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Sally Acorn scratched the scars on her arm. Each one was an itchy reminder of the battles she lost. She resisted the urge to touch them when any of the other Freedom Fighters were around. The few times they noticed, they would always dote over her and ask where she got them. She always made up an answer, a vague encounter with the SWATbots or the scrap metal from a destroyed Badnik launching the wrong way.
Sally sat in the middle of Freedom HQ, on one of the few damaged chairs they had managed to scavenge. Next to her was a single candle, burning just enough light to see and cover the limestone walls in an amber glow. It was the middle of the night; everyone else had gone to sleep. Sally should be sleeping, or at the very least, not using up one of the few light sources they had. Instead, she was moping.
They had planned to meet with another rebel group -- old soldiers from the old Kingdom of Acorn, or so they claimed. Unfortunately, a Badnik patrol found the Freedom Fighters first. They had to destroy them and leave before Robotnik could come and find the location of the HQ. Once they had returned, they sent a radio message to let them know what had happened. Sally had to hope that it would get through and they could still rendezvous.
In her heart of hearts, though, she didn't. Alone in the candlelight glow, she could be honest with herself.
For the first time in her life, Sally felt free.
She didn't have to think about her role as a princess. She didn't have to wear stupid dresses. She didn't have to think about how her body looked, just how it functioned. She didn't have to think about being a girl at all.
She looked up to the ceiling and watched the flicker and dancing of the candlelight. It made her think about being a kid and playing with Knuckles, hiding out in the caves and tunnels he knew like the back of her hand. She felt like a boy, just like him. She started to wonder if she could be like that now. Maybe her friends would understand what she meant if she called herself a boy. Maybe they could see her the way she wanted to be seen.
But no. She couldn't distract them now. Her father was gone, Robotnik had taken over, and one misstep would be the end of all of them. She had to be the fearless leader they knew her to be. She had to be Sally Acorn.
She reached over to put out the candle and got a glimpse of her body. Every curve, every soft piece of fur. Suddenly, the only part of her body she could feel was the itchiness of her scars. All she could think of was adding a few more.
Nicole's new body was incredible.
Even as the two of them lay by the water, looking at the stars, Sally couldn't focusing on her best friend. Nicole having a solid body at all was an unbelievable advance of technology, but the design so clearly felt like her. Her green eyes scanning the stars in wonderous amazement; the gentle curves of her body below her beautiful purple wrap dress; the beautiful beads in her luscious black hair. Sally felt her memories of Nicole being rewritten in real time. Being here together didn't feel like a change. It felt like the way it always should have been.
"You're beautiful," Sally said.
Nicole looked over at her with surprise, like she didn't know that every part of her was more brilliant than every star in the sky. "Really?" Nicole asked.
"Of course," Sally said, reaching her hand to brush Nicole's face. As Nicole leaned into the touch, closing her eyes, Sally brushed her thumb over the fur. "It's not just perfect on its own. It's perfect for you. It's like you've lived in it your entire life."
Nicole blushed. "You're beautiful too," she said.
Those words sent a chill through Sally's body. She tried to force her hand to keep moving naturally to pretend that nothing was wrong, but it was difficult. She was extremely aware of her body, every curve she hated, every scar she made.
Nicole noticed too. She propped herself onto her forearm, eyes wide with worry. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"
"No, no!" Sally quickly reassured her, wanted the mood to go back to how it was. "It's nothing. It's just…" She paused, looking down at herself. Her body didn't feel like her own. It felt like someone else's and she was just forced into it. "I wish I could change my body like you can. Make it fit me like yours fits you."
Nicole looked thoughtful, but didn't say anything else. The two of them separated and continued watching the stars. Sally hoped that she didn't ruin the moment with her own problems.
Before Nicole faded away from the power usage, she whispered, so quietly Sally barely heard it, "Maybe you can."
