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!
[ It's not a direct answer, but the way Turo's voice seems to tighten as he questions this makes it seem like a 'promise you won't freak out, ok?' disclaimer is not not warranted. ]
If anything, I know now how much you were struggling against his control.
It appears that this happened to all of us. If this were my world, I would ascribe it to the intermingling of our magla, but I am not certain such a thing even exists here. Maybe the commander who's voice we heard today is simply exploiting something about our shards.
Whatever the truth may be, it has tied our souls together for just a brief moment. Though I had no choice in the matter, I do find it regretful that I had to trespass in your mind like this.
[ It's probably the last thing Turo ever wanted anybody to witness. ]
[ More has been trying to keep this at arm's length for the whole conversation. Focus on Turo and keep his own emotions about it at bay. But... More touches his forehead, as if willing a headache to disappear. ]
I do not need to explain to you that it was horrifying. That boy... You think of him as your own son?
[It's immediate, almost frightened. Turo stops himself and tries again, calmer.]
No. He is the Professor's son. I have the Professor's memories, so...but that doesn't make him my son, of course. He did not even know I existed before we met down there.
[About the child or the unusual memory situation. But Turo's not the best in situations like these. He'd hardly known what to say to Arven either. It probably wasn't as disastrous as it could have been, but he does know what he said then was wrong. He never got to really fix that. He runs a thumb down the squirrel's back thoughtfully.]
...the Professor was...adamant, that I was not to think of him in that way. Once he realized we had been in contact, he programmed me so I could not reach out to him anymore. I still cannot. I was only able to speak to him again because I happened to call someone who was with him, and he overheard.
[ It seems to More that the professor wanted to have his cake and eat it too, to make a copy of himself and then bar him from all that defines him. He frowns deeply. ]
A week in this world has not been enough for me to gain a deeper understanding of robotics. It would be difficult for me to talk about your situation in terms deemed precise or even accurate, but...
From where I am standing, this sounds like a curse. A cruel curse, cast on a caring heart.
[Turo doesn't seem to entirely know what to do with that. His gaze darts towards More, and then returns to the racks for several quiet moments. He doesn't seem to be really looking at the clothes.]
...it is...not so defined a situation as you might think. An intelligent machine such as myself is not technically possible to create in my world. Maybe one day, but not now. The location we were in contained a certain mysterious energy - that is what drew him there in the first place. Among other properties, it allows for technology that operates on a much higher level than should be physically possible. The only time I tried to leave the area, I became something no more than the computers Tails keeps.
[An experience that haunts him on a number of levels. He'd been able to feel it happening, at least for a few seconds...is that what it is like for humans to decline with age, or suffer certain injuries?]
So as far as our world is concerned, he has the right to do as he likes with his property.
[Maybe if there were more like him, if they were more broadly known, that would change? Turo could have tried that. But he was afraid. As long as everything down there was secret, at least it was safe.]
[ "Property". The word stings to just hear. Slavery is not entirely unheard of in Euchronia and disguised forms of it run rampant through society even if called by other names. It's not unthinkable to call a person someone's property... but being thinkable does not make it right. ]
You're not property. He may have created you, but that makes you his belonging no more than a child is the property of their parents.
[ Many people also do see children that way, naturally, but they're wrong yet again. ]
There are many things in the world that are tolerated or encouraged by the crown... or by whatever ruling body exists in your world... that are still moral wrongs waiting to be corrected.
What's been done to you is an injustice. I see that much quite plainly.
[He continues petting the squirrel, because I totally mixed up these threads lmao]
I would like to think that. It is...not something I am used to. It's easier now, after what he tried to do to the children, but that - that's different. [That's kids, of course that was wrong.]
[ We're at Hot Topic. We're at the Squirrel Zone. We're at the Combination Hot Topic Squirrel Zone.
Though More won't say it, he feels an instant wave of relief at the wording. 'Tried to' means he didn't succeed in reality. That boy is alive. Those girls are alive. Thank goodness. ]
You have time to think it through again, now. Speaking from my own experience, confinement and solitude cloud the mind... but you're free now, to walk this world and form opinions based on more than commands or mere theory. It is my sincere hope that you'll find new meaning for yourself in this, my friend.
[Those might-have-been dreams are the worst ones. But Turo doesn't know quite which version More saw; he dreams of it the way it really happened too.]
