The next morning Sonic and Tails woke up around 9 am. It was Saturday after all so there was no rush to get up quickly. Despite feeling anxious and depressed the previous day, Sonic was able to sleep soundly and got up well rested.

 

Once both of them got out of bed, they met in the living room.

 

“I will make us breakfast today, you can sit on the couch?” Tails said.

 

“I can make us something?" Sonic said feeling confused about Tails’ wish to make it alone.

 

“No, I insist”, Tails shook his head aggressively, “I am in the mood for some omelet, and last time you tried to make it you nearly caused a fire.”

 

“Fair point”, Sonic smiled and went to sit on the couch.

 

Tails began to prepare the omelet and Sonic turned on the TV to listen to ‘Good Morning Tokyo’, because it was Saturday the program started later than it did during working days. The smell of eggs filled the flat from the kitchen. 

 

The first part of the program on TV was the weather forecast, Sonic wasn’t too interested and he grabbed his cell phone. He would browse his phone while waiting for the food and the guest interview to start.

 

One thing that immediately caught his eye was an email he had received that he didn’t understand. It went, Media Protection United has filed a suit under the provisions of the Rights and privileges intellectual property defense act. You have damaged the integrity of you our IP and have used it in ways we haven’t intended. Therefore we ask you to cease and desist, you shall be issued a fine for this breach and we will use all legal mechanisms at our disposal should you infringe on our intellectual property once more.

 

Sonic also had an email from his bank saying money was deducted from his account due to a fine. All of these were things he didn’t understand. Tails brought two plates of delicious omelets prepared after his favorite omelet recipe and two cups of coffee. Sonic showed him the two emails he received and asked him if he knew anything about this.

 

“Oh this is because of that new law coming into effect,” Tails said and nodded.

 

“This Rights and privileges intellectual… whatever act?” Sonic spoke tripping over his words. “What does that law do and why was I fined?”

 

“You see there had been increasing pressure to regulate the internet from big corporations to defend their IPs. A lot of them were very frustrated due to the many fan art, fan works, fan projects and so on that were as they say damaging their brand. They wanted the power to be able to remove these ‘threatening’ fan works” 

 

Tails took a pause to take a bite of food and then continued speaking.

 

“Anyways, as I was saying, this new law would empower companies to be able to hunt down any content they don’t like that contains say their characters, the goal was to kill even noncommercial works that fell under fair use. The expansion of powers wasn’t just fan work, it is much more sinister. For example, you can’t even say a company’s name without getting permission anymore, or any copyrighted word for that matter.”

 

“No way,” Sonic said in disbelief

 

“Eat your food before it gets cold” Tails pointed his fork at Sonic.

 

Sonic started to eat, he had forgotten about the food. Tails took a small piece of the omelet, chewed, swallowed, and continued to speak.

 

“One of the big players that pushed this change was the big one, you know the one with the mouse?”

 

Sonic simply nodded, his mouth was full but he understood which company he was talking about.

 

“One of the new powers included the ability to remove copyrighted material retroactively.” Tails said, took a sip of his coffee and continued. “Let's say there was an interview I did in 2003. And I said a word that was copyrighted, the rights holder could get that word redacted from all videos of that interview on the internet, isn’t that crazy?”

 

“I already know what company would abuse the hell out of it”, Sonic said with a smirk. “I don’t want to say their name because I don’t want to get another copyright fine but the one that has that famous Italian plumber employed”

 

“Yeah they are one of the worst ones”

 

“I still don’t get why was I fined”

 

“Well, today’s algorithms are so powerful that you can't even say them out loud in the privacy of your home. Our phones’ microphones are constantly listening for the use of copyrighted words and automatically notify the rights holder if they detect an infringement. You probably said the name of some character while we played who would win and some company saw that a breach and they fined you.”

 

“But wait”, Sonic put his index finger on his mouth as if he realized something, “most of the characters we mentioned were copyrighted, you said names out loud too how come you didn’t get a fine?”

 

Tails was chewing on his food, he waited to swallow and said, “Not all companies are the same. Some are very aggressive like the mentioned Italian plumber one or the mouse one, but most of them aren’t as bad as those. You probably said a character name that belonged to a company that’s more like the former. The law went into effect recently and many fan works, fan art, fan fiction, videos, and doujinshi got deleted from the internet. Remember doujins? You had that one that you really liked, the one with the twins”

 

Sonic said mumbling and barely containing his laughter. “Oh I remember the twins alright”

 

“I hope that explains the fine you got.”

