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Vanilla hung up the phone and sighed. The four landlines on Vector’s desk had gone silent. She held her hand out, just in case another would ring, but to her surprise, silence filled the office, the seemingly endless calls about missing people done for the day.
Then again, when she glanced out the window, darkness had settled across Seaside City. Streetlight and a draft filtered in through the white shutters. Rubbing her arms, Vanilla stood up and nudged in Vector’s rolling chair before making her way to the shutters. She peeked through them, observing the crescent moon in the inky black sky dotted with stray stars, realizing she had been taking notes for quite a while.
Looking over her shoulder, she found her daughter nestled on the Chaotix’ couch. She had placed a wool blanket over her around mid-afternoon when Cream started to nod off in the middle of a phone call. Tilting her head, Vanilla smiled and adjusted the blanket over Cream’s bare shoulder, giggling when she found Cheese and Chocola tucked to her chest.
Heavy footsteps tiptoed on the tiles. Gemerl approached her from the far side of the room, holding a tower of manilla folders. He had created personalized databases for each missing person’s case just as she requested, making the paper copies more storage for the metal cabinets. Together, they sorted the folders alphabetically, which she knew was how Vector and Espio preferred to keep their files organized.
Closing the top cabinet, she fixed her wrinkled collar and glanced around the office. While the exterior of the office was appealing, the interior needed work. The cracks in the walls were like hairline fractures running through the foundation. A good blow from one of Eggman’s robots had the potential to demolish it, leaving the Chaotix without a base of operations, the thought troubling her.
Returning to Vector’s desk, she examined the various papers pinned to the bulletin board. Scarlet string looped around the pins, connecting the information in a cohesive map. On notecards, tidbits about the Metal Virus caught her attention, and her lips tightened in a frown. A shiver ran down her spine at the memory of her transformation. How the chromatic ooze sunk into her pores and crawled up her fur still left her reeling from any cold sensation, and she asked Gemerl to close the shutters.
He obliged her request. As soon as the shutters closed, Vanilla exhaled her held breath. Rubbing her arms, she went to her daughter and sat by her side, Gemerl following. She brushed through Cream’s ears, wondering about it all.
“She will be fine,” Gemerl affirmed as if reading her thoughts. “I am saying this because your expression implies negative emotions, which you reveal when she does not notice.”
“And I’d like to keep it that way. With everything she endured, seeing me and her friends become monsters, fighting that horrid Zeena, and then becoming a Zombot herself, I need to be strong for her,” Vanilla said, patting Cream’s shoulder through the blanket. Her expression hardened, her lower lip trying not to tremble. “Just as the Chaotix were selfless during the plague, so was my daughter.”
“She gave everything she could to protect the world,” Gemerl replied, nodding. He set his hand on Cream’s back, his eyes appearing to glow with admiration. “And you are giving all you have to repair the pieces of her life.”
Vanilla smiled a tired, serene grin. “Thank you, Gemerl. It’s the least I can do for the heroes who protected this world.”
While she had not seen the end to the horrors, Vanilla knew the extremities. Heroes and villains alike had come together to rally against the Zetis and Metal Virus. In the battle, some had lost their free will. Cream was one of the victims. And when Vanilla learned of the horrors she endured without her mother, it was more than enough to make Vanilla weep as she embraced her precious little girl.
She had also learned Vector sacrificed himself to save them. He had captured Charmy, the poor boy already transformed into a Zombot, and he allowed himself to become a mindless drone to give everyone a chance of escaping. She hadn’t discussed the matter with him, and she planned to bring it up when it was convenient for both of them. Like Cream, he was a victim and a hero, someone who had given up his soul to protect his loved ones.
It was why she had volunteered their services in the first place. The Chaotix had no chance of reprieve like the rest. Their breaths stifled, they dove headfirst into work at Vector’s behest, his dedication to duty and charitably helping those in need endearing him to her.
She felt like she needed to do more for Cream and Vector. The Chaotix constantly braved Eggman’s forces, and Cream came into her own with the Restoration. Assisting the Chaotix with paperwork, allowing them to go out and find people, was the least she could. And the time alone with Cream granted her the privilege of watching her daughter take charge, asking the right questions needed to learn more about a missing person, and Vanilla wanted to emulate their bravery.
Cream stirred. Vanilla withdrew her hand and watched Cream rub her eyes. Cheese yawned, and Chocola snuggled into Cream, not wanting to awaken yet. Blinking her eyes open, she smiled at her mother and Gemerl, asking if she had missed any calls.
“No. After you fell asleep, only a few more reports came in,” Gemerl reported, gesturing at Vector’s desk.
“And no need to worry. We did wonderful work today, everyone,” Vanilla crooned, gathering Cheese and Chocola in her arms. They chirped at her, delighted to be praised. “I believe the Chaotix are still hard at work finding others. I hope they don’t overexert themselves.”
“Perhaps we should look for them and see if they still need help,” Cream offered, folding the blanket into a neat square.
