryu for the occasional brawl. It was almost business as usual. In comparison, Polanzo never stood a chance against him. While Polanzo is a ruthless man he just doesn¡¯t have the fighting experience that Kiryu has. Kiryu stood over the defeated Polanzo. Although Polanzo¡¯s face was bloody from the fight he had a kind grin on his face. ¡°What¡¯s so funny,¡± Kiryu said. ¡°You may have defeated me, and I may be going to trial very soon but you had to do it my way.¡± ¡°Your way?¡± ¡°Through the so-called Polanzo¡¯s law. Or more specifically, through violence. Do you know why I never repealed that law? I mean I legalized my seizure of power through it but decades later I could have removed it. It was a way for me to be ousted from office. Why not consolidate my power and have one less way to be kicked out of the presidency hmmm? Tell me what you think.¡± ¡°I have no idea,¡± Kiryu said without much emotion. ¡°To prove to myself that the world does indeed work how I think it does. The rule of the powerful. The powerful can do whatever they want with the weak masses. In fact, the masses voluntarily submit to you like slaves. Whatever criticism someone brings towards you, simply shrug, and say so what and everything continues as normal. I knew I was never going to lose an election, the only way I was ever going down was if someone more powerful than me showed up. You and I both know that if you ran against me for president, you would have never defeated me.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t know that. We are talking about a hypothetical that never happened.¡± ¡°Oh please, don¡¯t be so foolish. If you believed that you honestly had a chance at defeating me in an election, you would have run against me. Many have tried and all of them failed. " "You said yourself that the elections are unfair but free." "Yes. The employees can still freely vote against me. But no amount of sound arguments and fair critiques can beat populist platitudes, paychecks, and a little intimidation in politics. Instead of the clean route, you chose your fists and force. That¡¯s how it always is in the world. Power, force, violence. You will probably retort with Shadow¡¯s little success story. Your friendly neighborhood hedgehog wins a local election. Those are rare exceptions to the rule. Sometimes flukes like that happen. Most of the time, it¡¯s who¡¯s got the bigger stick.¡± Kiryu didn¡¯t say anything. Nameless goons arrived at the top floor, and they surrounded the defeated Polanzo and Kiryu. All of them carried weapons. They looked in awe and shock. Their boss, who they saw as an undefeatable god was there on the ground. Polanzo started coughing and starting to lose consciousness. Before he went unconscious, he uttered one last thing: ¡°Congratulations on defeating me. You are now officially the president of SEGA under the company statute. I transfer my power to you.¡± With that Polanzo closed his eyes. He wasn¡¯t dead, just out of it. The nameless goons all dropped their weapons, and they bowed down to Kiryu. xxviii The operation ended up a total success. It was later called the ¡®takeover incident¡¯. With Polanzo and his allies defeated, a new administration had taken hold. Kiryu was now the new president of SEGA. However, like many similar situations in Kiryu¡¯s past, his presidency was very short-lived. He would resign from his post after just one day. During that day, he made many sweeping changes. He repealed Polanzo¡¯s law so that no one else from this point on could use violence to gain the presidency. He canceled the mean bean machine project, and banned the production and sale of any similar technology. He also amended the company statute, limiting the power of the president and making the position more transparent. After his one-day presidency, he gave his resignation. Not long after Sonic, Tails¡­ everyone involved gave their resignations as well. Company elections were called, and all of these empty positions needed to be filled. Many wished Kiryu would be a candidate but he had no interest in the presidency. He became busy trying to convince the Japanese government to ban similar technology to the Mean Bean Machine. He was also trying to convince them to revise the current copyright laws. To the surprise of many, Vector the crocodile became the new president. With Charmy the bee as his vice president. He ended his inaugural speech with ¡°No man should have all that power¡°, which resulted in a happy smile from Charmy. Vector pledged to be a very different president and that better new times were on the horizon. The crocodile had used the take-over incident in his favor. He took all of the credit for the operation and was seen as the one who was the most instrumental in bringing Polanzo down. As a result, his popularity soared. Despite being fairly unimportant in the fights, he made a big deal out of being the one who discovered Polanzo¡¯s past and the one who planned the operation. Much too similar to what happened to Sonic in the past and what he did to his friends, everyone else but one person got the credit for a team effort. Sonic was very important and won a key fight, but the media barely mentioned him. His role, along with everyone except for Kiryu, got thrown to the sidelines. Vector and Kiryu were the only heroes as