“Shadow you should run for mayor of Kowareta Yume in the upcoming election!”
“Where did this idea come from?” said Tails confused.
“I am someone who has never voted in his life. I generally don’t care about politics. But you Shadow, I know you. I would totally vote for you.”
Tails laughed, “I don’t think that’s how most people are going to think.” Tails paused and thought about Sonic’s idea for a bit. “Actually people might actually think that way. Most people in Kowareta Yume have heard of him and he is pretty popular because of the ‘Not all of me, all of us’ organization and what we were able to do.”
Shadow shook his head, “I am not sure about this. You Tails should be the candidate, you are the politics guy and you know the most about these things.”
“Nobody knows who I am, or better yet everyone knows who you are. You are the face of the organization and I couldn’t do public speaking in front of large crowds even if my life depended on it. It’s gotta be you.”
“How would we convince the majority of people to vote for me?”
Tails turned his head to the bathroom of their apartment and the toilet. “We with run fixing the fucking sewer system. Everyone complains about it. Mayor Tanaka will never fix it and he never even tried. We can make that the big thing about your campaign. Also, we can pledge to continue cleaning up the city like we have been doing so far. Finally, there is the question of the urban redevelopment plans.”
Sonic and Shadow nodded along and Tails continued.
“This is more of a me thing than something most people think about. If you remember I went to a protest against the redevelopment of Shadow’s neighborhood. We have to put a stop to those shady investments they are only good for the ultra-rich at the expense of the rest of us. However, maybe now people will be willing to fight against it. I have never seen such energy and enthusiasm in this ward for change. There are actual protests now instead of gatherings of 12 people. I feel like we have a good chance to dethrone Kowareta Yume’s 31 years in a row-mayor.”
“I agree,” Shadow said. “While I am kind of thankful that I got kicked out of my house, we wouldn’t be even talking right now if it wasn’t for it, I do agree that practices like the redevelopment plans should be stopped. Cleaning up the whole ward, that’s a given. Most of all I love the idea of fixing the sewer system. I think that’s a real winning issue. The only thing we need is to ask the members of ‘Not all of me, all of us’ if they would support me. If they say yes there are enough people there for the necessary signatures to be a candidate.”
The more Shadow thought about the idea of being the mayor the more he liked it. Kiryu’s words were ringing in his head. If he won the election he could truly instigate change. Reforming the sewer system isn’t some kind of global revolution but that is something that would directly impact the lives of the people that live in Kowareta Yume.
Urban planning and cleaning up the streets would impact it too but this is something that is such a measurable and clear thing. Something if he succeeds would be an everyday reminder of success. Shadow was determined to win this.
“I just have questions for you two,” Shadow said. “Tails would you be my chief of staff or vice-mayor or whatever is the number 2 position in the municipal government if we win? I want to be able to make good decisions when we get there and you are someone I can trust and someone who is very knowledgeable. You showed that to me by how excellently you managed ‘Not all of me, all of us’.”
“You can count on me!” Tails gave a firm thumbs up.
“Sonic, will you help me in this campaign?” Shadow said.
“Of course. I mean it was my idea for you to do this. I want to support you all the way! By the way, soon the next ‘Sonic game’ development cycle will start. When I have a meeting with Polanzo I will push him to include you guys. Now that the franchise is making some money I can do that.”
“Do that,” Shadow nodded. “It will be cool if the three of us make a game together. I can do game development even if I am the mayor right?”
“Yes, you can.” Tails said. “On the subject of being mayor that reminds me. Shadow, you have to delete your social media account ambivalence2387469837497389023092193 before we kick off your candidacy.”
“Why?”
“What the fuck do you mean why? Dude, you posted holocaust and Holodomor denialism. If people discover that is your account you can kiss your chances of being mayor goodbye.”
Shadow was dumbfounded. “I still don’t understand why. My views have changed. I cringe at my former self. Why would people attack me for opinions I no longer have.”
“Hello!?” Tails threw his arms up in frustration. “Do you hear yourself right now? You as the terminally online person should know that people on the internet don’t care about that. If they see that, it doesn’t matter if you believe it still or not, they will tear you apart. Didn’t you post stuff against Rick Ravette for him being a supposed Nixon supporter even though he couldn’t have been since he was 8 years old at the time?”
