Hey everyone! Not tired of this story yet! So here's chapter three! Before we begin, it's review time!
Perturbo: The descriptions of the characters and their augments have been some of my favorite things to write, they've all certainly changed quite a bit, and their descriptions reflect that, along with the more serious tone of the story!
Singerj199: We're gonna be hanging out with 415 for a while, so figuring out what's happened with him is certainly important! Sonic is also a bit more chill, he hasn't had his speed forever, so he's not quite the impatient hothead we all know, but there's still plenty to love about him!
Ieju: It's certainly an interesting take on it all! I'm looking forward to doing even more as we progress! I'm very happy you're enjoying it!
Anon: While it may seem that way, we'll have to see to eventually have our confirmation on the topic!
AndTails: They're certainly an interesting addition, and their unique augment is going to be a key defining feature for them going forward! As for Sonic and 415, you'll just have to see!
1TGN: Everyone's got a thread or piece of their canon selves there, it's just harder to see for some than others! Cream and Cheese are one of the more interesting ones to translate to this environment for sure! As for Sonic and 415's relationship, it'll be interesting to see how they develop!
That's all of them! Let's get started!
Mechanized Production
Reflection
Meal time once again, only this time with a little more paranoia. Four Fifteen glanced around, looking for any sign of the echidna who attacked him the other day, but also searching for the blue hedgehog he'd noticed. From what his somewhat fuzzy memory could recall, the hedgehog had actually tried to save him from the beating he'd gotten. He figured he'd at least put in a word of thanks.
Getting his ration for the day, he scanned the area, eventually finding the blue hedgehog with razor quills. He made his way over toward him, and the hedgehog seemed to notice him, beckoning him to a seat next to him.
"Geez, you're not dead." The hedgehog noted, "Didn't think I'd see you again for a bit there."
"Well here I am. Also, thanks for saving me back there. My memory is still a bit fuzzy, but it's starting to come back to me."
"No problem! Really, you seemed like you were new here, so I figured we gotta stick together! I'm Sonic by the way."
"I'm not new, been here a while actually… I just got nervous after I ran into you…" The fox lied.
"How long do you think?"
"Ummmm, maybe like thirteen years? Maybe fourteen, lost count in here."
"Oh dang… So you've been here forever! Also I didn't get your name, I like your tails though, they're kinda neat!"
"My names Four Fifteen, and thanks…"
"That's your number, what's your name? Everyone in here had one before right?"
"Not me I guess… I've just always known Four Fifteen…"
"Hold it together…" The fox thought to himself, "He doesn't know just, hold yourself together."
"Come on, you can be honest with me. Besides, I saved your life you know! Least you can do is introduce yourself."
The fox gave him a glare out of the side of his vision, and if Sonic didn't know better, he could have sworn he saw a reflection of light from the edges of his eyes.
"Well… If you're not gonna tell me, maybe I can give you a name, how about I call you-"
"Look just shut up!" The fox exclaimed, jumping up to his feet and slamming his hands on the table in anger. "I don't want your stupid nickname! I told you my name already, so piss off!"
Sonic was a bit taken aback by the outburst as the fox made his exit, his food barely touched. The hedgehog raced after him, grabbing him by the shoulder as he went to leave. Four Fifteen simply pulled away from his grasp.
"Just leave me alone…" The fox spoke, a faint sorrow in his words. Sonic noticed and quickly removed his hand, letting the fox leave the mess hall and return to his cell.
"Well, that could have gone better…" Sonic thought to himself. "Wonder why he's so worked up…"
-X-
Four Fifteen was trying his best to fight off his emotions, it'd been a long time since anybody had reminded him of what had happened. He thought he was over it, apparently not…
Sitting on the edge of his cot and fighting back tears, his emotions running wild in his brain. The fox grabbed the other half of the energy charge from under his pillow and inserted it into the machine on his back, letting the entirety of the remaining energy drain. The machine didn't need it, he did. Feeling the familiar calming sensation rush through his body anew, it did help his emotional outburst slow for a bit as he focused on the feeling of plasma running through his veins.
Eventually though, it wasn't enough to stop the flood that had been unleashed. He looked up and into the mirror across from him, looking at himself. He looked pathetic, his eyes red from tears.
"Look at you!" His inner monologue spoke. "No wonder they didn't want you!"
"Just shut up…" He quietly spoke, trying once again to shut out his emotions.
"You know it's true, the one thing you've always known. They didn't even bother to give you a name did they? They hated you that much!"
The fox's anger continued to rise, he clutched the empty canister in his hands, pressing into it with his fingers.
"I mean come on! The least you can do is get over it! It's been fourteen years! Face it! Your parents didn't love you! Nobody loves you! You're nothing more than a worthless nobody!"
Four Fifteen stood up in a rage hurling the energy canister at the image of himself in the mirror, shattering the glass into dozens of pieces. "SHUT UP!"
The words echoed in his head as the fox collapsed on his cot, not able to hold back the tide of emotions as tears ran down his face. Eventually, tired from his emotional outburst as well as a way to escape his sorrows. The fox cried himself to sleep…
-X-
The next day the fox sat by himself, he was scheduled for another test today, but that wasn't what was on his mind as he ate. The events of yesterday continued to unfold in his mind, he tried to shut them out, but eventually was forced into confronting them when a familiar hedgehog sat next to him.
