Hey everybody! Welcome to this new story! This idea is a bit temperamental, so bear with me here, hopefully you'll all enjoy it regardless! Let's get started!

Mechanized Production

The Compound

"Four Fifteen! Wake up or you'll get no charges for a week!" The loudspeaker exclaimed, the noise was far too loud for his sensitive hearing, not that he cared much right now anyways.

The fox was completely exhausted, this particular test had been excruciating, and he wanted nothing more than to close his heavy eyelids and sleep. But still, he knew he had to finish, what other choice did he have?

Pressing a button on his right wrist, the kit felt the familiar sensation of his rear appendages straightening and the small thrusters on his back activating. Feeling the familiar heat on the back of his arms from the plasma discharge, he took to the skies. Shifting his shoulder blades to curve the long rear appendages until he could turn slightly, he flew a quick loop around the empty room. Pressing another button on his wrist, his speed rapidly increased, going faster and faster until he had reached the peak of what he figured was a safe speed. The area behind his shoulder and the top of his arms burned from the heat and pain surged up his arms. Still, if he quit at this point, it would all be for nothing, not to mention the punishment he would likely receive.

"Alright four fifteen, that's enough!" The voice spoke again, "Your testing for today is done!"

"Finally…" The fox thought to himself, decelerating and eventually landing on the ground, the shock absorbent foot wrappings taking some of the impact off of him.

He gently rubbed the back of his arms, they felt raw, which was to be expected considering any fur he'd previously had there had been burned off long ago. He tried to catch his breath, the testing today had been exhausting, but at least it was over. He made his way toward the exit of the testing chamber, feeling his additional appendages relax, much to his relief.

"Your work today was satisfactory, please collect your reward." The automated voice spoke. Apparently Robotnik didn't even want to congratulate his lab rats himself…

A small energy canister landed in a receptacle near the doorway, a bright orange glow emanating from its casing. He grabbed it and looked it over, it was legit, no obvious defects or issues.

As he made his way out of the chamber, four spherical drones met him in the doorway.

"Specimen four hundred and fifteen, you will now be escorted to your cell, where you will remain for the remainder of the day." One of them spoke, the robotic vocalizations grating on his ears.

"Yeah, yeah I get it…" He responded. "You don't have to tell me every time…"

The fox quickly fell into formation with the machines, following the two in front of him while another two traced behind. The fox rubbed the still sore back of his shoulder, doing the turns and maneuvers Robotnik asked of him wasn't easy, but again, not like he had a choice. He scratched at an itch that had made itself present on his neck, pulling the steel collar there over to the side a bit so he could reach.

"Specimen designation zero zero four one five. Do not attempt to tamper with the Damocles Behavioural Correctional Collar, doing so will result in your immediate termination." The speaker built into the collar announced.

"Geez relax, I was just trying to scratch…"

The rest of the walk back to his cell through the dark walkways was nothing to note, just the usual affair of self contemplation. Wondering when the next brief meal would be, maybe he'd even be able to steal another plasma charge from someone, who could say?

After finishing his escort and being locked back in his cell he took a second to continue his self reflection. He looked at himself in the mirror, a scrawny little orange and white teenage fox with blue eyes stared back at him. Behind him hung his 'improvements' as Robotnik had called them. A pair of tail like robotic constructs. They had been fused to his tailbone for as long as he could remember, he knew he'd had an actual tail there once, and that it had to be removed as it was 'in the way of improvements to be made' or something like that. They were composed of several orange plated plasma powered modules connected by some strands of durable lightweight flexible kevlar like material. The lightweight metal chassis extended up his back into a vertebrate like structure, mirroring the construction of his spine. Next to them sat a pair of small thrusters on his upper back, small vents would allow for superheated plasma to escape and provide lift. He did note that they did get a bit too close to his arms while accelerating, something that his somewhat charred furless patches in the area closest to the jets could attest to. The device was fused to his shoulder blades, allowing him to turn and control his flight midair that he would gain from the thrusters. His rear appendages would clasp their loosely connected kevlar sections together, allowing for the entire structure to straighten out and give greater control once airborne. Finally, at the top of the structure sat an intake, allowing a plasma charge to be fitted into the device to give it fuel for a time. Currently the augments had some amount of charge left in it, but it was getting dangerously low.

Using the mirror as a guide, the fox turned around and gently inserted the top of the energy canister into the device. Allowing it to drain about half the container before removing it. He'd save the other half for later. As the energy dissipated throughout the device, he felt a sense of calm rush through him. The intake for the device was also connected to his blood stream, giving him a small amount of plasma charge into his system so long as the device was powered. This was done to give him the extra strength needed to successfully move his limbs and shoulders to maneuver while airborne, it also assisted with lightheadedness while in flight.

It was also one heck of a drug…

The fox took a quick glance at his forearm, upon which was a barcode like tattoo, everyone in the compound had one etched onto their arms. If scanned, it would direct to a file containing some information about its owner, along with their history in the compound, as well as a list of their augments and purposes. Underneath was a letter, and five digit identification number. His read "F-00415". As far as he was aware, this was as close to a name as he'd ever had.

