It was ironic that the cold, unfeeling chambers and polished metal surfaces of the ARK, as unwelcoming as they were, were the closest thing to home that Shadow supposed he'd ever feel in his life. Doctors in lab coats peered at him over their clipboards as he moved briskly through its hallways, his rocket shoes making a definitive clang against the steel ground. He walked with purpose, eyes set forward.
It was morning—but all times of the day felt the same on the ARK. There was no sunrise, no sunset, no blue skies. Just the void of space. Shadow kept to a strict sleeping schedule, as was required of him, that emulated the daily cycle of Earth. A planet he had never visited. A 24 hour routine, days progressing into weeks, the passage of time changing the color of the Earth's surface ever so slightly. Through all of it the ARK remained rigid.
Shadow turned an abrupt corner and arrived at a steel door that resembled all the others. A sign was in place on the wall beside it—"M. Robotnik"—as well as a keypad.
A few beeps as a 6-digit code was entered, and the door slid open. Shadow remained still in the doorway.
"Shadow?" The faint voice of a young girl called from the bed on the opposite side of the room.
"May I come in?" His voice was softened from its usual tone, hearing the sleep in her voice.
He got a yawn in response, then two arms popping out from blue silk sheets, stretching into the air. "Of course. What time is it…?"
"10 AM," Shadow stated, stepping inside the room and letting the door slide closed behind him. He looked around at all the books and toys strewn about the floor and instinctively began tidying, placing picture books and light children's novels on the shelf beside him.
"Oh, gosh, you let me sleep that long?" Shadow's mouth twitched as he cleaned, and Maria sat up immediately, rubbing her eyes. Shadow allowed himself to smile at the sight of her bedhead.
"Don't worry about those, I can—" Another yawn. "—I can get them."
"No," Shadow's smile dissipated. "This is my job."
"Since when?" Maria's feet dangled over the side of the bed, searching for slippers. Shadow nudged them—pink, with bunny ears—in her direction. She slid them on and wiggled them in the air. "Grandpa said your job was to be a bodyguard. Or a powerful soldier. Not a nanny."
Shadow supposed Maria's words were correct, and yet… they made him uneasy. He frowned as his thumb brushed over the cover of the last book on the floor—Nancy Drew and the Clue of the Broken Locket. He vaguely remembered Maria reading this one aloud to him a few years ago.
"My job is to ensure your safety and health," he replied, absently flipping through the pages of the Nancy Drew book before sliding it into place (alphabetically of course) onto the bookshelf. "And that includes making sure you don't trip and fall due to your own mess."
Maria rolled her eyes. "If you say so, Shadow." She stood up slowly, wobbling as she did so. Shadow tensed and was beside her in an instant, hands hovering to steady her. She batted them away.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" she chided. "Just sleepy, is all."
Shadow looked skeptical, but decided not to push it. Maria grabbed the bathrobe hanging off her closet door and slid it on over her nightgown while Shadow quickly made her bed and fluffed up the pillows.
"Now, then. Isn't that better?" Shadow crossed his arms, pleased with the now-tidy room. "Professor Gerald was going to have breakfast with you, but something required his attention. I will accompany you instead."
"Grandpa's busy again?" Maria sighed. "Well, that's alright. You're good company too." She rubbed Shadow in between the ears, much to his chagrin. He patted his quills back into place as Maria laughed.
"Come," he grunted, and strode out of the room. Maria followed suit and the door to her bedroom slid shut with a beep.
The dining hall on the ARK was brightly lit but mostly empty, the staff having eaten earlier. Maria and Shadow sat alone at a table as Maria picked at her breakfast. A faint hum in the air from various hidden mechanical whirrings only made the room feel even more deserted.
"You don't want anything? Or did you already eat?" Maria asked, looking at the empty table space where Shadow sat.
"I have a specific nutrition regiments. It will be taken care of later."