 

“I wonder, are there still Sonic fan works on the internet?”

 

“SEGA always had a relaxed policy when it comes to fan works so everything should be the same.”

 

“SEGA does what redactedon’t!” Sonic said feeling proud of his little joke.

 

“I do remember though back when Polanzo came into power he did want to change the company statute to make it aggressively pursue copyright protection but he was stopped by the opposition. Things like that can always change.” Tails took a large chunk of his omelet, finally finishing his meal, and continued, “I wonder who is now president of SEGA? Polanzo’s term limits should long have expired at this point”

 

“You seriously ignored my brilliant joke?” Sonic said making an exaggerated sad face.

 

“Oh sorry, forgot to laugh,” Tails said rolling his eyes and sipping his coffee.

 

“At least I try” Sonic theatrically raised his arms as if he was an actor in a tragedy. He was able to get a chuckle from Tails due to this performance. “To answer your question”, Sonic spoke normally again, “Polanzo was still president when I directed my last game, although that was years ago”

 

“Even so it's highly irregular for him to have been president after so long. Nothing is regular about that bastard, from his dubious origins to the way he seized power in the company.”

 

“So let me just check if I got everything. There is this new law, it gives companies the power to literally fine you for even saying a word that they have copyrighted, from character names to even just the name of the company. Not all of them abuse this power and I got fined by one of the ones that do?”

 

Tails gave a simple nod. Sonic took the last bite of his omelet and finished eating.

 

“Insane world we live in” Sonic sighed.

 

“You know stuff like this is also politics but you don’t care right?” Tails said sounding a bit bitter.

 

“I care about-“

 

 

“I know you care about politics only when it’s something that directly affects you doesn’t it? Like every apolitical person in the world.” Tails waved his hand in frustration. Sonic didn’t want to argue, he didn’t really have any arguments to respond with so he was just silent. Tails said all he had to say and went silent too.

 

Silence filled the room, the only thing that can be heard is the low volume of the television. To avoid making the atmosphere at home tense the two quickly moved on to other topics.

 

The two talked about breakfast, Sonic thought it was good. He didn’t dive any deeper into thinking about the food he consumed. Tails was talking about all of the things he missed this time, things he could add to the recipe, mistakes he made, and ways it could be better next time. 

 

It was by no means a bad meal, Tails always looked at ways he could improve his cooking. During the weekdays when he studies all day, he eats whatever he can as quickly as possible, he often orders food too when he gets too lazy to cook. However, during the weekends he took great pleasure in preparing meals meticulously. He had decided to not study on the weekends unless exams were very close.

 

On ‘Good Morning Tokyo’ there was a discussion with multiple guests. A film director, a writer, 3 actors, and a producer were the guests. They talked about speculations about what Rick Ravette’s upcoming movie will be like and what they thought about him becoming a film director. Each of them talked in depth and shared their thoughts.

 

Sonic and Tails were both fans of Rick and were very excited to hear more about this project. Yesterday’s conversation made them forget about that announcement almost entirely.

 

At the end of the interview, Sonic had to go to the bathroom. The toilet broke again, and Sonic once again like a professional fixed it. Tails mumbled about the mayor of Kowareta Yume. He then tried to do his best impression of the mayor and joked about agents from Mexico, MEXICO CITY to be precise being the reason Sonic had to fix the toilet.

 

With that Saturday morning had ended.

 

***

 

Sonic and Tails were sitting in the living room browsing on their phones trying to look for a place they could go to in the afternoon. It was Saturday and both of them wanted to go out and do something together.

 

“We could go watch a movie”, said Tails putting his phone down and turning his head to Sonic.

 

“I can't afford it. Tickets are way too expensive these days and I don’t want you to pay.” Sonic said and shook his head. “You paid for my tickets last time we went and id feel bad if I was leeching off you again. You help me out a lot as is already.”

 

“I understand.” Tails was thinking of alternatives, he was really in the mood to watch a movie today. “Oh I know, we can go to that retro theater in Kowareta Yume. It’s very run down but tickets are dirt cheap because they only show old films. Want me to see what are they showing today?”

