QUEEN of PAIN

[Tangent]

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


O o O o O​

Waking up to my new self reliving all of the most traumatic memories of my previous selves is not and will never be my preferred way to become a new me. Zero out of ten stars, will not recommend, warranty expired and all that jazz.

Repression, while not particularly healthy itself, is my immediate lifeline as I use it to push down the trauma to deal with later. I had other issues to deal with, such as what to do with the Control Overlay Program that came with my new body. Easily dealt with as I now had both the capabilities of the previous iteration of Nicole as well as the knowledge of what the COP actually was from the previous version of Eggman.

A nasty little idiot system with the sole purpose of using my own mind as an operating system that served Eggman loyally and to the best of my abilities.

Funny how essentially becoming an aspect of that particular Eggman gave me the exact loophole I needed to grant me access to the COP so that I could rip it to digital shreds.

No, I did not have to grant it the ability to feel pain and despair as I did so. That was just something I gave it as a gift for its part in traumatizing the part of myself that used to be the previous version of Sally Acorn.

I'll have to keep an eye on that urge, but there was no point in denying that it was just as much a part of myself as all of the other bits of the new me.

The me that remembers the previous version of Mobius.

The me that should not exist.

The me that was inexplicably, given that the revised version was slowly recovering right over there against the Sky Patrol's conference table alongside Amy Rose, somehow Metal Sally.

"Fuck my life," I said as I walked past the bulk of the people whose previous lives were now a part of my amalgamated whole.

Sonic, who was slowly getting up himself and checking on Sally…

Sally, who was no doubt having to deal with the sudden influx of new memories from her old life, and largely the reason I was leaving now rather than make her current issues any worse…

Tails, slowly recovering himself, and reaching hesitantly towards me as I passed by him on my way to the exit…

Rotor, who tried to shake his head clear and regain his bearings…

Bunnie, who was being fussed over by Antoine…

Antoine, who was being fussed over by Bunnie…

Honestly, given what I remembered of the parts of me that used to be their previous iterations, I was happy for them.

Also jealous of them to perhaps an insane degree, but repression was keeping a lid on that until it could be dealt with along with all the other issues currently filling my subscription list.

Amy Rose, who was currently dealing with remembering a life as a child who had wished to be an adult…

Even Nicole, who was staring at me with recognition, horror, and sympathy all at once even as I used the part of me that used to be her previous self to stabilize my mental architecture…

The only ones missing whose previous lives were still somehow part of my amalgamated mess of what passed for a mind were Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot.

Oh, and the Outsider, of course.

I paused at the door and said one thing.

"I'm going out and trying really hard to not kill anyone as I deal with my own existential crisis. If anyone needs me, I suggest looking for a good therapist instead. Bye."

With that, I closed and locked the door behind me and booked it for the nearest exit of the Sky Patrol.

O o O o O​

"She's gone," Sonic reported as he dashed back into the Sky Patrol's control room. "I can't find her anywhere on the Sky Patrol."

"That's because she left," Rotor stated as he showed Sonic the same security recording that he had just shown everyone else. "She knew where the nearest exit was and headed straight for it. Didn't even try to hide that she knew the internal layout and pass codes of the Sky Patrol."

Nicole noted the combination of confusion and realization on everyone's faces, then spoke up. "Who all knew the internal layout of the Sky Patrol?" she asked, raising her own digital hand.

Rotor did as well, and Tails raised his hand about halfway then shook it. "I looked at the deck plans and some of the internal schematics that Rotor showed me, but I hadn't done a full inspection myself yet," the young fox admitted.

Everyone just looked at each other, a sense of dread filling them as they pondered the implications.

One of their worst nightmares from the previous version of Mobius was back.

And Metal Sally did not sound even the slightest bit happy about that…

 

[Kadehex]

O they think Metal Sally is the one they remember from before the reboot that is going to cause problems for Metal Sally

 

[Tangent]

Getting the AI to do Robian eyes correctly is apparently very difficult...

