Chapter 7. Conversation.

If four months ago Shadow was asked what he thinks about Sonic, he would have immediately replied that nothing at all. Or that he wants to strangle him. Or punch him, just in case.

But that would be a lie.

By an ironic coincidence, despite outward skepticism and prejudice, he wasn't against any appearance of a blue hedgehog at all: be it a fleeting meeting, when he just ran in the distance, waving in greeting; a challenge to a race to find out (for the umpteenth time) who is faster both in speed and in the exchange of taunts; or joint battles against the next global threat, when they stood shoulder to shoulder in a halo of golden light - each time he skillfully hid a smile behind a grin, and interest - behind teasing.

He didn’t go further than this even in thought, since reasonigly the chances for something more were zero. Their current relationship was enough for him.

Five weeks later, Shadow would have said that he wanted to hug the blue hero and never let go. That he wanted to allow himself to drown in that embrace, doesn’t matter - mutual or not, in the hope that it would be possible to drown out the pain and glue back what remained of his dignity and pride. A naive and ghostly dream, to which he desperately clung to for another month.

Then he betrayed it too. He fell so low that the mere thought of how he would now look into emerald eyes drove him even deeper into the abyss of despair. He no longer had the right to do so. Not after... everything.

Then he just resigned himself. After all, was  someone like him supposed to think about personal happiness? From the very beginning, he was created with only one goal, with one task, and only that mattered. And if, in order to save the planet, he must give up all feelings, then so be it.

Yesterday…

He didn't want to think about yesterday.

He couldn’t help thinking about yesterday.

It seemed to him that he coped, that he successfully pulled out all the germs of any emotions, that he survived this stage. After all, there was very little left before the completion of the plan, and then he could simply hide, never again showing himself to the Hero of Mobius. Not daring to meet even for a moment, to hear his voice, to see his face, or - the worst thing - to feel an accidental touch. So he could never face the question: “What happened?”, to which he wouldn’t be able to give an answer.

Because something irreparable happened.

And yesterday he made everything even worse.

Shadow wanted to scream, cry at the top of his lungs, smash his fists into blood - whatever, just to forget every second, every panicky look, this tremor in the voice, disbelief, awareness, pleading, but at the same time - an incomprehensible and frightening acceptance at the end. It was fortunate that he closed his eyes in time, otherwise he would certainly have surrendered halfway, becoming the cause of their death himself.

And even the ferocity with which Aidan tortured him afterwards seemed deserved this time. Did he want to break his confidence? Well, this didn’t even have to strain - Shadow was already broken, and accepted his punishment with unhealthy joy. Let the Commander think that these were tears of humiliation - a rarity that he had long forgotten how to show - yes, they were them. But not because of the actions of his tormentor, no. He himself was to blame.

By morning, he was able to collect his shattered mind and regain at least an outward semblance of calm. He still had a goal, a plan, at the end of which he could avenge all the pain and suffering that Aidan had put him through. Perhaps death would be too easy for this bastard, but Shadow would unlikely find the strength for anything more. In the end, he just wanted to make sure that maniac never hurt anyone again.

There remained only the most difficult part - to convince the hedgehog, who stayed in his cabin, that nothing special had happened. He should have apologized, but would he be able to pronounce "Sorry" believably enough for someone who just saw no other way out? And not to break into non-stop cries, begging for forgiveness and frightening both of them with this sudden outburst? Shadow wasn't sure about this. It was much easier to put on the usual mask of contemptuous indifference to his face, his eternal companion, which must now stay with him to the end, and pretend that everything was normal and this strange situation didn’t bother him at all. As well as what Sonic himself thought of it.

So the curtain was raised, the spotlights were on and he opened the door and stepped onto the stage. 

***

The blue hedgehog slept on the sofa, curled up in a protective ball and bristling with quills towards the entrance. Shadow looked at the bed - no, wait, don't think about it, just don’t - and realized that he had forgotten to turn on the automatic cleaning before leaving the cabin.

He walked silently to the table and set down the breakfast tray he was holding. Another privilege due to his status: food could be requested at any time, or even ordered straight to the cabin. Usually Shadow did exactly that, but today he intentionally visited the cafeteria, frightening the staff with his appearance. Not quite a deliberate act on his part, but he delayed the moment of return as long as he could.