 

Sonic thought about this proposal for a moment, “Tell me first what are they showing”

 

Tails excitedly grabbed his phone and searched on the internet. He crossed his fingers in the hope that there was going to be something they would both be interested in. Tails opened the webpage, “Here we go, tonight the film ‘Jackie Brown(1997)’ is on the menu”

 

“’Jackie Brown(1997)’? Never heard of it” Sonic didn’t sound very enthusiastic

 

“It's from the director who made ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood(2019)’”

 

“Well that’s enough to convince me!”, Sonic suddenly became very excited about this Jackie Brown film. “I love ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood(2019)’, you know that movie kind of reminds me of us.”

 

Tails thought about it for a moment as he was rewinding the plot of that film in his head, “I can see what you’re saying. You are definitely very similar to Dicaprio’s character and you are struggling with similar problems to him. I wish I was as strong and cool as Brad Pitt.”

 

“Brad Pitt is so powerful there. He can even beat Bruce Lee”

 

“Hold on, I just thought of something, you have to tell me. Who would win, Brad Pitt’s character from ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood(2019)’ or Lupin the 3rd?”

 

“That’s too easy, Lupin the 3rd of course”

 

“How? I don’t get it. It's always Lupin the 3rd, why do you think he is that strong?” Tails said grabbing his head in confusion.

 

Sonic shrugged “He just is”

 

With laughter and confusion, the duo made their way to the car and drove to the cinema. On the way Sonic bought cigarettes and they sat in what was a mostly empty theater. Their phones were put on silent to not disturb the other people there. 

 

The film started and Sonic fell in love with it. Jackie Brown, the main character, is a down-on-her-luck middle-aged black woman, working at a dead-end job as a stewardess. Things are going miserable for her but she meets a bail bondsman Max Cherry, and a subtle romance starts to bloom between the two of them. They get an opportunity to pull off a heist and make a lot of money.

 

Things aren’t so easy. The money belongs to a criminal who sells illegal weapons who Jackie is indebted to and the police are also after the money. 

 

Not to go into too much detail about the film's plot it's more than just a heist movie, many things happen and there are plenty of colorful characters all written with punchy dialog. Sonic would recommend everyone go see it.

 

The thing that captivated Sonic about the movie was Jackie Brown’s struggle to turn her life around, to get the financial freedom she wants and will never get from working her job. She is someone who messed up her life and is now middle-aged with no chance to change where she is. 

 

That is until this heist opportunity that came seemingly out of nowhere. Suddenly there is a possibility of a second chance, that fantasy of getting a second chance at everything is what Sonic found very appealing. 

 

Jackie Brown is also surrounded by men more powerful than her that also want to seize the money, she is determined to come out on top. She schemes, she plans, and she fights for her chance with all she’s got. For her, this truly is the last stop to escape the prison of the dead-end job.

 

Sonic sat practically on the edge of his seat in anticipation. With all his heart he wanted Jackie Brown to win. It meant if she could win, maybe he could win too and plan his way out of his life situation.

 

At the end of the movie (*author’s note: spoilers for the ‘Jakcie Brown(1997)’ movie ending I guess, seriously go see it*), Jackie Brown wins. She successfully with Max Cherry pulls off the heist. She has won her financial freedom and has outsmarted the rest. She is driving her car with Bobby Womback’s Across the 110th Street playing in the background. 

 

She looks back at the journey it took to get here, she drives crying, and softly smiling. She is happy and overwhelmed with emotion, she has finally reached the point she has chased the whole movie. There is a fade to black and the credits roll. The movie is over.

 

Sonic and Tails went to their car, the red Saab, Tails sat in the front and Sonic in the back like they did yesterday due to the yet to be repaired passenger door. On their way home they discussed the movie. Tails liked the movie a lot but Sonic was in love with it. 

 

“What was your favorite thing about the movie?” said Sonic looking at Tails through the rearview mirror.

 

“I think it was Jackie herself,” said Tails raising one hand from the steering wheel trying to explain what he means. “The moment when she grabs the gun in the begging she is like, I am taking control of the situation, I am not going to be a victim. That was so cool. What about you?”

 

“I don’t even know where to begin”

 

Sonic had a long rant about so many things he liked, from the pacing to the characters to the music, and so on. 