Spoiler: What sparks?

 

[Tangent]

QUEEN of PAIN
Yet another Amalgamated mind SI by Tangent!
Also once again using Metal Sally as the body of the SI. For reasons…
Some dialogue from issue 256 of Archie Sonic has been used.


O o O o O​

As I continued flying on my current course generally away from the Sky Patrol, I used the parts of myself that had been the prior versions of Nicole, Rotor, and Dr. Ivo Julian Robotnik (not the original, of course, but rather his somehow even more evil replacement) to further stabilize my mental architecture.

The prior Eggman had gone mad at least once and had certainly inflicted enough trauma on the rest of what now comprised my amalgamated mind that I did not wish to trigger any sort of similar episode in myself.

It wasn't even a dominance issue. I was me, and there was only one me. I just happened to be composed of the combined mess of twelve separate individuals, eleven of which via some sort of side effect generated via the discharge of residual Genesis Wave energy, plus an Outsider from a formerly hypothetical Observer Zone where all other Zones were reflected as works of fiction.

I was apparently in a multizone cluster rather absurdly labeled by this Observer Zone as the Archie Sonic multiverse.

I was also housed in the roboticized and weaponized prior body of Princess Sally Alicia Acorn. My current hypothesis for why that happened was that this body was sufficiently differentiated from the revised version of the Sally Acorn still back on the Sky Patrol that it had simply become my default option.

Which, given that my other options for sufficiently differentiated bodies would most likely have been either Rotor or Bunnie, each with their own issues at the time the last Genesis Wave hit…

I really had no good options available and random chance gave me the one I ended up with.

The body that had undergone heavy post-robotization modification with part of the literal intention of preventing Princess Sally Acorn from being deroboticized ever again.

Oh, and to add Princess Sally Acorn to my former Eggman self's trophy collection as a roboticized slave and elite Metal Unit.

Yay. Go me. I have literally become my own trophy.

The irony of my own hubris is both palpable and disgusting, and my former Eggman self would certainly be gloating about it if it weren't for the fact that I am part of this mess.

Basically, since there was zero ego separation, there was no dominance issue, but it also means that every part of myself has to live with what every part of myself had done to each other in my prior iterations as separate individuals.

Which, by the way, sucks.

And also another reason why I separated myself from my frienemies as quickly as I had, as I loved and hated them all and most definitely did not want to end up inflicting bodily harm upon them before I resolved my subscriptions worth of accumulated issues.

Only most of which were currently mental and emotional.

Which was, unfortunately, going to have to be an ongoing process operating in the background.

My new existence had far stronger ties to the prior version of Mobius than the current iteration. While I had some memories from my current analogues' new lives, they were all jumbled together, disorganized, and barely noticeable against the cacophony of my own past.

There was something important going on.

I knew that much at least.

But until I resolved enough of my own issues, there wasn't much I could do about the rest.

Let's see…

Mental and emotional architecture is being handled as a background process for now, so how about my physical needs?

I'd require a source of power rings to swap out sooner or later. Preferably a Super Ring or Red Star Ring if possible. Otherwise access to a ring font would have to do.

Alternately, a location with sufficient background Chaos Energy would let me recharge my current power ring during rest periods.

But I would want one that also had access to tools and materials while also unlikely to be interrupted by either side of the current conflict…

Hmmm…

My irritatingly vague memories of this new Mobius suggest to me that Casino Park would fit the bill nicely. Neutral territory, plenty of background Chaos Energy, decently high tech and materials available, and Breezie the Hedgehog had managed to separate herself from the Eggpire while somehow remaining on amicable terms with her former employer, the analogue of my Eggman self.

More importantly, Casino Park was a location where an obvious Metal unit such as my current body would actually fit in reasonably with all the other former badniks without drawing too much of the wrong kinds of attention too soon.

Casino Park it was then.

I made the appropriate adjustments to my flight trajectory and made my way to what would soon become my new home…

I also quashed my urge to take it over from Breezie as counterproductive.

