Hello everyone! Welcome back to another chapter! You guys seemed to enjoy the last one just as much as I enjoyed writing it! Let's get on with the reviews!

Perturbo: Agreed, Robotnik is quite terrifying and devious here. Seeing what he's done to all the inhabitants of the compound is certainly a sight to behold.

Singerj199: Not having seen the outside is certainly a popular trope, but it tends to be done a bit more figuratively sometimes, as in they've never been outside the walls. For 415, it's quite literal, he's never even seen the outside world, let alone been in it, and he's seemingly fine with it… The barcode was certainly one of the things I wanted to put some thought into, but I figured it was important enough to include, as well as being how our little fox friend got his name! Nice to see you're looking forward to this one!

AndTails: All of the members of the compound were just normal Mobians before coming here, their added enhancements are part of Robotnik's conquest to 'improve' all life on the planet. Its certainly been fun writing and thinking about how each of their abilities would transfer over to a mechanical argument, and we'll see a few more this chapter!

Guardian of 2fort: For the good of all of us, except the ones who are dead of course. Robotnik has certainly got some mad scientist vibes going on, and we have yet to even meet him!

1TGN: The whole situation is chilling, and I'm hoping to explore some more angles of it as we go on! There's certainly a history of this place to uncover.

That's everybody! Let's get started!

Mechanized Production

Progress

Four Fifteen shot bolt upright, panting heavily as though awoken from a nightmare. Taking a moment to calm his racing heart, he glanced around and was met with the usual gray walls. However, he noticed a few things that told him he was certainly not in his cell, the first of which was that he was in a bed and not his usual cot. Secondly was the fact that his head burned, jolts of pain shot through his brain and skull, he set his head in his hands as he tried to no avail to lessen the intensity of the shocks.

Eventually, deciding he'd try to power through it, he kicked the blanket off of him and hopped to his feet, only to fall straight forward and land on his face, sending more waves of pain through his head. As he pushed himself back up a bit, he realized something felt different. Putting it off for now, he tried to clamber back to his feet, supporting himself on a nearby table. He felt like his legs didn't quite respond like they used to, he felt very shaky and off balance on his feet.

Taking a glance behind him, he quickly realized the culprit…

His tails were gone.

The two metal appendages he'd grown used to were suddenly absent, leaving only the spinal column and his shoulder blade connections. Suddenly, it occurred to the fox where he was.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to be in bed!" A voice shouted. Four Fifteen turned toward it to find a rabbit making their way over to him, dressed in a white and orange nurse's outfit. This confirmed the fox's suspicions that he was in the infirmary.

"I'll help you back down, just relax, it's going to be alright." The rabbit continued, she let Four Fifteen put an arm over her shoulder as she gently escorted him back to his bed, having him sit on the edge as she quickly checked him over. As she did, the fox noticed an implant placed in the side of her head, it curved from just above her eye down to where the base of her ear would be. Speaking of her ear, it was notably absent. Instead, a large orange curved dish-like structure shaped like her other ear had been placed there, connected directly into the implant placed into her head. For what it was for, he didn't know, but he assumed he would find out.

"Well, it doesn't look like you've hurt yourself any more than you already are," The rabbit spoke, seemingly finishing her inspection. "Just take it easy for a bit alright?"

"My head really hurts…" Came the fox's response as another surge of pain shot through his head.

"Well, that would be that nice concussion you've got. Heard you took a bit of a beating down at the mess hall. The three broken ribs could tell me that much."

"You could say that. A few other things, first, are you gonna reattach my-"

"Not quite yet. It stops you from running away on me, since it throws off your balance quite a bit."

"Yeah, I learned that myself…"

"Oh! I haven't even properly introduced myself! I'm ten thousand and four, but you can call me Cream! And this…" Her voice trailed off as the implant near the top of her head lit up, almost immediately, a small chao shaped drone entered the room. He'd seen a few chao before as other members of the compound, but never one like this.

It was completely composed of blue tinted metal and a receiver antenna sat on its head, the small robot hovered off the ground at about eye level, despite its odd appearance, it almost looked like a normal chao.

"Is Cheese!" Cream finished. The chao waved to the fox, "He's kinda like an assistant of sorts."

"Do you control him through that little implant of yours?"

"I do yes," She responded. "It also lets him transmit what he's seeing to me, letting me look out of his eyes as well, it's a bit overwhelming to have two different things you're looking at in your brain, but you get used to it."

"I'd imagine…"

The small machine made its way down toward the fox's arm, scanning the barcode like structure in his fur.

"Four hundred and fifteen," Cream began. "Well, it seems like this isn't your first time here… In fact, it looks like it's been more than a few times…"

"Well those little appendages of mine don't quite grow with me now do they? I've had them since I was a little kid, and they've needed to be replaced a few times over the years."

"That makes sense. Says you're listed here as a prime specimen! Robotnik himself apparently oversees your tests!"

"Doesn't matter anyway, never even met him." He answered. That much was true, he'd heard Robotnik's voice, and he knew he oversaw his tests, but he'd never seen the man personally. In fact, nobody had seen Robotnik in a long time…

"Still makes me wonder why you're designated as one… No offense!"

"None taken."

