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Lanolin couldn’t remember much of how the Metal Virus ended, but those stars would burn in her memory for eternity.
Not the balls of gas up in space, of course. In her zombot-addled mind, she couldn’t focus on them much. Everything was a blur. Wants, needs, hopes, fears; it all became background noise, like a quiet buzzing in the back of her head trying to regain control.
And above it all, drowning out her mind, was him. The others called him Zavok, but all she knew was that he called the shots. His presence was rooted in her mind, giving matching orders to the rest of the zombot horde. Any individualism she once had, any semblance of self or personal identity…It was gone. There was no Lanolin. Just another metal sheep in the chromatic herd.
It's hard to say Lanolin had thoughts in those moments; they were more like instincts, a base desire that wasn't expressed in words, but echoed through her being. In the same way you always know where your hand is, even with your eyes closed, Lanolin wanted the nightmare to end.
She wasn't sure how long she was under Zavok's control before she saw the lights.
The pair of lights appeared out of nowhere right on the island, and their arrival was when she started to become a little more lucid. Zavok’s voice disappeared from her mind with an enraged roar, and she could recall glimpses of him being jettisoned off Angel Island. Then the lights, sparkling golden motes, rose into the sky and made the Virus disappear.
In an instant, the nightmare ended. One moment she felt like she was sleep-walking, and the next she was awake, aware, and herself again, surrounded by others whose metallic hues were fading, pulled into the aura of the two shining stars above before disappearing.
One of the lights came crashing down, like a shooting star that decided it wanted to arrive after the wish was made. The other vanished without a trace. But at that point, it didn’t matter. For all her time as a zombot, nothing was as powerful as those stars, nothing as clear in her mind.
Those stars woke her up. From then on, the nightmare that was the Metal Virus was over. She was awake again.
Here’s the thing about nightmares though; they don’t always end when you wake up. Sometimes they stick around, and this one was no different.
Weeks had passed since the Virus ended, but that didn’t mean everything was back to normal. Turns out, a bunch of barely-self-aware indestructible zombots could cause plenty of trouble. Case in point…
"Roy, Lanks, we need sections A1 to A6 re-labeled. Ricky, Adaine, you two focus on clearing sections B4 and B5; we need the debris out of the way so we can use that space again. And Fuse, I need a list of the damaged material we recovered in sections B1 to B3, we'll need to account for those losses…"
"We get it already, you don't need to keep hounding us over it."
Lanolin's cold gaze turned on the complainer—Fuse the red-furred squirrel. Like the rest of the Restoration workers here in this warehouse, he had a little badge on his uniform in the form of a cyan star, the same kind that symbolized their organization and the Resistance before it. Fuse had a tablet in his hand and was looking through a box, though he spared a moment to shoot Lanolin a glare.
"We have a limited amount of time until this shift ends," Lanolin told him plainly. There was no hostility in her voice, but it wouldn't come across like that to others. To someone else, the lack of emotions in and of itself could be seen as a judgment. To Lanolin, she was simply keeping her voice neutral. "We're already behind pretty on our timeline. If we want Barricade Town back to the way it was before, we need things optimized."
Fuse shook his head. "Could be nicer about it…"
Lanolin didn't see how she wasn't being nice; she was simply being straightforward about their goal. The people here expect us to help make their lives normal again, she thought to herself. We need to do that as quickly as possible, for their sake. She pulled up her own tablet, which was marked by the Restoration's star symbol. She pulled up an app that said Barricade Town Restoration Project, which led into a list of chores, fixes, and community service work the town required.
The checklist was long, to say the least. Everything ranging from structural problems in various buildings to lost family heirlooms were documented. Some were more directly impactful than others, but Lanolin knew that peace of mind can go a long way towards fixing a community, even through something small.
She could feel her body ache from the thought of how much more work she'd need to do. Her legs were of the opinion that they deserved a ten-minute break, minimum, and her arms still had complaints about the construction supplies she had spent half of the day delivering. She had seen the word request written out so many times that it didn't even look like a word anymore.
She let loose a sigh, but didn't allow herself to pause. You can rest later. We have a job to do. She tapped on the app, marking off a few tasks that the warehouse group had finished up with. Instantly, a little picture of an iridescent, sparkling beetle appeared, giving a thumbs-up with the words Task complete! Look at you go! flashing across the screen. A little celebratory jingle rang out to announce the finished work.