Shadow grits his teeth as he realizes Tails is right. “Oh shit. I have to delete that immediately.”
Tails continued, “If it was enough for you to cancel a dead guy over false information that you didn’t even bother to check, how do you think people will react to you actually being a Nazi and a Stalinist at some point? Mayor Tanaka loves attacking people on the basis of being communists, he is going to love that this time it might even have some merit.”
Shadow was no longer arguing the issue. He had grabbed his phone and expressly deleted his old account. The only thing he could hope was that no one was going to find out about ambivalence2387469837497389023092193.
***
A couple of days later, Shadow had yet to announce to the public his candidacy. He was making preparations behind closed doors in his organization ‘Not all of me, all of us’, with Tails. They were discussing strategies, tactics, and logistics for this upcoming battle.
Sonic was at SEGA HQ completing some simple paperwork. While walking in the hallway he ran into President Polanzo, still wearing his maroon-colored suit, and sunglasses and accompanied by guards.
“Excuse me, sir may I ask you something.” Sonic politely approached Polanzo.
“Shoot.”
“When is the next ‘Sonic game’ development starting.”
“Excited I see. Very soon.”
“I wanted to ask,” Sonic said in probably the most polite tone he ever spoke in his life. “Is it possible for Tails and Shadow to co-direct the next game with me? I think both would be invaluable assets and they could boost the sales of the franchise. There are fans who love seeing them just as much as seeing me. I am not demanding anything like always you have the final word but I think this would be beneficial to the franchise and the company as a whole.” Sonic bowed his head in true Japanese business style. He really wanted to get the green light for this.
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“Are you okay man? You never talked like this before.” Polanzo scratched his head. “Fox boy and Edgy the hedgy huh? Well, edgy was a good boost for ‘Sonic: Revelations’, the critics hated his inclusion but the fans seemed to have responded well to him. Fox Boy hasn’t been a playable character in a long time but we could play into the nostalgia aspect of it…”
Sonic stayed with his head bowed and waited for Polanzo’s answer.
“You know what? I think that would be a good idea.” Polanzo said. “Please stop acting like a samurai you’re creeping me out. Also, didn’t you bitch to me your whole career about wanting to work alone? Jesus you stars can never make up your goddamn mind!”
Sonic raised his head. “Thank you so much, you won’t regret your decision.”
Polanzo waved his hand and disappeared from the hallways with his guards. Sonic was absolutely ecstatic. Finally, he would be making a game just for the sake of making it, like he used to in the old days. He would enjoy the work not obsessing over scores or reviews and he would get to do it in the company of his best friends. He wasn’t going to disrespect anybody during the process and he was going to honor everyone’s contribution.
Finally, he would reach his Jackie Brown happy ending that he had always desired. Finally, he was in life where he wanted to be. It was all so close, he wanted to start working on the game right now but he had to wait for the official date to start. Everything was falling into place. Also, Sonic was happy that Tails and Shadow were getting along.
He felt a real sense of relief when Shadow asked Tails to be his number 2 when he becomes mayor. At first, Sonic was guilt-ridden over manipulating Tails to accept Shadow into their home, especially when the two would argue over politics. Now that the two genuinely are getting along well, there was no reason to feel bad about it.
However, Sonic promised himself that would be the last time he would manipulate Tails, or any of his friends for that matter. It wasn’t worth it even though things worked out in this case.
Sonic’s thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He had received a text message from Vector the Crocodile.
“Meet me at café Alps. It’s important,” said the text message.
What could this be? It was highly unusual for Vector to contact him like this. The two hadn’t spoken since they ran into each other in the same hallways Sonic was standing right now. Back then, Vector was snooping around for some unexplained reason. Could this be related?
The only way Sonic was going to get answers was to meet Vector and find out. Sonic made his way to café Alps. It wasn’t far away, Sonic could easily walk his way there.
Sonic entered the cigar smoke-filled café and witnessed Vector right away. He made his way over to his table and sat there.
“What is it you wanted to talk about?” Sonic was concerned.