Returning to the door, the black hedgehog activated the panel and brought up the control menu to find the desired option. The automatics accepted his request with a melodious trill, and at the same instant he heard a noise behind him.

Gathering his strength inwardly, Shadow slowly turned around.

Sonic jumped up from his seat and now stood, glaring at him. Everything in his tense posture screamed that he was ready for a fight - this time for sure. Despite the fact that he barely tried to stay on his trembling legs, and his chest was heaving often, dispersing oxygen through the body that had not yet recovered from sleep and the effect of poison. But his narrowed in rage eyes, gripped quills and clenched in firm confidence fists left no doubt that he would do anything to prevent the black hedgehog from approaching.

Shadow gave him an unperturbed look in response. “I wouldn’t advise you to move so fast,” he said evenly, “The effect of Diamond Dust doesn’t clear in a day.”

“Stay away from me!”

Shadow exhaled and moved to the table. Sonic gritted his teeth and stepped sideways so that nothing was blocking the possible trajectory of the attack.

“Faker, if I wanted, you would already be lying face down on the floor,” Shadow put his hand on the back of the chair and pushed it aside, “So stop this concert and go eat.”

“I’m not going to,” the blue hedgehog growled in response.

“Fine. Worse for you.”

Several seconds passed in silence, interrupted only by wary sniffs from Sonic, who still hadn't changed his defensive posture, and by the clatter of moving tableware when Shadow sat down and removed the plates from the tray.

     1. Then he took a cup of coffee and took a long sip from it.
>> 2. "I forgot coffee," the black hedgehog thought distantly. 

Thanks to Aidan, he didn’t sleep all night, and the lack of the usual drink only convinced him that problems continued to come, and he still hadn’t figured out any of them. 

Shadow sighed and put his hand to his face. Perhaps he should start with the main one.

“I repeat,” he said wearily, stopping Sonic, who was ready to say something, “I'm not going to do anything with you. Yesterday there was simply no other way out, because the only valid reason to take the prisoner into "personal use"’, he quoted the last words with one hand, “Is precisely what that "use" means. At least for a scumbag like Aidan. So sit down, we need to talk.”

He gestured to the opposite end of the table, towards the second chair, and took up the fork in his hands, starting to eat. After hesitating for another moment, Sonic abruptly grabbed his own plate and fell back onto the sofa.

Well, Shadow hadn't hoped it would be easy. 

*** 

Sonic finished his portion unexpectedly quickly - it turned out he was terribly hungry. He didn't know exactly how long he had been unconscious before that white hedgehog showed up in the interrogation room, but apparently it was morning at the base now. Which meant that a little more than a day had passed. Tails and the others were probably worried, because everyone was sure that there were only machines in this huge ship and they could hardly have delayed the Hero of Mobius for so long. Who would have thought that there was a crew of living creatures here. And that one of them would be Shadow. 

Sonic put the plate aside and fidgeted nervously in place. A short sleep, which he fell into almost immediately after the black hedgehog left, gave him enough strength to get up and put himself in order, and then sleep normally on the couch, but this didn’t solve the main problem. As much as he wanted, he couldn’t afford to forget yesterday. And the point was not even what happened, but how. Now, on a sober head, not clouded by poison and insomnia, he couldn't understand his reaction at all. He should have been angry. He had to resist, no matter what his condition was, until the very end. But instead...

The blue hero frowned, shot a quick glance at Shadow, sitting at the table, and immediately averted his eyes. The equanimity with which the black hedgehog continued to behave got on his nerves. A minute ago, he was literally ready to explode and pounce on his rival, but something in the tone and pose of the black hedgehog stopped him. He didn't really expect an apology, but the way Shadow said "there was no other way out" was almost like remorse. At least this time, there was some emotion in his voice besides complete indifference.

But maybe he just made it up for himself?

Sonic shifted his position again and grimaced when he was caught by a stab of sharp pain in his wrist, with which he leaned on the sofa. Yesterday's incident reminded of itself in this way as well: remnants of weakness, mild migraine, an unpleasant pulling sensation in the lower back and abrasions on the wrists bound with metal bracelets. As if there weren't enough snatches of memories that pop up every now and then...

