With Mecha Sonic, Robo Knuckles, and Tails Doll defeated, you've successfully kept Chicago safe, and dealt a blow to Eggman's forces. Still, there's a lot that's left unexplained. Who was that mysterious voice? Why did these robots look so different from the ones you've seen before now? Why didn't Sonic and friends recognize them? There's no answers to your questions today, unfortunately.
You'll be escorted home by the trio after everyone's picked themselves up, healed off the damage, and had a moment to recover. Feel free to play out the immediate aftermath and/or the return to the base in this post!
[Completely not noticing anyone had come in at this late hour, Viktor was sitting at the kitchen table with a look of intense concentration on his face and several loose pages in front of him; most seeming as close to one could get to blueprints when working with a notebook. Each of them looked like iterations on the same general design--a prosthetic leg, each page marked by measurements and quick notes. One read too delicate with lines drawn to particularly load-bearing points, while a second design was labeled limited motion.]
[Currently, he was focused on drawing out some middpoint between the two--free hand raked back through his hair both in annoyance andd to keep it out of his eyes. All this while he was, of course, still ignoring the concerning sparks from his injured side.]
[So is this a zucchini-based stealth mission, Turo?]
Turo does shoot Viktor a bit of an anxious look as he enters, but maintaining his moment seems easier, so he quietly passes him by and goes to the fridge. Those sparks do look a bit worrying...should he say something? Viktor can fix it himself, surely...then again, he doesn't seem like he's actually doing that. Are any of the other cyborgs (or whatever the proper term should be?) here familiar with making their own repairs?]
[Despite his earlier claim that he could repair machinery (and the designs did seem like the work of someone with real expertise) Viktor had clearly made no such attempt with himself. Which may have made sense on a second look; he wasn't a machine that seemed to follow any logical construction. It was more as if he was just a hollow shell comprised of some unknowable fusion of steel and organics.]
[Completely unaware anyone was in the room with him, he cursed under his breath at some problem with the current design and crumpled up the page he was working on, tossing it over his shoulder towards the kitchen's trash.]
[Turo lets the paper bounce off his head, risking a flat look at Viktor's back as long as the scientist isn't looking at him. Great, sure, he's definitely also a cleaning robot.
...he sort of is, though. He bends to pick up the paper, and goes to actually put it in the trash.]
[Viktor turned back to his notes with a small wince, starting over with whatever he was doing. Then, in an attempt to sound casual without looking back at Turo:]
...I am relieved to see you less injured. Are you alright?
It will heal itself quickly enough. It is better they spare their efforts for those more likely to suffer permanent damage.
[He paused abruptly at the metal sound in his voice, shaking his head before continuing. Joker was definitely going to need a more properly designed prosthetic, along with a few spares if and when they all blew up again.]
I...would like to apologize. I think I was too insistent, when you first arrived.
[Turo pauses rather than walk out with his vegetable, looking at him. He's not sure what sort of response is expected of him. The mechanical sound to his voice is disturbingly familiar, but he can't lose sight of the fact that Viktor is a person, and a would-be roboticist to boot.]
...if you are certain. The offer will stand regardless should you decide it necessary. [He still didn't look up; social situations were clearly not his particular area of expertise.] Tails is more skilled with full repairs, but I am capable enough to fix moderate damage.
Edited (repeated myself because of the tired sleepy) 2025-02-02 01:10 (UTC)
...because it would be of help to you? [It came out as a question mostly out of sheer confusion, Viktor turning just enough to look over his shoulder.]
If the situation arises when our healers are preoccupied with repairing mortal injuries or are simply otherwise overtaxed, would it not be safer for us to manage our own temporary solution until they are not?
[Turo imagines they've all got more important things than robot repair to think about, if that were the case, but if that's really how you wanna spend your time!]
Why would it be any trouble? If one has the ability to help, then of course they should utilize it. That is the whole reason we are here in the first place, no?
[Viktor sighed in a sharp noise like the skipping of a CD player, pushing loose hair from his face before turning in his chair to face Turo a little more fully.]
By that reasoning, it would have been simpler to ignore any evacuation attempts and simply concentrate the entirety of our forces on a fight from the very outset. Saving the world is our goal, yes. But we must never neglect to save that which is right in front of us in the process.
[The record scratch was, fortunately, not one of many audible implausible noises Viktor tended to make--but the effect was blatantly clear in rapidly color-shifting eyes as thought processes ran a little too quickly and a horrified realization set in.]
...You think yourself any less deserving of help than them? [For some reason, Viktor sounded like he'd just been slapped in the face.] Why, because of your physical composition? I...do not understand.
[He stumbled over his words and trailed off, because this literally was not dding up in a way Viktor understood. Oh, he could see the logic to where this might have been going--'artificial intelligence' was a new concept he had been introduced to with those first prototypes that had been taken apart.]
...no, I still do not understand. What does that matter?
[It made absolutely no sense, because Turo had fought just as hard as any of them. What was that if not human in spirit, where it actually mattered?]
I am an artificial intelligence created by a human being. A computer draws on my programming to calculate all of my thoughts and actions. The results of those calculations are then expressed by this mechanical body. I am not actually a person, merely good at imitating one.
[If he has any thoughts or feelings on that, they're not evident; he keeps his tone calm and professional.]
[Genuine confusion. Not because the concept failed to make sense, but because Viktor could not fathom why that mattered in the slightest. It all boiled down to a very simple variable in his head, one he could blatantly see the presence of.]
