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Description
Here is my entry in Galaxynite's contest!: galaxynite.deviantart.com/jour…

(the references Galaxy provided in the journal were amazing!)

I absolutely adore this couple, and that's saying a lot coming from a person who will shriek "EW" in every romantic scene in a movie. This was SO fun to make, and I really pushed my limits with the shading and the background. Thank you for the challenge, Galaxy!

I only own the art. (edit: also the fanfiction)

EDIT: But wait, there's more! I scrambled to write this in three days since I don't believe I integrated the theme of "hope" enough. I don't consider myself a good writer, but I wanted to do a little something extra.

Hope

Ctrl. Alt. Esc…

Prs. Strt.

Running NICOLE.exe

Rebooting…

    Nicole woke with whirring snatches of command code bouncing about her groggy head. The holo-lynx’s eyes automatically fluttered open, only for bright flashes of light to cut through her sight like a blade. Nicole snapped her eyes shut, mentally adjusting the sensitivity of her ocular detection systems.

            As Nicole worked, she mentally swept through her latest memory files, only to find one after the other completely wiped clean. Odd, Nicole thought to herself, I must have experienced some sort of power shortage, I’m almost certain I backed up my memory files. I’d be wise to ask Rotor to correct it…”

            Rotor? “Rotor!” Nicole called, “Tails!”

“Cream!”

“Sally?”

“Sonic?”

            Nicole’s voice gained a slight glitch as she resisted a wave of system panic. Still blind, and most likely completely alone, she let out one last cry. “Shard!”

            “The Freedom Fighters aren’t here right now, can I take a message?”

            The unmistakable low, robotic voice had never landed so sweetly on Nicole’s ears. “Is that you, Shard?”

            “No, it’s the pizza delivery guy,” The voice replied sarcastically.

            Nicole reopened her eyes, which immediately landed upon the familiar figure of one of her closest friends. Shard’s black and yellow palette stood out against the now-tolerable brightness of the unknown landscape. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” He grinned, “It is I, Prince Whatshisface come to wake you from your eternal…”

            “Where am I, Shard? Nicole interrupted, too confused to groan at the metal’s jokes.

            “Neverland, obviously,” Shard quipped, staring out into the dazzling void, “More ‘never’ than ‘land’ though.”

            “But how did we get to this place?” Nicole inquired, her voice edged with impatience, “Where are the others? What was I doing? When is it? Why…”

            “Whoa, whoa, Sparky,” Shard said, holding up his hands defensively, “Before you overload my memory chip with a boatload of questions, lemme explain.

Shard chuckled nervously. “It would also help if you would refrain from freaking out until the end.”

            The slight undertone of anxiety in Shard’s voice did not go unnoticed by the holo-lynx. Nicole’s eyes clouded over with worry as she nodded hesitantly.

            Shard looked away, the slightest bit of sadness glazing his jade eyes. “Everything, well, how do you say, gone.”

            “What?”

            “Hey! Wha’did I say about the freakouts!” Shard cleared his throat nervously. “I dunno all the details, but from what I’ve gathered, despite the Freedom Fighters’ best efforts, the fabric of our universe was never really stabilized. Somethin’ went wrong or somebody really screwed up, and everything kinda got sucked into this void-typey-thing.” Shard swept his hand around the area, a luminous, brightly lit pool of light that seemed to stretch on for forever in each direction. The landscape fluctuated and flowed as if it were under water. “Now, I know that seems completely horrible, obviously since the entire universe was dissolved and stuff, but somehow we managed to survive? I honestly think this entire thing was completely beyond contro-”

            Shard was cut off by a series of exclamations of random technical gibberish as Shard’s words slowly and painfully sunk into the shocked holo-lynx.

    Shimmering digital tears streamed down Nicole’s face as she found her voice. “My friends? My home? All gone? Why…Why….” The holo-lynx continued to choke on her own hoarse whispers, every word she uttered shoving a knife deeper and deeper into her heart, until all she could experience was the unimaginable pain of the loss of her entire world.

            “Uh, hey?” Shard said softly, awkwardly placing a hand on Nicole’s shoulder “It’s gonna be okay?”

            Nicole looked back at Shard, her eyes glistening and her body trembling uncontrollably. “How-How-?”

            The weight of the pressure wound itself around Nicole’s soul until it snapped. She whipped around and half-screamed, half-sobbed into the metal’s face. “How can you just brush it off and say everything is going to be okay? Everything I’ve ever known has been ripped away in less than a second! My friends, no, my family has been separated and every single one of them torn to shreds, and my world has collapsed in and upon itself! The fathers, sisters, and brothers that I have just been getting to know are erased, and we are probably next! HOW CAN YOU EVEN PRETEND THAT WE ARE JUST ‘GOING TO BE FINE’ WHEN MY WORLD IS COMPLETELY GONE?”

            Nicole choked up and her voice died, but her muzzle remained damp with tears. She heard a strange sound from Shard, so she looked up at him through swimming vision. What Nicole saw stunned her whimpers to silence. Shard was, crying?