far as public opinion was concerned. This didn¡¯t bother Sonic too much. He had already made his peace before this operation that his days of fame were over. Part of him was bitter about how little credit he got, he understood how Knuckles felt all those years but there wasn¡¯t much he could do. He wasn¡¯t angry at the situation as much as he was angry at Vector. Sonic felt that Vector¡¯s goal was the presidency from the start. He felt that Vector used all of them just to climb to the top. He couldn¡¯t confirm this but considering how aggressively Vector campaigned for president and how quickly he capitalized on the situation made Sonic very suspicious. In the end, knowing his actions would remain uncredited, Sonic decided he was going to search for a day job until he found something fulfilling. He was unemployed and his savings were getting dried up. He wasn¡¯t going to work forever at a day job, he was going to search for a better opportunity. Shadow had sat the operation out and just watched TV at home. He continued his job as mayor of Kowareta Yume and Tails continued being his advisor. The two of them were preparing to introduce a public transportation system with buses in Kowareta Yume. Polanzo was arrested after that night and extradited to the Netherlands where he is going to face the International Courts for his human rights abuses. The trial is still pending. Many of his goons were fired from the company and a general purge of all of his allies was brought in by Vector. The company needed to clean itself from the many gangsters and yakuza Polanzo hired. Knuckles, despite being allied to Polanzo was allowed to continue working for SEGA. He was put in a fairly unimportant managerial role. Robotnik, despite being a big player in all of this, had nothing happen to him. His product was banned and now he was looking for a new job. Because of his old age and general tiredness from world domination scheming, he found a legitimate job as a software engineer. A job he plans to do until he can no longer work or dies. And so the take-over incident came to a close and the company returned to business as usual. *** Some time later Sonic found himself waiting in the lobby room in front of the SEGA presidential office. He was called in for a meeting by the new president. He wasn¡¯t told what the meeting was about, just that Vector wanted to see him. He was called in by the secretary, this was a new secretary he hadn¡¯t seen before and like every secretary she had comically large breasts. The presidential office was completly transformed. No more the golden statutes, excess, and opulence. The office had a more utilitarian and clean look. Even the chair was less tacky, it looked like any regular chair. ¡°You wanted to see me?¡± Sonic said looking angry and frowning. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Vector said surprised. ¡°You know what you did.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°You used me. All of this was about that position you are sitting in right there. You couldn¡¯t care less about anything else. You pretend to be a goofball to disarm people but you are in reality calculated and shrewd.¡± Vector¡¯s demeanor changed to serious. ¡°Me wanting to replace Polanzo because he is a war criminal for moral reasons and me wanting the presidency for personal reasons are not mutually exclusive. You decided to go along with me of your own free will. I did no such manipulating.¡± ¡°You can keep denying it but I now know who you are and I won''t forget.¡± Vector shrugged. ¡°Anyways I called you because of this.¡± Vector placed a piece of paper on the desk. It was the two-game contract Sonic signed with Polanzo. ¡°We began fulfilling many contracts the previous administration had already signed and canceling the ones that were against the interests of the company. It has come to my attention that the second game stipulated in this contract was never fulfilled. I believe you should direct it and make it.¡± ¡°Is this supposed to be some kind of bribe? Am I supposed to be happy now and close my eyes? Oh great a video game. Sweet. Well, I ain¡¯t desperate like I used to be. I¡¯m not selling myself to you because you¡¯re dangling a video game deal in front of me.¡± Vector crossed his arms. ¡°Don¡¯t play the hero. Surely it crossed your mind that if Polanzo was no longer president you wouldn¡¯t be blacklisted anymore. You knew that if someone else was president you could be back to directing video games.¡± Sonic stood up from his chair angry. ¡°I never thought about that! I helped you because I thought it was the right thing to do. I never did it out of personal gain.¡± ¡°Doing something right is not mutually exclusive with doing something that is also personally beneficial.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want your dirty bribe.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a bribe. I am merely fulfilling SEGA¡¯s legal obligations. We can cancel the contract of course if you don¡¯t want to direct a video game. But that wouldn¡¯t be wise for both of us. Your last game was quite profitable, so why wouldn¡¯t we make another one. I know how much you love this job. I¡¯m practically offering you a game, and you get to make it however you want.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not falling for your tricks.