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Chapter Notes > Before you get to the chapter, I'd just like to say in advance that updates > might slow down after Chapter 8. I don't really have a plan past there, so I > need more time between updates (since I have to not only write the chapter but > also come up with the idea). > > I promise you, I'm not abandoning this story, I just need more time to create > an end product I'm happy with. > > Chapter 8 will post July 1st, and the remaining chapters will be on the 1st of > every month (as opposed to the 1st and 15th schedule I had originally planned). > This gives me a whole month to plan out the chapter and write it, as opposed to > only having 2 weeks (my usual "I have it planned just need to write it" pace). > > I promise you this fic will have a satisfactory ending. I didn't get to Chapter > 8 to give up now. > > Without further ado, enjoy! After Zero woke up, he was called to the war kitchen (as he had decided to affectionately call it). Amy was there, and she greeted him when he walked in. "Hey... Zero, is it?" Zero smiled. Finally, somebody other than Sonic remembered his name. "Yeah." Amy looked down at her papers. "Well, I was looking for a place for you to stay. After all, it wouldn't be fair to keep you locked up in the jail." Zero interrupted her, almost as soon as she finished her last sentence. "Actually, it kinda would, but that's a whole another can of worms and I don't want to go there..." Amy paused for a second, before continuing. "So, ultimately, the best I can do right now is to send you to live with someone else. I tried to find a place you could live alone, but-" Zero could tell Amy felt bad about forcing him to live with someone else, and he decided to cut her off before she spent the next hour apologizing. "It's okay. Who am I going to stay with?" Amy smiled. "Well, Gadget had a spare room..." Zero's eyes lit up slightly. "Alright! Somebody I can stand..." Amy placed her hand on her chest in mock disapproval. "And you can't stand me?" Zero pondered it for a second, before replying. "I can stand you, I'm just not sure I could stand **living** with you." Amy chuckled. "Fair. Anyways, I guess you can pack up-" Sonic popped into the room. "Actually, Zero, can I talk to you?" Zero nodded; he had been worried about Sonic since the previous evening. "Sure. Let's go back to the cell so I can grab my stuff." They went down to the cell, and Zero hopped onto the "bed" for the last time. "So, what's up?" Sonic shifted, a little uncomfortable. "Well... I'll be frank-" "I thought you were Sonic." Zero chuckled dryly. "Sorry, continue." Sonic looked at him indignantly, before continuing. "...anyways, I was wondering if you could tell me more about how exactly being Infinite worked. I'm having some serious moral hangups here." Zero sighed. "I assumed you'd eventually want to know. The short answer is that it's really complicated." Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?" "So, basically, Infinite was mostly a product of the Phantom Ruby. I basically just sat and watched as Infinite did whatever he wanted. Torture, murder, whatever he desired, he did and I was powerless to stop him. Well, *mostly* powerless..." Sonic was intrigued. "*Mostly* powerless? How so?" "Well, there were some times where I could intervene and stop Infinite from doing whatever it was he was doing. That's part of the reason why Gadget is still alive; I saved him from Infinite a few times..." "So you could stop Infinite?" "Not all of the time; just sometimes. Most of the time I was just a spectator in my own body. But when he got passive, or just less kill-happy? That was me wrestling him into submission." He cringed slightly. "I didn't use all of the chances I could have, but there's nothing I can do about it now... I'm responsible for some of the awful things he did, I guess, if I didn't stop him..." Sonic knew depression when he saw it, and he decided to try and snap Zero out of the funk. "Don't say that! You at least stopped him from murdering as many people as he would have otherwise." Zero kinda half-smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that. Still, I can't help but feel responsible for not intervening as often as I could." "Hey, we all make mistakes sometimes." "I guess so..." Sonic silently continued attempting to comfort the jackal, while his mind was racing. So, Zero could have stopped Infinite from doing some of the horrible things he did, but he didn't. That's bad. At the same time, not everything Infinite did *could have* been stopped, since Zero wasn't always able to wrestle control away, so he can't be completely condemned. Most of the time, Zero had no say in the matter. That much was clear. Still, he couldn't let the jackal get away with the things Infinite did. Could he? Sonic's musings were interrupted by Tails coming down the stairs. "Hey, guys? Sorry to interrupt your heart-to-heart, but we've got some intel, and it's serious business." Sonic hopped up from the bed. "Alright! We'll be up in a sec." Zero looked at Sonic quizzically. "*We*?" Sonic smirked. "What, do you think Knuckles isn't going to let you in on the meeting? After you saved our butts? Come on! Somebody has to come up with a plan." Zero smiled; he finally felt included. "Alright then, let's