Chapter 8. Plans.

If Sonic was later asked to describe this meeting, he would compare it to a hurricane. A brief, sudden gust that rushed off, but left behind a persistent feeling of trouble and an impending threat of a much, much larger scale, for now hidden behind the horizon.

Shadow accepted the request, the door opened and a female hedgehog, outwardly unremarkable, appeared on the threshold. Her quills, a solid purple in color, were neatly gathered in a short ponytail at the top of her head. Her limbs, where they were not hidden by her simplistic clothing - a shirt with short sleeves and tight shorts to the knee - were covered with light beige fur, and on her neck and one ear some golden jewelry glittered. In her hands she held a small tray with two opaque cups and a poisonous-pink folder with papers, and in general, with her slightly naive, but businesslike look and restraint of an office worker, she didn't inspire any danger that Sonic had already unconsciously expected from each crew member... But as soon as his gaze met the bright golden eyes, bordered by the familiar triangular marks, those eyes flashed with unhealthy enthusiasm.

"Ah! It's him!" were her first words.

Sonic immediately jumped to his feet. Displeased, "Here we go again," the black hedgehog muttered under his breath, only intensified his suspicions, and the hero tensely followed how the visitor - a rebel, according to Shadow, - throwing everything she held in her hands on the table, ran up and stood almost close to him.

"Fascinating!" she exclaimed with admiration, examining him with her eyes full of adoration. "He's indeed Blue, just as you said! I wonder what the percentage is?" Almost bouncing in place with excitement she turned to Shadow, "Can I borrow him for tests?"

“No,” snapped the black hedgehog.

"Please, please, please!" the female pleaded frequently, like a child begging for a new toy.

“I said no,” Shadow repeated sternly. “He’s our ally, not some guinea pig."

"Aw, but he's a Master!" offended, she poked a finger at Sonic, and the hedgehog, mechanically taking a step back, decided to remind of himself:

"Hello?"

The female flinched and turned to him. For a second she looked sincerely surprised at the hero's greeting, as if she didn't expect him to speak, but the next moment the rebel smiled in a childish disarming manner again.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologized. "It's just so unusual…" and then she held out her hand, introducing herself, "Clarissa. Or just Clar. I'll be your liaison with the rebels."

"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog," the hero warily shook her hand, but returned a smile.

"Yes, I can see that!" the female confirmed with enthusiasm. "And this is the most amazing thing!" She grabbed his palm with both of her hands and moved closer, reminding Sonic of Amy with her spontaneity in the invasion of his personal space. "Say, how many-?"

“Clar,” Shadow dropped irritably, making her stop in mid-sentence, “Stop it."

"But I want to know!" the female immediately pouted, but didn't let go of the blue hero's hand.

“That’s not necessary,” Shadow pointed out, stifling further controversy.

Clar snuffled in offence and moved away, but Sonic stopped her, glanced in displeasure at his black-and-red rival and contradicted him, "Actually, I could answer," and (ignoring the threatening, "Faker!") he continued, turning to the inquisitive female, "What's the question?"

He almost immediately regretted his decision: Clarissa's eyes lit up with the passion of the discoverer, her little nose sucked in air, gaining full lungs, and questions literally poured out of her:

"Are you really a hedgehog? How many of your kind are on the planet? Does everyone have the abilities or only some? What is yours? As I understand it - speed, but maybe something more?" Sonic tried to cut in and interrupt, but the female didn't even let him open his mouth, "How is your society built? Family institute? How do you bree-?"

"Enough."

The commanding voice with which Shadow stopped his subordinate left even Sonic impressed. Clar fell silent (and the hero was frankly glad about it this time) and, guiltily folding her ears back, turned to the table. Shadow, folded his arms across his chest, grimly looked at them from under his brows. Then he exhaled wearily and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Seriously, if you start to answer her questions it will drag on until the evening. And we don't have much time."

"Oh, right!" the purple hedgehog's ears perked up again, and she clapped loudly, attracting attention. "As I understand," she turned to Sonic, "you need to be brought up to date?"

"Yes," the blue hedgehog frowned, remembering who was in front of him. "It would be nice to know what your plan is."

