"And... that... should... do it!"

The orange and white fox grinned, wiping sweat and grease from his forehead as he slid out from beneath the frame of a gleaming red biplane. He set his hands on his hips as he stood, proudly observing his work. The plane was in perfect condition, restored to its pristine state after battling the forces of Doctor Robotnik.

Miles Prower scratched at an ear. 'Tails'. That's what Sonic had taken to calling him, since the eight year old fox had revealed he had two of the limbs. The fox had been unsure of the nickname at first... but it appeared to have stuck. He'd been extremely reluctant to display his mutation, keeping the limbs wound up and fluffed to form the appearance of a single large bushy appendage, but after demonstrating his ability to fly using the things, Sonic had been astounded, and actively encouraged his new friend to exercise his unique abilities.

And so 'Tails' had. Gleefully. With Sonic's own powers of super speed and acrobatics, they made an awesome team. And more than that... Sonic had effectively taken in the fox cub, allowing him to stay at his place indefinitely. The super powered blue hedgehog felt... like the older brother Miles never had. The only family he had.

He still couldn't remember much about his own parents. He didn't remember much about his life before meeting Sonic, to be quite honest. Just images and... feelings. Maybe that was for the best; he didn't remember being happy.

But none of that mattered now. Now he was happy. Now he had everything he could ever want - a home, a workshop filled with things to tinker with and fix... and even a brand new best friend who was fast becoming close as a brother.

Miles Prower, wherever he had come from, was happy now.

"Tails!" the fox's ears perked and swivelled, as the chipper tone of the fifteen year old hedgehog called from the workshop entrance, "I'm grabbing a soda! You want one?"

Tails grinned at the blue figure silhouetted in the open double doors, sun brightly shining from outside. "Sure thing, Sonic!"

It was then the fox noticed a hissing sound. He turned his attention back to the plane. An electrical smell emanated from the aircraft.

He should have been careful. Should have got his stupid fuzzy butt out of there. Instead, Miles stepped forward, retrieving a wrench from his tool pouch, intent on fixing the problem.

The plane's batteries exploded in his face, flinging him back against the workshop wall like a burning orange rag doll.

"TAILS!" Sonic, briefly shielding his eyes from the detonation, dashed toward the fallen form of his friend. "Oh my god!"

The blue hedgehog rushed to a kneel beside the burned figure. Horror clenched his chest as he recognized singed flesh... the smell of burned meat.

"Oh god, no..." Sonic wept as he noted the utter lack of movement, the sight of bone visible beneath the cauterized skin and burned fur, "Tails..."

He trailed off as he realised.

That wasn't bone.

Before he could react further, there was a groan. Slowly, groggily, the fox raised his tattered form into a sitting position... and the hedgehog tumbled back in horror as glowing blue eyes glared at him from a now fleshless face.

"What..." The hedgehog stammered in terror, "What ARE YOU?!"

Tails whimpered as he stared down at his ruined body, the flesh of his entire upper torso and forearms utterly burned away... revealing scorched metal beneath. Steel claws flexed. He tried to screw his eyes shut to block out the sight. Couldn't. No eyelids.

"S... Sonic..." the machine staggered like a zombie as it stood, scraps of roasted flesh still clinging to its exposed steel frame, "Help... me..."

Sonic just stared in disgust, jabbing a gloved finger toward the 'fox'. Tails' blood stained the white fabric. "I... trusted you! And you're a freaking robot?!"

Tails' vision flickered. His single remaining ear, burned free of fur, drooped. He didn't even hurt, couldn't feel anything.

"I... didn't know..." His voice reverberated artificially, mouthparts now free of flesh, "I... I..."

Then something clicked in the back of his mind. The machine cocked its head as it observed the hedgehog before it, everything suddenly clear. It knew what it had to do.

"Identity compromised." the artificial voice of Miles Prower announced between the lipless teeth, flat and monotone. The eyes now glowed a fierce red. "Executing secondary objectives."

Sonic stepped back, nausea clamming his throat at the sight of the machine's roasted synthetic flesh as it peeled from the metal beneath like a discarded fruit skin, the bare mechanical endoskeleton beneath glaring at him with furious red eyes. It gripped a wrench in one hand and, faster than Sonic had expected, lunged at him with the assistance of its rapidly spinning twin tails.

Sonic fought back, as best he could, but the machine was too quick even for him. He was unprepared as his sudden foe delivered a powerful back hand to his face, stars exploding in the hedgehog's vision and teeth breaking... and then a horrific pain shot through his abdomen.

Sonic looked down, swaying on his feet, as from his chest... the wrench stuck from where his heart lay, utterly impaled through his blue torso.

Blood dribbled from his mouth as he went cold, the pitiless eyes of his killer staring at him blankly.

"T... Tails?" the hedgehog could only mutter weakly. The machine cocked its head at the name.

" 'Tails'. Prower, Miles. Alternative designation of Robotnik Infiltration Unit Alpha. Zero. One."

The hedgehog offered no further reply, the light fading from his eyes as he finally slumped to the floor. Blood spread out from his rapidly cooling form.

'Tails' looked down at the dead hedgehog, and filed its mission objective away as complete. Internal systems now fully reactivated, it opened a channel back to its creator at a thought.