Sally's wedding day was tomorrow. Her father arranged for her to marry Antoine. She sat on her bed, alone in her room, staring at the wedding dress she was to be forced in.
What the hell was she doing?
This wasn't her. She was a commander, the leader of the Freedom Fighters. Yes, she had a duty to her kingdom, but she also had a duty to the war. She could be doing so much good out there. Surely this wasn't the best use of her. Surely this wasn't her destiny!
The wedding dress was pristine and white. It had frills and flowers and a veil. It was historical and beautiful and feminine.
Sally looked down at her arms. She hadn't been out in combat for so long that all of her scars were beginning to fade, with no new ones to replace them. Her parents had already made comments on how they didn't make her look like a princess. If she added to them now, it would have added too many questions.
These scars made her feel more like herself than anything else in this stupid room.
Sally couldn't bear to look at the wedding dress anymore, so she sat on the windowsill. She stared out the window into the forest where the Freedom Fighters used to stay hidden from Badniks and hope that Eggman wouldn't find them. Despite all the fear and pain, she felt nostalgic for those days. She got to fight to save her world. She was surrounded by people who understood her. She got to live her own life. Now she was stuck living someone else's on the sidelines.
When did her life begin revolving around royalty and marriage and femininity? When did she become so defanged?
Not for the first time, she thought about running away. She would bring Nicole and the two of them could live out their days together. Maybe she could send a signal to the other Freedom Fighters and they would follow her. They might even be more effective, taking the war directly to Eggman. Even if they didn't, she could live on her own. She could be free.
Sally sighed. Even as she thought it, she knew she had a duty to her people. She couldn't just leave them, right?
A knock echoed from the door. "Mon princess, it is I, Antoine," he said. "May I come in?"
Maybe Antoine could enter and she could jump out the window. Maybe she would even survive.
Sally lay on her bed, running through the list of dangers that faced her kingdom. The Iron Queen and her followers were gone, so that could be checked off. But Geoffrey had betrayed the kingdom and Eggman was still out there. Neither had made any moves recently, so there was nothing to react to. Were they working together? Maybe they should be doing more reconnaissance to figure out what was going on…
"Sally?" A voice said.
Sally jumped up in a panic. Was it Eggman? Was it her parents? No, it was just Nicole, who suddenly appeared in her room.
Nicole looked stricken. "Sally, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have–"
Sally cut her off, trying to get her breathing back to normal. "It's fine, Nicole. I just thought you were someone else. What's going on?"
Still looking guilty, Nicole said, "Are you sure you're okay? Is everything alright?"
Sally was going to wave her off and give some basic answer, but Nicole deserved a better answer than that. "Yeah," she said, thinking about it. "Everything's good."
It really was. Despite everything going on and the amount she was worrying about it, she was happier now than she had been in a long time. She was actually accomplishing something in the field, she was finally getting closer to Sonic after how much they danced around each other, and Elias was taking the share of her royal duties. So many weights felt like they were lifted off her chest and she couldn't help but smile.
Nicole smiled too. "Well, I have more good news to give. In my free time, I've been working on tools for bodily modification and they're nearly complete."
"Bodily modification? Like what, robotification?"
Nicole waved her hand and blue computer screens appeared in front of her. Computer code and chemical formulas scrolled through faster than Sally could read it. "Not at all. I have low-tech options like indefinite fur dyes and hormone replacement therapy and high-tech nanite body part replacement, additions, and more. All fully controllable by the user and unable to be hacked."
As Nicole talked, images appeared on the screen. Mobians with dyed fur, longer tails, repaired arms, longer legs, mismatched ears. The initial fear that filled her from the memories of the Freedom Fighters being turned into robots and all the ways that the people didn't look normal slowly faded away. They weren't normal, but they looked happy. She had no idea if anyone else would actually feel that way, if this was something they wanted. But the more she looked at it, the more she began to wonder about herself.
