You were successful in repelling the robots attacking the city, but you've been left with far too many questions. For once, Tails doesn't have any answers for you, and a gloomy uncertainty has fallen over your three allies. It probably doesn't help that everyone had a rough time of it last week. A win is a win, but it doesn't really feel like a win when you're not even sure who this unknown threat is...
Regardless, life goes on. Things are a bit different this week in Chicago, however.
THE CITY
You'll need to be careful now more than ever when heading out into the city. Though Eggman's usual robots are still present, their numbers have been cut drastically. Far fewer drones patrol the streets, with only the occasional tank or B33 to be seen. You can still find and fight them, and they will still call for backup, but it seems like you all really have destroyed a lot of them.
But there are the new additions to Eggman's forces. Unlike the white chrome versions, these are here to cause problems. You can find them patrolling sometimes... but usually you'll find them in the city proper, destroying whatever they can. Whenever they catch sight of you, they will stop at nothing to try to pursue you and destroy you.
The city itself is still undergoing changes, with more of that white chrome spreading throughout, as if infecting the structures themselves. The Badniks will still destroy even that, though; it's more like they're mindless machines than carrying out any precise orders.
But in a stroke of good luck, occasionally you'll find that some of the humans recognize the danger they're in. It's only when confronted with a robot - but you might hear a scream, or see them try to run away, and if you save them, you may even be able to get a few words in before they simply return to their monotonous lives. You won't be able to get any truly valuable information from them, but they will thank you repeatedly for helping. They don't seem to realize that they're being controlled by someone else, even if you ask them about it.
VISIONS
If you thought last week was a lot, get ready for the madness of week 4!
You may still have nightmares. You may still be pulled into each others' nightmares (same as last week, if you'd like to play out more of these). Or maybe you'll finally be able to catch a break and get some z's, but even if you are lucky enough for that, you'll still be dealing with everything else.
You may find yourself randomly teleported into the city. This happens at random, and can happen to multiple people at the same time. One minute you may be waking up, the next you'll find yourself surrounded by robots ready to kill you. And yeah, the robots are a feature, not a bug. No matter how it happens, you will always be facing down robots whenever you're brought into the city. Enjoy!
But maybe your luck holds out and you're unaffected by that. Well, there's still the visions to deal with!
There are two different kinds of visions that may happen.
The first are the more minor ones - where you may see the people closest to you (positive or negative). They will appear for others as well, and they will gladly speak with you - though they aren't exactly behaving in the way they should. They will torment you, reminding you of past failures and imperfections, and speaking as though everything is your fault. They will follow you wherever you go, and will only fade when someone else has helped you come to terms with the horrid things they're saying. These visions are a manifestation of a character's psyche and thus are based on their own perceptions of their friends/enemies and their own faults. They're incapable of interacting with the world or the characters, but they sure can insult you!
The second are much larger in scope. No matter where you were, you may find yourself pulled into friend's memory. These memories are one-for-one versions of what exactly happened, though now you're here! Are you playing the role of someone else, or are you just a bystander in all that's happening?
The character having the vision may or may not be aware of you initially, but once they're made aware of your presence, the vision will still play out as the memory would. The only way to stop it - aside from simply letting it play out in its entirety - is to drastically alter the memory in such a way that it cannot get itself back on track. Considering the trauma some of the people in this game have, it might be a good idea to help break them free of it.
Regardless of which happens to you (the nightmares, the teleportation, or the visions), your vision will turn bright red for a moment afterwards - it vanishes quickly enough, but it leaves you with the eerie feeling that you're being watched.
SHARDS
Your powers are growing, and you'll find you're able to defend yourself with your power in some way, even if yours is a power made for support. All characters are now able to fire off a blast of energy in their shard color to defend themselves - this attack will grow stronger in time, but at least everyone should be able to defend themselves (somewhat) now?
As you fight with your allies - particularly those you have a close bond with, positive or negative - you may feel the tug of something in the back of your head; it tells you that you can do more. Together, you can become more powerful. You can use your shards together. Doing so will grant you a new power, or strengthen the one you already have. The more you trust one another, the easier this power will be to use.
It might be good to experiment with these new powers; after all, you never know when you may need them.
TAILS' TASKS
Like last week, Sonic Team is still in need of rings. Rings are still annoying to get. You'll probably need help to get them, but they're worth collecting. So make sure to grab some for Tails!
You may also be tasked with tracking Chaos Energy. Like with tracking rings, Tails will give you a device that can pick up on the signature. You should be careful in approaching, especially if the signature is a large one, considering the three enemies you faced last weekend. Still, Chaos Energy may lead you to more of Eggman's fake Chaos Emeralds, which could prove useful...