“Negative. It is nearly your bedtime,” Gemerl interjected, pointing at the clock on the wall.
As Cream pouted, Vanilla chuckled. She released the Chao back to Cream and stood up, smoothing the wrinkles in her dress. But before she could decide what to do next, verbose voices echoed outside, and she grinned to herself, their timing perfect.
The door swung open, smacking the already damaged wall. Vector nudged it with his tail to keep it from closing. He held two pizza boxes, focusing on Espio and saying, “Hey, hold that steady, Espio. Don’t drop the drinks.”
“I can assure you my ninja training has prepared me for this moment,” Espio replied, rolling his eyes.
Charmy zipped over Vector’s head, holding the baskets they had given to them hours before they left. Only stray crumbs remained inside, leftovers of a once plentiful feast. He darted over to the rabbits, a hint of dried chocolate frosting clinging to his lips, and he presented them the baskets.
“Hi! Thanks for the treats! They were really yummy and kept us going,” Charmy said, Gemerl accepting the baskets.
“Charmy, who are you talk-? Oh!” Vector’s free hand shot to the back of his head, and he blushed a soft pink. “V-Vanilla! And, uh, Cream, Gemerl, Cheese, and Chocola, you’re all still here? I, uh, would’ve called earlier to check on you guys, but well, we had a case about missing twins by the docks and had to search through a bunch of boats.”
Vanilla chuckled behind her hand. “Oh, don’t worry about us, Vector. We all chipped in to help your agency. Please, don’t think you kept us waiting.”
“We also had to re-order our dinner a few times,” Espio added, Vector setting the boxes on the coffee table.
“Yeah! They kept giving us only anchovies. Then, the next batch was nothing but olives and onions!” Charmy shouted, throwing his hands out. “It’s like they were messing up on purpose after the fifth pizza!”
“Truly, a test of patience,” Espio said, shaking his head.
Vector sighed and slipped his headphones onto his chain. He pointed at the baskets, clearing his throat and asking, “Well, uh, hey, since we’re all here, you guys wanna have some pizza with us? It’s a healthy kind since a certain lactose intolerant ninja here hates grease.”
“Grease is disgusting, and you know I am right,” Espio sharply interjected as Charmy giggled.
Cream bounced off the couch, exclaiming, “That sounds lovely!” She quickly turned to her mother, her Chao hovering by her head. “Can we, Mama? Can I stay up past bedtime to have pizza with you all?”
Gemerl pointed at the clock, but Vanilla gently lowered his hand. “Of course, dear. Vector was kind enough to offer, after all,” she said, stealing a glance at Vector. “It’ll be like a little party with all of us together.”
The smile on Vector’s face said it all. Charmy, Cream, and the Chao hurried to the kitchen to grab plates while Espio set the sodas on the table. Gemerl announced he would retrieve cups of water from the kitchen, Espio offering him an extra set of hands, and they also vanished into the kitchen.
Left alone, Vanilla sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her. Vector almost tripped over his tail to go to her. As the smell of freshly cooked meat rose from within the box, Vanilla took Vector’s hand and thanked him.
If his face could have gone any redder with heat, then steam would have shot out his nostrils. “Oh, um, no prob! Just part of the detective gig!” Clearing his throat, he cocked his head. “But why?”
“For your heroism and your sincerity. You did everything you could out there to protect as many people as possible.”
The corner of Vector’s snout twitched. He took a breath, but he did not reply. His eyes fell to the floor, quietly admitting, “Well, not as many as I wanted. Charmy still...”
Regret touched his features. He lowered his head, fiddling with his chain. He eyed the corner of the coffee table, his confidence beleaguered by memories both would rather forget.
“But you tried,” she insisted, stroking his hand, “and now, both Charmy and Espio are safe.” She pressed her thumb and rubbed small circles into his thick palm. “You did everything right, Vector.”
He quietly gasped as if he hadn’t expected praise. The Chaotix had been on the frontlines against Eggman’s tyranny ever since Neo Metal Sonic struck with his fleet, but they faced a thankless job. The glory went to Sonic and his close friends, not the detectives hired to solve a tangentially related mystery.
But now, with so many civilians looking to them for assistance, she thought it was time for him to realize that truth. She guided him to the revelation with gentle, earnest reasoning. It might have been hard for him to accept such adulations with the reputation the Chaotix had, but everyone in the city knew of their reliability. And she knew the gears in his head whirred as he came to terms with the facts of the case when a bright smile formed on his face.
“Man, thanks, Vanilla,” he murmured, the commotion dying down in the kitchen. “It’s, uh, well, it’s been a wild ride.”
“And we deserve some well-deserved downtime from it all,” she replied, Vector chuckling in agreement. “Maybe we can talk more about it some other time alone?”
“So-sounds perfect!”
As the rest brought in the plates, napkins, and drinks, Vanilla continued to hold Vector’s hand, at peace with everything that happened.