            Nicole had never known the metal to express his negative emotions freely. Shard could have stayed smiling and joking even until the hour of his end, but here he was. Oily drops stained Shard’s metallic face as his body shook. “Don’t forget, that it was my world too.” Shard said, looking down at his feet, ashamed of his tears, “I have my own teammates to mourn. Hey, I might talk a big game, but nobody felt the loss of the Secret Freedom Fighters more than me. All of this feels like a nightmare that I’ll wake up from later, but even I can admit that it’s not that easy. But, y’know what?”

            “What?” Nicole asked, her voice reverting back to even and gentle.

            “I still have hope,” Shard answered, grasping Nicole’s hand and giving her a weak smile, “I know it’s stupid, considerin’ the situation, but the one thing that keeps me the optimistic dude that I am is the belief that the day I lose hope is the day I really lose everything.”

            Nicole wiped her tears and gave Shard’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I don’t think it’s stupid,” the holo-lynx began, struggling to form her conflicting feelings into words, “I’ve experienced this emotion you call ‘hope’ many times before, particularly when I struggled alongside my friends against the forces of the mad doctor. However, the one event that stands out in my memory is the first time I gazed up at the stars with Sally. I…just felt something…something even my extensive databases still cannot define…I felt as if there were others up there in the stars, looking down on us, and smiling. Beings who cared for everyone, for me, for you…”

            Shard flashed his signature smile, which, in Nicole’s eyes, shone brighter than the beams of light framing his form. “You mean, for us?”

            Nicole grinned back. “Yes, for us.”

            The holo-lynx softly brushed her lips across the metal’s cheek. Shard’s face immediately grew steaming hot. It was then his turn to sputter incomprehensively.

            Nicole giggled, her face flushed over with amusement. “What’s the matter Shard, cat got your tongue?

            “Ve-ry funny, kitty cat,” Shard teased.

            The area around the couple suddenly began to swirl, as if stirred by an invisible breeze. Nicole felt as if she should be afraid, but she instead experienced an immense sense of peace, which snuffed out and overpowered her anxiety like a warm hug. The feeling burst from her heart and overflowed into Shard, as his recognizable confident smirk faded into one of serenity.

            “To new adventures?” Shard inquired.

            “To new adventures!” Nicole answered brightly as the two were cradled in the comforting glow, and led by the hand to a new world. There, the dreams of many would become a reality, the old become new, the dead restored, and the lost once again found. Most importantly, the two living AI’s could meet again.

Description
Here is my entry in Galaxynite's contest!: galaxynite.deviantart.com/jour…

(the references Galaxy provided in the journal were amazing!)

I absolutely adore this couple, and that's saying a lot coming from a person who will shriek "EW" in every romantic scene in a movie. This was SO fun to make, and I really pushed my limits with the shading and the background. Thank you for the challenge, Galaxy!

I only own the art. (edit: also the fanfiction)

EDIT: But wait, there's more! I scrambled to write this in three days since I don't believe I integrated the theme of "hope" enough. I don't consider myself a good writer, but I wanted to do a little something extra.

Hope

Ctrl. Alt. Esc…

Prs. Strt.

Running NICOLE.exe

Rebooting…

    Nicole woke with whirring snatches of command code bouncing about her groggy head. The holo-lynx’s eyes automatically fluttered open, only for bright flashes of light to cut through her sight like a blade. Nicole snapped her eyes shut, mentally adjusting the sensitivity of her ocular detection systems.

            As Nicole worked, she mentally swept through her latest memory files, only to find one after the other completely wiped clean. Odd, Nicole thought to herself, I must have experienced some sort of power shortage, I’m almost certain I backed up my memory files. I’d be wise to ask Rotor to correct it…”

            Rotor? “Rotor!” Nicole called, “Tails!”

“Cream!”

“Sally?”

“Sonic?”

            Nicole’s voice gained a slight glitch as she resisted a wave of system panic. Still blind, and most likely completely alone, she let out one last cry. “Shard!”

            “The Freedom Fighters aren’t here right now, can I take a message?”

            The unmistakable low, robotic voice had never landed so sweetly on Nicole’s ears. “Is that you, Shard?”

            “No, it’s the pizza delivery guy,” The voice replied sarcastically.

            Nicole reopened her eyes, which immediately landed upon the familiar figure of one of her closest friends. Shard’s black and yellow palette stood out against the now-tolerable brightness of the unknown landscape. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” He grinned, “It is I, Prince Whatshisface come to wake you from your eternal…”

            “Where am I, Shard? Nicole interrupted, too confused to groan at the metal’s jokes.

            “Neverland, obviously,” Shard quipped, staring out into the dazzling void, “More ‘never’ than ‘land’ though.”

            “But how did we get to this place?” Nicole inquired, her voice edged with impatience, “Where are the others? What was I doing? When is it? Why…”

            “Whoa, whoa, Sparky,” Shard said, holding up his hands defensively, “Before you overload my memory chip with a boatload of questions, lemme explain.