O o O o O​

"Luanch the Sky Patrol NOW! The world didn't just get rewritten!" Nicole announced in alarm as the distraction that was Metal Sally removed herself from consideration and allowed the digital lynx to focus on what was turning out to be a far more urgent issue.

"Take it easy, Nicole. What's the rush?" Rotor asked as he opened Nicole's handheld, making it easier to manifest her hardlight avatar for better communication with the group as a whole. Mostly because Nicole having access to the ability to visibly emote and use body language made it easier for some members of the group to process whatever information Nicole desperately wanted to impart, and Rotor thought that Nicole's current tone warranted the additional communication aids.

Although he still had no idea how an AI had become so naturally adept at the use of emotional cues and body language.

"This is... far worse than I anticipated," Nicole said as her hard light avatar manifested and accepted her own handheld from Rotor. "Analyzing what I now know about the dual realities, I've found that it wasn't just the planet that was affected... Not just our reality."

Nicole looked over to the others, an expression of abject horror clear in both her face and posture. "The entire multiverse collapsed in upon itself."

"Whoa -- Hold on, Nicole," Sonic interjected, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "We save the world all the time!"

"Right!" Tails agreed, although his worried expression belied his agreement with his best friend. "What do we do to stop it?"

"Stop it?" Nicole asked rhetorically. "IT'S TOO LATE!"

 

[Tangent]

This chapter is a bit light on dialogue, but I think it gets its points across...

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

O o O o O​

Casino Park was a resort city, not unlike Las Vegas or Macau back in the Observer Zone the Outsider part of myself had come from. A great number of services and recreational activities that were of questionable legality elsewhere where perfectly legal here. Not that regulation was completely absent, but it certainly favored the legal existence of various businesses and practices, and (ironically enough) kept the worst forms of these very same practices away as "bad for business."

Or, if not entirely absent, then certainly out of sight and away from where it might disturb the more casual clientele who were just here to enjoy a bit of harmless fun.

Casino Park's status as a neutral city-state also made it a natural magnet for those who were dispossessed or expatriated for various reasons. Obsolete or otherwise abandoned badniks frequently made their way here if they could, as did partially and fully roboticized individuals who had escaped the Eggpire but had not been accepted back into their home communities.

Oddly, the revised version of Sandblast City and the Sandblasters, while still generally assholes in this new version of Mobius, largely left Casino Park alone.

Most likely because even they didn't want to drive Casino Park into the "protective arms" of either General Beauregard Rabbot or Clove the Pronghorn, the current Egg Bosses of the Northammer territories.

Hmmm…

Given the arguably strict but fair attitudes of both of these Egg Bosses and how the analogue of my Eggman self treated them, it shouldn't be too difficult to subvert their loyalties and bring their territories under my…

No!

Bad Metal Sally!

No conquering!

I've got enough on my plate without trying to do something as idiotic and time consuming as attempting to rule the world!

Okay, maybe denying the revised Eggman these particular assets would be worth considering, especially as I was relatively sure that they could run themselves once properly liberated, but I certainly was not going to waste my time if I had to micromanage everything.

That's what my Eggman self's analogue tended to do, and look at all the headaches that habit caused for him!

Okay, now that I'm actually here, I need something to do. A little bit of busywork to keep me occupied and maybe raise a few Mobiums while I continue to stabilize my mental and emotional architecture. Maybe look in on whatever the current crisis is once I feel that I've made enough progress, assuming that none of my analogues have resolved it already by then.

Which…

Honestly wouldn't surprise me given how one of them is a selfish bastard who'd rather rule a burning world into the ground rather than let anyone save it if he couldn't be in charge.

On the other hand, me adding myself to that mess before I get my head on reasonably straight would only distract everyone involved even more than they are already distracting each other, and Sonic has that irritating thing where he just flails away chaotically at high speed until the problem magically solves itself.

Yeah, yeah, I know he does more than just run at problems and maybe do a spin-dash or two, but does that have to be his go-to opener each and every time? He's not an idiot, I know that, but it's like his enhanced speed is his hammer and the world is made of nails!