No, that was an incorrect approach, let me try again. What I meant to ask is...what is the difference? You had the desire to choose to save the world, else you would not be here. Even merely by fighting with us, you have already shown willpower not many possess. If that is a fabrication, it is indistinguishable from whatever one would call the alternative. At that point, who has the right to say which is 'actually a person' and which is not?
Because you were twitching like damaged mechanisms in front of an engineer, and your arm looked damaged to me in a way I had recently repaired on someone else. Besides that--with respect, are we actually making this into a matter of appearances right now?
[Viktor wasn't about to pretend there was a distinction here that bothered Turo in way he did not himself fully grasp, but he definitely wasn't about to budge on a matter of which of them was easily identifiable as a machine.]
...I can not truly stop you from thinking however you will about yourself. But this is not a matter of appearances, and it is not as simple as considering it forgery--as though you are nothing but a set of stolen blueprints.
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kitchen
[Currently, he was focused on drawing out some middpoint between the two--free hand raked back through his hair both in annoyance andd to keep it out of his eyes. All this while he was, of course, still ignoring the concerning sparks from his injured side.]
[So is this a zucchini-based stealth mission, Turo?]
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Turo does shoot Viktor a bit of an anxious look as he enters, but maintaining his moment seems easier, so he quietly passes him by and goes to the fridge. Those sparks do look a bit worrying...should he say something? Viktor can fix it himself, surely...then again, he doesn't seem like he's actually doing that. Are any of the other cyborgs (or whatever the proper term should be?) here familiar with making their own repairs?]
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[Despite his earlier claim that he could repair machinery (and the designs did seem like the work of someone with real expertise) Viktor had clearly made no such attempt with himself. Which may have made sense on a second look; he wasn't a machine that seemed to follow any logical construction. It was more as if he was just a hollow shell comprised of some unknowable fusion of steel and organics.]
[Completely unaware anyone was in the room with him, he cursed under his breath at some problem with the current design and crumpled up the page he was working on, tossing it over his shoulder towards the kitchen's trash.]
[...Watch your head, Turo-]
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...he sort of is, though. He bends to pick up the paper, and goes to actually put it in the trash.]
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[Weird, he was sure he'd aimed that correctl--oh.]
Oh. [Well, shit.] My apologies, I...did not realize you were there.
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[Why should he be offended? He nods blandly, then goes back for his zucchini.]
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...I am relieved to see you less injured. Are you alright?
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[Again, little tone to his voice. Though he does hesitate slightly before adding:]
You ought to have one of the healers see to you, too.
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[He paused abruptly at the metal sound in his voice, shaking his head before continuing. Joker was definitely going to need a more properly designed prosthetic, along with a few spares if and when they all blew up again.]
I...would like to apologize. I think I was too insistent, when you first arrived.
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...nothing to apologize for.
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[Real repairs would take a lot of time and effort. And put Turo in a much more dangerous position.]
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If the situation arises when our healers are preoccupied with repairing mortal injuries or are simply otherwise overtaxed, would it not be safer for us to manage our own temporary solution until they are not?
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[Turo imagines they've all got more important things than robot repair to think about, if that were the case, but if that's really how you wanna spend your time!]
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[Helping him is secondary at best! Probably not even that, for all the use he's been.]
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[Viktor sighed in a sharp noise like the skipping of a CD player, pushing loose hair from his face before turning in his chair to face Turo a little more fully.]
By that reasoning, it would have been simpler to ignore any evacuation attempts and simply concentrate the entirety of our forces on a fight from the very outset. Saving the world is our goal, yes. But we must never neglect to save that which is right in front of us in the process.
In the pursuit of great, one can fail to do good.
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[How does any of this indicate that he thinks regular people should be left to perhaps die in a building fire?]
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[The record scratch was, fortunately, not one of many audible implausible noises Viktor tended to make--but the effect was blatantly clear in rapidly color-shifting eyes as thought processes ran a little too quickly and a horrified realization set in.]
...You think yourself any less deserving of help than them? [For some reason, Viktor sounded like he'd just been slapped in the face.] Why, because of your physical composition? I...do not understand.
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I had taken it that you were familiar with machines? [Except, oh, everything he’s offered was more engineering-based.] Computers?
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[He stumbled over his words and trailed off, because this literally was not dding up in a way Viktor understood. Oh, he could see the logic to where this might have been going--'artificial intelligence' was a new concept he had been introduced to with those first prototypes that had been taken apart.]
...no, I still do not understand. What does that matter?
[It made absolutely no sense, because Turo had fought just as hard as any of them. What was that if not human in spirit, where it actually mattered?]
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[If he has any thoughts or feelings on that, they're not evident; he keeps his tone calm and professional.]
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[Genuine confusion. Not because the concept failed to make sense, but because Viktor could not fathom why that mattered in the slightest. It all boiled down to a very simple variable in his head, one he could blatantly see the presence of.]
No, that was an incorrect approach, let me try again. What I meant to ask is...what is the difference? You had the desire to choose to save the world, else you would not be here. Even merely by fighting with us, you have already shown willpower not many possess. If that is a fabrication, it is indistinguishable from whatever one would call the alternative. At that point, who has the right to say which is 'actually a person' and which is not?
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[What does it matter if he's indistinguishable from a human? And anyway, he's not.]
Besides which, you easily identified me as a machine when we first spoke.
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[Viktor wasn't about to pretend there was a distinction here that bothered Turo in way he did not himself fully grasp, but he definitely wasn't about to budge on a matter of which of them was easily identifiable as a machine.]
...I can not truly stop you from thinking however you will about yourself. But this is not a matter of appearances, and it is not as simple as considering it forgery--as though you are nothing but a set of stolen blueprints.
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