So far, none of the aliens had aroused faith in the hero's eyes. And without understanding the purpose and motives of even such seemingly obvious allies as the rebels, they had no more faith than others. Even though Shadow collaborated with them.

Especially because of it.

"Shall we take a seat?" Clar suggested, waving towards the table. "I brought coffee…" she turned around and, noticing that there were only two cups, one of which Shadow took in his hands after he set the untouched plate aside, said, embarrassed, "Oh, sorry, I didn't think to take the third one. After all, I'm Richard's secretary and it would be strange if-"

“It's okay,” Sonic stopped her as he shuddered internally.

The name struck the ear, and the hero thought that he would prefer to never hear it again. Especially the short version said by...

No, no, no, enough of that. The plan. Now - the plan.

Shadow didn't react in any way (which was logical considering how many times he'd heard his new name already) and calmly lifted the cup to his mouth, taking a sip as they sat across him to the other side of the table. The coffee was very fragrant, and the blue hedgehog involuntarily sniffed at the familiar notes.

...

Cinnamon?

 "Want some?"

Sonic froze and looked, a little bewildered, at the black hedgehog holding out his cup to him.

Cinnamon coffee, it's like...

And then he grimaced and leaned back in his chair, moving away.

“No,” the hero refused. "I don't like coffee."

“As you wish,” Shadow shrugged and took another sip from his cup.

Sonic twitched his ear nervously and turned away. In fact, he felt pretty lousy and it would be nice to drink something invigorating, but-

The thought was cut short when he noticed that Clar, sitting next to him, was again examining him with heightened and, honestly, alarming interest.

"Something's wrong with my face?" Sonic grinned and raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

The female smiled shyly, "No, no, everything's fine!" but, to his displeasure, she didn't take away her gaze and sighed dreamily, "You are just so... clean."

"Thanks?" the second eyebrow of the blue hero also crept up. "I try to keep an eye on my fur, you know."

“She meant your color, you moron,” Shadow cut in on their dialogue.

"And what's the matter with it?" Sonic frowned, puzzled. "Why is everyone paying so much attention?"

"Because you are Blue," said the black hedgehog in a matter-of-fact manner. In response he received an even more bewildered gaze, and, rolling his eyes, deigned to explain, "In short, they divide all of their kind according to the fur color. And the closer you are to any of the basic three blue-green-red colors, the more "elite" you are and the more privileges you get. Also, the colored ones," he swung his cup towards the purple hedgehog sitting in front of him, "Or, as they are also called, Chromes, are rare in their society, and most of them are Grays. Literally."

Sonic scratched his chin thoughtfully, digesting the new information, and then pointed his finger at the black hedgehog, "Blacks and whites are also the Grays?" Shadow nodded, confirming, and the hero grunted in satisfaction, "So, I'm some kind of big shot?" 

“Would be if you were a citizen of the Empire,” the black hedgehog reined in him. “With marks and other nonsense,” he touched the second set of triangular stripes near his eyes.

"Yes," Sonic jumped up, "what's this thing about? What are these stripes for?"

"Eye color," Clar broke into with an explanation, "So you can see from afar the color of the eyes of a possible partner," and continued, specifying for the again bewildered blue hedgehog, "For reproduction."

She said this absolutely calmly, continuing to look into his eyes, and Sonic involuntarily shivered.

“Um…” he drawled hesitantly, not knowing how to comment on this fact.

"They are obsessed with the purity of blood," Shadow interrupted their awkward glancing, "More precisely, the purity of the Color. So they reproduce," he emphasized with disgust, "just to improve the gene pool."

"This is an important public action!" Clarissa protested. "If we don't preserve the Color, then in the end everyone will degrade to the Grays!"

"And what's wrong with the Grays?" Sonic frowned.

"Let's leave this topic," Shadow stopped the subordinate, who had opened her mouth, with a movement of his hand. “We have a more important task than delving into the moral foundations of our enemies."

Clar snorted and folded her arms across her chest in resentment. “I thought we were allies, Ri- Shadow,” she emphasized the black hedgehog's name with a clear hint.

“We're temporary allies, Clar,” the agent snapped, without commenting on her (apparently long-standing) awareness, “until I get the emeralds. Then I hope we say goodbye forever. So let's get to the point.”

