This is the prologue for a fanfiction I've been wanting to write for a long time. A story that begins by exploring shadow's deepest origins, before assault on the ark and the tragic death of his only friend. I want to explore Shadow as someone who was fully sentient from the day of their birth, and his first experiences with life. And hopefully...it'll go a lot further beyond that too :)

All characters herein are the original products of Sega and their partners in creating the game respectively. I make no claim of ownership to any of them, and any new or original characters not present in the games are designed for the express purpose of building the world in this exploratory fiction.

I am the ultimate life form.

I was created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik to be superior to all beings. To what end…I know not.

"Shadow, good work today. You grow stronger and stronger—it is impressive." Dr. Gerald's voice echoes through the speakers. I shrug. It's not as though these little robots could really challenge me. All around me lay tattered pieces and chunks of machines that were pitifully outclassed by this unusual power I wielded. They did their best with all their firepower, but in vain. I could run circles around them and take them apart with my bare hands, and if not that, then I could summon energy to destroy them. The humans could not do this, but even so, there must be a better reason for them to put me through this. I was new to this place, these surroundings, this..."life" they called it. I still did not understand everything about these creatures that had made me.

I returned to the platform on the other end of the chamber, and a glass case fell around me before the platform rose upward. After a few minutes I exited and proceeded forward for a while until I came to one of the gazing platforms. They were rooms along the edges of the Colony, with large windows through which one could see space. On this particular platform, a huge blue sphere loomed beyond the window. It was a beautiful thing, and for some reason it stirred my eyes every time I saw it. Something about it seemed familiar, and drew me to it. It alone made this platform my...what do the humans call it? My favorite.

"Here again Shadow?" The doors whirred shut as the doctor entered.

"Professor Gerald." I turned to face him. He stood beside me and stared upon the big blue object as well. Then he turned to me with a smile.

"Tell me, Shadow, do you know what that is?"

I turned my gaze to the blue once again. "I can't say. But it seems to radiate energy. Is it another colony?"

"Of sorts, you could say." Dr. Gerald nodded thoughtfully and returned his gaze forward. "We call that Earth. I suppose you could call it the 'Mother colony'. It is there that we come from, along with the Ark. Many, many beings live upon that planet. It is our home."

"Home?"

Professor Gerald chuckled. "Most of the time you're very intelligent and sober in your behavior, but every time I see you here I'm reminded that you're very very young. I forget how new you really are, you're not even a month old. You have much to learn." Gerald stroked his beard for a minute before continuing. "Home, is a place where you can find peace. It is a place where you may relax yourself, body and mind, and just be. Where you simply enjoy the fact of existing."

"Peace..." It was nice thing to think about. The thought gave him a quiet happiness, yet he felt strange. The training they had put him in recently was decisively not peaceful. In fact, it was teaching him to endure and react to violence...

"Professor. What is the mother colony like, is it dangerous?"

He mused for a second. "Sometimes. The Mother Colony is different. It is vast, so much more than our ark, and infinitely more wild. For centuries my kind have tried to tame it, but it remains a thing of freedom. There are animals there, and beasts, both peaceful and violent. There are also beings like us, sentient, who are manifestations of peace and war unto ourselves. Oftentimes it is we who create our own dangers, our own monsters, and we must work to face them down." He paused. "But if I had to answer, no Shadow. The Mother Colony is more beautiful than it is dangerous, and it is one of a kind. We must protect it."

I felt a change in the professor. "Then...does the danger lie elsewhere, in the darkness?"

He was silent, gazing at the great blue sphere, then he smiled. "Perhaps you've had your fill of combat for today. If you're truly so curious about peace, then there's someone I'd like you to meet."

"Is it someone who can teach me about peace?"

"Indeed, she's come to live with us here on the ark. Her name is Maria, my granddaughter."