 

“This might be my new favorite movie”, Sonic said and rubbed his eyes with his hand. “I think I just want to get what she gets in this movie.”

 

“What do you mean” Tails raised an eyebrow.

 

“A second chance,” Sonic said. Tails kept his eyebrow raised which prompted Sonic to shake his hands as if to clear a misunderstanding, “Don’t get me wrong, you gave me a second chance, that is something I will never forget. I am grateful you are still my friend”

 

Tails gave a soft smile to Sonic through the mirror which disarmed a potential conflict. If Sonic didn’t word this properly it's possible Tails would have gotten deeply insulted. He felt like he gave Sonic a second chance and it seemed almost like Sonic was ungrateful. Tails realized he wasn't talking about friendships but about something else and decided to listen.

 

 Sonic continued to talk:

 

“What I mean is a chance to escape the dead-end job where I am at. You know the whole thing we talked about yesterday. I wish for something extraordinary, an opportunity for my Jackie Brown-styled heist where I am financially free again, my reputation is fixed and I am making the games I love that are getting 10/10 reviews”

 

“That would be one weird heist” Tails laughed.

 

“It doesn’t have to be a heist literally. I mean that wild one-in-a-million chance to do something crazy that could change your life. On the one hand, those kinds of things happen only in fiction, and on the other hand, defeating Robotnik already kind of was that so maybe I’ve already ruined that once-in-a-lifetime chance.” Sonic said the last part with a bit of sadness in his eyes.

 

Tails didn’t say anything, he could feel Sonic had more he wanted to say, so he gave a hand gesture as if to tell Sonic it was okay to let it out. Sonic understood and continued to talk.

 

“Watching Jackie Brown driving that car at the end with Across the 110th Street in the background. Seeing her getting everything together, succeeding in her goals, being happy, and crying at the same time. She must have thought, finally I am here. the place I wanted to reach. I am happy. Everything is alright now. I wonder will I ever be able to have that moment.

 

“It made me imagine myself in the future. I am driving your red Saab 900, listening to 110th Street just like her. I have made all the wrongs I made right. I am alone and I can truly tell myself that I am happy. Everything is okay. I can't get that image of myself out of my head. It makes me want to cry knowing I may never be able to reach that point. Maybe I am doomed to be trapped.

 

“Maybe I am being too childish. Maybe the Jackie Brown heist is the friendship we rebuilt and I am not able to fully appreciate it. I am sorry Tails. I am sorry I was so awful to you and thank you for forgiving me. However, I just can't look myself in the mirror and say, yes I am happy flipping burgers and repairing toilets for the rest of my life and being remembered as the guy who made ‘Sonic 06’ when I die.” Tears began to well up in Sonic’s eyes as he was speaking.

 

“Hey, Sonic calm down it's okay.” Tails spoke softly trying to comfort Sonic. “I will help you in any way I can and I am glad we are friends too. I remember when you were in your ego trip period in the 2000s I just wanted my old friend back. You’re back now and we are okay. As for the other thing, there are no easy answers to solving questions like how to do fulfilling work”

 

“Thank you for bearing with me when I am like this.” Sonic put his hands on his eyes to wipe off the tears on his face.

 

The car stopped at a red light. A lot of traffic piled up in the street they were in. The car was left to stand in place for some time and a depressing atmosphere filled the red Saab. Tails did not want the two of them to fall into nihilism on a Saturday night after watching an excellent film.

 

Tails took out his phone while the car was still standing in place and connected it to the car’s stereo. “What was the name of the song? Across the 110th Street right? I want to hear it again” Tails said and played that song through his phone.

 

It was a better alternative than just sitting in silence and the mood began to improve. A smile returned to Sonic’s face upon hearing the melody. To finalize Tails’ attempt at making sure the night wouldn’t end on a sour note, he asked Sonic:

 

“Who would win, Jackie Brown or Lupin the 3rd?” Tails was genuinely curious about what Sonic would say.

 

“As cool and smart as Jackie is, Lupin is still the king.”

 

“Really?? I was sure Jackie Brown was the one who would dethrone him in your eyes.”

 

Talks continued about why was Lupin so powerful. Tails still wouldn’t get a satisfying answer and they drove home. However, unbeknownst to Sonic because his phone was in silent mode due to the movie theater demanding it, he had received an email.

 

It was an email from none other than SEGA.