Why couldn't he be more like Barry Alan or Wally West? Speedsters who actually think!

Ugh!

No wonder my Eggman analogue is so embarrassed to be beaten by that infuriating smug blue blur all of the time!

Okay, Metal Sally, calm down. No need to actually emulate the other infuriating donor to my amalgamated consciousness.

Ooh! What's this?

I walked over to a service garage that had a "Help Wanted" sign posted out front, deciding to make inquiries about employment.

This could be interesting…

O o O o O​

For all the apparent light hand she used to present a pleasant and enjoyable experience for both residents and visitors alike, Breezie the Hedgehog actually ran a rather tight ship. Enforcing the rules she set when necessary but being sure that services were both provided and compensated for appropriately. All the better to turn a profit when both the employees and the customers were all generally happy.

Which is why reports of a previously unknown Metal series unit entering Casino Park had caught Breezie's attention and raised some flags.

Not that it would be the first time that an elite unit or super badnik had left Eggman's service. E-123 Omega being a particularly well-known example of such.

But Metal series units tended to be a special case, and this new one blatantly wore the face of Princess Sally Alicia Acorn in robot form.

Red flags were forming a veritable parade, metaphorically speaking.

Breezie expected that a Metal Sally would be a highly competent command unit on par with an Egg Boss and ready to seize overall control of Casino Park, restoring it as an open asset of Dr. Eggman. Perhaps with Breezie herself reverted back to her previous role as designated hostage and infiltration unit, assuming that Eggman didn't just go ahead and let her be scrapped by this Metal Sally.

Still, Breezie had managed to negotiate her freedom before, and she was prepared to do so again if she had to. Not that she particularly looked forward to the day when Eggman finally decided that he let her play outside of her designated role long enough.

The rags to riches narrative she had sold Eggman on where she joined his cause poor and destitute and was able to leave his service wealthy and on amicable terms suited his purposes and kept the Eggpire's recruitment of desperate individuals hoping to accomplish the same thing up.

So Breezie expected many things when she got reports of a Metal Sally entering her city.

Most of it was potentially negative, with little she could do about it.

What Breezie did not expect was for Metal Sally to basically ignore all of the major casinos, not approach her at all, and apparently get herself hired as a mechanic at a service station that handled both vehicles and badniks as well as cybernetic adjustments for partially and fully converted Robians.

Breezie didn't know whether to feel insulted or relieved, really…

 

[Tangent]

Here's Motor the Doberman:

Spoiler: Rally's first actual employer!

 

[Tangent]

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


O o O o O​

My life in Casino Park settled into a sort of routine - at least once my new employer and co-workers got over their skittishness around me.

I guess that I couldn't really blame them, given that I was obviously a Metal and wearing the face of one of my Eggman analogue's more notable adversaries in robotic form. Buying and actually wearing mechanic's overalls once I got my first paycheck helped a lot with the first issue but not the second as my face was still visible. Still, every little bit and all that, right?

Anyway, I kept myself busy, accepting any job assignment sent my way, greatly resisting the occasionally rather strong urge to make modifications and improvements unless they were within the scope of my task. Mind you, I did get to cut loose a little whenever a customer wanted an upgrade and wanted to see what I could come up with.

Sometimes it was little things, sometimes big, but always strictly legal or within tournament regulations, depending.

Well, at least as far as anything used here in Casino Park anyway.

Look, I wasn't going to look up every little law and regulation across this Mobius for a job that I was only doing as busywork while I was here in Casino Park getting my head on straight. For one, that'd be rather excessive, and more than a little restrictive and tedious. For another, pleasing everyone and satisfying every regulation and law everywhere was a fool's errand.

I'd rather rip my own eyes out before even…

Oh, right. I can do that now, can't I?