One image caught her eye more than the rest. It was a little animation of a girl turning into a boy. She went from small and curvy to tall and flat. Her facial features were harder and less round. Her entire frame looked bigger.
Sally pointed at the animation. "What's that?"
From the corner of Sally's eye, she saw Nicole's grin grow even larger. "I've been doing medical research into Mobian bodies. As it turns out, so many 'inherent' differences between men and women are the result of specific chemicals in their bodies, which I've called hormones. Certain compounds I've been developing can suppress or activate them, which can lead to different characteristics."
Things immediately began clicking in Sally's head. Every part of herself that she hated, her soft fur and curves and voice, were the parts that made her a girl. They were the parts that belonged to everyone else but her. They were the parts that she hated looking at in the mirror. They were the parts that made her different.
"You said they're nearly complete?" Sally said.
"That's right," Nicole said. "I'm unable to do live testing, but the prototypes should be complete soon."
"Nicole, that's incredible!" Sally said. She jumped off her bed and ran through the transparent screens to hug Nicole. "You did this all on your own?"
"I did. I wanted you to be able to change your body like me," Nicole said.
For her? Sally tried not to think about how much time and care went into this, because she knew she would be too touched to speak. "Nicole, that's... Wow," she said, letting go and holding onto Nicole's shoulders. "Please let me know when you're ready to test."
Nicole nodded, pride shining in her eyes. Before she disappeared, Sally remembered something she wanted to say. "Oh, Nicole? Do you want to go to Mina's concert with Sonic and me tonight?"
Nicole looked up, surprised. "Oh! I– I think so. With all those people around, though…"
"It would mean a lot to me," Sally said.
Nicole paused, then nodded again. "I will."
Another civilian hurt.
Another friend attacked.
Another body part replaced.
Sally was a prisoner. Mecha Sally had control.
She wanted to die. But she couldn't.
When Sally Acorn came to, she saw a blinding white light. She thought she was dead. She didn't expect any sort of life after death, any memory, any sensation. Every part of her body and mind felt slow and distant. The endless thoughts streaming through her head, the tension of her old body and pain in her new one were absent. It was unfortunate that she died, she supposed, but at least it was over. She couldn't hurt anyone else nor could she be hurt. She felt at peace.
Then three shadows blotted out the light and distantly, she heard cries of "she's awake!" Her first feeling, one that she would never be able to think about again without immense shame and guilt, was disappointment.
Slowly, her eyes adjusted to see Dr. Quack, Rotor, and Nicole. They were hovering over her body, relief most evident on Nicole's face but present on all of theirs.
Dr. Quack pushed the other two aside. "Give her space!" he said, face close enough to hers that she could smell his breath. "Sally, how do you feel?"
Slowly, pain started to creep into her body. "Bad," she said.
"Well, that's to be expected," Dr. Quack said. "Your body is getting used to the new implants."
Implants? Sally looked down at herself.
Her normal arms were gone. In their place were Mecha Sally's arms.
She screamed. She tried to run. She tried to tear them off. She tried to rip them and herself to pieces. Her vision was blurry. The sounds of voices and a heart rate monitor were drowned out by the ringing in her ears. She was still Mecha Sally. Why? What was wrong with her?
She felt a pinch in her neck. She tried to reach out and tear it out, but her arms were being pressed down by various people. Eventually, all her energy, her anger, her feelings slowly melted away.
Dr. Quack spoke. He talked about cybernetics and body modification and being found torn to pieces and necessary operations and future operations and living with this. Sally could barely care about anything at all, much less the garbage that spewed from his mouth. Eventually, he stopped talking and left. Rotor left too, she thought, because only Nicole was with her.
"Sally, I'm so sorry," Nicole said. She looked like she was crying. "This never should have happened." This wasn't good. Some distant part of Sally was screaming directions at her. How to comfort Nicole and process what happened to her. But everything felt so distant and fake. So she couldn't care.
Except about one thing. "Nicole, did you finish your research?"