Shard chuckled nervously. “It would also help if you would refrain from freaking out until the end.”

            The slight undertone of anxiety in Shard’s voice did not go unnoticed by the holo-lynx. Nicole’s eyes clouded over with worry as she nodded hesitantly.

            Shard looked away, the slightest bit of sadness glazing his jade eyes. “Everything, well, how do you say, gone.”

            “What?”

            “Hey! Wha’did I say about the freakouts!” Shard cleared his throat nervously. “I dunno all the details, but from what I’ve gathered, despite the Freedom Fighters’ best efforts, the fabric of our universe was never really stabilized. Somethin’ went wrong or somebody really screwed up, and everything kinda got sucked into this void-typey-thing.” Shard swept his hand around the area, a luminous, brightly lit pool of light that seemed to stretch on for forever in each direction. The landscape fluctuated and flowed as if it were under water. “Now, I know that seems completely horrible, obviously since the entire universe was dissolved and stuff, but somehow we managed to survive? I honestly think this entire thing was completely beyond contro-”

            Shard was cut off by a series of exclamations of random technical gibberish as Shard’s words slowly and painfully sunk into the shocked holo-lynx.

    Shimmering digital tears streamed down Nicole’s face as she found her voice. “My friends? My home? All gone? Why…Why….” The holo-lynx continued to choke on her own hoarse whispers, every word she uttered shoving a knife deeper and deeper into her heart, until all she could experience was the unimaginable pain of the loss of her entire world.

            “Uh, hey?” Shard said softly, awkwardly placing a hand on Nicole’s shoulder “It’s gonna be okay?”

            Nicole looked back at Shard, her eyes glistening and her body trembling uncontrollably. “How-How-?”

            The weight of the pressure wound itself around Nicole’s soul until it snapped. She whipped around and half-screamed, half-sobbed into the metal’s face. “How can you just brush it off and say everything is going to be okay? Everything I’ve ever known has been ripped away in less than a second! My friends, no, my family has been separated and every single one of them torn to shreds, and my world has collapsed in and upon itself! The fathers, sisters, and brothers that I have just been getting to know are erased, and we are probably next! HOW CAN YOU EVEN PRETEND THAT WE ARE JUST ‘GOING TO BE FINE’ WHEN MY WORLD IS COMPLETELY GONE?”

            Nicole choked up and her voice died, but her muzzle remained damp with tears. She heard a strange sound from Shard, so she looked up at him through swimming vision. What Nicole saw stunned her whimpers to silence. Shard was, crying?

            Nicole had never known the metal to express his negative emotions freely. Shard could have stayed smiling and joking even until the hour of his end, but here he was. Oily drops stained Shard’s metallic face as his body shook. “Don’t forget, that it was my world too.” Shard said, looking down at his feet, ashamed of his tears, “I have my own teammates to mourn. Hey, I might talk a big game, but nobody felt the loss of the Secret Freedom Fighters more than me. All of this feels like a nightmare that I’ll wake up from later, but even I can admit that it’s not that easy. But, y’know what?”

            “What?” Nicole asked, her voice reverting back to even and gentle.

            “I still have hope,” Shard answered, grasping Nicole’s hand and giving her a weak smile, “I know it’s stupid, considerin’ the situation, but the one thing that keeps me the optimistic dude that I am is the belief that the day I lose hope is the day I really lose everything.”

            Nicole wiped her tears and gave Shard’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I don’t think it’s stupid,” the holo-lynx began, struggling to form her conflicting feelings into words, “I’ve experienced this emotion you call ‘hope’ many times before, particularly when I struggled alongside my friends against the forces of the mad doctor. However, the one event that stands out in my memory is the first time I gazed up at the stars with Sally. I…just felt something…something even my extensive databases still cannot define…I felt as if there were others up there in the stars, looking down on us, and smiling. Beings who cared for everyone, for me, for you…”

            Shard flashed his signature smile, which, in Nicole’s eyes, shone brighter than the beams of light framing his form. “You mean, for us?”

            Nicole grinned back. “Yes, for us.”

            The holo-lynx softly brushed her lips across the metal’s cheek. Shard’s face immediately grew steaming hot. It was then his turn to sputter incomprehensively.

            Nicole giggled, her face flushed over with amusement. “What’s the matter Shard, cat got your tongue?

            “Ve-ry funny, kitty cat,” Shard teased.

            The area around the couple suddenly began to swirl, as if stirred by an invisible breeze. Nicole felt as if she should be afraid, but she instead experienced an immense sense of peace, which snuffed out and overpowered her anxiety like a warm hug. The feeling burst from her heart and overflowed into Shard, as his recognizable confident smirk faded into one of serenity.

            “To new adventures?” Shard inquired.

            “To new adventures!” Nicole answered brightly as the two were cradled in the comforting glow, and led by the hand to a new world. There, the dreams of many would become a reality, the old become new, the dead restored, and the lost once again found. Most importantly, the two living AI’s could meet again.