¡± ¡°I get it. You think I am the same as Polanzo. I¡¯m not. I do genuinely want this company to be better and I plan to be far more democratic than my predecessor. If you have issues with how I¡¯m running the company, in 4 years there will be another election and you can vote me out. Hell, you could even run yourself as president. Or are you still the type of person who doesn¡¯t care about politics?¡± ¡°We¡¯re done.¡± Sonic stormed out of the office. Vector shouted as Sonic was leaving: ¡°I will give you time to think! Call me in a few days when you decide!¡± The irony was not lost on Sonic. He had spent so long desperately clawing at every opportunity to get back into directing a video game. He obsessed over that idea and could never let go of his fleeting popularity. Now when the offer arrived on a silver platter, with almost no strings attached, he felt dirty accepting it. He was now suspect of Vector and he felt like if he accepted this he was closing his eyes to a potential danger like he did for all of these previous decades. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Sonic didn¡¯t want to be the same. He didn¡¯t want to forsake himself just to get another shot at the spotlight. As Sonic exited the building, outside Tails was waiting for him to drive him home in his red Saab. On the way back Sonic explained to Tails the situation with the contract. ¡°I think you should accept it,¡± Tails said as he drove slowly in the Tokyo traffic. ¡°What? Why?¡± Sonic turned in shock. ¡°I get how you feel but being moralistic for the sake of it isn¡¯t going to help. Like yeah, we know he is a schemer. But he is better than Polanzo. In 4 years we will think about how to deal with him. If he says he is going to be more democratic, he will at least be replaceable peacefully. The contract was signed and you are just fulfilling it. You might feel uncomfortable working for someone shady, but what big corporation isn¡¯t a little shady. All of them have had at least a few moments they would rather the public not know about and they all have or had a real shitty president or CEO. By that logic working for any company is terrible. You gotta find work somehow and somewhere.¡± Sonic sighed. ¡°I guess, but I still feel wrong accepting it. It feels like I am supposed to forget about him being a schemer through this offer and pretend like everything is okay.¡± ¡°Look. You don¡¯t have to pretend anything. Like I said, we know who he is. We have 4 years to think of a way to take him down. We defeated Polanzo and we got Shadow to be the frickin¡¯ mayor. Also maybe he does a really good job as president. What I am trying to say is accepting this offer doesn¡¯t mean you need to forget anything. Just follow what he does and be prepared for another fight if he ends up being evil.¡± Sonic laughed. ¡°I thought I left this hero stuff behind but you can¡¯t run away from some things can you?¡± ¡°One more thing.¡± Tails cleared his throat. ¡°I know how miserable you will be if you don¡¯t accept this game deal. Chances are no one will ever give you the position of game director if you don¡¯t accept this. You are closing that career for good and I know how passionate you are about video games. Vector isn¡¯t asking you to do anything evil. Just to make another video game. If he did ask you to do something dishonest then I¡¯d be singing a different tune. I think you should accept, live out, and fulfill your dreams!¡± ¡°Thanks Tails,¡± Sonic smiled. ¡°I think I will accept it.¡± *** Sonic entered caf¨¦ Alps. Inside he was meeting up with Tails, Shadow, and Knuckles. He had called all of them there. It has been more than a decade since the last time they all sat together like this. The group may have been present at business meetings but after ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ they were never together informally or as friends. Tails and Knuckles drifted apart so much that they were almost like strangers. Shadow was never close with Knuckles in the first place but they got along nicely during the early 2000s until Shadow got his own game. There was a bit of awkwardness and tension in the group, especially because the one who called them, Sonic, was the last one to arrive. Sonic sat at the table and with his cheerful demeanor relaxed the atmosphere. ¡°Okay,¡± Sonic said and clapped his hands. ¡°Here¡¯s the deal. I just finished my meeting with the president of SEGA. We reached an agreement about an upcoming new video game. As his way of ¡®returning the favor¡¯ for helping him become president, he has given me the power to basically make any kind of game I want. He also agreed to give it a very high budget.¡± ¡°And this concerns us how?¡± Knuckles said with skepticism. ¡°I mean I am happy for you and all but did you call us all here just to say that? To gloat?¡± ¡°Of course not!!!! I called you all to ask if you guys would be willing to make that game together? To co-direct it with me. Not as me as your boss but to truly make something together like we always should have.¡± ¡°Are you serious?¡± Knuckles said. ¡°Dead serious.¡± Shadow said: ¡°Well I am quite busy with my work as mayor of Kowareta Yume and Tails has a lot of responsibility as my second in command. However, I think we could manage with our free time. I would love to do another video game.