"Doctor..." Tails spoke mechanically, once again returned to an emotionless machine, "Mission update; false identity compromised. The objective was present, and has thus been neutralised."

"Are you kidding?!" The doctor's voice responded in the infiltrator's head, "We were supposed to capture him, not kill him!"

Tails remained still, like a statue as blood pooled around its feet. "Identity was compromised." it repeated, "This unit operated in the interest of operational longevity."

"Well, at least that's one less pesky rodent to deal with..." the doctor muttered over the channel, "Very well, Alpha. Return to the collection point and await retrieval. We will undergo a full debriefing upon your return to base."

"Understood. Will comply."

With that, the infiltration unit registered to the doctor as RIU-A01, alternate designation of Miles 'Tails' Prower, stepped over the body of the hedgehog who had taken it in, and left the workshop. Mission complete, it didn't even look back.

"Tails? TAILS?!"

Tails' ears perked as he was snapped from his morbid daydream, the decidedly not-terminated face of his blue brother situated over the table before him.

"Daydreaming again, buddy?" Sonic grinned, snapping his fingers to get the fox's attention.

Tails nodded grimly. "Uh-huh..."

"Well, do you want something to eat or not? I've asked you, like, ten times already!"

Tails shrugged. "You know I don't need food, right? I don't even know why you brought me here."

Sonic gestured around the brand new fast-food joint that had opened just yesterday in the town. "Because this place is new, and I wanna stuff my face with junk!" The hedgehog raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly to his orange brother. "Plus, you've been stuck in that workshop of yours for nearly two weeks... do you some good to get out once in a while!"

"How long have you gone without food this time?" Amy Rose, their pink-furred companion, adjusted her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow at her orange friend.

Tails went blank for a moment, before shrugging. "eight days, thirteen hours, forty-seven minutes sixteen seconds."

Sonic and Amy shared a concerned glance at the response, noting Tails' less than cheerful disposition. Something, it seemed, was bothering him.

"So... how about we get you something?" Amy leaned over and rubbed his hand, causing orange ears to perk slightly, "Might make you feel better?"

"Yeah!" Sonic added, "Plus, y'know, we're in public and all... might look weird if you don't join us!"

Tails huffed. "Sure... wouldn't wanna blow my cover, huh?"

Sonic's spines drooped at his brother's tone. "That's... not what I meant, little buddy..."

"Right, that's it..." Amy shoved her chair back and began to march for the counter, "I'm ordering food. Tails, you're having something deep-fried and very unhealthy and you're gonna enjoy it if it kills me."

"Chilidogs for me, Ames!" Sonic called after her.

"I know, Sonic..."

Tails remained slumped in his seat as, around their table, other customers sat and chatted while hot food steamed on the tables. In the street outside the windows pedestrians, mostly Mobians with the occasional human and city service bot, went by on their business. Just another day. His fur bristled. He didn't need to look to know Sonic was eyeing him with concern.

"So..." the hedgehog said, rocking in his seat, "Everything okay, dude? Something bothering you?"

"No..." Tails snapped back, too quickly to be convincing. He thought back to the daydream. He hadn't enjoyed it one bit, but his over-active mind often processed theoretical scenarios... and even though things had become relatively normal again after his 'return', Tails still couldn't help but wonder in fear at the way things might have been... if he'd worked the way he was supposed to.

It scared him. He didn't... like what he was.

Not that there was much he could do about it.

"Look, Tails..." Sonic sighed and rubbed his temples, looking over the fox sat glumly across from him with his arms folded, "I'm not stupid... I've known you for over five years..."

"Yeah..." Tails snorted, cutting off his adopted brother, "My whole life..."

"Miles..." Sonic pointed to the young fox, his face like that of a lecturing parent's, "I can read you like a book, dude. So I know something's wrong. And what it's probably about."

"So observant, Sonic..." Tails grunted, not meeting the hedgehog's eyes.

Sonic spread his arms pleadingly. "Come on, man! I'm your brother... I just wanna help! If you're hurting, I'm hurting, you get me?" The hedgehog leaned over the table as the fox chewed his lip, ears drooping. "So... why don't we talk about it? Might help make you feel a little better?"

Tails shifted in his seat and looked as though he were about to comply, before he was interrupted by a chirpy female voice.

"Hey, guys! Look who I found!"

The two males looked to find their pink companion now joined... by another gold and white Mobian Fox, female, wearing a maroon jumpsuit and long head fur arranged into twin bangs that trailed over her shoulders.

"Hi, Sonic!" Zooey, one of town's newest residents, waved happily to the blue hedgehog... and smiled awkwardly as she set eyes on his smaller friend. "Hi, Tails..."

Tails was short for his age... his perceived age of thirteen, at least. But right now he seemed to shrink even more, blushing so hard his face almost turned bright red, as he nervously played with his hands.

"H... Hi... Hi, Zooey..."

Amy and Sonic exchanged a knowing glance, and Sonic tried hard not to smirk at his brother's expense.

"Hey, Zo..." the blue hedgehog grinned, "Settling in okay?"