"What do you want?" Four Fifteen asked.
"I'm sorry…" Sonic sighed, "I really am. I shouldn't have pressed it, I'll just call you what you want."
The fox took a glance over to the hedgehog, he seemed apologetic, which was good, but he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to trust him yet. "What makes you apologize now?"
"I just thought about how upset you were. I'm really sorry for making that happen, I didn't mean for it."
The fox took what he had to say in silence for a bit, eventually, he quietly muttered, "Thanks…"
Sonic smiled, "I think we might have started off on the wrong foot here. Hopefully we can just forget about everything that happened before?"
"Sure, I'm Four Fifteen. Your name was Sonic right?"
"Yep! You said you'd been here for a long time right?"
"That's the understatement of the decade. Been here for fourteen years…" The fox commented.
"Dang, as much as I like these new improvements of mine, kinda hoping to somehow get out of here one of these days, see outside again…"
"What's it like?"
"Huh?"
"What's it like outside?"
"What do you mean?"
"How does it look? Feel? I've never really seen outside…"
Sonic was dumbstruck. How could he not remember or know? However, the emotion in his voice gave an edge of sincerity to the fox's words, he wasn't joking.
"It's wonderful," Sonic began. "The green color of the trees and the grass. The breeze giving everything an air of serenity. The sun giving warmth…"
"It sounds wonderful… Even if I don't know what half the words you just said are…"
"How have you never seen outside?" Sonic inquired, legitimate concern in his tone.
The fox was silent for a moment, could he even trust this stranger? He'd always been on his own… But maybe it was time to finally start putting some trust into others…
"I was born here…"
"Oh. Well, that's kinda neat… I guess. If you don't mind me asking…"
"They're gone, might as well be dead to me…"
"Why?"
The fox sighed, if he was going to start trusting others and getting better, he'd have to share. "They… My parents… Were approached by Robotnik, he gave them an offer. They were free to leave on the condition… They leave me behind… They took it… Why he gave the offer I don't know, by all means, it doesn't make sense. But that's what happened, never even gave me a name before they left. They abandoned me, for all I care, I don't have parents."
The sentence hung in the air, sending chills through Sonic's metallic spine. The fox was dead serious.
"Oh…" Sonic sheepishly commented. "I'm so sorry… I… I don't even know what to say about that… That's horrible."
"It's fine, I just don't like to think about it…"
"It's not fine… But thanks for telling me. Again, I'm very sorry for what happened the other day."
"Don't mention it. You're fine."
The silence was now a bit more comfortable, and Sonic could tell the fox had opened up a bit, and was somewhat more trusting of him now. Maybe now at least the two of them could start things off right this time.
They ate in relative silence afterward, eventually returning to their own cells after their meals. Sonic however, couldn't wait until their next meeting, it would be a long process to get the fox to fully trust him, as it seems it'd been a long time since he'd had someone he could trust, but he was determined to do it. For now however, he would have to wait…
-X-
"Well, your head looks just fine to me." Cream commented, "Nothing out of place as far as I could tell…"
The small chao drone hovering next to Four Fifteen seemed to share her sentiment as it ceased its scan. The fox had been feeling better now, his head had cleared up enough to control his thoughts.
"Thanks, I owe you one." He responded.
"Don't mention it! You've been a great patient, one of the more interesting ones I've had at least."
"I'm not really interesting, I'm just me."
"Well Robotnik seems to think you are, so that's something, nobody's seen him in years though."
That much was true, nobody Four Fifteen knew had seen Robotnik in a long time. A few rumors had circulated that he actually died, but his drones still controlled the facility. He himself knew this was false however, Robotnik oversaw his testing, that much he knew.
"What's even more interesting…" Cream mused, "Is how do they even get these in?" She pointed to her augment mounted on her head. "I mean, you think with everyone here having one we'd know something, but it seems like everyone gets put to sleep before and wakes up with them already on…"
Four Fifteen did have to admit, nobody he had met in his fourteen years of being here had a clue about how the procedure worked. There'd been rumors obviously, but nothing more than that had ever surfaced. Only Robotnik knew, and nobody was even quite sure if he saw the augmentation process himself. Obviously their augments had been designed by him, no machine could hope to replicate or design the unique mechanisms that made each one unique. But if the doctor was there personally when it was attached was unknown.
"Yeah, it's strange." The fox responded, "I mean, I'm not sure myself. Not like anybody sees Robotnik to ask though."
As the fox made his way out of the room to return to his cell, he was stopped by Cream. "Hey, I just wanna ask… Is everything alright? I read your file and…"
"It's fine, don't worry about it."
"Still, just between you and me… You ever thought about outside? I read you were born here, have you ever wanted to really… I don't know, see it?"
The fox thought about her question for a minute, deciding on an answer. "While I'm sure it's lovely… This place is my home. I've heard stories of what it's like out there, but I actually kinda like it here. I don't have to worry about anything… But again, thank you for asking, and maybe we'll see each other again sometime."
"Hopefully you won't be coming back with another concussion."
"We'll have to see." He responded, a smile crossing his face.
The fox made his way out the door, leaving Cream thinking over his answer, coming to only a single conclusion.
There was something truly special about Four Fifteen…
Alright everybody, that's all for today, a bit shorter then some other ones, but hopefully that's alright with you all! Leave a review with what you thought about the chapter and I'll see you all next time!