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me twice,¡± Tails said enthusiastically. ¡°I would do anything as long as it was with you Sonic.¡± ¡°What about you Knuckles?¡± Sonic said. Knuckles barely kept himself together. It was the offer he had been waiting his since they defeated Robotnik. Not only was he about to make a game, but he was also going to do it with Sonic as friends. A friendship that seemed to exist in the distant past was now healing. He might even manage to reconnect with Tails and get to know Shadow. In a lot of ways, Knuckles¡¯ journey mirrored Sonic. Both alienated everyone around them for the sake of their self-centered goals, and both of them were so prideful that they destroyed themselves. The difference is in Knuckles¡¯ point of view, he was finally getting something that Sonic seemed to receive in abundance but wasn¡¯t afforded to him, a chance. A true chance at success and redemption. ¡°I happily accept your offer,¡± Knuckles said. ¡°Geez you don¡¯t need to be so formal,¡± Sonic said jokingly. ¡°A simple yeah would have done the job.¡± The group started laughing together. Knuckles wasn¡¯t the only one who was excited about this offer. Tails was also overjoyed. Looking at his best friend he hadn¡¯t seen him this happy since he moved in with him. It seemed that Sonic had finally made peace with all of his demons. The two of them would get to be a duo together like they were when they made ¡®Sonic 2(1992)¡¯. The simple joy and creative spark without egos and business clashing. Tails remembered the dinner during the time of ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ when Knuckles had walked off. That walkout was the end of everything. Up until that point, there had been an illusion of comradery between them. Tails believed that he would never be able to sit together with Knuckles like this again. He felt like the echidna he knew from the forest was long gone but sitting here and laughing with him had him believe that nothing really changed. There wasn¡¯t any feeling of animosity or resentment, just a relief that everyone was together again. ¡°Have you got a name for the new game or an idea what type of game you think we should make?¡± Tails asked Sonic. ¡°I¡¯m not sure about a name yet but I have an idea of what it could be. I was thinking about a kind of ¡®new Sonic Heroes¡¯. Something corny about teamwork and friendship with a feel to it like Sonic Heroes. What do you guys think? I think something like that would be really cool to do right now.¡± The rest of the group approved and loved the idea. Everyone was already planning out the game in their heads. ¡®Sonic Heroes(2003)¡¯ was the game that brought them apart and now it was going to be the glue that pulled them back together as a team. It took many decades but the story¡¯s themes of friendship finally came through Sonic¡¯s head. It was time to work on this new project. *** ONE YEAR LATER Inside the SEGA building was an anniversary celebration event. Polanzo was a name that evaporated from everyone¡¯s memory as he was locked up in the Netherlands. Vector was sitting at a table surrounded by his associates and allies. The presidential table used to be filled with people who obviously looked like gangsters in flashy suits carrying weapons. Now they were all unremarkable-looking businessmen. The company was now truly a clean business. One look at that presidential table in comparison to the previous anniversary event was enough to showcase just how much things had changed since the new regime came. Near the presidential table, there was a table occupied by Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow who were joined by Ulala and Kiryu. They were chatting about various topics. The whole conference room had a good atmosphere and an air of ease could be felt. ¡°So let me get this straight,¡± Shadow said raising his arms in disbelief. ¡°All of you here, have met and worked with Michael Jackson?¡± ¡°Yup¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± ¡°How?!¡± Shadow demanded an explanation. ¡°The three of us,¡± Sonic pointed towards himself, Tails and Knuckles. ¡°Got to work with him on ¡®Sonic 3(1994)¡¯, he did part of the soundtrack. Although, I knew him before that. I helped him with his Moonwalker video game for the SEGA Genesis. He was a big fan of my games and he had a close relationship with SEGA. I was a rising star in the early 90s so it felt really flattering knowing he loved my games.¡± ¡°My story is similar,¡± Ulala lit a cigarette and inhaled. ¡°He loved ¡®Space Channel 5(1999)¡¯ so much that he asked SEGA to be a part of the game. He appears as basically himself in the game. He dances and sings with me. Pretty cool, huh? I was also quite star-struck by Michael Jackson being a fan of my work. It was a fun time. Ah, memories.¡± ¡°In my case, he was never a part of my games,¡± Kiryu started talking. ¡°I met him back in 1988. when he was in Japan. Back when I was just a yakuza. We danced together a lot in those times. He did a lot of HE HE-s and SHAMONE-s. There¡¯s a whole sub story in ¡®Yakuza 0(2016)¡¯ about it but we had to call him Miracle Johnson in the game because he was dead at that point and legal reasons.