"Yeah!" Zooey had moved into the nearby town with her father the previous month, the father and daughter opening their own convenience store, and she'd become fast friends with Amy pretty quickly. By extension, she'd also gotten to know Sonic, the heroic super-speedy hedgehog... and Tails, his younger twin-tailed fox brother... who was smitten by the fourteen year old girl.

Sonic chuckled to himself. His little brother's first crush... it was both hilarious, and impossibly adorable.

"So, Tails..." Amy chirruped, shooting Sonic a sneaky grin, "Zooey was thinking about going to the carnival this weekend... isn't that right, Zo?"

The female fox blushed and fiddled with her claws, "Uh, yeah... I... I suppose..."

Sonic winked at Amy, as two very shy foxes did their best not to meet each other's eyes. "Hey dude, maybe you could go with? You don't get out much any more... might be fun!"

Tails shot a look of alarm at his brother, while Amy nudged her companion's arm.

"I... I..." Tails stammered, appearing comically flustered... before he shoved back his chair with a screech and positively ran from the fast food restaurant. "I think I left my matter/antimatter generator running..."

The fox shoved past people and service robots as he escaped, a garbage unit turning and bleeping in alarm as he bumped into its boxy metal hull.

The company he left behind watched on as he left, Amy wrapping a comforting arm around Zooey's shoulders as the vixen's ears drooped.

"Does he not like me that much?" She whispered, looking between the two hedgehogs with big blue eyes.

"Don't be silly!" Amy cooed, attempting to console the girl, "He's just... shy is all! I'm sure he'd love to go with you to the carnival! Right, Sonic?"

Sonic didn't reply, rubbing his chin as he watched after his departing brother. "Yeah... sure, Ames..." The hedgehog left the table and smiled back at the two females. "You girls enjoy yourselves, okay? I'm gonna go talk to him."

"You don't have to!" Zooey protested, raising her hands to her muzzle, "Just because of me!"

"It's okay..." Sonic shook his head and offered her a consoling grin, "Something's been eating at him for a few days... I think a little bro-to-bro conversation might be in order..."

"Go easy on him, Sonic..." Amy raised an eyebrow, "And let me know how it goes, okay?"

Sonic flashed his friend a lopsided grin and a thumbs up. "Will do, Ames!" He began to leave the restaurant, briefly pausing to call over his shoulder, "And bring me back some chilli dogs!"

Amy rolled her eyes at the hedgehog, while her orange companion giggled shyly. "Ugh... boys..."

Tails was not okay.

He really was not okay.

"Buddy?" Sonic's eyes fell on the fox, slumped over at his computer station with his head buried in both arms. He didn't move a muscle. Not an ear twitched, not a single strand of fur wavered. If Sonic didn't know any better, the fox might pass for a corpse.

The hedgehog approached his brother carefully, resting a hand on his fluffy shoulder.

"Come on, dude..." Sonic said gently, squeezing the flesh beneath his palm, "You got me worried here..."

Tails relented, his face leaving the desk, and looked up to Sonic with bloodshot eyes. Sonic leaned down to him, now even more concerned.

"Ah, jeez dude... you been crying?"

Tails' lips twitched as he attempted to formulate a response... before he screwed his eyes shut and lunged into his brother's side, desperately hugging into the hedgehog's fur as he broke down completely.

Sonic could do nothing but hold his brother tight, as the fox began sobbing uncontrollably. His grip was almost crushing, but there was no way Sonic was letting his little brother alone like this.

"Hey... it's okay..." Sonic began rocking the fox, back and forth, just as he had done when Tails had been younger, "I'm here, bud..."

It took a short while for Tails to calm down, but eventually he cried himself out and regressed into a sniffling, hiccupping mess, lightly clutching onto the hedgehog.

Sonic pulled his brother out of his fur, and set both hands on Tails' shoulders. "Hey, dude... you okay?"

Tails shook his head, wiping his messy face on the back of a hand.

"H... how can I be okay, Sonic?" The fox responded weakly, his eyes red and puffy. "I... I just... can't be..."

Sonic sat himself down next to his brother, the two now sharing the chair. "You wanna tell me what's eating you?"

Tails rubbed at his eyes, before looking sadly through his own hands. "You... know what's 'eating me' Sonic..." The eyes flicked back to his brother's, "And you know why I can't... why I can't... ask Zooey out..."

Sonic sighed, understanding his brother's point. "So... this is about the girl you're crushing on, huh?"

Tails slumped dejectedly. "Yeah... I really like her, Sonic... like, like like her... and it just can't happen..."

Sonic rubbed at his brother's shoulder. He knew exactly what Tails meant by that, but it upset him to hear the fox so... down with himself.

"Why's that, little dude?" the hedgehog said, fully aware of the response he would get. But Tails needed to deal with this, exorcise these demons, and talking about it might help him cope.

The fox looked at his as though he were an idiot. "Oh, I don't know!" Tails snapped condescendingly, raising a hand and tapping at his chin in mock-bewilderment. "I dunno Sonic, could you possibly think of anything about me that sets me aside? That means I can't have a normal life? Anything at all?"