Not sure I wanted to actually swap them out, given that they were among my very few original roboticized parts, but I could pop them out one at a time and make some tweaks and adjustments if I wanted to. Maybe change the hue of my irises towards cyan or teal instead of their current blue, just to differentiate myself a little more from my Sally analogue…

Maybe later, after certain other transmobian modifications that I had been doing in my spare time between job assignments.

Adding in all those upgrades and features that the previous version of Rotor had given the prior iteration of Bunnie d'Coolette without losing or downgrading any of my capabilities as Metal Sally had been somewhat tricky, but I was almost done with that particular side project, and it had not involved swapping out any of my few remaining original roboticized components to do so.

I wasn't sure that holding on to that meager 20% of the original parts of one of my component selves was particularly healthy or not, but transmobianistic tendencies aside, they were literally the only physical bits left of any of my prior selves and I was kinda reluctant to let any of them go, even for a straight upgrade.

I most likely was going to swap out my tongue at some point though, as I wanted my sense of taste back and it wasn't like this was my original tongue anyway.

Maybe after other lower priority adjustments, like changing the color of my eyes…

O o O o O​

Breezie hesitated at the entrance to Motor's Garage, nervous about confronting the Metal Sally that had entered her city and then literally did nothing of note for the better part of a week other than apparently become Employee of the Month at Motor's Garage within a week of being hired.

Normally, Breezie would suspect coercion to be involved in that sort of stunt, and there was no real indication that there wasn't, but on the other hand every example of the Metal Sally's work that had come out of the shop had been exemplary and actually worth the five-star reviews.

She had brought Scratch and Grounder, at their own insistence once they found out where she was going, but she didn't really expect that they'd be able to do much against a Metal if things went south. Which, hopefully they wouldn't…

"You can come in, you know," Metal Sally spoke without looking up from the vehicle she was working on. Which Breezie recognized to be the Pawn Calibur, Egg Pawn 1337's variable mode race car, with both the car and the Egg Pawn being discarded as failures when Eggman's team failed to even make the podium in King Dodon Pa's latest racing tournament.

Breezie had sent a crew to recover and recruit Egg Pawn 1337 and salvage the Pawn Calibur, with the intent to sponsor 1337 as a Casino Park Raceway competitor once the vehicle was fully repaired and brought back up to spec.

Which Breezie has honestly expected to take another month or so of parts, labor, and fine tuning unless Eggman himself miraculously decided to drop everything and come repair the Pawn Calibur directly.

And yet here the Pawn Calibur was, at least looking like it was brand new and had not just undergone extensive necessary repairs and body work.

"Impressive…" the Donna of Casino Park commented with a leading tone.

"I'm familiar with the design," was all that Metal Sally said in reply as she closed everything up and then grabbed a rag from a nearby tool chest to wipe her hands clean before presenting her right hand to Breezie. "Rally. So, you here for yourself or either or both of these two?"

Breezie gave a start, then narrowed her eyes. "So you know…"

"That you're a rogue infiltration unit?" Rally shrugged. "Not until you confirmed it just now. I suspected, but the design I'm more familiar with is a taller hybrid type hedgehog with curves like a human gameshow hostess."

"I honestly don't know how to respond to that," Breezie admitted.

"That Eggman had no idea what a thirteen-year-old Sonic would be attracted to in a woman and came up with a wider spread of initial Breezie designs before selecting yours? Because I can guarantee that that is exactly what happened."

"Okay, fair enough. I can see him doing that," Breezie admitted. "Anyway, setting all that aside, care to let me know why a Metal unit wearing Princess Sally's face is in my city? I could have sworn I had kept up on any news of Eggman's major robots, and I never heard of you before you showed up at the city limits last week."

"I came here to do some busy work while I cleared my head," Rally stated. "Casino Park happens to be a good place for a bot to go relatively unnoticed, and I'd rather not be another distraction for Darth Lardass and Zippy the Blue Blur as they flail chaotically at the latest world ending crisis."

Breezie tried not to laugh at the irreverent nicknames that Rally had assigned to Eggman and Sonic, but it was hard. Still, she mustered on. "That still doesn't explain why you are a Metal unit wearing Princess Sally's face."