And Sonic couldn't help but agree. Everything he heard so far already seemed abnormal, and they clearly only caught the tip of the iceberg called "the way of life and customs of the Empire." Separation in appearance, emphasis on the purity of blood with the superiority of the minority over the majority, plus this craving for ruining the planets... The aliens were definitely not all right in their heads, and the hero had no desire to delve into this right now.

His own problems were already enough.

Clarissa's story didn't take even five minutes. In short, the plan seemed simple: the rebels turn off the ship's defenses, Shadow gets rid of the command, takes the emeralds, and everyone goes home. But Sonic saw how many pitfalls there really were.

"Why can't you just take the emeralds?" he began with the obvious question.

Shadow rubbed an eyebrow in annoyance, realizing that he would have to explain in more detail. “Because Aidan is no fool and storage is under the same shield that surrounds the ship. Only he can go inside - no one else has access."

"Okay, then why do you need to…" Sonic hesitated for a moment, "get rid of him?"

“So that the system automatically recognizes me as the captain of the ship as the next in rank,” Shadow replied in a tone as if he was clarifying common truths to a child.

The hero was not bothered by his attitude and continued to elicit details, "Can't you just hack the system itself?"

"That is what they," the black hedgehog nodded at his secretary, "are doing. But the main command core is well encrypted, and even senior officers don't have access to its settings. So the only option is to disable defence and turn off Diamond Dust."

Sonic frowned. That name again. It looks like the strange security system is really ubiquitous and responds not only to invaders from the outside, but also to threats from the crew itself. Full control? Effective, no one can argue with that. But it literally screams about totalitarianism.

The hero leaned back in his chair again. "So the whole problem is in it? Isn't your 
Ultimate ass capable of withstanding some kind of poison?" he teased his rival.

“It's not just "some kind of poison,”' Shadow mimicked him. "Chaos knows what they made it from, but it works on me just as effectively. I can win a couple of minutes if I spend all the inner Chaos, but the result will be the same."

"Why do they need you at all?" Sonic tilted his head to the side with skepticism. “Without a defence system anyone can handle it. Why ask locals? And even give the emeralds back. I don’t believe in such charity."

Shadow shook his head in response, clearly tired of explaining anything. "Clar?" he threw the initiative to his subordinate.

She readily joined the conversation, “There are very few of us rebels on the ship. And no one has speed abilities," in response to the bewildered look of the blue hedgehog, she explained, "The Commander has the same type that you and Shadow have - the speed one. The rest are simply not able to keep up with such a quick reaction, but the owner of a similar ability has a chance. Why did we contact Shadow specifically?" she anticipated the question, preparing to break from Sonic's tongue, "Well, he just hit the sight of the cameras earlier. Actually, we haven't been able to identify you at all - the tech team is still puzzled over a strange object that is destroying hundreds of drones. They think you are some kind of local weapon. In at least six copies."

"Just six?" the hero smugly grunted. But then he pulled himself together, "Okay, fine. But why now? And how did you sneak him through the shield?" he shamelessly jabbed his finger towards the black hedgehog, who again sipped from his cup of coffee. "And how did he end up in such a high position?"

“Details,” Shadow said irritably, stopping further inquiries. “It’s not important now. You wanted to know the plan - you heard it. The rebels turn off the shield, I deal with the command. They get the ship, we get the emeralds. Any other stupid questions?"

Sonic fell silent for a few seconds, chasing the entire (not very long) plan in his head. The "details" that the agent refused to talk about were still confusing for their uncertainty, but overall Shadow was right - they didn't really matter at the moment. The plan was clearly in its last stages and was nearing completion, which means that an open confrontation will soon follow. And if so...

"How fast is the Commander?" the hero asked in the result, already figuring out how he could help.

Shadow gave him a somber look, realizing where the blue hedgehog was heading. “From what I saw,” he replied after a short pause, “we are almost equal.”

"Seriously?" Sonic was sincerely surprised.

Shadow nodded, "At least on a short distance. I'm not going to race with him, so my trump card is the element of surprise. He doesn't know what I'm capable of,” he finished with unkind satisfaction.