At that, right on cue, his fur appeared to ripple with activity... the considerable layer of thick orange fluff fizzled into nothing, followed by his flesh melting away... until, where the fox had sat, a mechanical skeleton composed of white steel and black rubber took his place, glowing blue eyes glaring at Sonic above the fleshless black hole of a nose, and grinning lipless teeth.

"Oh yeah, I'm a killer robot built by the most evil tyrant of our age to spy on people..." the machine said artificially, folding its white arms together as it finished counting off its steel claws, "That might put her off a little..."

Sonic sighed. Tails' behaviour was making sense now. When he had first revealed his new body, dubbed the Prower Advanced Model Mark One, he'd been proud of the work he had accomplished, and eager to show off his enhanced abilities just as though his own body were simply another of his inventions. Then Zooey showed up, and Tails... had slowly regressed back into this depressed state.

Sonic understood now. He should have seen it sooner.

"Killer Robot, huh..." Sonic muttered, "What happened to 'Synthetic Individual'?"

Tails shrugged, white shoulders moving up and down. "It's what I am. Essentially. I was designed to infiltrate and eliminate people."

"Hey, you built this yourself..." Sonic patted his mechanical sibling pointedly on the arm, "And you make your own destiny. So I don't wanna hear any more of this 'evil robot' bs, okay?"

Tails didn't respond, glowing blue eyes simply staring through the wood of his desk.

"So..." Sonic continued, "About Zooey... any reason you can't just ask her out?"

Again, Tails' eyes flicked to meet his. Even though there was no flesh currently covering the face to emote with, Sonic had spent enough time around Tails in his exposed state to read him like a book. And right now, Tails was... displeased.

"Sonic, look at me..." the machine gestured down at itself with a black-clawed hand, "I can't do that... I can't go on dates, or get married, or have kids... any of those things I might like to do... I can't have a normal life, because of..." The fingers became a fist, and clacked against the smooth carapace of his own upper torso canopy, "Because of this..."

Sonic felt bad for his brother, the former infiltration unit sadly looking down upon its own exposed limbs.

"Tails..." the hedgehog shook his brother's shoulder, "She doesn't have to know..."

The glowing eyes once again met his, that blank face turning back to stare at him.

"You mean I lie. Again. Pass off as real and trick people. Again."

"Dude, as far as everybody else in the damn world knows, you're the same old fox you've always been!" Not quite true. Aside from Sonic, there was a handful of people who knew of Tails' true nature, and all had sworn to keep their mouths shut tight about the fox's secret.

"Yeah, I'm aware..." the machine replied glumly, "And you know how that makes me feel? I hate it. I was built to fool people, to pass as organic, and I'm still doing it now. I hate that about myself, Sonic..."

"Uh huh, and do you think every Tom Dick and Harry knows I'm part nightmare-beast made of dark energy?" Sonic replied, referencing his werehog form, which he hadn't used in quite some time. "This is the real me!" He patted his chest with a gloved fist, and wore that lopsided grin of his, "This is the real Sonic! And it doesn't matter what you're made out of, Tails, you're still my brother, and I want to see you going on dates. Getting up to mischief. Having a life, dude..."

Tails shook his head sadly. "She... she'd notice something at some point, Sonic... I don't want to lie to her like that..."

"What are you going to do then, mope for the rest of your life?" Sonic replied, "As far as I understand it, you can pretty much run forever, so that's a long time to miss out on the fun stuff!"

The machine remained slumped, fiddling with his own fingers.

"I don't know, Sonic..." Tails replied, "I just... feel like nothing but a stupid robot..."

"Uh, super cool and awesome Synthetic Individual?" Sonic corrected, shaking his brother by the arm, "Little brother of Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Tails shrugged, unconvinced. "Maybe I should just expose myself... let everyone know... then I wouldn't have to lie any more..."

Sonic wore an appalled expression. "Dude, do you know what would happen if you did that? You would be classified as an unregistered robot! Even if I could convince the robotics department not to drag you away, you'd have to be registered, insured..."

"Well, I'm sorry to be such an inconvenient piece of hardware..."

Sonic glared at his brother. "You'd lose your citizenship, Miles. Your Mobian-ity. You wouldn't be considered a person any more... and I can't deal with that, Miles. You're not just a machine, you're more than that. You know this."

"Maybe it would be easier if I just was..." muttered the synthetic, "Then I wouldn't have to deal with these... feelings..."

"That's called life, little dude..." Sonic clapped his brother on the shoulder and left the chair, making to head out of the workshop. "Well, I'm starving... didn't get around to trying that new 'Meh' Burger' after all..." His lopsided grin faltered as he set eyes on the machine still slumped gloomily in its chair. "Tails... promise me you won't do anything stupid, yeah?"

The glowing blue eyes met his, as the white steel skull turned. "Please define 'stupid'..."

"You know what I mean..." replied Sonic, giving his brother a stern eye, "And... try and cheer up, Miles? I know you've... been through some shit this past year... but I'm here for you, okay?"

Tails' eyes flicked to the floor, before returning to his brother's. "Okay, I'll try... sorry, Sonic..."

The hedgehog winked. "Love ya, little buddy. I'm ordering pizza. You feel like eating anything? You're wasting away from where I'm standing..."