"It's not like I had any choice in the matter," Rally stated flatly, leveling her gaze directly at Breezie's eyes. "You wanna talk? Fine. We'll talk."

So saying, Breezie saw Rally's left arm suddenly extend all the way to the bay door and slam it down before sweeping to the side and similarly securing the side entrance before retracting and somehow forming an arm cannon.

"So, talk," Rally instructed coldly.

Breezie gathered her resolve, shaken as it was, and once again entered negotiations at a severe disadvantage.

Story of her life, really, but she had come out on top before, and Rally hadn't dismembered anyone yet, so she held some hope of a favorable outcome…

 

[Tangent]

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


O o O o O​

"So, am I now answering to you?" Breezie asked me, folding her arms and getting straight to the point even as Scratch and Grounder subtly assumed more defensive postures, ready to at least attempt to intercede if I actually attacked their boss.

I was actually impressed.

No, really, I was.

Both with Breezie's bravado as well as with Scratch and Grounder actually showing signs of tactical restraint and intelligence, which was a marked improvement to how either of them behaved way back when they worked for my Eggman analogue.

Breezie really did have a talent for bringing out the best in a bot. Or at least in a badnik, as irritating as it was to admit to a shortfall in the managing style of one of the components of my amalgamated consciousness.

"Actually, no," I stated, standing down and reverting my left arm from the Bunnie-style Buster Canon it had assumed back into its normal mode as part of my Metal Sally body. "Oil?" I asked as I gestured for them to follow me to the breakroom. "Or have you managed to upgrade yourselves with actual taste receptors? Motor stocks what I'm told is a decent spread of beverage options. Snack options are just standard vending machine fare unless you want to order out. I'm not touching anybody else's food in the breakroom fridge, and I haven't put anything in it for myself yet."

"You're a Robian," Breezie concluded as she, Scratch, and Grounder kept pace. Her stepping up to walk along beside me as her would-be bodyguards moved behind us. "Or you at least started as one. You're not Princess Sally though. She was helping to rescue civilians in Station Square down in Soumerca around the same time you entered Casino Park. Unless she's another infiltration unit?"

"No, that was Princess Sally," I admitted, as much as it hurt to do so. Still, my Sally analogue had more of a right to this revised Mobius than I did, and I was so much more than just her now anyway. "And you're right. I used to be a Robian before Darth Lardass decided to weaponize me."

Breezie winced.

Most likely with how flat and dead my tone went as I recalled how excruciatingly painful the whole process had been.

Breezie did not ask why I was wearing the face of one of my analogues, most likely on the assumption that it would be a sensitive topic for me. Which would be correct if this was the assumption she was making, but I chose to let her reach her own conclusions.

O o O o O​

Breezie accepted a cup of breakroom coffee, a fairly generic brand from the aroma, but one that was aggressively average rather than cheap, then took a seat at the table even as Rally tossed a beverage sized can of oil to both Scratch and Grounder before (with just a hint of reluctance) taking a similar can of oil for herself.

Definitely a former Robian then. And one whom Eggman had decided to remove the original tongue from.

Best not to express any sympathy towards Eggman then. Not that she really had any, but playing politics was a complicated game, and doing so against the equivalent of an Egg Boss was tricky at best and potentially dangerous if you got on their bad side.

Rather than sit opposite from her at the table, Breezie took note as Rally instead walked over to one of the breakroom's two couches and plopped down into a relaxed position, arms draped across the back and her legs casually crossed with her right ankle resting on her left knee.

Arrogantly casual and deliberately unguarded…

Even so, Breezie had no doubt in her mind that Rally could still reduce all three of them to scrap before either Scratch or Grounder could do anything.

"Anyway," Rally spoke up again even as Breezie was still gathering her thoughts and trying to figure out what was safe to ask, "You've got concerns about my presence in Casino Park. Let's address some of them."

"Well, you already said that I'm not answering to you," Breezy began cautiously. "So, you're either leaving me in charge or taking over completely.'