Maria murmured through a spoonful of porridge. "Ooh. A special diet? What do they have you eat?"
"Nothing. I'm given my nutrients intravenously."
Maria's eyes widened and she nearly choked on the glass of milk she was drinking. Shadow shot out of his chair, quills standing up. "Maria?!"
"I'm—cough—alright!" Maria sputtered. "That just—cough—was very… unexpected." She dabbed her mouth with a napkin and Shadow's brow remained furrowed in concern.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, Shadow, goodness gracious. More importantly, they don't let you eat food?"
Shadow sat back down across from Maria hesitantly. His mouth was a hard line for a moment. "It's not that I'm not allowed… it just isn't necessary. This way, my nutrient and trace mineral levels can be easily controlled and monitored."
"But that's so sad," Maria looked truly distraught, and Shadow wasn't sure why. To him, it was a matter of no importance. "Don't you want to try some?"
"Not really."
"Here. Try this." She held out a blueberry muffin to him, and he narrowed his eyes at the offending pastry.
"I'm fine, thank you."
"Please! You'll love it. I want to see your face when you taste it."
Shadow grimaced slightly, but the pleading look in the girl's eyes broke down his resolve. He sighed in defeat and took the muffin.
"Fine. One bite." Maria was ecstatic, but Shadow still had no idea why this was so exciting to her. Humans were strange.
Shadow sank his fangs into the sugar-coated surface and was instantly shocked. He had never tasted anything like it. He had never tasted much of anything, period. His face must have betrayed something, because Maria looked triumphant.
"See! Do you like it? Isn't it good?"
Shadow merely grunted, his sense of pride not wanting to give her any more satisfaction than he already had. He swallowed, and before he realized it, he was taking another bite.
"I can't believe this is your first time eating. How have I not known this after all this time? I—Oh, Shadow, don't eat the paper!"
"Hm?" He had already devoured it, paper and all. "Oh. I'm sorry. That was your food."
Maria just laughed. "I don't mind. There's plenty more. And I'm really glad you liked it."
It was silly, to be happy over that. But Shadow supposed he felt happy too.
The sound of a throat clearing interrupted them, and the the two of them noticed a thin, older man in a lab coat standing in the entrance of the dining hall.
"Project Shadow," he began, his expression agitated. "Combat trials were to begin 10 minutes ago. You are late." His eyes wandered towards Maria. "I will send someone to tend to Miss Robotnik. Now come along."
Shadow stood from his seat and bowed his head towards the scientist. "Apologies, doctor." He left the room without a word, and Maria could hear a faint We have these schedules for a reason before they both went out of earshot. She tapped her fingers on the table and pushed her bowl away, frowning. She wasn't hungry anymore.
Shadow dodged bullets, flames, and blades all throughout the day. Various doctors recorded his reflex response times down to the millisecond, though his abilities had already far surpassed the benchmarks G.U.N. had given for the project. He blew through all of the scheduled trials with ease.
Shadow knew he performed well. He knew that he was, essentially, a perfect living weapon. But this knowledge made him feel nothing. He simply did what was required of him.
Today, Professor Gerald was had been agitated. Shadow could hear his complaints from a nearby room as some final tests were being run to check his bodily functions.
"There is so much more we could be doing with him," the Professor stressed. "And I don't mean more flamethrowers or armed combat or any of that nonsense. Think of the medical advancements! If we could successfully perform a transfusion with some of his genetic material—"
"We know, Professor," a woman's voice piped in. "But G.U.N. isn't funding us for medical advancements. They want a super soldier."
"An absolute waste," Professor Gerald growled. "We could be saving lives. We could be saving my granddaughter's life. We have a living organism with chaos energy in his bloodstream—and we aren't doing anything with it!"