From his last words the hero experienced an unpleasant sensation, which visited him whenever it smelled of trouble. For some reason, the idea of ​​letting the black hedgehog deal with the Commander on his own seemed very, very bad.

Perhaps because, for a second, Shadow's eyes flashed with a blatant murderous intent.

"And the second lieutenant?" the blue hedgehog continued, suppressing the oppressive premonition. "Can you handle both if they are together?"

The agent thought for a moment and admitted, "It will be hard. But it'll be worse if they split up. Better to get rid of them at the same time to prolong the panic among the crew."

Excellent, the hero noted to himself, so his help will not be superfluous.

Sonic confidently pointed to himself, "Then I suggest we go together. And if they do split up, then you will go after Jerald, and I will go after Aidan."

Shadow frowned in response, as expected. “And why the hell did you decide you could deal with him?”

To which the hero raised an eyebrow in defiance, "I'm faster than you. So I have a better chance to stop him."

The black hedgehog didn't argue and only frowned harder. “You’ll have to kill him,” he said ominously.

As soon as Shadow said it out loud, Sonic realized that his foreboding hadn't lied and his fears were justified. They really had been discussing the murder plan this whole time. And the worst thing was that after all that he had experienced and heard, for a fleeting, but terribly long in its immorality moment, the hero agreed with this decision.

What the last months had brought him to?

'"Stop" doesn't mean "kill", you psycho," the blue hedgehog bristled, annoyed both at himself, succumbed to an unhealthy thought, and at his opponent, who calmly took it as the basis of the plan.

“Ten minutes ago, you yourself suggested that I should've killed him,” Shadow reminded to the hero's even greater annoyance.

Sonic jumped up from his chair, loomed menacingly over a black hedgehog and pointed an accusing finger at him, “Because that's what you usually do. But I,” he jabbed his thumb in his chest, "will find another way."

“There’s no other way,” Shadow growled back, “the system will recognize only his death.”

“Then you don't know me well,” the hero declared confidently.

There was a tense silence for a few seconds as they fiercely glared at each other. But then Shadow closed his eyes and sighed. 

"I know enough to understand that you'll do your own way anyway," and before Sonic had time to be surprised at his surrender, the black hedgehog continued, addressing the subordinate, who quietly watched their skirmish, "We need to get the bracelet opening code. Otherwise, Aidan will simply magnet his legs to each other," he nodded at the blue hero.

Clar bit her lip nervously in response. “It will be a problem,” she admitted, "since this is also one of the captain's codes. Not as difficult as one removing the shield, of course, but it will take a little more time."

“You have two weeks,” Shadow ordered again in the same commanding tone.

"Two weeks?" The female was surprised and objected, "We won't make it in two weeks!"

“It's been three months,” the agent reminded her grimly. "Find at least the code for the bracelets. If you aren't in time with the shield, then we will use plan B."

Sonic pricked up his ears. There was a second plan?

“But then-” Clar began dubiously.

“It doesn't matter,” Shadow snapped, preventing her from continuing. "We really only have two weeks."

"I have two weeks," Sonic reminded him in an unhappy tone, still not sitting down. "You can stay to "work" further. It won't be the first time you watch how prisoners are killed."

Shadow shot him an angry glare and repeated, “Clar, you have two weeks."

The secretary shifted anxiously in place, “Okay, I'll… I'll see what I can do."

“Then get on with it,” Shadow nodded toward the door, hinting that it was time for her to leave.

Clar jumped up obediently and, folding her hands behind her back, slightly leaned forward, "Yes, sir! May I leave the cabin?"

"Just go already," the black hedgehog said irritably.

Sonic realized that this was a kind of joke only when the female smiled in response. Then she briskly grabbed the folder and her coffee cup from the table and slipped out the door.

And Sonic didn't even know whether to be happy about her departure or nervous that he was again left alone with Shadow.

The black hedgehog apparently didn't have such doubts: ignoring the hero, who still stood over him, demanding explanations with all his look, he took out a tablet, placed it on the table in front of him and began swiping through some documents, running a thin plastic pen across the screen. 

His silence was the last straw for Sonic.

“So you can make them speed up,” he said, not hiding the anger that grew in the back of his throat.