¡± ¡°Now the ultimate question for Ulala,¡± Tails raised his hand. ¡°Who would win in a fight, Michael Jackson or Lupin the 3rd?¡± ¡°A no-brainer. Lupin the 3rd, of course. He is unbelievably powerful.¡± The rest of the table agreed with Ulala. ¡°Why does everyone say that?¡± ¡°You just don¡¯t get it Tails,¡± Sonic said with an I told you so grin. ¡°Lupin is unstoppable.¡± ¡°To change the subject,¡± Kiryu said. ¡°I saw the new Sonic game. Congratulations! The reviews and sales are excellent.¡± Sonic modestly accepted the compliment. ¡°I know SONIC is in the title but this was very much a team effort. I am not the only one who is responsible for the success. We had to call it a Sonic game due to marketing. But it is not really ¡®my¡¯ game,¡± Sonic looked towards Tails, Knuckles and Shadow. ¡°It¡¯s our game.¡± Each of them contributed in their own way towards the project and they received the credit that they should. No one was sidelined and they were a true team. Knuckles also became close to them throughout the game development and considering the great sales and reviews they will probably continue working together. ¡°Thank you for giving me the advice to be better,¡± Sonic said to Kiryu. ¡°Also, congratulations to you too for successfully petitioning the government.¡± ¡°The copyright laws have been finally changed to be more fair and mean bean machine technology has been officially banned in the country. I see all of have been quite busy this year.¡± Kiryu turned to Shadow and Tails. ¡°Good job Tails on finishing college! And I¡¯ve read that the sewer system of Kowareta Yume has finished its renovation. No more flooded toilets.¡± Shadow and Tails proudly nodded. ¡°We introduced a public transportation system with buses in the area too. Me and Tails have many more ideas on how to make our town better.¡± Their chatter was interrupted by Vector. He stood up on a podium to give a speech about the company. While he was giving his speech Sonic looked towards him frowning the entire time. ¡°What¡¯s gotten you upset?¡± Tails asked Sonic. ¡°I don¡¯t like him. He has done a good job as president so far, I¡¯ve been following his work closely. However, he is still a schemer and I don¡¯t trust him.¡± ¡°You used to dismiss any talk on this subject before.¡± ¡°I know. I understand why it¡¯s important now.¡± Tails sighed. ¡°Well, whatever we think of Vector at least he is replaceable. He doesn¡¯t seem to be entrenching himself to be lifetime president like Polazo.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. You know maybe someday I might try my hand at being the company president.¡± ¡°Really? I¡¯d like to see that. I can¡¯t imagine you as president of SEGA.¡± ¡°Well, not anytime soon. Maybe in the future when I finally get sick of making video games,¡± Sonic cleared his throat. ¡°By the way don¡¯t forget about tomorrow.¡± ¡°Tomorrow?¡± ¡°I knew you would forget. Tomorrow is a very big day. Possibly the last time you will be driving me.¡± ¡°Oh yeah! Honestly, I will miss driving you around but I wish you luck tomorrow!¡± The anniversary event went along after the Vector¡¯s speech. The group continued to talk and everyone was having a great time. *** Tomorrow morning Tails drove Sonic to the local court in Kowareta Yume. Sonic was going to trial to have his driver¡¯s license returned. His drunk driving was the reason he ended up living with Tails and why Tails was driving him around. It was finally time to reevaluate his behavior. Sonic made his case in front of the court. How much his lifestyle has changed and how different of a person he was. He was unrecognizable to who he was when he was in this same room when his license was taken away. After listening to his appeal, the court decided to return to him his license. Sonic exited the courthouse where Tails was waiting for him with his red Saab 900. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± Tails said. Sonic simply showed him the driver¡¯s license smiling and asked: ¡°Can I?¡± ¡°Yes. You can drive my car.¡± Tails gave Sonic the keys. ¡°Make sure you don¡¯t crash it. I will see you back home, I will take the bus.¡± Sonic entered the car, placed the key into the ignition, and took off. With his hands on the wheel, he was finally in the driver¡¯s seat. He was finally about to do something he had dreamed of for a long time. He turned on the speakers of the song ¡®Across the 110th Street¡¯, the opening and closing song from ¡®Jackie Brown(1997)¡¯. Sonic had reached his Jackie Brown ending that he believed would be impossible to reach. Driving around as the song played in the background he reflected upon his journey. He was at a point in his life where he could say was truly happy. Surrounded by friends and doing work he loves doing. As he drove on the roads of Kowareta Yume he noticed how perfect the weather was outside. Sunny with a clear blue sky. Tears of joy swelled in his eyes. Everything was just perfect. It was his happy ending. As much as he wanted this to be the end, life kept on going. There were many new projects he wanted to work on. He was still full of dreams of the future, the possibility of new adventures even in his relatively older age was still not something out of reach. The world seemed like it was full with endless possibilities. Sonic continued driving his car, smiling and crying, listening to music. THE END