go!" The fox, the jackal, and the hedgehog went back up the stairs. There's a setup for a joke in there somewhere, but this isn't a comedy. They went back to the war kitchen, where everybody else was already waiting. Tails went to the head of the table and started pulling up files on the screen. "So, Eggman isn't back, to start." A sigh of relief could be heard around the table. "However, we've got a new issue." Tails pulled up a file photo of a white platypus wearing a... fashion statement of an outfit. "Yes, I know his outfit's ugly. He goes by 'Doctor Starline', and he's apparently decided to take up the big bad role in Eggman's stead." "'Doctor Starline'? More like 'Doctor Fashion Disaster'!" Sonic chuckled to himself. "So, what's up with him?" "Well, he has lots of powerful robots. They'll be a challenge to take out, Wispon or no Wispon. I think he'll attack from the west, since that's where his factories are located." Knuckles finally couldn't hold his peace anymore. "Not to interrupt, Tails, but what is the jackal doing here?" Sonic almost jumped over the table to hit Knuckles. "He saved our lives! Besides, he's not even connected to Doctor Fashion Disaster. Give him a break." Sonic looked to Zero. "Besides, he's pretty good when it comes to strategy." "Still, I don't trust him." Zero feigned being hurt. "Really? After *all* I've done for you?" Sonic could tell a fight was brewing (mainly because Knuckles looked like he wanted to hop out of his chair), and he decided to put a stop to it. "Knuckles, he's staying. That's ***final***." Knuckles was caught off-guard. Sonic wasn't usually this assertive, especially not with him. He sighed. "Ugh, fine." He turned to Zero. "Well then, Mr. Grand Master Strategy Man, what do we do?" Zero smirked; he could tell Knuckles was trying to make fun of him, but he didn't care. "First off, thanks for the compliment. Secondly, I've got a few suggestions on how to easily defend the base." The idea was simple, in Zero's mind: play the invasion of Eggman's base, but from the opposite perspective. Instead of being the instigators, attacking the base, they needed to look at it from the perspective of the person in the base, trying to defend against the instigators. His plan was to station people on the wall to watch Starline's troop movements. If Starline sent a diversion force, say, from the west, to mask a larger attack from the east, they needed to know this so they could move troops around to hold off the intruders. The largest attack would have the most soldiers apportioned to it, so the biggest threat to the base would always have most of the defense. Knuckles chimed in. "That's nice and all, but we already have the Sergeant to draw up battle plans-" Sonic was firm and assertive on this topic. "Knuckles, the Sergeant almost got us killed. If Zero hadn't threatened Eggman's life with a Wispon, we wouldn't be here discussing any plans." "I wouldn't say that. He held Red Gate well-" Zero interjected. "Because I overruled his defense strategy! Who do you think decided to hem in the badniks: the guy who almost got you killed or the guy who saved your lives?" Knuckles tried to speak, but Tails cut him off. "And why do you think I put Zero in the Sergeant's group for '*Operation Tsunami*'? Statistically, Zero hasn't failed in a plan yet, and has even succeeded in fixing plans that weren't his. He literally has a success rate over 100 percent." Knuckles finally got a chance to get a word in edgewise, but he knew nothing he could say would convince the others. "Ugh, fine, we'll go with Zero's plan." Zero smirked. "That's *Mr. Grand Master Strategy Man's plan* to you." "Oh, shut it." "Anyways," Tails interrupted, "The intel suggests he'll make his move tomorrow. We should be ready for him." Zero was confident. "Oh, we'll be ready." --- Now that that was settled, Zero went back to the jail cell and packed his meager belongings. (Really, it was just the stuff he had been "arrested" with; the backpack, the sunglasses, and the tools.) Throwing his backpack over his shoulder, he waited by the door for Gadget to come pick him up. Sure enough, the red wolf arrived, and the pair walked to Gadget's house. Along the way, they talked about random things. For instance, Zero explained the entire battle plan idea. Gadget agreed that it was probably a much better idea than the Sergeant could have thought up. They were both glad to know Eggman hadn't immediately regrouped (a valid concern, given the Doctor's IQ and planning skills). Eventually, they arrived at Gadget's house. Gadget showed Zero around; it was your average house, not all that different from Resistance HQ in most ways. The living room was the main area just inside the door, the kitchen was to your left, and to your right were 2 levels of doors. On the bottom level, there was the bathroom, and on the upper level, there were 2 bedrooms. The only house rule was that Zero wasn't allowed into the workshop (the entrance to which was where the jail was in Resistance HQ) until the next morning. Zero asked why, but all Gadget said in response was "It's a surprise, you'll see..." Gadget showed Zero to his new bedroom. It was the bedroom closest to the front of the house; a whole space, just for Zero. He put his bag down and flopped onto the bed. He finally had a place to call home.