“No, I can't,” objected the agent. "But I hope they will move more actively now."

"What did exactly prevent them, no - you," the blue hedgehog highlighted with reproach, "from moving before that? And what is the plan B? Why can't you use it right now?"

It was impossible to convey in words how the hero was spurred on by the thirst for action. Every hour - every minute - the planet left without his protection was losing more and more. And waiting, just as incredibly annoyingly calm as the black hedgehog had been doing for three (three, damn it!) months, was beyond his strength.

Shadow swiped the page indifferently. "It's only for the most extreme scenario. I'll tell you if it comes to that."

“Of course,” the hero snorted in response. “I’m not worthy to know in advance."

“Because you're an idiot,” the agent said coolly. "And you will run into the very thick of it, to be back on the table in the interrogation room. To sneak on an unknown ship alone - how did such a stupid plan come to your mind? Or did you just want to be taken prisoner again?"

Sonic flushed red from both rage and the reminder of his position. "At least I tried to do something!" he exclaimed. "And did all this time, while you were here chilling and doing... Chaos knows what!" his discontent reached a peak, and Sonic, no longer holding back, blurted out, "Just admit that you simply like to put your ass under this Commander!"

The pen in Shadow's hands creaked sharply across the screen, leaving a deep scratch. For a second, the face of the black hedgehog was distorted by a painful grimace, and then, gritting his teeth, he...

>> 1. ...hit the table with his palm and got up.
    2. ...looked gloomily at the hero.

At the same moment the medallion on his right wrist lit up, and the tablet emitted a melodic trill of an incoming message.

Shadow swore muffledly. "Speak of the devil…" he uttered through clenched teeth. "I have to go," leaving the hero's remark unanswered, he quickly pressed something on the screen and moved the device to the opposite edge, closer to the blue hedgehog, "Here. The interface is intuitive, you'll figure it out. There are a bunch of books in the public domain, find something to do with yourself. And I hope I don’t need to remind you to not do anything stupid such as trying to escape."

Without waiting for a response and without letting Sonic insert a word, the black hedgehog left the cabin with lightning speed. The hero, a little bewildered by his sudden departure, was left wondering what it was all about.

And what had gotten into them both. 

***

"Sir, for a second."

Just when Shadow walked out the door, the voice of his assistant stopped him. For some reason the purple hedgehog decided to return, and they missed each other for just a few seconds.

“I'm in a hurry, Clar,” the agent dismissed his secretary.

“We can discuss it along the way,” she suggested, not at all bothered by his refusal.

The hedgehog nodded towards the door at the end of the corridor. “It's not that far to go."

Clar finally understood where (and to whom) he was heading, but didn't back down, "Then I'll be quick."

Shadow gave up and let her take some of his time.

He himself was not eager to go to the hated door.

The secretary took him a little to the side and imperceptibly made a gesture indicating that she turned on the jammer, hiding their conversation from the microphones with a previously prepared recording. Shadow frowned. They rarely used this method in places that were so open for cameras. What was the question that couldn't wait?

“It's about the backup plan,” Clar said in response to his glance. "How now, if he," she briefly shot her eyes in the direction of Shadow's cabin, "is here?"

Now it was clear - the rebel cannot persuade her people to switch to decrypting another code if the feasibility of the plan is in doubt. But Shadow had an answer to that. It wasn't for nothing that he brought up the conversation in such a way as to convince the blue hedgehog of the need to get rid of the bracelets.

"Can you take him outside the ship?"

Clar thought for a second. “Most likely yes,” she nodded. "But we can't get on the cameras…"

"Just show him the scheme," the black hedgehog interrupted her, "he himself will figure out where to run. The main thing is to bring him outside."

"And you?"

There was genuine concern in the female's voice, but Shadow remained adamant. “Plan B is unchanged,” he coldly confirmed.

Clar folded her ears back, no longer hiding her anxiety. “I really don't want to do this,” she said almost pleadingly.

"Then turn off the shield in two weeks," snapped Shadow and headed away.

He literally felt her gaze on his back as the assistant looked at him sadly.

But the black hedgehog didn't feel any guilt that otherwise she wouldn't outlive him much.