He knew he'd had parents sometime, but the walls of the compound were all he'd ever known. He was born here, and he was going to die here. Names didn't matter when all you were referred to by was your number.

He sighed to himself, laying down on the cot in his small cell. Really the only thing he had to look forward to was meals, and even then, it wasn't much.

Even having been born here, the compound still felt somewhat foreign to him. His cell was familiar, with its blank walls and LED strips running along it's walls, ceiling, and floor for light. His cot, a mirror and sink for him to ready himself in the morning. Along with some minor amount of clothing, not that it mattered when none of it was made for his mechanical parts. The only things he really wore were his foot wrappings, a pair of gloves as to not burn his hands when grabbing something while in the air, and a set of gray boxers as the bare minimum of what was required.

His self reflection began to go just a bit deeper, why was he here?

Well he'd been born here, that's one thing he knew, the compound had been around for a while then. Their overseer, Robotnik, ran the place. The man was a roboticist, always looking to 'improve' his work and life on Mobius. More often than not however, his methods were far from benevolent. The augments they received were more often than not somewhat horrific in design, "All in the name of progress", He'd said. Not to mention being stuck here, many of those living here had been separated from their families, and that included himself. They couldn't leave, if they tried the collar everyone was forced to wear would trigger, killing them instantly.

There were no windows, not even in their cells, the fox had never even seen the outside world, he'd heard stories, but they were just that, stories.

Four Fifteen made his way over to his cot and laid on his side, being careful to avoid his metallic appendages. He figured he'd get some sleep in. He was still a bit tired from earlier. He slowly closed his eyes and gently drifted off to sleep.

-X-

Meal time, the one thing that Four Fifteen looked forward to every day. Not only was it an opportunity to get some food, but it was also a chance to maybe get something extra off of any of the other Mobians here. He'd managed to steal a plasma charge last time he'd been here, so he figured he'd go for it again.

His target this time was a blue colored hedgehog, his modification seemingly was a set of razor like metal spines on the back of his head, he seemed distracted by everything here. He seemed to be new, as he'd brought a plasma charge with him attached to some kind of belt. That was his first mistake, everyone knew you didn't bring anything with you to meal time. But it did make Four Fifteen's job much easier…

He'd spotted the hedgehog as he'd sat down at one of the tables, he seemed to be trying to socialize with some of the other Mobians near him.

"Yeah, definitely new."

It was time to work his magic… The fox got his food, he made his way down between the tables, moving toward the seat with the hedgehog. He feigned looking around for a table, making sure to keep his target in the corner of his eye. As he passed the azure hedgehog, he shifted his shoulders ever so slightly, causing his metal appendages to turn, impacting the hedgehog and sending him out of his seat and onto the floor.

"I'm s-so sorry!" Four Fifteen spoke, adding a bit of a nervous stutter to his voice. "I'll help you up."

"Don't mention it," The hedgehog responded. "It's an accident, you're-"

"Hey!" A voice exclaimed. Four Fifteen's blood ran cold at the voice, he quickly turned his head to the noise, only to be met with a fist to the face as he was knocked backward into one of the tables, landing somewhat painfully on his back. He felt blood running from his nose as he glanced back up, his breathing somewhat panicked as his heart raced.

A bright red echidna with torn black shorts and dreadlocks spoke. A central energy core sat in his chest, with cables running to connectors like sections on each of his joints. Metal glove-like plating on each of his hands further increased his threatening aura. "Hope you didn't think I'd forget you ya thieving rat!" The echidna spoke, the red lights of the muzzle on his face flashing in unison with each of his words. "I think I still owe you a beating for last time you tried to steal from me!"

The fox threw himself to the side as a fist landed where his head had been, splitting the table cleanly in half. Even from the short distance away, Four Fifteen could feel the plasma discharge from his fist as it struck.

The fox quickly took to the air in an attempt to avoid the raging echidna, however, due to the low ceiling, it wasn't long before his pursuer managed to catch up with him, leaping from a table to grab his leg, bringing the both of them tumbling to the floor.

The fox tried to squirm his way out of the situation, only to be met with a punch to the chest and a loud cracking sound. A sharp pain surged through his chest, that'd definitely broke more then a few things. As he winced in pain, he was met with another punch to the face. His vision blurred, he felt lightheaded, and really tired. The world underneath him suddenly felt very far away. A voice made its way to his ears, though it sounded very faint, and he couldn't quite make out everything it said, though he'd certainly caught the word 'freak' among them.

He was vaguely aware of a blurry blue figure pushing the red blob off of him, but he wasn't sure exactly what had happened as he closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness.

Alright everyone, that's all for today! Hopefully you all enjoyed this first chapter! I'd really like to thank Perturbo and AndTails for helping make it a reality, they helped a ton with the structuring here, so give them a look! Make sure you leave your thoughts in a review and I'll see you next time!