Tails offered him a rude gesture, but chuckled humourlessly all the same. The brothers would often rib one another for their particular 'conditions', and Tails was long used to the hedgehog's good natured teasing.

Cheese fries..." the machine replied, "And... thanks, Sonic... I'm glad you're my brother..."

"You know it! Call ya when food's here!" Sonic turned and left Tails' study, where the gleaming steel machine sighed with rubbery artificial lungs.

He raised his left arm, and at a thought from his mind, a holographic screen bloomed from emitters in the forelimb. He scrolled through the screen, until he landed on a list of contacts. There, in the 'recently added' category, was Zooey's name and cell phone number.

The machine took pause. He liked the female fox. He really did. And had he been... normal, he might have asked her out already. But the way he was...this stupid robot that was his true form...

He couldn't. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't

Tails' forearm computer flickered off and he again slumped back in his seat. He considered reforming his synthetic camouflage... but decided against it.

This, the mechanical skeleton composed of white steel, black rubber, plastic, circuits... this was what he truly was. There was no need to pretend in the safety of his own walls.

The lightweight form of the Prower Advanced Model Mark One raised itself from the seat before the computer, and headed off in search of something to fix. The fox inside needed the distraction.

Tails didn't eat much. He didn't need to. He had originally been built with a fully functioning digestive system and a wrapping of artificially grown organic flesh - both systems developed for believability, enabling him to pass as alive in his intended function as an infiltration unit - but in the refined form of the Prower Advanced Model Mark One, with its solid-holographic system of synthetic camouflage, he no longer had any organic components to maintain at all. The consumption of food was entirely unnecessary, and purely for his own enjoyment.

Well, that and to blend in amongst the vast majority of people who didn't know what he truly was.

But he enjoyed consuming food from time to time - after all, he had believed himself to be organic for most of his life - and so it was he found himself, at three in the morning, rummaging for leftover takeout, rubber tipped fingers rifling through brown paper bags of junk food.

He felt a flutter of satisfaction as he found what he was looking for - more cheese fries, now cold and greasy. Perfect.

Still in his exposed state, the predominantly white-carapace of the machine leaned against the kitchen counter and happily inserted cheese-covered sticks of deep fried potato between its steel teeth, crunching the cheesy treats down with relish. Bits of food slipped between the fleshless mouthparts, dropping to the floor, but Tails didn't care. He was depressed, and binging on junk, and the only silver lining was that he could eat as much of this garbage as he liked and it wouldn't affect his health in any way.

Well, the grease might clog up his systems. But that was a small price to pay for deliciousness.

Tails jerked in his gluttony as an alarmed squeak sounded from the kitchen door. Swivelling his head toward the sound, Tails' eyes lit up and projected bright blue spotlights across the room, framing a pink hedgehog in a magenta robe and rolls in her quills. Amy blinked at the harsh light, looking Tails over with shock.

"Oh..." Tails deactivated his eye-lights, instead focusing on her with his night vision. "Sorry Amy... I didn't mean to scare you..."

Amy rubbed her eyes, the kitchen light flickering on as she fumbled for the switch. "It's okay Tails, you didn't scare me... just didn't expect anybody up at this time..." She looked his exposed form up and down in fascination.

Tails had forgotten. Amy hadn't seen his new body in this state yet. Only the false wrapping of flesh and fur he normally wore.

"Felt like getting some air?" The pink hedgehog said as she moved on over to the fridge.

"Uh... yeah..." Tails hopped on to the excuse as to why he was currently without his synthetic skin, slanted vents lined down either side of his back opening and hissing as his temperature conditioning system pulsed, "I can... cover up again if this makes you uncomfortable..."

Amy reached out and took his hand, a plastic bottle of water now in the other. "Tails, please..." She offered him big, concerned eyes, "You don't need to hide from us! If this is what you need to do, this is what you need to do!"

Tails stared glumly at his cheese fries, clutching them in the white and black steel right hand of his exposed machine state.

"If people knew this was what I am..." he muttered, "They'd hate me..."

"Tails..." Amy rubbed the hand she held, ignoring how cold the metal was, "You are what you are... you're like a little brother to me, and I love you just the same... Sonic and I just want to see you happy, okay?"

Tails looked up to her, blue eyes glowing dimly. "I just want to have a normal life..." the machine whispered sadly, unable to form tears yet still capable of feeling the emotions, "I just... want things to be the way they used to be..."

Amy hugged him, wrapping her arms around his mechanical shoulders. She squeezed him tight, before stepping back, hands still on his shoulders, and looking him in the eyes.

"Then do it," she said, giving him a shake, "nothing is stopping you from being who you want to be, Tails. Not even this." She lightly banged a fist from his shining white carapace... and gasped as, within a couple of seconds, flesh and fur rematerialized around his mechanical form.

Tails sniffled, tears beginning to run down his reconstituted flesh. "I'm sorry, Ames..." The fox whimpered, "I'm... a total jerk for putting you guys through all this..."

"You're anything but a jerk, Tails..." Amy hugged him again, thankful to feel soft orange fur now beneath her embrace instead of cold hard steel.

The two held their hug for a short while longer, before separating and stepping back.