“There is an aid kit in the bathroom. I forgot to warn you yesterday.”

“Ha?” the blue hedgehog, taken by surprise in the midst of his thoughts, perked up and stared at Shadow. 

He calmly poked with a fork in his plate, without looking up. “There is a healing salve for such a case. I advise you to use it, it is quite effective.”

Sonic didn't answer, but only hastily turned away. All this really annoyed him: the situation in general, and the attitude of the black hedgehog to it. As if it was really normal to "have fun" with the prisoners and the crew. Of course, at nineteen Sonic was aware that a different gender is not a prerequisite for... the process, but he never went into details and didn’t think about relationships: when your life is full of other events, there is usually no time for any romance. Occasionally he watched thematic videos, but those in every sense were "classic" and didn’t contain scenes of coercion. But it looked like here, among the aliens, it was considered... normal. Yes, Shadow said that, as he put it, "use" was the only explanation for taking Sonic out of the interrogation room, but it still didn't fit into his head. So calmly accept such orders as if...

Wait. Rouge said something about it, didn’t she?

“How…” Sonic stammered, still diligently avoiding looking at Shadow. “How long have you been here?”

“Three months.” 

Three months... Yes, it was then, according to Rouge, the black hedgehog received a secret order after which they never met again. Sonic wasn't sure if he was ready to hear what these months were like for Shadow, who was forced to impersonate one of the aliens. So he chose to change the subject. “And by local standards, how high did you climb? Who is this Commander?”

The dark hedgehog, without touching the food, put his fork aside. Arms folded across his chest, he leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling, thinking. “The commander is one of the highest military ranks”, he began after a couple of seconds, “On this ship he’s in charge and his power is absolute. I'm a lieutenant, like Jerald, but this token”, Shadow raised his right hand to the level of his head, swinging an acid-green crystal, forcing Sonic to look at him, ”Defines our seniority. I’m the second after the Commander and I obey only him directly.”

Sonic could have sworn that “obey” was not just the usual military chain of command. But it brought his thoughts back to dangerous territory.

“So”, the blue hedgehog also leaned back, involuntarily copying Shadow's pose and trying to get rid of the yesterday's appearance of this Commander from his head, “Everyone here has to carry out any of your orders?”

“Within the bounds of what is permitted,” Shadow clarified. “For example, I can't just tell them to shoot each other,” the black hedgehog chuckled wearily. ”They, of course, strictly obey the hierarchy, but they are not fools. Any of my actions, which can be regarded as a threat, will immediately be used against me. Here everyone tries to climb higher, so denunciations are commonplace. And traitors are punished mercilessly. The prisoners,” Shadow closed his eyes, “Are not considered worthy at all. Only as a source of information.”

‘Prisoners? So I’m not the first one to be on this ship…’

But Sonic didn’t have time to finish this thought, as Shadow suddenly continued, “And we need to decide something about what I’m supposed to beat out of you,” he fell silent for a second. “You probably don't want to talk about what happened yesterday…”

Sonic felt a wave of indignation rise again from this condescending tone. “No, I do want to talk about it!” he jumped up from his seat and leaned his hands on the table, burning a black hedgehog with a furious gaze. “Because, you know, Shad, raping someone is not the best way to help them!”

Shadow slowly looked down and their eyes met. Sonic hoped that the second hedgehog would write off his suddenly flushed face as a sign of rage. He himself tried to convince himself of this. 

“Well, I see…” Shadow said slowly after a short pause.

“You see?!”

“…I see that you completely ignored my explanation.” Shadow gave him a scornful look. “Okay, let's imagine what would have happened next if I hadn't "helped" you and you were left alone with Jerald.”

“I would punch him well and run away!” Sonic snorted and, folding his arms across his chest, sat back on the sofa.

“You think so?” the black hedgehog raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Now remember in what state you woke up.”