"That's my favorite sound. Doing alright over here?"
Lanolin turned on her feet and stood straight, refusing to let any sign of her exhaustion slip through. "Oh, Deputy-Organizer. I thought your shift doesn't start for another thirty minutes?"
In front of Lanolin stood a purple bandicoot woman in overalls. Much like Lanolin, this woman had a red star badge, denoting her as one of the people in charge of general planning and management. The difference was, Lanolin's badge was covered in dirt and grime from all the work, making it look dull compared to the shine of this woman's badge, which was freshly cleaned. Another difference was her carefree, calm expression that betrayed no stress, while Lanolin was so stiff a gentle breeze could snap her in half.
The bandicoot woman chuckled. "We've been over this, Lanolin. You can call me Perci. We don't need to be so formal."
Lanolin disagreed heavily on that front; the formality was a way to show respect, and make boundaries clear. She felt it was more appropriate that way. And maybe that would have been true, were they still a pseudo-military group, but much of that mentality faded away when a certain pink hedgehog took over, and disappeared entirely with Director Jewel's leadership.
"Sorry, Deput—Ah, Perci."
"It's fine. Anyway, I came over 'cause I saw you took on Cliff's shift. Thought you were supposed to be done for the day already."
"I was, but he was feeling sick. I thought it would be efficient if I took over while he recovered."
"Awfully nice of you. Still, I figured I'd lend a hand."
Lanolin shook her head. "Thanks, but I'm fine. We're a little behind schedule, but I think we can make up for it if we plan carefully."
Perci raised an eyebrow. "Sure, but I can take it off your hands now. It's half an hour's difference, and I know you've been working all day. Jewel'd hate to see you running yourself ragged."
“Oh no, I have her permission. Director Jewel disagreed at first, but when I pointed out just how much work needs to be done, she agreed.” Reluctantly, but she agreed. That still counts.
Perci made a face. It was the kind of face that Lanolin was very familiar with, that of someone who has rather strong feelings and is trying their best not to make them known. She always hated when people did that.
Before anything more could be said, a tremor shook the warehouse, followed by a huge CRASH! Lanolin and Perci sped across the building to see a large crate broken open on the ground, pieces of wispon supplies scattered around it. Nearby, Fuse was pointing an accusatory finger at a magenta wisp. Around them were several other workers and a pair of other magenta wisps, all of whom were watching with annoying expressions.
"What the heck was that for?" Fuse demanded. "Are you trying to mess everything up?" The accused wisp only looked aside, murmuring something in the Wisp language. The other wisps just glared or rolled their eyes.
Lanolin wanted to handle the situation, but Perci stepped between the two before she could. "What's going on here?"
Fuse gestured to the wisp. "This is the fifth time this week that she's found something to break! It's like she's trying to make our job harder!"
Perci glanced at the wisp, her own expression sympathetic. "Maggie, are you alright?"
The wisp—Maggie—nodded weakly. She muttered again, letting out a sound that was far less musical than your typical magenta wisp. It sounded more like a horn sounding off, and it caused nearby crates to shake and tools to fall off of ledges.
Perci didn't react to the tremors, and instead only sighed. "It's alright, Maggie, accidents happen, why—"
"Accidents happen?" Fuse pointed at the broken crate. "Look at that! Do you know how much time we'll have to spend fixing all those wispon parts? We already have the rest of the town to clean up, we don't need someone making more problems for us."
Perci kept her face perfectly neutral, but when she spoke, there was an edge to it. "Yes, Fuse, I'm aware. But it was an accident. Maggie can't help herself, and if nobody was hurt, all we can really do is move on and try not to let it happen again."
Fuse rolled his eyes. "Sure, because hoping for the best worked great the last couple times." Maggie lowered her gaze to the floor.
Lanolin watched as Perci shook her head. "The point is, we're all wasting time by pointing fingers. I'll help clean this up in a minute. And Maggie—" The wisp seemed to shrink under Perci's gaze. To her credit, Perci didn't appear harsh; only concerned. "—Why don't you take five? We can see how we can fix this later, alright?" Maggie gave a small nod, then flew away, through the depot's front entrance.
Lanolin's brow furrowed. "I don't normally work here, but I get the feeling this a regular problem?"