"Thanks, Amy..." Tails said, clutching his cheese fries sheepishly, "I... don't deserve you and Sonic..."

"Yes you do!" Amy, slightly taller than the orange fox, planted a kiss on his forehead. "And you know what I deserve? A beauty sleep..." She turned, bottle of water in hand, and made to leave the kitchen. "Wake one of us if you need to..." She added, glancing back at her friend, "And for chaos' sake, Tails... sleep in a bed tonight, okay?"

Tails drooped his reformed ears, having spent the last few nights simply powering down wherever he felt like it. Neither Sonic nor Amy had said anything, but he knew it bothered them when they discovered an unconscious orange fox or white-steel skeleton just standing in place, in a state of low power consumption.

"Okay, Amy..."

Amy smiled once more. "Goodnight, Miles..."

"Night, Ames..."

With that, Amy left the kitchen and headed back to her room within the shared household, slippered feet thumping on the stairs.

Tails stood alone with his junk food, considering his options. He could, as Sonic said, mope around and wallow in self-pity for the rest of his life (Which, with proper upkeep and maintenance, could theoretically be forever), or he could... choose to live a little.

He might be a machine, a manufactured personality with false memories of a life he had never had, but internally he was still the thirteen year old Miles Prower who had fought alongside Sonic since first meeting him.

His left arm shed its covering of synthetic flesh as his internal computer bloomed out, once again displaying the contact details of one Zooey Redtail.

Tails bit his lip, knowing he was a damned fool for doing this... but typed out a message anyway. It was late, but if he was going to do this it had to be now... before he lost his 'nerve'.

He tapped send. The message was gone.

The synthetic leaned back and rubbed his eyes, in an imitation of fatigue, and mumbled to himself.

"You're an idiot, Tails... but I guess there's no going back now..."

Male Mobians often forwent the wearing of clothing, outside of practicality or protection. Clothing for fashion purposes was a largely human concern, the large hairless apes evolving with greater need for the extra layers. The fur of most Mobian Males was typically thicker than that of the females as well, giving them even less need to play dress-up than the females.

Especially 'Mobians' like Miles Prower.

But today was special.

Tails, clad in the smartest garment he or Sonic owned - a blue suit jacket of Sonic's, slightly too big for his small frame - bounced nervously in matching blue and white sneakers as he stood before the wooden door of Zooey and her father's store. From further in town, the sounds of crowds could be hear drifting from the carnival, the destination... of Tails' first date.

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

His first date. Dammit, this was a bad idea. He was wracked with worry, synthetic fur sticking out on end.

"Relax, Tails..." he whispered to himself, internal systems pulsing as he attempted to steady his nerves, "You got this... just be cool..."

Cool. Yeah, sure. He ran a quick diagnostic of his internal systems, for the hundredth time that day, just to keep his mind occupied. He focused particularly on the system that operated his synthetic camouflage... he didn't need that crapping out and exposing him.

"Not just a machine..." He hissed to himself, in an attempt to boost his own morale, "You are not just a machine... you are a person, and you have a life..."

His ears pricked as he detected movement over his shoulder. He turned to find a street-sweeping robot, a clunky model, paused in its duties and seemingly staring at him in fascination.

Crap. Could it tell?

Tails checked his vicinity, making sure nobody else was around, before hissing a stream of clicking noises directed toward the curious robot. The thing's basic logic processors worked, decoding the machine-speak, and it went on its way.

Tails again checked nobody had heard that, and wondered why the thing had clocked him as artificial. The clunky service robots never had before... maybe his synthetic camouflage system was more easily detectable by the city's service bots than the artificially-grown organic covering of his previous form. He'd have to do something about that.

He was interrupted in his thoughts as, behind him, the door to the Redtail family's store creaked open. Tails spun around, nervously attempting to straighten his raggedy appearance as a tall, bespectacled fox Mobian looked down at him.

Tails cowered under the man's gaze, recognising this as Zooey's father.

"H... hi, mister Redtail…" the smaller fox stammered, fiddling with his hands, "I'm... here to pick up Zooey?"

The fox gestured toward the younger male. "Sonic's brother, right?" Tails nodded timidly. "Hnn. Good kid. You'll do." he turned his head and called back into the building. "Zoe? Your feller's here!"

A faint voice replied from the depths of the store, too quiet for Tails' audio receptors unable to decipher the words.

The older fox shook his head and chuckled. "Girls, huh?" He then did something Tails didn't expect, and extended a hand to the smaller male. "Zack Redtail. Good to meet ya, son."

Tails took the offered hand, and made damn sure he didn't crush the thing in his nerves.

"Miles Prower!" He replied, shaking in greeting.

"Sorry Tails, just finished getting ready!"

Both male foxes turned as the female in concern appeared, immaculately groomed fur wrapped in a maroon dress, head fur fixed back in a single long tail. She grinned as she approached her date, who once again cowered shyly.

"Hi Zooey..."

Tails, already short for his perceived age, looked even smaller now as he shrank back.

The two young foxes awkwardly hovered apart from one another, before the larger male chuckled and spoke up.

"Okay kids... you goin' or what?"