Nicole blinked. "Oh. Yes, it's in my database. But…" she said, looking away. "After everything that happened, no one wants anything more to do with nanites. Even the less technical solutions were deemed too risky."
"Try it on me," Sally said, voice raspy.
"I can't. Even if they were approved, you're too important and have too many medical issues. Anything might kill you at this point."
"Nicole," Sally begged. "Please. I need it."
"You could die," Nicole said, voice breaking. "They'll exile me again. I can't. I just can't."
Sally knew she didn't want Nicole to suffer. She looked down at her arms. The metal was pristine.
Sally was doing her physical therapy when Nicole told her the news.
Eggman attacked the kingdom with the Death Egg. Team Fighters rushed in to fight it, as usual. Tails and Amy took the defensive outside while Sonic rushed in to meet Eggman.
He did. They fought. Eggman's mech suit malfunctioned. He was crushed by his own machine. The Death Egg went up in flames soon after.
There was more to do. Lien-da and Snively were both gone, but Geoffrey was still causing issues. Badniks were operating autonomously. Nicole told her she would be important for the future, but Sally knew what went unspoken.
The war was over. And Sally missed it.
There was a large ceremony for Nicole. Every member of the Freedom Fighters gave a speech. King Sonic's was short and sweet, Queen Sally's was long and formal, Tails nearly got sidetracked with mechanical talk, and so on. There were festivities in the streets that lasted for nearly a week. Many citizens of the Kingdom of Acorn gave Nicole thanks directly and told her how important she was to their lives. They knew she was leaving and that the kingdom would continue, but they didn't know why.
Then there was a small ceremony. This was just the people who knew her best: the Freedom Fighters, Mina, Shard, even Dimitri. They told stories, from the time she arrived to the time she renovated New Mobotropolis with the nanites. Their farewells were much less prepared and filled with many more tears. Everyone lingered as long as they could: what was supposed to be an evening celebration turned into night turned into morning. Rotor triple-checked Tails's work and Tails did the same with his. Bunnie left and came back with more food several times. But eventually, everyone else departed.
Then it was just Sally and Nicole. They stood together in front of the Freedom HQ's computer systems, Nicole's handheld device sitting on top of it. It had long since been renovated and abandoned and cleaned and made into a monument, but in the backrooms, Sally almost felt like she was back in the war. Back home.
"Are you sure you need to do this?" Sally said, for what felt like the hundredth time.
Patiently, Nicole said, "Yes. It's time travel. You need to find me at the beginning of the war with all my memories locked away."
"I feel like Silver should be able to find some sort of workaround. He knows everything about time travel."
"Sally," Nicole said sternly. "It's a closed loop. I need to do this."
Sally knew she did. She couldn't deprive her younger self of Nicole: her friendship, her guidance, her love. She couldn't have Nicole fail to develop into her current self. She couldn't be the reason time falls apart because of failing to close a loop, whatever that would entail.
But Sally needed Nicole.
Being around Nicole was the only time she felt like herself anymore. Too much of her life was spent in the castle, worrying about appearances and presentation. She didn't lead battles, she didn't negotiate with world leaders; she lead ceremonies and attended dinner parties.
Nicole understood her. Whether they were watching the stars or fixing her people's problems, Sally felt like she was seen. She felt like more than her title or her dress or her name. She didn't need to think about her mechanical implants or her title. She felt like the person she was supposed to be. She felt real.
She tried over and over to express her love for Nicole. She just hoped the message got through.
While Sally was lost in thought, Nicole already began the time travel program on the computer. Text flowed down the screens like rain on a window. It was gibberish to her. A bar popped up over the text. It read "AI Transfer Progress" and it began to slowly fill.
As Nicole typed, the nanites that made up her physical form began disassembling, starting from her feet and moving up. A slot on the computer opened and the nanites poured into it.