"With her? Yes." Perci winced. "I didn't mean it like that, it's just…Maggie has some trouble compared to other wisps, and it's been known to cause issues. It's not her fault, but…" Perci shrugged. "I can't say it's not making things harder."
"What kind of issues is she causing?"
Perci knelt down in front of the box and began gathering up broken wispon pieces. "This is sorta the norm. Her powers are a little less…graceful than other magenta wisps. Their sounds are good for getting places, moving things, stuff like that. Hers are louder, and things tend to fall or break or whatever if she's not careful. That little tremor earlier was her trying to be subtle. It's not something she can control too well, but it hasn't really endeared her to some of the folks here."
Lanolin knelt down and grabbed one of the wispons that fell. It wasn't in great shape, but it was still usable. She could recognize the parts that were meant to transfer and focus Hyper-go-on energy, all perfectly functional. "So why do you still have her here? If she's making work difficult, isn't that a problem?"
"We're a volunteer service trying to rebuild the whole world twice-over," Perci reminded her. "We can't be picky. And she wants to help, she just…doesn't know the best way to do it. She's still finding her place, you know?"
That sounds familiar… Lanolin's mind flashed back to her earlier interactions with Fuse and Perci. She shook her head to dismiss the thought. "I guess that's fair. I understand why she wants to help, at least."
Perci nodded, but her eyes looked distant for a few moments as a thought occurred to her. Then she smiled and said, "You know what? Why don't you go check in on her?"
Lanolin shook her head. "No, I still have the rest of my shift to do, I—"
"—Can help her while I take over here," Perci finished for her. "You've done a lot today. I can take an extra thirty minutes to my shift in exchange for you making sure Maggie's okay. Consider it like an evaluation to make sure our team is operating at peak efficiency."
Lanolin glanced aside, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm…not exactly the best at making people feel better."
"Just do your best, alright? That's just as important as what we're doing here."
Lanolin hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded. "Alright. I'll find her. I'll forward you the tasks I have left; it's not much, but we wanted to survey the damage done to the rooftop. Let me know if you'll need help with that, Deputy-Organizer."
Perci’s wry smile gave away just how thrilled she was to realize that title was going to stick around. “It’s Perci, and I'm sure I'll be fine. You go ahead.”
“Understood, Perci.” Lanolin’s response was spoken in the same cadence as a soldier confirming they were ready to storm the battlefield, and with the same level of stoic resolve. It was only within the protections of her mind that Lanolin allowed herself to cringe at her own words. With that, she left the warehouse, taking the slightly-damaged wispon with her as she stepped outside and onto the street beyond.
The moment Lanolin was alone, she let out a sigh of relief. She allowed herself to drop the forced expression she had been holding; any appearance of looking pleased, or even neutral, gave way to a rather tired, almost annoyed expression.
I don’t know how anyone does it. She ran her hands through her wool, focusing the anxious energy into movement. It helped, somewhat, but she could still see the looks Perci gave her. She was nice, definitely, but there was still something there. An uncertainty, like she didn’t know how to react to Lanolin’s attitude.
Just ignore it, Lanolin told herself. She didn’t mean any harm, you’re just…overreacting. The word stung a little, but she brushed past it. She had work to do; she could agonize over how awkward she was when she was off the clock.
As Lanolin walked away from the depot, she couldn’t help but glance upward, where the fading light of sunset had given the sky above an orange tint. She could make out the moon and its ring of fragmented parts, with the Space Colony ARK hovering across from it. Somewhere in between, Lanolin caught a glimpse of what seemed to be some other huge artificial satellite; probably the remains of Egg Planet Park or one of the many Death Eggs. Every time the Restoration thought they’ve finished cleaning the trash Eggman left in the atmosphere, it felt like they find even more.
Lanolin shook her head and pulled up her tablet. In the Restoration’s app, she opened a report and gave a brief description of what she had seen. When she was done, a pop-up image of a familiar pink hedgehog appeared, framed in the Restoration’s star symbol. She was holding up her arm while the words You can do it! appeared in a speech bubble above her.
Somehow, seeing the famous (former) Commander Rose looking so casual didn’t make her feel much better. If anything, something about it made her feel even more tired. Like her warm, friendly smile in this picture alone was outshining her own ability to seem cheerful.