“You gotta order something first before I tell you, it's part of the code.”
“You green piece of shit,” Sonic raised his voice, “I swear if you are wasting my time or scamming I will jump over this table and strangle you!”
“You’re order sir?” said the waitress standing next to the table and looking at Sonic. She had a terrified expression. She had been standing there while Sonic made his death threats unbeknownst to Sonic.
“Black coffee please,” Sonic fake smiled at her.
Sonic then crossed his legs and impatiently waited for the coffee to arrive so that Vector could talk according to his “code”. The two sat in an awkward silence until the waitress brought the coffee, she was still scared of Sonic.
“Now can you tell me what this is about??” Sonic hit his hands on the table and his cup shook spilling a little bit of coffee.
“Okay, I will cut to the chase. You are a certified game director at SEGA, right? That means you have the highest-level security access card an employee could get. The only ones that have security clearance above you are the president of the company and other senior officials in the company.”
“Yes, all of that is true.” Sonic took a sip of his coffee.
“The Team Chaotix agency is currently investigating President Polanzo under the request of international bodies. I can't tell you exactly which but I think you get the point.”
“Ohhhh, that’s why you said international importance way back when I saw you in the hallway. Okay, what does this have to do with me?”
Vector leaned in a bit closer to Sonic and said: “There is a collection of files crucial to our investigation. These files are in a room where I or any of the Chaotix can’t enter, no lower-level employee of SEGA could enter either. However, a high-level employee could enter that room with his security clearance, like say a game director.” Vector winked at Sonic.
“You want me to commit corporate espionage for you?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck off I ain’t doing it”
“Why not?” Vector sounded surprised. “You do realize this is of international importance. This is bigger than you can imagine.”
“Bro I could lose my job and be barred from making video games for the rest of my life if I do something like this. I am not going to do it.”
“Okay listen,” Vector took a deep breath. “I am under strict orders not to discuss the details of the case to anyone but I guess I will clue you in on some of the details we have discovered. Polanzo is not what he seems.” As those words came out of Vector’s mouth he realized just how obviously Polanzo looked like some kind of gangster or yakuza. “Scratch that, Polanzo is exactly what he seems.”
“Big deal,” Sonic said in a mocking tone. “Every major company’s president does some shady shit. You gotta give me something more than vague allusions.”
“How about this! Dr. Robotnik’s parole was because of Polanzo! Polanzo is the one who paid Robotnik’s lawyers that got him paroled. The mean bean machine or whatever, you know the dystopian copyright claim your dreams machine. Well, that project was financed by Polanzo and by the SEGA Corporation. That’s why the thing is called Mean Bean Machine, a name that is SEGA’s intellectual property. They have a patent on that machine and they are planning to put it on the market soon.”
“You’re bullshitting me. There is no way this is true. SEGA would never hire Robotnik.”
Vector pulled out a file out of his backpack that was under the table up to this point. He gave the file to Sonic. Sonic opened the file and it said
CLASSIFIED: DR. IVO ROBOTNIK, EMPLOYED IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SEGA CORPORATION
“Oh my god. It is true,” Sonic grabbed his head in shock. “Something is rotten in the company of SEGA.”
“That’s what I am trying to tell you. Do you see what we are dealing with here? Will you help us?”
“I am sorry but my answer is still no”
Vector was deeply disappointed. “Why? I thought you of all people, the person that stopped Robotnik once upon a time, the former hero would understand how important this is.”
“I do understand all right but it doesn’t concern me. First of all, you are asking the wrong person. I haven’t been in the hero business in a long time and I don’t plan on returning to that job ever. Secondly, from everything you’ve told me they aren’t doing anything illegal. All I see is a company financing a product and putting it on the market.”
“I know you don’t believe that market argument. You must know how fucked up this dream machine is. I’ve only scratched the surface of Polanzo’s activities. I can’t reveal any more to you but I hoped the Robotnik part would move you.”
Sonic shrugged. “Sorry, I can’t help you.”
“Just say it how it is. You don’t want to help me. Anyways, sorry for wasting you’re time.” Vector stood up and was preparing to leave.
The ‘you don’t want to help us’ stung Sonic, he said: “Why don’t you ask Kiryu the big hero huh?”