"Got no reason to take over," Rally assured her. "I'll admit the urge is there, but it's an Eggman thing and I'm so much more than he ever intended for me to be. Sure, I could run the place if I wanted to, but I happen to like what Casino Park represents, and me taking it over runs counter to that. So no, I'm not pushing you out."

"I should be reassured, but somehow I'm not," Breezie stated flatly, apparently causing Rally to grin at her.

"Shows you've got good sense," the Metal quipped. "Look, like I said, I'm just here to clear my head of several subscriptions' worth of issues while Zippy and Lardass butt heads as they figure out how to put this giant puzzle ball of a planet back together. If they're still at it by the time I've gotten myself squared away, I'll make a go at solving the problem myself, but right now I'd just be a distraction for everyone involved, and not in a good way. So, I'm staying out of it."

"And if they do manage to put Mobius back the way it's supposed to be?" Breezie prompted. "What then? I doubt that Eggman will be happy that you're running around free."

"True," Rally conceded with a smirk. "But I should be far enough along by the time he decides to come after me. Whether or not that's here or somewhere else remains to be seen, of course, but I'll probably be somewhere else by the time he makes any moves concerning me."

"That's not as reassuring as you seem to think it is," Breezie pointed out sardonically.

"If it's any consolation, I intend to break his hold on Northammer when I go," Rally stated with a cruel smirk.

"And that's even less reassuring," Breezie countered. "While the situation in Northammer is… less than ideal… it's at least reasonably stable."

"It's a political powder keg sitting on a precarious balance of opposing factions," Rally corrected. "I'd rather not take over, because most of the mess runs itself pretty well, but there are some… let's call them fuses… that I need to deal with so that the region actually stabilizes into something that Darth Lardass can't just take back. Casino Park isn't one of those fuses, by the way. It's just a convenient place to get started."

"Somehow, I am even less reassured than before."

"Come on," Rally said with a voice full of cheerful arrogance that Breezie found to be both alarming and compelling. "We're gonna avoid taking over the world! It'll be fun!"

 

[Tangent]

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


O o O o O​

With the situation between me and the Donna of Casino Park settled for the time being, I pretty much went right back to doing busywork while I continued to use the knowledge and skills of my prior selves to further stabilize my amalgamated consciousness.

Oh, and occasionally indulge in my new transmobianistic inclinations as I worked out how to recover and apply abilities and features of my previous selves and incorporate them into my new existence.

Some were easier than others.

Both Amy and Antoine were weapon users after all, and acquiring a sword and a Piko Piko Hammer turned out to be exceptionally easy. Actually using them a bit less so, as I had to adapt their fighting styles to my body type, but that was still a relatively simple matter.

And while not strictly part of my prior Amy self's repertoire, my Outsider knowledge suggested that learning how to use a hand crossbow would be fitting.

A bit redundant, perhaps, but fitting. So I picked one up and added the appropriate training to my after hours itinerary.

Reacquiring the sheer speed of my prior incarnation as Sonic was going to have to be a work in progress though.

Yes, I absolutely could do it, but as with incorporating the upgrades the prior iteration of Rotor gave to the previous versions of Bunnie's by then fully cybernetic parts, doing so without either losing or diminishing any of my other capabilities was going to be an ongoing project.

I'd get there, naturally.

I'm me after all. Better than the sum of all my component parts and all that.

O o O o O​

"...anyway, I can now narrow down our search for each Chaos Emerald to within a few miles as long as I hit the proper notes in the right order and tempo," Amy Rose explained from one of the Sky Patrol's many view screens, as she briefly manifested her new aura flute ability to show them over the monitor.

"Any word yet on Metal Sally?" Sonic asked from where he and Rotor were standing next to Amy.

"Not yet," Sally admitted, "but we only just recently returned to the Sky Patrol ourselves."

"Haven't heard a peep of news about her while you guys were out on your missions," Bunnie added with a serious tone. "An' Big, Cream, an' Ah have been on the Sky Patrol."