Seeing Nicole disappear in front of her was impossibly difficult for Sally. She reached her hand out to Nicole's shoulder, desperate to feel her touch, desperate to make the moment last as long as possible.
Nicole stopped typing and turned around. Her body was already half gone and the bar was half filled. Time was moving too fast.
Sally tried to think of anything to say. Were there any words that could convey the feelings? "Nicole, please..."
Nicole smiled. Then she took Sally's head in her hands and kissed her.
Nicole's lips barely touched Sally's. Her touch was light, dancing over Sally's skin, but it made Sally's heart pound. For the first time in a long time, passion flared in Sally's chest. She grabbed onto Nicole's head and pressed herself into her. She pushed her body into Nicole's rapidly disappearing torso, trying to wring as much passion and meaning from this moment as possible. Nicole stayed where she was, but their kiss didn't deepen. No matter how much Sally pushed in, Nicole stayed away.
All too quickly, Nicole backed away to stare at Sally. "I love you," she said. The last nanites that made of her face dissolved in Sally's hands. The bar filled. Then, in a flash of blue light, Nicole's computer disappeared.
"I love you too," Sally said to an empty room.
Queen Sally lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was large enough that she and Shadow could lay on opposite sides and neither of them would even come close to each other. Shadow had set it up that way, and it was fine by her.
While Shadow slept, Sally stayed awake. It was the usual insomnia: what was her purpose, how could she help people, why was she still alive?
She knew the last one. All she could do to help her people was stay married Shadow. Calm his anger. Heal their pains, even as he cracked down harder and harder. She was otherwise powerless.
She had vague memories of another timeline. One in which Sonic defeated Eggman, she became queen, and they all lived happily enough. She wanted to laugh. Her life might have been bad before, but that was nothing compared to her misery now.
This was it. This was her life. This was her destiny.
Sally Acorn was 45 years old.
It was night time in her castle. She was sitting at a table in the kitchen. Only her guards would typically be around and she sent them away. For the first time in ages, she was alone.
Sally was supposed to be happy. She was the queen of her kingdom, which had been at peace for years now. She was married to Sonic and had two beautiful children. She lived a life full of helping others and now could rest. This is what she fought for all those years ago. This was the end of it. She won.
Sally Acorn was 45 years old and she hadn't lived a day in her life since she was a teenager.
Was this how she wanted it to end? If she died tomorrow, would she be happy?
Without the love of her live, Nicole? Without a body she felt at peace in? Sleepwalking through every day like something good would be on the other side?
No.
So she ran.
She ran out of the empty castle. She ran through the streets of her city. She ran through the empty forest. She ran to the Freedom HQ entrance. She ran inside and to the computer room.
It was exactly how she remembered it. Empty. Abandoned. Authentic.
She turned on the computer and tried to find anything of Nicole's. Folders and files were filled with old, useless data. Security footage, childhood plans. Nothing of Nicole's. Sally desperately kept clicking through. There had to be something.
Then she found it. Every piece of Nicole's research. It was all laid out so clearly. Fur dyes, replaceable piercings, cybernetic appendages, mechanical organs. Everything they talked about and more. Sally felt herself tear up. Nicole really did it all for her.
The last piece, the one she was looking for, was right there too. Hormone replacement therapy. Experimental, untested; who cared?
Sally pressed a button that read "Ready", and the nanite synthesizer was prepped. She pressed another. "Activate", and the nanites began to flow out of the slot on the computer. The tiny computers glowed a faint green as they formed together to create a syringe with nanites inside.
That was her. Nicole was here with her.
Without hesitation, Sally picked up the syringe and plunged the needle into her thigh. As she pushed in the nanites, she swore she felt them enter her body. Something inside her was changing. It was beautiful.
Sally left the computer room, full of Nicole's final gift. Her limbs were heavy as collapsed on top of an old chair, but she smiled regardless. She didn't know if she would survive the night. But if she did, she would finally get to live. And that made her happy.