And Sonic remembered. He remembered that feeling of helplessness and horror when he realized that he could hardly move. He remembered how his legs, which had never let him down even after the most severe wounds, were limp as the white hedgehog dragged him to the table. He remembered how desperately he tried to escape when he belatedly realized what was about to happen. He remembered how- "Damn!" he blushed again to the tips of his ears and, gritting his teeth, turned away from Shadow.

“So let me tell you how everything could continue,” the black hedgehog continued calmly. “At first, Jerald would have fucked you with all possible cruelty,” Sonic shuddered, not expecting such straightforward words, but Shadow didn’t seem to notice it. “Although, the word "cruelty" is too mild to describe the consequences... In addition to severe blood loss and damage to internal organs, you would have broken a couple of... no, perhaps in your case, all the limbs and a dozen ribs. And yes, this wouldn’t be an attempt to beat information out - Jerald would fuck you just because he wants to.”

“Then your unconscious body would be taken to the infirmary to get some medical treatment - just enough to not let you die prematurely. The night would have passed relatively calmly. In the morning Jerald would knock out all your teeth - they are not necessary for a conversation - and fuck you in the mouth. Most likely you would have passed out several times from asphyxia, but he would have quickly revived you with a couple of kicks in the stomach. And this time he wouldn’t have to cripple you, because, I remind you, you would have already broken all the limbs.”

It was crazy to listen to this calm voice, telling with firm confidence a possible but failed scenario. The feeling that he was in an irrational nightmare, invented by some sadistic pervert, which didn’t let him go from the moment he woke up in the interrogation room, became so overwhelming that Sonic involuntarily pinched himself. It was painful. But the nightmare continued. 

“And only after that the real torture would begin. Since you are a member of the Resistance, you would be taken care of personally by the Commander - Aidan. And this psycho is a sadist worse than Jerald. He would start with something as simple as breaking your fingers or pulling out nails one by one. Then he would very, very slowly peel off the skin in strips from different parts of the body so that you don’t have time to get used to the pain. And, since we are talking about "different parts", perhaps at the same time he would have cut off your dick. And he continued to cut off all the other limbs that he liked. Some boiling liquids, electrical discharges, acids and other chemical nasty things that he likes to mix - I would say that he would try to prolong the torture for at least three days.”

“But he’d save his favorite pastime for last. Have you ever had nerves pulled out of your body? Aidan knows how to keep them from ripping. And he also knows how to play on them to maximize pain. And since you would still be in the infirmary, you wouldn't have been allowed to pass out from the pain shock. The most persistent usually break at this stage. I haven't seen anything beyond that, but I think he probably has something in store for someone as stubborn as you.”

"...haven't seen anything beyond that?” Sonic repeated after him. Shocked, he didn't immediately realize that everything Shadow had now told him as "the most likely scenario" was actually part of the reality that the black hedgehog had spent the past three months in.

Wait, but then that means...

"Prisoners... Information..." a sudden insight made Sonic convulsively clasp his head in his hands. He reverted to that interrupted thought when Shadow said that the prisoners were not considered worthy. “...How many?” he could only breathe out, but the dark hedgehog understood him.

“One hundred twenty seven,” he said with deadly precision. “Everyone who somehow managed to bypass the protection of the outposts. I don’t know how many members of the Resistance were among them, but I suppose only you were reckless enough to recruit children.”

A blue hurricane swept through the room, knocking the table with all its contents out of its way, and crashed into a black hedgehog, throwing it against the wall. Sonic, in a rage, lifted Shadow by the shoulders and pinned him to the wall again. “You- You...!”

“What could I do, faker?” Shadow's face was still as calm and firm as his voice. “Intercede for them? Try to save?”

“Yes, Chaos tear you apart!” Sonic growled in response.

“And end up in their place?“

Sonic didn’t know what infuriated him more: the situation itself or the stone-cold attitude of his rival towards it. Yes, Shadow had never been the ideal of heroism, to the extent that the Hero of Mobius was, but he also saved people more than once, risking his life! Sonic saw it, he knew what the black hedgehog was capable of when there was too much at stake. Perhaps under this mask of indifference, which he almost never took off, he himself suffered from the inability to help, but how could you know for sure?

“You swore... You swore to protect the planet and everyone who lives here.”

