Chapter 7: The Machinations of Eggman Nega

A few weeks earlier...

The footsteps of E-123 Omega left loud echoes in the cavernous chamber known as the Cannon's Core, located at the very heart of the Space Colony Ark. For many years the robot had held the role of guardian of the seven Chaos Emeralds hidden away in this room. But in the wake of the Metal Mastermind disaster, it had become clear that the Chaos Emeralds could not be sheltered away, regardless of intentions. The defeat of Metal Sonic in the past meant that Omega was left with no memories of the events that played during the rise and fall of the Metal Mastermind, but Shadow informed Omega of it all upon his return to the present.

Omega had asked only one question throughout the exchange.

"What should I do now?"

Shadow couldn't answer. When Shadow had found the robot wandering around aimlessly years ago, he'd given Omega a new purpose. Now that that purpose was gone, Shadow couldn't tell the artificial person what he should do with his existence.

After a full day left alone to ponder his future, Omega called Shadow down to what had been the robot's post for over ten years. He'd found the answer.

Shadow stepped out of the elevator and crossed the vast chamber to the Emerald Altar replica, where Omega stood.

"Well?" said Shadow, upon coming face to face with the robot.

"Deactivate me," said Omega.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Dr. Eggman created me as the last of his E-series combat droids. He took a poor defenseless animal and installed it into this body to serve as my power source. When that animal died of age and exhaustion, I replaced it myself. After an existence spent draining the life of over a hundred creatures, Dr Ivonne Robotnik took pity on me and rebuilt me with a self-sustained power core. Then you found me and for the first time I had a purpose. Like all E-Series robots, Eggman intended for me to battle and defeat Sonic the Hedgehog, but he abandoned me upon completion and focused instead on his Egg Pawn army. I tried to make revenge against the creator who abandoned me my purpose for being, but it was a futile endevour. I could not defeat Eggman. Doing so would only render me worthless once more. Yet worthless I became nevertheless. Now, once again, I have no purpose for being. Eggman gave me intelligence. Artificial, but intelligence still. I understand the concepts of 'want' and of 'longing'. I do not wish to know those things anymore. Deactivate me."

Shadow nodded. "So be it," he said.

-

Today, Shadow was truly alone onboard the Ark. With all his memories pushed away by the volatile code activated by Eggman Nega, he didn't understand what'd happened to the Ark. Some areas were horribly deteriorated, and even those parts of the station that remained fully intact were covered in a blanket of dust and grit.

The Ultimate Life-Form could go for unprecedented periods without food or sleep. When Shadow left the Ark to start his new life down on Earth alongside Conquest, he didn't leave anything behind on the space station. It was unfortunate that Shadow's present wandering didn't take him through the station's library. The lack of dust on the spines of the books stored there would've served as an important clue, as that library had been frequented at length by a certain someone with an awful lot of time to kill.

No too far away from Shadow's location, a Chaos Emerald bathed in its own natural glow.

It was not in the nature of the black hedgehog to dwell in fear for long. Anger quickly overtook despair. Depression turned to action. Even in this forbidding graveyard, Shadow could feel promise, somewhere...in that direction. He felt something, the very sensation of which made him stronger and more determined. As he got closer to the source of that feeling, his stoic expression expression and manner returned.

This...this was the old laboratory with the best view of Earth. This was where he and Maria would spend time together before and after the experiment sessions between Shadow and his creator. Situated on a pedestal in the middle of the emptied out laboratory was the source of the empowering sensation: A white Chaos Emerald. Shadow reached out...

"Incoming transmission. Override codes accepted. Opening channel." A sudden computerized voice suddenly called out, startling Shadow. His alarm at the sudden high-pitched voice could not compare to the shock of seeing a bald mustached face appear on the rectangle-within-rectangle computer console situated in the corner between the large windows.

"P-Professor?" Shadow exclaimed.

"I'm afraid not, Shadow," said the old man. "I am Dr. Eggman Nega Robotnik, direct descendant of the brilliant inventor who created you."

"What? How can this be?" Shadow demanded to know.

"Surely you must have noticed how deteriorated the Ark has become. I'm afraid there's no easy way to say this, dear Shadow. The human military captured the capsule you were ejected in after the tragic death of your friend Maria. They kept you in stasis for over two and a half centuries, while they tinkered with your mind in order to make you a slave to their evil ends. Tragically, the military, which now insultingly refers to itself as the 'Guardian Units of Earth', succeeded in taking control of you, and with you as their weapon they have gained dominance over all the nations of the world, and now rule with an iron fist. Because we Robotniks have always been a thorn in the side of the corrupt rulers, I have been branded a criminal, hunted by the evil GUE forces wherever I go."

"I...I remember the capsule, Maria...and then I awoke in a room surrounded by people in military uniforms. Why can't I remember anything before that?"

Eggman Nega put on his best sympathetic face. "As I said, you were being manipulated and controlled by GUE. It was only by triggering a secret override code implanted into your mind by Professor Gerald that I was able to set you free. Now, join me Shadow and we will crush GUE and save the world from their tyrannical rule!"

Shadow's inner conflict ceased as he remembered Maria's final words to him. He could trust her family, he could trust a Robotnik. This Eggman Nega was telling the truth. Of course he was.

The Ultimate Life-Form reached out and took the Chaos Emerald. Feeling its power made all the uncertainties fade away.

"Yes," he said glowing with heroic determination. "I will help you, Eggman Nega Robotnik. These GUE vermin will pay for their crimes!"

"Excellent!" said Eggman Nega, grinning. "Now, I see you've got a Chaos Emerald. How fortunate. It should be just what we need to make my latest invention unstoppable. I will transfer directions to my undersea fortress via this channel. It should suffice for you to be able to travel to me using your Chaos Control power. Bring the Emerald to me, and I'll show you how we're going to save the world from evil, together."

-

Deep inside a cavern somewhere in the lower mountains north of China, the last member of an expedition of twelve ran screaming back the way they'd come, stumbling frequently as he tried to make his way through pitch black darkness.

It was impossible to see what the man was running from. He was in his forties, one of the most experienced archaeologists in his field, and sadly he was a man who enjoyed his dinner. Arteries stuffed with fat were not prepared to handle the unprecedented heightening of the man's pulse as extreme terror dulled his senses. With all feeling in his limbs lost, the archaeologist let out one last cry before his heart gave out. His outstretched hand fell just within the pool of light by the entrance to the cave. Soon, it was dragged back into the darkness.

Within the hour, Lady Veronica Prower received the message she had been expecting since Mr Query's prophecy. Now all she had to do was wait until Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat saved the city from the Nega Replicoid, whatever that was. Keeping tabs on Jedo's progress seemed the wisest course of action in the meantime. According to her spies, the chameleon now possessed four Chaos Emeralds, and apparently neither Silver the Hedgehog, Gordon Morvon, Kinetic the Echidna, or Terkal the Echidna were aware that they'd been the victim of ingenious theft yet.

-

End of Chapter 7.