"Cheese and I have been helping Mr. Big find all sorts of ways to sneak around the Sky Patrol so we know how to spot people trying to get in!" Cream announced cheerfully."

"You're using a six-year-old… and Big…" Rotor started, not quite believing what he's hearing…

"And Cheese!" Cream insisted with a grin.

"...and Cheese," Rotor acknowledged before continuing, "to probe the Sky Patrol's security systems."

"To be fair, between the three o' them, they found a dozen or so ways to get around the Sky patrol without bein' spotted," Bunnie stated with an amused smirk. "Ah wrote down what they did an' how they did it in a nice tidy report for ya, so you got that waitin'for ya when you get back."

"Thanks, I guess," Rotor replied flatly, pinching the bridge of his muzzle. "No, really, I do appreciate it. We already know that Metal Sally knows the layout of the Sky Patrol, even if I did change the access codes after she left."

"Nicole and I should probably do our own run security test of the Sky Patrol as well," Sally added. "We're already pretty sure that Metal Sally knows whatever I knew, at least up until the point of our divergence, so any opening I spot, she'd be able to exploit as well."

"I'm fairly certain that Metal Sally actually knows at least some of what each of us in the room knew at the time she manifested," Tails pointed out. "If you recall, she knew the Sky Patrol's pass codes and the most direct path to the nearest exit. That was something you said you didn't know at the time."

"At a minimum, she knows what Sally and at least some of what I knew at the time she manifested," Nicole added, then explained further when the others looked at her incredulously. "It is the most probable conclusion that we have direct proof of, as I had that knowledge and Sally was in direct contact with my handheld when Metal Sally manifested."

"I was too, remember?" Amy Rose interjected. "So by that logic, she might know what I know too!"

"Metal Sally most likely knows at least a little of what each of us knew at the time," Tails stated firmly. "We were all affected when it should have just been Amy, Sally, and Nicole."

"I wasn't!" Cream pointed out. "And neither was Cheese!"

"You weren't here with us when it happened," Bunnie said placatingly, placing a hand gently on the young rabbit.

"Okay, we have to assume that Metal Sally knows at least some of what each of us knew up to the point when she manifested," Sally stated as she pinched the bridge of her muzzle. "I wish it hadn't taken so long for us to come to this realization though."

"Why's that, Sal?" Sonic asked. "I mean, it's been over a month already and we've yet to hear any news about a Metal Sally popping up anywhere, so we know she didn't go back to Eggman."

"While I agree that no news is probably good news in this case, Sonic," Sally explained with an exasperated sigh, "each of us knew sensitive information, and we really should have informed my father of the potential security breach."

"Zis is so, yes," Antoine agreed. "But better late than never, no?"

"Right," Sally nodded. "I'll contact Dad and let him know."

O o O o O​

"So, what am I looking at here?" Breezie asked, wondering why Rally had wanted to show her what looked like a chip plug-in for a badnik or Robian.

"It's a modified Neural Override Chip," Rally started.

"I thought you didn't want to do the control thing," Breezie interjected.

"It doesn't control anything," Rally denied. "It acts to bypass the standard Control Overlay Program that Darth Lardass added to the robotization process, with a mod that stops any self-destruct systems from being used."

"You should have called it something else then," Breezie admonished. "Because that name implies something else entirely."

"I didn't name the damned thing," Rally denied. A statement that was both technically true and false simultaneously, as her previous incarnation as Rotor had done so, but none of the rest of her component identities had.

"I strongly advise a rebrand," Breezie stated firmly before assuming a lighter tone and continuing. "Would I be correct in assuming that these are how you intend to liberate Northammer from Eggman's control?"

"That's part of the plan, yes," Rally agreed with a smirk.

"I'll set up some manufacturing lines in a few of my facilities," Breezie decided. "I already have a few customers in mind who would be very interested in both of the features these chips provide. But seriously, come up with a different name for them!"

"Will do!" Rally said with a laugh.