Tracking the source down will lead you to one of the weekly enemies with a shard somewhere on its body. It will be much harder to kill than the regular versions of that enemy, and capable of some kind of special power (players' choice). Crushing the shard will weaken the enemy and bring it back down to its normal power level, making it fairly easy to defeat, but if you manage to defeat it without breaking the shard, you can bring it back to Tails for examination.
ENEMIES
Though you can still find the enemies from previous weeks in Chicago throughout the city, their numbers have thinned. Mostly, you'll be running into new faces - robots that don't look anything like Eggman's usuals. They are very rarely actually patrolling or idling, instead focused on destroying parts of the city or attacking any people unfortunate enough to get in their way.
Moto Bugs are... rather cute. They roll around on their singular wheel and can slash with their front claws, though primarily they deal damage by ramming into things at fairly high speeds. They're fairly weak, all things considered, especially by now. They're completely powerless when knocked over or onto their backs. Though one Moto Bug is weak, you will never find them alone - instead, you'll usually find at least 3-5 of them in a group.
Crabmeats are robotic crabs. Where does the meat come in? Unclear. Regardless, they're stronger than Moto Bugs and are capable of both bashing with their massive claws and snipping, and either way they are capable of a good deal of damage if you get hit. They're slower though, which means getting out of the way shouldn't be too hard. Like Moto Bugs, these usually are never alone, often working in pairs.
Buzzers are bees. Did you think we were done with bees? We are absolutely not done with bees. These bees function almost identically to the B33 models in that they're capable of firing lasers from their stingers, divebombing to try to sting, and generally be(e)ing a nuisance. Unlike the B33 models, they do not have a glaringly obvious weak point and are a bit harder to hit and destroy as a result. Though you may rarely encounter only one of these bees out in the wild, usually you'll run into groups of them and they will not be(e) happy to see you.
[Void Archives gets him. What a lovely distraction this will be! It's so much easier to have someone who will just let him be Aggressively Himself so he doesn't have to think. Some of them don't let him get away with it, but of everyone here? Void Archives seems the sort to keep their mouth shut, even if they're fully aware Yeager isn't quite acting as he usually does. So this is perfectly acceptable.]
You're welcome to join me!
[And they're even doodling, look at that, how lovely—]
No, no that isn't possible. That can't be possible, because no one is supposed to see that. That's his secret - the one he's supposed to take to his grave - the one he's literally killed people over before because they saw that horrid thing—
He doesn't have his weapon on him. He doesn't carry it around the base. He's grown far too complacent here, thinking that the only threats here were from Eggman and his robots.
...And yet.
It's hard to forget last week, when Void Archives witnessed another portion of his past - one that was never meant to see the light of day either, twisted and corrupted as it was. And now Void Archives knows the conclusion to that story.
(Because it's not like anything else that came after that matters, now does it?)
It takes a moment for Yeager to remember to breathe. His free hand has found its way to his chest, as it almost always does whenever this topic comes up. He grips the damn blastia beneath the cravat tightly for a moment before forcing himself to let go.]
[Off we go, then! It's a nice day, with wonderful weather for a picnic.]
Thanks a lot for bringing me food. It's really important to take breaks, I know that. It's just sort of hard to tear myself away from my work sometimes!
[For a brief moment, there's a pit in Dorothy's stomach when she hears Yeager speak up properly.]
You--
[...
No, there's no point in it. All she's going to do is misread the situation again and it's better to stay cautious. It's better to stay distant so that something like this doesn't happen again.
Dorothy will keep her back to him, but she positions herself in a way that he's at least protected from one angle. She can at least keep guard over him for right now to let him get himself together. It's fine. He's fine, she's not having a feeling over this, he's going to be fine.]
...Just let me know if you need a hand up.
[Dorothy's tone is tight, but she doesn't move to invade his space.
There was a time - only once - when he'd worried Droite and Gauche like this. He'd pushed himself too hard in battle, and they'd both fretted over him, and he'd pushed them away, ordered them not to interfere. They'd obeyed, of course, standing nearby to keep watch.
(He'd seen how they trembled, how Droite had grabbed Gauche's hand when they thought he wasn't looking, and how they struggled to keep their eyes on the wilderness and not on him.)
He'd vowed not to worry them like that again. So he let them do the majority of the fighting, and they'd never addressed that one incident.
...It's frustrating to see it play out again, in a different world, with a different person here to witness it.
Slowly Yeager's breathing evens out and his heartbeat (if it can even be called that) relaxes back into something normal and regular. He waits a moment or two longer, until he's sure he can get up on his own, and he does just that.]
Like I said, I'm fine. Nothing to worry over~
[Because when in doubt, just be as obnoxious as possible. It'll be easier to push her away like that because she'll find it obnoxious. She already has more than enough reasons to turn on her heel and leave, why not give her one more?]
...It is my intention to be forthright at this juncture. I have, admittedly, found it somewhat laughable that I was selected as one of the ones to save this world--not because I...