"Quiet, Professor," another voice interrupted in a hushed tone. Shadow's superior sense of hearing could still pick up the words crystal clear. "We agree with you. But over half our staff are G.U.N. scientists now. And I've overheard things. A few of them believe Project Shadow isn't a safe option anymore. I'm not sure how much longer we'll even be able to continue it—"
There was the sound of a door opening and all conversation ceased. Shadow could hear his heart pounding in his ears.
The lab assistant taking his vitals finally finished, and Shadow was discharged for the day at 9 PM.
Shadow walked down the metal corridors of the ARK, but he moved much slower than he had that morning. At this time, a larger part of the station's lighting was shut off, and the only light came from the planets and stars hanging in the void of space. This was nighttime in a world without night or day.
"Oh, you're finished," a voice startled Shadow out of his thoughts. Maria, already in pajamas, sat at one of the large windows overlooking the Earth. She sounded tired, and her face looked it, too.
Shadow gave a quick nod. "Shouldn't you be in your room?"
"They said I could wait until you were done, so I did." She smiled at him. "How was it?"
"The same as always," Shadow muttered, arms crossed. "Were you looking at Earth again?"
"Mm," Maria responded simply. "I miss it."
Shadow stood in silence for a moment, then sat beside her.
"See that?" Maria pointed at the swirls of white that covered parts of the continents. "It's getting colder. Winter's here. Know what that means?"
Shadow humored her. "What does it mean?"
"Christmas is coming!" she said in an excited whisper. Shadow remembered Christmas. He had watched the humans celebrate it a few times. He didn't particularly care for it, but it seemed to be Maria's favorite day.
"It's not as fun here on the ARK, but it's still nice. Back home, it snows a lot, and there are Christmas trees and blinking lights and stores full of toys… Oh, it's just wonderful. I think if you saw that, you'd love Christmas as much as I do!"
"I don't know if anyone can love it as much as you do," Shadow gave a rare smile, to Maria's delight. Maria often talked about life on Earth, but Shadow struggled to really envision any of it. Still, he felt a desire to know these things that brought Maria so much joy.
"Really, though," Maria continued. "We need to go back to Earth together! Do you think you can go with me soon?"
Shadow looked away from Maria and out into space. He thought of the scientist's words. "Perhaps."
"I can't wait. Maybe I'll ask Grandpa about it tomorrow."
"It's best not to bother him. The Professor is very busy lately."
Maria sighed, but knew it was true, and so she didn't argue. Then they were quiet, watching icy clouds move ever so slowly across the Earth's atmosphere.
"Maria," Shadow began. "What do you see me as?"
"Huh?" Maria looked puzzled. "Umm.. a hedgehog?"
"No. Not in the literal sense. Who am I to you?"
"Oh. Well…" She was pensive, her brow furrowing. Then she looked at Shadow with the faintest bit of a smile. "You're Shadow. You're my friend. Or maybe my brother."
"You don't see me as a weapon?"
Maria frowned. "No, of course not! Is this because of what I said this morning? I'm sorry, Shadow. I didn't mean it like that."
Shadow shook his head. "It was just a thought that occurred to me. Nothing more." He took Maria's hand. "You should be getting to bed."
Maria was definitely tired, because she only hummed a noise of agreement in response. The ARK was quiet as they moved through the hallways and reached Maria's bedroom. Shadow entered the passcode once again.
A small, moon-shaped nightlight gave the room a soft glow. Maria climbed into bed.
"Hey, Shadow," she called out sleepily.
"Yes?"
"How do you think Santa gets out here in space?"
Shadow deliberated. "Maybe he's a genetically engineered life form like me."
Maria laughed. "You're silly. I bet it's just magic." She closed her eyes.
Shadow was turning to leave when her voice sounded once again.
"Shadow?"
"Yes, Maria?"
"You'll always be my friend. No matter what other people say about you."
Shadow's chest tightened.
"... Thank you. Goodnight, Maria."
"G'night, Shadow."
The door behind him closed and he made his way back to the window. For the rest of the night, Shadow admired the Earth.