She didn’t have much time to think about that before she caught sight of Maggie. The little, music note-shaped wisp was sitting on a bench across the street from the warehouse, offering a perfect view of what was a once really nice spot until the war forced the need for another wispon depot. Maggie was looking up at the sky, staring up at the nascent stars that were, minute-by-minute, becoming more visible as the sun took its nightly descent.
Lanolin headed over there and took a seat next to her. "You're Maggie, right?"
As the little wisp nodded, Lanolin pulled up another app on her tablet. This one was marked by a pair of orange tails inside the Restoration star, and was titled Wisp Translation App V1.5. When it opened, it showed a text box and a little green light next to a microphone icon.
Lanolin set the tablet between them, then placed the spare wispon in her lap. Her words were laced with awkward energy as she said, "I just wanted to check in on you. I know the, um, situation was a little tense back there. Are you okay?"
Maggie's response wasn't any easier to understand now than it was before, but when she spoke, words popped up on the text box, reading: "I'm fine. Just wish I could help more."
"So…Why not try a different job? One with less…breakables involved?"
Maggie side-eyed her, which is a much more potent expression when your eye is your only facial feature. "This is the Restoration; fixing things is our—your job. All I ever do is break things. I…" She hesitated for a moment. "I just wanted to prove that I can do what they do."
"They?"
"The other magentas. They're musical and helpful and nice to be around, and I'm harsh and annoying and cause trouble. It's not fair." Lanolin wasn't sure if wisps could make tears, but if they could, Maggie must've been holding them back.
Lanolin remembered how the other two wisps had looked at Maggie when the latter had messed up, as though they already weren't fond of being around her. She leaned back against the bench. "Yeah…I get what you mean. I'm not exactly popular either." She let out a breath. "Feels like everyone else does this sort of thing naturally. And when you can't keep up…"
"…It makes you wonder why." Maggie glanced towards the sky. It was darker now, the orange giving way to blue, but there weren't many stars. There were all covered up by clouds. "But I need to help. First we were kidnapped by Eggman, then the war happened, then that Virus—I can't just float by while everyone else tries to make things right. I need to do something. I don't want to feel helpless anymore."
Lanolin felt a part of herself flash back to her time as a zombot. Her subconscious being forced to watch as others were forced to pick up the slack. She had never felt so hopeless in her life. Then the stars appeared.
She touched a finger to her badge, wiping away a little of the grime covering it. "I know how you feel. When the world's falling apart, all I can do is keep what I can together. I think that's why I joined the Restoration. We all have to play our part to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"But what do you do when nobody wants you to play a part?"
"Then you find one nobody else can do." Lanolin thought back to the recent troubles she'd seen in her life. The moon blowing up, the planet splitting, badnik invasions left and right…There was always something, and there were too few heroes to be everywhere at once. The Restoration couldn't just react, they needed to respond before the crisis, not just after.
She held up the wispon from before, eyeing it for a few seconds before saying, "…You know, your powers could be helpful in a fight. I doubt badniks can take that much sound."
Maggie blinked several times, looking between Lanolin and the weapon. "I've never seen a magenta wispon before."
"We had never seen a wispon before the war, either. They were made because wisps wanted to help protect the world however they could. It sounds like you do too." Lanolin looked at Maggie. "I don't know if it will work out, but it's worth to try. In my experience, nothing feels worse than letting a chance go by."
Maggie was quiet for a few seconds. It was hard to tell if she agreed with Lanolin's thoughts; Lanolin wasn't even sure if she did. But Maggie needed something to hope for. Maybe Lanolin could be the push needed to get her somewhere better.
Before they could continue, they were interrupted by a loud—
—CLANG!
Lanolin's head whipped towards the warehouse. A number of tools had fallen from somewhere above. Following that, Lanolin could see the rooftop of the warehouse, a good three stories higher than the ground, where Perci and several other workers were standing atop a piece of scaffolding. The platform was shaking—it looked like whoever set it up did so too hastily.
The scaffolding didn't give much warning; it started to collapse almost immediately. The workers were able to jump off in time, but Perci was less lucky. When the ground collapsed under her, she fell a floor. She was able to grab a small window sill on her way down. It wasn't enough to pull her up, but it stopped her fall…for now.