[...there is a second's hesitation in his voice before he continues.]
...I understand. I've mostly had the fortune of avoiding anything as life altering as that, but I can understand where it would be jarring. It's not exactly fun to have your memories out on display for others.
[Dorothy will gladly come in, then, taking in the room a bit as she looks for a desk to set the tea tray down. The tea pot doesn't have a particular type of tea in it, just the water, but there's a box of tea with all sorts of different types. Dorothy will select one for herself, but she'll hold out the box to Mafuyu to let her choose one if she'd like.
(There is in fact apple in there; apple cinnamon, in fact!)]
Please, feel free to choose what you like. I find that having tea and something to eat tends to calm the soul a bit, so...I thought I'd share that with you.
Has this been happening quite a bit for you, then...?
They won't interfere. And my side will handle the cleanup afterwards, too.
[Which is not at all ominous!
Still... in your current role, you think you see what her trick is, here. She has stated that there's poison in one of the glasses, but that she'll drink whichever one you don't select. Naturally, if she were to drink a glass immediately and emerge unscathed, you would know then that you held the poisonous glass - and no sane person would drink something they knew to be poisoned.
Could it be that both glasses are sugar water...? It would be an awfully convenient way for her to claim she was victorious, now wouldn't it?]
Well, I will tell you something. If you manage double his, I shall grant you the grandest congratulations.
By which I mean it will be so because I am the one saying so.
[ Not that they think he needs encouragement, but...who knows? It's probably in good fun. Maybe they can try to sneak in some snacks in case these kids forgot to grab enough bites... ]
...I dislike the idea of competing in such matters, but I suppose I do not mind it in this circumstance, if it will spur you to try.
Simply be careful; we need to extract one of those crystals to bring back to Tails. It's the entire reason I came out here for this.
[But alright! Dorothy will gladly rush into the fray and begin firing off another volley of those watery bullets at the other of the still stunned enemies; may as well get our chip damage in while we can, because they are gonna be mad when they finally come to. They both attempt to leap at each of them, going on the offensive!
...
Granted, the crabs are coming at us with a 1 and a 2, and Dorothy's hitting one with a very strong shot of water (17), but hey, the light trick worked? Clearly???]
Sonic, honey, you are not beating the overwork allegations. Dorothy sighs a bit, exasperated, fishing a sweet and fruity drink out of her bag.]
"Not really" doesn't exactly inspire the most confidence, you know. But everything is going well; I just got done doing some shopping for around the base, so we should be quite set on food for the next little while, until our stock runs low again.
[Ever stiff and cordial, she is. But she'll walk over and hand the drink off to Sonic.]
What about yourself? Something on your mind, dear?
Ah, that would be nice to see, actually. It is nice to be able to peruse, particularly when the selection is so wide.
[there's SO many books. it's like every bookstore is a library. he feels like a kid in a candy store. or himself, as an adult, in a candy store.]
I do agree it feels unseemly not to pay, though. Technically, we are rendering a service in exchange, but I have taken the habit of leaving something tangible as payment.
Dorothy wishes she could do something, anything--leave this man to his fate, to stop caring, to stop doing everything right now. This isn't what she wanted, this isn't what either of them need.
But despite it all, Dorothy turns to him when he finally speaks up, and she looks almost openly relieved for a moment (that he can still be obnoxious, that he's okay) before forcing her look to turn sour. Keep your distance, Dorothy, keep your--]
Hmph. Do try to keep it that way, then, at the very least.
[She'll establish distance too. It's safer for them both.
...]
Why on earth did you quote that awful movie, though? Don't tell me you actually enjoyed that hogwash.
Thanks! And thanks for looking out for our food stock; Tails tends to forget about it and Knuckles and I are kinda bad at remembering it too.
[How did these boys function before you all got here, honestly...]
Eh, mostly just trying not to think too hard about anything that's going on. Knuckles and I are competing to see who can destroy the most robots. Pretty sure I'll beat him today too!
[He is SO good at avoiding discussing anything deep, look at him go!!!!]
If anything, it gives me even more of a desire to wring their necks.
[...if it wasn't happening to him, he'd probably consider it pretty ingenious. maybe in another lifetime... oh wait he did do that in another lifetime, huh. did he? what the FUCK is going on with his memories.
...anyway.]
Am I going to have to ask someone else what this one wants.
[There's a brief moment where Yeager wonders if they'll address any of that (what just happened? their last meeting that changed everything?) - but Dorothy immediately distracts him, and truthfully, Yeager could not be happier about it. A chance to be as obnoxious as usual without having to think? Sign him up!!]
You didn't? Why, miss Dorothy, it was a cinematic masterpiece! A work of art! Truly amazing storytelling and tension all rolled into one!
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