“Kiryu couldn’t help us even if he wanted to. He isn’t a game director anymore and hasn’t been since 2016. He doesn’t have the security clearance.”
“Why don’t you ask some other game director?”
“Nobody is going to help us. Nobody there was an actual hero like you or Kiryu in the past. They are just regular employees. I guess I misjudged you. Anyways we will find some other way to get those files. See you around.”
Vector left the café and Sonic sat at the table alone. He sat there drinking his coffee. Conflicted in his heart. He knew how dangerous the mean bean machine is. He knew that it was wrong that he was working for the same company that was building such a machine. A company that financed a psychopath like Robotnik out of prison.
Robotnik was probably using this as a means to fulfill his world-domination ideas. Only this time he was doing it through legal means. Sonic knew in his heart that he should do something. He feels that he should help. Part of his soul is telling him to go through with this, that his career was less important than something that was apparently in Vector’s words of international importance.
However, I can’t help him. I want to but I can’t. I am so close to happiness. If I give him those files, I am throwing away video game development as a job for the rest of my life. I can’t do that. I am only happy when I am making games. I’ve tried different things and that’s the only thing that is really fulfilling to me.
I can’t do it, especially not now. Now that I am supposed to work on a project with Tails and Shadow. Now that I am released from my obsession with reviews and scores. Now that I am a few steps away from success. They will find another way without me. If Robotnik tries to do something illegal there is the police and if it goes to the scale like it was in the old days some other new and young hero is going to stop him.
That’s right, this isn’t the job for me. I hung up the hero gloves a long time ago. Kiryu even said that you have to hang up those gloves at some point and it's good to know when it’s the right time. I walked away at the right time. There is no need to go back.
***
One week later, Shadow formally and publically announced he was running for mayor. The campaign was in full swing. There was a lot of excitement in the streets of Kowareta Yume. For the first time in a long time, Mayor Tanaka seemed beatable. The organization ‘Not all of me, all of us’ was using all of its resources to help Shadow’s campaign.
Its purpose was to clean up Kowareta Yume, all of the members saw Shadow’s candidacy as an extension of that goal. He had the full support of its members. Despite being a relatively new organization, it had plenty of muscle to flex on the local level. It was a formidable foe to the political party of mayor Kenji Tanaka.
Sonic had put all of his heart into this campaign. He felt firsthand how it is to have to fix the toilet every single day. He knew how important of a change it would be for everyone. He ran all over Kowareta Yume, giving pamphlets, gluing posters on walls, talking to people on the street, and convincing them to vote for Shadow.
Every day Sonic was constantly running. Since he had jogged in the previous months he was in shape and could run quite a while without getting tired. He could run a third of his top speed from the days before he became a video game director but even that was still fast.
Sonic hadn’t spoken a word to Tails and Shadow about the Vector situation. He felt embarrassed by his decision and he believed that they would be very disappointed in him. That they were going to attack him for putting his selfish needs of wanting to make video games above international threats.
In his mind, he was redeeming himself by helping Shadow get elected. If Shadow would get elected he would do some good to the world. Shadow would fix the sewers, the urban planning thing that Sonic didn’t pay attention to when Tails was talking and the trash would be gone. This way, Sonic believed things would balance out.
One good thing, one bad thing. Sonic stays neutral.
At least that’s what he had continually told himself. Guilt was eating away at him. Somehow he felt he was making a mistake, but not enough to actually give Vector the ‘crucial files’. He remembered the emotional manipulation towards Tails but this time he wasn’t doing anything.
Doing nothing isn’t as bad as manipulating someone. I am a better person now than I was before, Sonic told himself.
***
On one morning, Sonic was waking up, getting ready to do his duties, give pamphlets on the streets, and run around Kowareta Yume. He was interrupted by a text message from his phone.
Sonic looked at his phone and saw it was from Knuckles. “Get to SEGA HQ, we need to discuss business.”
An unusual text message, Sonic thought. It’s probably about the new Sonic game, nothing to worry about. Polanzo did say the development would start soon.
Despite believing it was going to be a simple meeting, a sense of dread overcame Sonic. He was ready for the worst.