Two sets of ears perked, and two pairs of embarrassed blue eyes looked to him.

"Sure, dad..." Zooey grinned and grabbed Tails' hand, leading him away from her father. "Come on, Tails! We don't wanna miss the attractions!"

"Have fun!" The older male called after the two kids, watching them depart down the street. He set his hands on his hips and nodded approvingly. The Prower kid, shy though he might be, was alright.

The carnival was a throng of people, families with their children, couples enjoying the night, vendors selling their wares from food carts, barkers attracting people to their games... Tails tagged along behind Zooey as the female happily flitted about, just content to allow her to enjoy herself.

Another service bot crossed his path, retrieving litter from the ground. This one didn't seem to pay him any mind, but he steered clear all the same. He didn't want a repeat of earlier.

"This is fun right?" Zooey fell in beside him again, this time clutching a pair of ice creams. She handed one to Tails - mint chocolate. He licked at the thing, and smiled. Tasty.

"Right?" His companion repeated, the smaller fox having not replied to her inquiry.

Tails sputtered as he scrambled to recover. "Uh... yeah! Yeah, this is fun! I'm having fun! So much fun! Wow!"

Great. That didn't sound odd at all.

Zooey's ears drooped as they meandered through the crowd. "Are you sure?"

Tails kicked himself internally. In his own nervous state, he had neglected to pay much attention to the girl he had invited on this date in the first place... too busy thinking, worrying, processing scenarios... and now she thought he didn't want to be there with her.

"I'm... sorry, Zoe..." the fox said, slumping apologetically, "I'm having a great time, really. It's nice to get out and... relax for a change! With... with you!"

She smiled despite his awkward, clumsy attempt at reconciliation.

"It's nice to spend time with you too, Tails!"

The two foxes grinned shyly at one another, before Zooey once again took charge and lead Tails over to a stall.

"Hey, look!" Tails found himself at a small firing range of a carnival attraction, a large wolf Mobian aiming down the sights of a pellet gun, fruitlessly attempting to hit the targets scrolling by down the range. The wolf growled in frustration as he expended his last shot, and set the weapon down with a clunk.

"Rigged!" he snarled, pointing at the vendor, "This game is rigged, I tells ya!"

The vendor, a human with a raggedy beard and a wide brimmed hat, took the weapon and flashed the wolf a broken-toothed grin. "Must be your aim, mate!"

"I served in the Airborne! My aim is as good as it gets!"

The human shrugged. "Always welcome to try again, mate?"

The wolf simply growled and turned away, leaving the stall in search of something alcoholic to calm his temperament. As the wolf left, Zooey pointed to the prize shelf.

"Oh my god!" she cooed, finger pointing to a very large stuffed pink elephant, "That is so cute!"

The human took note of her interest, and flashed his toothless grin at Tails.

Hoo boy. Tails knew where this was going.

"What say, little feller?" The human rasped, tucking his thumbs into his belt, "fancy winning that thing for the little lady?"

Zooey looked to Tails, eyes glinting excitedly.

Tails handed her his ice cream cone. "Hold my beer, Zoe."

Zooey snickered and grinned. "You go, Tails!"

"I got this!" Tails stepped forward, taking the pellet gun offered by the human. He climbed onto a raised platform situated before the firing range, so his short frame could better see over the counter.

"Go for it, short stuff!" The human cackled, as Tails checked the weapon in his hands.

Tails grinned back at the man. Maybe he'd abuse his abilities after all.

Sighting the weapon down range, Tails' temperament changed completely. The grin fell, his eyes went blank, and his movements became tight and mechanical as he efficiently fired at the scrolling targets.

With his supply of pellets, he hit every single one. Not a single pellet went to waste.

"Woah, nice work little guy!"

The human looked back down to Tails with surprise, clearly not expecting the youngster to have such proficient aim. He reached up to the prize shelf and grabbed the pink elephant from its perch.

"Oh my gosh, that was great, Tails!" Zooey squealed as she clasped the shorter male's shoulder, retrieving the elephant from the man.

Tails didn't respond. He simply maintained an idle stance, weapon lowered.

"I'll... be having that back now, son?" The human reached out to retrieve the pellet gun... and recoiled as the fox's head snapped to face him, cold dead eyes regarding the man curiously.

Tails unblinkingly maintained eye contact with the man as he handed the weapon back.

"Affirmative..." the fox replied blankly.

"Uh, Tails?" Zooey lightly shook her companion's shoulder, causing the eyes to flick to her, "We... should get going?"

Tails stared into her with that lifeless expression, before allowing himself to be lead by the hand away from the stall.

The human manning the attraction watched after the departing foxes as they melted back into the crowd, and shivered at the thought of that blank face. "Creepy kid..."

Zooey walked Tails away from the crowds, noting his continued lack of expression and utter silence. Now alone in a quiet street, she set him down on a nearby bench and sat beside him, shifting the elephant in her grasp.

"Tails?" She lightly clenched his shoulder, squeezing the fur beneath the blue jacket, "Tails, are you sure you're alright?"

The dead blue eyes met hers, but Tails still didn't respond.

"Tails?!" She now shook him harder, causing his head to rock. "Tails, you're really creeping me out here..."