I'm not sure I know how. But it's a nice idea.
[That's all he really means to say. But after a moment, more bursts out in a quick torrent:]
Before...that, I had thought...I'm not sure. I never could have gone anywhere else, but I had thought I might try to do something of my own, if I survived long enough. But after I found out about the Protocol - it was too dangerous for me to stay.
[ If Turo wasn't still holding the brainwashed squirrel, More might have actually grabbed his hands here for support and emphasis. Because the squirrel is there, he has to be good and hold back from dramatics. ]
And thus you didn't stay. You came here. There's no 'time machine' for you to be forced to warp your being around.
Once we save this world, you could choose to remain here and make a life for yourself. Your path is as open as the sky.
[It is, isn't it...? The thing that always kept him tied to the time machine was the Tera crystals. But now he's away from them, and somehow he's still alive. If it stays like that...]
...I...don't even know what I would want to do.
[This is a good thing! He knows he sounds - ungrateful, or something, probably. But he's never had any real freedom of choice before, and now that he does...what's he supposed to do with it?]
You have time to give it due consideration. For now, we are obliged to help out Sonic, our liberator, and it will keep us busy.
[ There's conflicting emotions inside of More when he thinks of that. For one, he feels guilty for his own uselessness. His spot on the team would have been better served by being given to somebody else. On the other hand, he's glad that they have a mission to focus on, before he has to make decisions about his own existence and where to go from here. There's someone at home whom he owes support, but is that enough to voluntarily go back to his prison?
Somewhere in this conversation, More has grown tired of holding his ice bag up, so it's now resting in his lap, cold and kind of wet. He looks down on it. ]
... very busy, and worse, if today was anything to go by.
[ There are black and blue bruises all over his body, hidden nicely under his clothes, and he's still mildly dizzy from that hit to the head, but... it's fine, right? Others had it a lot worse. And the worst of the worst was healed up. His chest may be in bandages, but the depth of the Mecha Sonic cut has reduced to a mere uncomfortable scrape. ]
I was ill-prepared for a real confrontation with the enemy.
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[ It's not a direct answer, but the way Turo's voice seems to tighten as he questions this makes it seem like a 'promise you won't freak out, ok?' disclaimer is not not warranted. ]
If anything, I know now how much you were struggling against his control.
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[yeah no he has not really calmed down!]
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Let's phrase this... neutrally. ]
He took over your body to protect the 'time machine' against a group of children.
[ AND IT SUCKED. ]
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You saw that?
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[ He wants to believe that this isn't how it went in reality as well, but he doesn't believe it enough to state anything about it out loud. ]
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[Turo doesn't seem to know how to respond to this. He turns to face forward again, no longer even focused on the squirrel anymore.]
I knew something strange was happening. I do not typically have dreams at all. But I did not think it would affect others as well.
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Whatever the truth may be, it has tied our souls together for just a brief moment. Though I had no choice in the matter, I do find it regretful that I had to trespass in your mind like this.
[ It's probably the last thing Turo ever wanted anybody to witness. ]
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[He doesn't seem pleased that it happened, though Turo is quick as ever to suppress any facial expressions that seem about to break through.]
I'm sorry you had to see something like that.
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[ More has been trying to keep this at arm's length for the whole conversation. Focus on Turo and keep his own emotions about it at bay. But... More touches his forehead, as if willing a headache to disappear. ]
I do not need to explain to you that it was horrifying. That boy... You think of him as your own son?
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[It's immediate, almost frightened. Turo stops himself and tries again, calmer.]
No. He is the Professor's son. I have the Professor's memories, so...but that doesn't make him my son, of course. He did not even know I existed before we met down there.
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[ 'Think of' was fairly deliberate wording, at least. ]
The way it felt to see him in the nightmare... I cannot quite tell why, but it resonated with me.
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[ Which intersects very weirdly with how he feels about Turo's false memory situation. To have all that, but having it not be yours... ]
But I... I believe I must have a child. The way it felt to be in your place, meeting the eyes of that boy... It was familiar.
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[About the child or the unusual memory situation. But Turo's not the best in situations like these. He'd hardly known what to say to Arven either. It probably wasn't as disastrous as it could have been, but he does know what he said then was wrong. He never got to really fix that. He runs a thumb down the squirrel's back thoughtfully.]
