Chapter 4

"M.T.H. and the Virtual Vault Zone"

Lies. The Digital Danger Zone had all been lies and a test. It tested a person physically, mentally, and emotionally. The tube Shadow had faced at the end was not the real Maria nor the real Black Doom as both of them were dead. That was the emotional test. Of course Shadow had passed them all, but that is not what got him thinking. He had now been aboard the Space Colony ARK several times, and for large amounts of times as well. Yet he apparently did not know everything about it, and what the professor had tucked away in it. Which brought him to what he stood and saw in front of him now. A tube within the Virtual Vault Zone. A familiar shape inside as the bottom cap of the tube read "M.T.H."

"It can't be…" Shadow muttered as he approached the tube, wiping off the thin layer of residue from the front, damping his gloves but giving him a clear view of what was inside. A silhouette of a hedgehog stood inside.

"M-…."

Shadow stopped mid word as the eyes of the person inside the tube lit up upon Shadow looking at it, as a retina scan had been triggered by the tube, recognizing Shadow, to his surprise. The tube began to hum as it warmed up, condensation dripping down it. Soon there was a hiss as the front of the tube popped open, a fog rolling out as the being inside stepped out. Shadow back flipped and took a defensive stance.

"Metal Sonic!"

The being looked up at Shadow before replying.

"Negative entry."

Shadow blinked a few times, making sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him. Before him stood what he thought was Metal Sonic, but with significant differences. To start, he was primarily white instead of blue. And his limbs were silver. His eyes were a light blue instead of red, and his turbine was a metallic silver as well.

"If you are not Metal Sonic, then who are you?"

There was a pause from the machine. Before a deep robotic voice sounded.

"Just Metal. Metal the Hedgehog. An early prototype attempt at creating a robot assistant for the great professor as he aged, based on a picture on a stone template the great Professor saw of a hedgehog battling a great water beast. Or at least that is how my neck down was built. But the metal the great Professor was using to build my form ran out, so my head was formed in a different shape as you see before you. Apparently in a way that leads you to call me "Metal Sonic." I started out as an assistant robot, but once the great Professor was asked to research immortality, and he accepted, he tried to use robotics to seek out a solution. I became a base to attempt to test out nano-projects, but when he failed to succeed with this, I was deemed a failure…I was placed in here, to guard the Virtual Vault and its projects from falling into the wrong hands."

Shadow was silent. In reality, he didn't even believe this. He knew there was research on Project Shadow before him, or at least he believed there had to be, but he failed to believe something like a prototype robot and nano machines would go undetected by him or anyone else that had been up here before, like the doctor.

"Explain further if you will, Metal. Nano machines?"

"Hm. Indeed…but to really understand it, I shall explain the entire situation that led up to your creation. The great Maria Robotnik, poor child, was sick with a disease known as NIDS which stands for Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. She had to live onboard the great Space Colony ARK because the way the great Professor set it up, the environment of the colony acted as something of a life support system for her. But she could never leave…the great Space Colony ARK was the creation that launched the great Professor into the eyes of many, the world's first space colony, and a feat that could not be ignored as anything short of genius. So the military approached the great Professor about finding the secret to immortality. The great Professor originally refused, thinking it was too great of a thing to try and give to humanity and also believing it was impossible. But once the great Professor discovered the great Maria had NIDS, he reconsidered…the story goes, after failing with the great Biolizard, you eventually came to be the first success, with your immune system unable to fall victim to disease, and the fact that you never age. But there was much more."

"Of which I'm waiting for you to explain."

"I'm getting there. See, now that we all know there was the disease, now is where the nano machines come into play. Similar to the Artificial Chaos and how they break into smaller units. Just even more smaller than that. The great Professor actually started out trying to combat the disease on a microscopic level. The nano machines would be able to course through the great Maria's blood stream and organs to try and combat the disease, but they proved useless in being able to be control without a central unit. I at first was going to be said control unit, but the nano machines and my incomplete build would not match up, and so I was no longer used for this idea. So the great Professor built one. He was able to control the nano machines, for some time with the control unit. He ran test on other sick patients aboard the great Space Colony ARK, even being able to painlessly extract the nano machines was a disease or sickness was defeated. But eventually the central unit began thinking…"

"Thinking?"

"Yes. You see, at this same time the great Professor nearly perfected his self-awareness programming for the great Space Colony ARK and myself. Mine would be completed up here but the great Space Colony ARK's would only be completely down on the planet. While he was still up here however, he had decided to make one for this nano machine so it could continue his work long after he was gone. He applied it to this central unit to help out."

"I notice that you refer to myself, the Professor, and even the ARK as great. But not this unit?"

"Yes, because it was far from great…"

Metal the Hedgehog paused for a moment and his eyes dimmed. Shadow looked him over, giving him a second because he assumed the event must have gave the metallic hedgehog painful memories. But then he realized that, being a robot, this should not be an issue as it should not be able to experience pain. Shadow waved a hand in front of Metal the Hedgehog's face. Metal the Hedgehog sprang back to life, eyes fully lit.

"Apologies, great Shadow. I fell into sleep mode."

"Re…really?"

"It's a defect. I was not completed. Anyways, where were we? Oh yes. The nano machines and the control unit. You see, when they became self-aware, they learned. And thought. They soon believed curing a disease was beneath them and their abilities. That they should expand, create a network over the world. Conquer it even. The great Professor could not allow this and tried to shut it down. That is when it rebelled. The Professor could not shut it down at this time. Luckily the great Biolizard had been "completed", and did battle with the central unit."

"The prototype? But, the records said it was unruly and wild?"

"Great Shadow, since when have government records ever been completely honest? "Sealed off" you were, right?"

"…Touché"

"The great Biolizard defeated the unit, and the great Professor sealed it away. Now yes, the great Biolizard was in fact untamed at times, but his loyalty to the great Professor was unquestionable. Part of this loyalty, was to deem this battle another one of its rampages when the government asked about the damage to the ARK, to cover up the creation and loss of control of the nano machines. Because at this point in time the government was getting suspicious of the possible making of weapons of mass destruction on the great Space Colony ARK. And so the great Biolizard did. It had several other rampages too, and it was eventually sealed off in the core. That is the entire story."

"So then, why was this vault created and what is its purpose?"

"To house all of the unfinished and dangerous creations and projects the great Professor had planned, but could not let fall into the wrong hands. Once the G.U.N. raid was coming, many of those items ended up here. Weapons, files…beings."

"Beings?"

"Oh yes. In the form of unfinished robots and such like the Artificial Chaos."

Shadow stood there in silence and registered everything the robotic fellow had just explained. But that is when a certain detail caught his attention.

"…Wait? What did you mean earlier when you said now that we all know there was a disease? Are there more than the two of us here, right now awake?"

"Oh yes great Shadow…oh yes."

Metal the Hedgehog pointed above them. Shadow looked up as well and what he saw took him off guard for a second. The Virtual Vault was huge. Rows and columns of tubes, file computers, and other mass objects were about. Vast amounts of space and possible covers of other things were about as well. None of this was what caught Shadow's attention. It was the thing directly above the pair, staring back at them, that had Shadow off but then back on guard as he gritted his teeth…