Lanolin's heart nearly burst out of her chest. Her mind took in all the details fast enough that she knew a decision had to be made quick. Perci's grip was slipping, and nobody was close enough to get to her. If they had time to get something in place, they could get to her, but as it is, anybody would take too long.
Then the tablet beeped, drawing her attention. "I have an idea," Maggie told her. "I can't fly that high, but if someone helped me, we can grab her quickly!"
Lanolin glanced between Maggie and Perci. This wasn't the best time to be experimental…but they didn't have time regardless. "Help how?"
"I can share my Color Power to get someone up there, if…if they're willing to try."
Lanolin gave a curt nod. "Nobody else is around…Alright, share it with me. Let's save her."
Maggie darted over to Lanolin and phased into her. Immediately, Lanolin felt herself change. Her body became weightless, and she could feel a pressure in and around her, like something she just had to reach out to control. Her body took on a faint magenta glow.
And then she heard the voice in her head: Maggie's, but rather than words, it was like they were sharing thoughts directly. Like they were one. This isn't how it normally looks, but we're both new to this. We need to hurry before I can't hold it together anymore.
Lanolin nodded. Understood. With that, she leapt into the air, punctuating her jump with a small burst of pure sound from her feet, projecting her upward like a rocket. Lanolin didn't know how to do any of this, but it was instinctual for Maggie. The two combined their knowledge faster than one could think to propel themselves higher.
The two kept going forward, using small bursts of air to push higher and higher, until they had reached the window sill Perci was hanging from. It wasn't wide enough to support her feet, but a bit of Hyper-go-on made sure that she could hover just enough.
Perci's eyes widened. "Lanolin? Maggie?"
"We've got you, Perci!" Lanolin and Maggie spoke in unison as they grabbed Perci, tossed her up, then caught her bridal style. They then leaped off the side of the warehouse and used their power to gently float back down to the ground.
Lanolin didn't get to see how she looked, but from the eyes of Perci and any onlookers, it was dazzling. Lanolin and Maggie shined against the dark sky above, the brightest star in the gloomy night.
The trio reached the ground just as Maggie was forced to phase out of Lanolin. The sheep and the wisp immediately became unsteady, but luckily Perci was able to regain her footing quickly.
"Are you…okay?" Lanolin felt a wave of exhaustion overtake her. Everything she felt earlier had multiplied by ten; apparently Hyper-go-on took a toll on anyone but certain hedgehogs.
"Thanks to you two, I am." Perci smiled, then took Lanolin's hand and Maggie's tentacle to steady them. "That was incredible. For a second, I couldn't even tell it was you two. I thought I was seeing some kind of new Super person."
Lanolin smiled—strained, but genuine. "I'm not sure I'm built to go Super. But there's potential. If we built a special wispon for her, Maggie could control that power better. Anyone would be able to work with her."
It's hard to smile without a mouth, but Lanolin was pretty sure Maggie did just that. She floated over, grabbed the tablet, and brought it to Lanolin so it could translate, "Thank you. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. I think…maybe I could help the way you said." Maggie hesitated. "But…It would be easier with someone who gets me. Like you."
Lanolin raised an eyebrow. "You want me to help you?"
"Yes! If you want, I mean. We shined so bright together, I…I guess I would feel more comfortable with someone who knew me. You don't have to, but…I'd appreciate the help."
Lanolin wasn't sure at first…but then she remembered how helpless she always felt before, and how Maggie felt the same. Maybe, together, they could stand a little taller.
Lanolin smiled. "I'd like to try. Thanks, Maggie."
Perci looked between the two of them. "Sounds like you two figured something out."
"Something like that. I think we both had something we needed to hear." Lanolin looked toward the fallen scaffolding and made a face. "First, we have reports to make, and we need to double-check all the other platforms to make sure this doesn't happen again, then—"
"I can do that," Perci interrupted. "You two get some rest. We can talk about that tomorrow, got it?"
Lanolin frowned, but the exhaustion overwhelming her convinced her not to argue too much. Maggie comforted her by patting her wool. "Alright. Just try to stay safe. We'll see you in the morning."
And with that, Lanolin and Maggie left. But Lanolin couldn't get that feeling out of her head. The feeling of shining bright and helping directly, in a way that mattered, despite all the troubles she normally has. For a few seconds, she glowed like the stars. If she could hold on to that feeling, then everything would be worth it.
She and Maggie would shine together, for everyone's sake.