The rabbit seemingly was deep in thought, obviously combing over the rest of his file in her brain for more information about him. "Well… You're certainly one of the more interesting patients I've had here…"

"What makes you say that?"

"You were born here? That's certainly odd, most of the specimens here come from outside. Says here your parents didn't even give you a-"

"Look I get it… I'm interesting, but… Could you keep some of it to yourself…"

"I understand, I'll go over this in private then. I don't know what trouble you've gotten yourself into in the past, but between you and me, I think you're special. Now get some rest, I'll be back later."

The rabbit and robotic chao left the room, leaving the fox to himself. He slowly laid down, successfully choking back the thoughts that threatened to enter his mind. He'd at least managed to stop her mid sentence, but still, the intent was there. He tried to clear his mind as he shut his eyes, one singular tear managing to sneak its way out before he fell into the clutches of sleep.

-X-

Sonic was still getting used to this whole thing… The compound was certainly not where he'd expected his life to end up, but it wasn't like he'd had a whole lot of a choice now did he? He'd only been here a few days now, and it wasn't much worth talking about.

Sitting on the edge of his cot, the one thing that came to mind was the fox from the other day. He couldn't quite get the kid out of his head.

He seemed nervous, maybe he was also new here! But then there was that echidna… So he'd obviously gotten himself in trouble before… Maybe he'd just gotten mixed up in the wrong crowd? Either way, the kid had almost gotten himself killed, and it was likely he would be dead if Sonic hadn't stepped in… He still wasn't sure why he did that. Maybe he was just trying to help, maybe he didn't want to see the fighting, he wasn't quite sure why his brain had decided to do what it had done. All he knew was that it happened, and he'd just have to roll with it.

"I wonder how he's doing?"

He'd gotten a pretty nasty beating, and had to be carried out by some of the guards, where he was now was just a mystery to him.

Looking into the mirror he'd been given in his small cell, Sonic eyed himself up and down. Beady green eyes staring back at him in curiosity.

His quills had been replaced with razor sharp metal blades attached via locking joints on his back. His legs had been slimmed down and replaced with long, curved metal plates and gravity responsive footplates that detected when he touched the ground, increasing his push force by tenfolds. This allowed him to reach speeds he never even thought were possible before, something he'd learned during his first test.

The augments, though odd looking, were actually kinda neat in a way. The speed he got while running felt wonderful. He was apparently due for another test soon, an opportunity to maybe stretch his legs again.

His eyes wandered to the barcode like tattoo emblazoned on his arm. He'd gotten it only two days ago, and he wasn't sure how much he liked it. 'H-00501' it read, feeling more like a product then a name. The collar they'd put on his neck wasn't helping that appearance either…

Sonic's head turned as he saw movement outside his cell, a set of round drones that'd escorted him to his test and back last time had appeared again.

"Specimen five hundred and one, you will now be escorted to your testing chamber, where you will complete what is to be asked of you. Failure to comply will result in punishment." One of the drones spoke, its monotone robotic voice cutting through the usual silence of his cell.

The hedgehog made his way to his feet and to the door. As he followed the two drones just like he had the other day, he was quickly joined by two additional drones behind him.

After a series of twists and turns in the dark hallways, they arrived at the entrance to the testing chamber. 'Chamber-04' was etched onto the large metal airlock doors. A small scanner was placed next to the doorway.

"Scan your identification number to begin testing." The drones spoke.

The hedgehog held the code on his arm up to the doorway, allowing it to scan and eventually, the door unsealed and slowly opened. The hedgehog stepped inside and the door automatically closed behind him, none of the drones followed him inside.

"Specimen zero zero five zero one." An automated voice spoke, "We will be performing a measurement of your speed. Failure to comply with instructions will result in punishment or termination. For your test, we will attempt to test the limits of your speed. Run in a circle throughout the room so that it may be recorded."

Sonic prepared himself and took off, with each step the mechanisms in his legs caused him to accelerate, going faster and faster as he moved in a loop around the room. Eventually, a loud crack of noise could be heard and the obscured glass of a nearby observation deck cracked and shattered. The deck was empty, but it proved one thing to not only Sonic, but the cameras and sensors that were monitoring his action.

He had just broken the sound barrier.

"The speed test has been completed." The automated voice spoke, giving no reaction to the events that had just transpired. "Your work today was satisfactory. Collect your reward."

The doorway to the testing chamber slowly opened once more, and a small object landed in the receptacle next to the door. Sonic identified it as a small metal card of sorts, allowing for a extra ration of food during meal time. Making his way out the door, the group of drones greeted him how they had in the past. "Specimen five hundred and one, you will now be escorted to your cell, where you will remain for the remainder of the day."

The hedgehog quickly fell in line with the group as he began the trek back to his cell. He was still amazed at the speed at which he'd managed to travel, breaking the sound barrier was no small feat.

Finally reaching his cell, he decided to spend a bit more time in his own thoughts, after all, it seemed like he would be here a while…

Alright everybody, that's it for today! Some of you might have noticed that the update speed has increased, that's because I'm really enjoying writing this and my other stories, and it seems like you guys are enjoying it and showing your support! Thank you so much! Leave some of your thoughts for this chapter, and I'll see you all next time!