“I can’t protect anything if I’m dead myself.”

Sonic unclenched his hands exhaustedly, lowering Shadow to the floor.

One hundred twenty seven.

They lost many in this confrontation: both in open battle and outside it. The alien invaders possessed incredibly advanced technology, and in most cases, members of the Resistance couldn’t even get close to their bases. Those who nevertheless broke through, often only managed to convey a short message about the successful sabotage. None of them came back.

Sonic still couldn’t believe that behind the hordes of machines, in the depths of the ship, all this time, living beings were hiding. Awfully similar to the inhabitants of Mobius. And incredibly violent in nature. Chaos, if even a third of what Shadow said was true, Black Doom, the worst calamity that befell their world, seemed like nothing. At least he was just killing.

But these...  tortured more than a hundred to death.

How many of them did he know? How many of them decided to join the Resistance because of him - the Hero of Mobius? Yes, he had to admit that even with his speed, he couldn't be omnipresent. Yes, the Resistance had already shown itself to be an organization during that period of Eggman's terror, when even Sonic himself was captured. Yes, the current situation was disastrous and they had to recruit volunteers. But in the end, he himself was now here precisely because the losses were becoming too high. He had to take a suicidal step and infiltrate the main base, hoping to end this nightmare. Because, no matter how circumspect  Knuckles and Amy were, he must protect not only Mobius as a whole, but also everyone in it. Especially children...

Chaos, they tortured children.

“They didn't touch the kids,” Shadow said quietly, as if reading his mind. “But they made them watch. Intimidation is believed to be-”

“Stop it.” 

A fist crashed into the wall next to the black hedgehog's cheek, passing dangerously close to the head. But Shadow didn't even flinch, as if he was ready to take the blow in advance.

“You could…” Sonic barely managed to squeeze out these words, “You could have just killed both of them.”

“I could,” Shadow agreed, to which the hero cracked his knuckles, clenching his fist tighter, “But that wouldn't change anything. The command would have been taken over by someone else, the invasion would have continued, and the emeralds would have still remained at the base.”

There was silence for a moment. Then Sonic pulled back and ran his hand over his face in annoyance. “Okay, fine,” he sighed. “Then what's the plan? You have a plan, don’t you? Otherwise you wouldn't… wouldn't… damn it, just say the plan was worth it!”

“It’ll take a long time,” Shadow objected.

“You have two whole weeks,” the hero reminded sarcastically.

A shadow ran across the black hedgehog's face and despair flashed in his eyes for a moment. But Sonic didn’t notice this as he sharply turned to the suddenly opened hole in the far wall. A small bot rolled out of a narrow opening at floor level, clearly of a technical nature. Under the intense gaze of the blue hero, the machine reached the overturned table and began cleaning, picking up the dishes. Sonic perceptibly relaxed and, throwing an angry glance at Shadow, went to the sofa. The black hedgehog, having already restored an imperturbable mask on his face, gently pushed off the wall and followed him. He stopped at the table to put the furniture in place, and Sonic again fell onto the couch and crossed his legs, folding his arms over his chest.

“Speak,” the blue hero said gloomily.

Shadow unrolled a chair parallel to the table and sat down, preparing for a long conversation. “Where to begin?” he clarified.

Sonic paused, collecting his thoughts. “How did you get on the ship?” he asked.

“The rebels contacted me and offered a deal,” Shadow replied.

“The rebels?” the hero frowned.

“A military dictatorship reigns here, so of course there are those who are dissatisfied with the regime,” the black hedgehog shrugged his shoulders. “So yes, there are rebels on the ship. They asked for help and in return promised to give emeralds back and take the ship off the planet.”

“And you believed them?” Sonic asked doubtfully.

“They had good reasons,” Shadow sighed.

But before he could continue, the panel at the entrance emitted a melodic signal that sounded like a bell. The black hedgehog barely perceptibly shuddered and thrust his hand into the quills, pulling out some kind of device that looked like a miniature version of a tablet that could easily fit in one hand. 

Sonic turned his questioning gaze from the door to him, to which Shadow glanced at the screen and said with visible relief, “But I think she will explain it better herself.”