...the Professor was...adamant, that I was not to think of him in that way. Once he realized we had been in contact, he programmed me so I could not reach out to him anymore. I still cannot. I was only able to speak to him again because I happened to call someone who was with him, and he overheard.
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A week in this world has not been enough for me to gain a deeper understanding of robotics. It would be difficult for me to talk about your situation in terms deemed precise or even accurate, but...
From where I am standing, this sounds like a curse. A cruel curse, cast on a caring heart.
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...it is...not so defined a situation as you might think. An intelligent machine such as myself is not technically possible to create in my world. Maybe one day, but not now. The location we were in contained a certain mysterious energy - that is what drew him there in the first place. Among other properties, it allows for technology that operates on a much higher level than should be physically possible. The only time I tried to leave the area, I became something no more than the computers Tails keeps.
[An experience that haunts him on a number of levels. He'd been able to feel it happening, at least for a few seconds...is that what it is like for humans to decline with age, or suffer certain injuries?]
So as far as our world is concerned, he has the right to do as he likes with his property.
[Maybe if there were more like him, if they were more broadly known, that would change? Turo could have tried that. But he was afraid. As long as everything down there was secret, at least it was safe.]
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You're not property. He may have created you, but that makes you his belonging no more than a child is the property of their parents.
[ Many people also do see children that way, naturally, but they're wrong yet again. ]
There are many things in the world that are tolerated or encouraged by the crown... or by whatever ruling body exists in your world... that are still moral wrongs waiting to be corrected.
What's been done to you is an injustice. I see that much quite plainly.
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[He continues petting the squirrel, because I totally mixed up these threads lmao]
I would like to think that. It is...not something I am used to. It's easier now, after what he tried to do to the children, but that - that's different. [That's kids, of course that was wrong.]
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We're at Hot Topic. We're at the Squirrel Zone. We're at the Combination Hot Topic Squirrel Zone.Though More won't say it, he feels an instant wave of relief at the wording. 'Tried to' means he didn't succeed in reality. That boy is alive. Those girls are alive. Thank goodness. ]
You have time to think it through again, now. Speaking from my own experience, confinement and solitude cloud the mind... but you're free now, to walk this world and form opinions based on more than commands or mere theory. It is my sincere hope that you'll find new meaning for yourself in this, my friend.
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I'm not sure I know how. But it's a nice idea.
[That's all he really means to say. But after a moment, more bursts out in a quick torrent:]
Before...that, I had thought...I'm not sure. I never could have gone anywhere else, but I had thought I might try to do something of my own, if I survived long enough. But after I found out about the Protocol - it was too dangerous for me to stay.
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And thus you didn't stay. You came here. There's no 'time machine' for you to be forced to warp your being around.
Once we save this world, you could choose to remain here and make a life for yourself. Your path is as open as the sky.
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...I...don't even know what I would want to do.
[This is a good thing! He knows he sounds - ungrateful, or something, probably. But he's never had any real freedom of choice before, and now that he does...what's he supposed to do with it?]
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[ There's conflicting emotions inside of More when he thinks of that. For one, he feels guilty for his own uselessness. His spot on the team would have been better served by being given to somebody else. On the other hand, he's glad that they have a mission to focus on, before he has to make decisions about his own existence and where to go from here. There's someone at home whom he owes support, but is that enough to voluntarily go back to his prison?
Somewhere in this conversation, More has grown tired of holding his ice bag up, so it's now resting in his lap, cold and kind of wet. He looks down on it. ]
... very busy, and worse, if today was anything to go by.
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[He shakes his head sharply. Of course, he's getting ahead of himself. He's not exactly done serving other peoples' ends yet.
(That's not fair. What's happening here is wrong, and they need help - and he did agree. He just...it's not like he really had much choice, is it?)
The movement attracts his attention to the ice, anyway.]
...you are not still injured, are you?
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[ There are black and blue bruises all over his body, hidden nicely under his clothes, and he's still mildly dizzy from that hit to the head, but... it's fine, right? Others had it a lot worse. And the worst of the worst was healed up. His chest may be in bandages, but the depth of the Mecha Sonic cut has reduced to a mere uncomfortable scrape. ]
I was ill-prepared for a real confrontation with the enemy.
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