Tails frowned, the expression finally breaking the blank mask... and life seemed to return to his eyes as he clenched his ears in both hands.

"Ah, crap!" the fox squeaked, voice high pitched with panic, "jeez, I'm sorry Zooey! I'm so sorry!"

"What happened with you?" The vixen asked, concern in her voice.

Tails shook his head. "I... guess I zoned out..." He rubbed sheepishly at the back of his head, "must be lack of sleep... I don't get much. Always busy, you know?"

"Well, you creeped me the heck out!" Zooey allowed a nervous laugh to escape her throat, relieved her date had returned to normal, "You really weren't yourself for a while there!"

Tails chuckled humourlessly, eyes leaving hers and staring through his hands. "Actually..." the fox muttered, "That's more 'me' than you realise..."

Zooey frowned as Tails turned his attention to a nearby street-sweeping robot, that paused in its work and regarded the fox curiously.

Tails screwed his eyes shut and hissed to himself, burying his face in both hands. "Stupid... why did I say that..."

"Tails..." Zooey, suddenly apprehensive and... nervous in his presence, leaned away from him slightly, "What... is that supposed to mean?"

Tails removed his face from his palms, glared at the still immobile street-sweeper, and sighed in resignation.

"I... I shouldn't tell you..." His eyes turned back to hers, filled with conflict. "But I... really like you, Zooey. Like, a whole lot... and I don't wanna lie to you like this..."

Zooey now had to resist the urge to just run. Tails, the sweet and shy younger brother of the heroic Sonic the Hedgehog, was beginning to scare her.

"I'm..." Tails voice shook, and he fumbled with his hands as his eyes darted across the floor and his ears drooped, "I'm a machine, Zooey..." He looked back to her and gestured at himself with both hands. "this... all this is just an illusion... just a disguise so I blend in with people... it's all a lie... I'm just a lie..."

Zooey suddenly scrutinised him intensely, eyes wide as she considered the smaller fox.

Great... my first date, and the guy's a lunatic...

Zooey stood and gripped tightly to the strap of her bag, the elephant tucked under her other arm.

"Okay, Tails?" She looked at him fearfully, the male shrinking under her glare, "I think I'm going to leave now...it's been fun! But I think you have a few... issues to work out, so I'll leave you to deal with that, okay?"

Tails chuckled to himself. "You don't believe me..." He muttered, raising to his feet. She stepped back at the motion, utterly convinced the smaller fox was unhinged.

He seemed to consider for a moment, gloomily looking toward the street-sweeper that began to continue its duties.

"Screw it..." The fox muttered, unbuttoning and removing his blue jacket, "I'm sick and tired of fooling people... maybe it's for the best if everybody knows what I really am..."

Zooey was about to bolt, but couldn't help but watch in morbid curiosity as Tails allowed his jacket to drop to the floor, wondering what he was intending to do as he faced her and planted his feet.

And then she stared in disbelief as his fur dissolved, leaving the flesh beneath to ripple and melt away... the last part of his flesh to vanish was around his face, the baby blue eyes fizzling away into glowing blue orbs... until a white and black, skeletal machine stood in his place, the silent hum of power radiating from within.

"Believe me now?" the synthetic said glumly, Tails' voice reverberating between the exposed teeth.

Zooey gawped at the machine, reoiling in fear... before she glared in disgust and jabbed a finger at the skeletal frame.

"You... you're a robot?!"

'Tails' fiddled with his hands again, metallic rubber tipped fingers clicking against one another. "I... prefer the term Synthetic Individual..."

Zooey apparently couldn't care less what he preferred. "I... I held your hand!" She disgustedly threw her stuffed elephant at the machine, Tails flinching as the toy bounced from the white carapace of his ribs. Zooey looked him over with distaste one last time, and turned to storm away. "I can't deal with this..."

"I just wanted to be honest with you..." Tails muttered after her, causing her to shoot him one last look of revulsion before turning the street corner.

The machine sighed, looking down to the pink toy it had won for the vixen. The elephant looked up at him stupidly.

With a sudden spike of rage, Tails raised his foot and stomped the stuffed animal flat, the pavement beneath cracking with the force of the blow. His mechanical shoulders heaved up and down, in an imitation of anger, as his glowing eyes met the street-sweeping robot once again. The thing had stopped to ponder the sudden arrival of this new, unidentified machine in its vicinity.

"What are you looking at?" Tails clicked at the thing. The sweeper bleeped in response, and continued on its rounds.

Tails slumped, filled with self-loathing as he stared through the crushed elephant. "Dunno what you expected, Tails..." he muttered to himself, "But at least it's done with..."

Tails was suddenly very aware that he was standing in public, exposed, during a night when the streets would fill back up with carnival-goers. The presently deserted street wouldn't remain so for long.

He didn't care. He was stupid to think he could be a real boy... when in reality, this was what he was. Just a robot. A stupid robot, no different to the bulky sweeper that continued down the road.

What was the point in pretending otherwise?

As the night wore on, and people began to leave the carnival and head back to their homes, there was much confusion and bewilderment at the strange, twin-tailed mobianoid machine that trudged through the streets toward the outskirts of town.