A/N: TW for ableist language, blood, and cussing later on in this one, if that's something that is triggering for you personally then please take care and be kind to yourself. If you need a quick summary because you can't read it, please just message me! Now, on to the edge...
Neo and Silver sat in silence in the monitor room, seated on chairs next to each other.
Eggman connected the last couple of wires in Neo's new hand and studied it carefully. Wordlessly, Neo opened and closed his hand to show that it worked. He didn't make eye contact with his creator, and hadn't since he returned home.
"It'll be okay," Silver eventually offered, turning to Neo with a smile, "somehow, anyway."
Eggman muttered to himself as he turned to grab a different tool, shifting to start his work on Silver now. "Soooo? Are you two going to tell me how you got into this mess?" He asked, gesturing with a hand to Silver's dents and scratches as he spoke. His tone was stern but concerned.
"So, uhhhh..." Silver held out an arm for Eggman to fill in the scratches before continuing, "basically, we tried being smart about it and not, you know, making a scene. The place was a total wasteland but we didn't wanna take any chances 'cus you know, three super-advanced killer robots on the loose are pretty easy to spot. It didn't work anyway, G.U.N was in the area." His previously lighter tone became more serious. "Metal knew right away, he protected us from being ambushed. But something wasn't right, 'cause the G.U.N robot was pretty pathetic... that's when they brought in their "new-and-improved" Egg Emperor."
Silver paused, searching for a reaction from Eggman - but he said nothing, instead listening with care. So, he continued, "long story short, Metal was pretty badass about it and took the lead on fighting the thing off. But then reinforcements came and it turned out that the head honcho for G.U.N was the one piloting the big E.E, Mecha tried to reason with them... I guess he figured that we were about to be in trouble and wanted to reduce the risk of us being scrapped. But it didn't work... they didn't care."
Eggman paused in his work as Silver clenched his fists and looked down. Silver looked more disgusted the more he explained. "They didn't listen to him when he tried to let them go. And then they... they literally put a hole through him like the cowards they are. It all went downhill from there. Metal protected me and Mecha so that we could regroup somewhere safer. He was gonna give that organic freak hell but they got him too. And then, well, I'm not exactly sure what went down. Was too busy helping big M."
Eggman glanced expectantly at Neo.
Neo caught his gaze and shifted uncomfortably. He gave the sign for "past" by moving his hand over his shoulder, then finger-spelled "he", and then "present." He couldn't specifically say that Sonic was "there" as he couldn't point to the location, and the time concept had to go at the beginning of the sentence to make it make sense - he was there.
Eggman raised a brow quizzically. "Who was there?"
Neo squinted an optic as if to ask how his creator couldn't figure it out. With more aggressive hand movements, he finger-spelled "HE" again, his agitation growing.
"Ah," Eggman got the hint and frowned, "that meddling hedgehog again. What did he do? You kicked his ass, right?" The doctor was surprised to find Neo shaking his head in reply. "No?"
Neo leaned forward a little to rest his elbows against his knees as he signed his reply, "I did not care about", and then with finger-spelling "him." He stopped for a moment, his frustration growing. "Only brother."
"I see." Eggman tried not to let his surprise show too much, but it was difficult. "Curse that Sonic! Not only does he foil my plans, but he trashes my precious robots, too!" He reached over and patted Neo's head supportively. "He wouldn't recognize a work of art if it punched him in the face."
Neo sensed his creator's pride and looked down, glaring at the floor. He hated it, truthfully. His choice to not simply kill Sonic there and then had cost him. Now Mecha was in trouble, and Chaos knows what was happening to him. Before he could fall too deep into his dark thoughts, Silver's voice lifted him back out.
"Wait, wait, backtrack a bit- Sonic was there?" Silver asked, staring at Neo incredulously. "And I never noticed?"
Neo sat back again and nodded in reply. The mere sound of the hedgehog's name grated on his ears, and he folded his arms defensively.
Silver slouched back with a loud sigh. "He's gonna get what's comin' to him for getting in the way." He paused, thinking to himself. "There's still something I don't get, though..."
Neo looked sidelong at him and unfolded his arms.
"... Just who was the rat who sold us out to the military and how do we get M-"
Before Silver could say anything more, Neo urgently leaned over and shushed him with a finger to his muzzle plate.
"No speak," Neo warned him quickly in sign, "might hear. We need plan."
"Sorry," Silver signed back, "what plan?" He tilted his head after to convey that it was a question. Eggman took Silver's arm back a moment later and Silver gave him a sheepish grin as an apology for moving away.
Neo didn't reply for some time, clearly thinking to himself. The G.U.N fortress was heavily guarded by machines and organics alike. Getting inside without risking serious damages would be near impossible. He could just blast his way in with V. Maximum Overdrive, but he would risk someone finishing Mecha off to stop him from rescuing him, and potentially damage himself beyond repair just by using it. Once he thought of something, he turned to his younger brother.
"I shape," Neo began with full words, then finger-spelled, "shift", and continued with, "you help?"
Silver mulled over what Neo was trying to say for a little while, not fully understanding. But when did, he whispered an exclamation to himself before replying, "you copy soldier?"
Neo nodded, a determined look coming over him now that Silver understood. "I copy soldier. After, you go home."
Silver gave him an incredulous look and signed back, "I go home? Why?"
"Might take you hostage," Neo explained, now looking more anxious than anything as his hand movements grew more forceful. "Safe if only one." His decision reflected what had happened the last time the three robots had gone out at the same time. "If you go home and I change, I have better chance to go in. Soldiers think we ran away."
Silver slowly nodded, a grin coming over his muzzle plate now as he signed back, "you smart." But, a worry prodded at him, and his smile faded. "If you get in trouble?"
"I call you." Neo tapped one of his ears as he signed with one hand. Silver's confused look caught him off guard.
Eggman released Silver's arm and started messing with his ear instead. "I'll activate your comms, don't worry." As quickly as he could, he poked a gloved finger into the robot's ear opening and pressed a button under the plating.
"Wh- Hey! A bit of warning would have been nice." Silver complained, rubbing his ear with a hand. "Uh, thanks though. Super excited to hear this guy yelling at me in my head." He gestured to Neo with one thumb and grinned.
Neo glared at him and signed, "no voice. I will ping."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I just thought it might somehow work..."
"Wait here boys, I'll be back," Eggman ordered them as he headed out of the tall metal doors, but paused half-way to add, "and no running off after Mecha Sonic just yet. You still need engine repairs!" He pointed at Neo with a wrench and gave him a stern look, to which Neo just gave a single nod and looked away.
Neo and Silver fell back into silence. Neo glared at the floor, as if blaming it for everything that had happened. His fists clenched at his sides and his optics brightened dangerously. The pressure against his palms was staving off the dissociation that threatened to disrupt his processor.
He found no point in differentiating between his grief and anger. The fog of both types of pain, thunderclouds, crackled in the hollow of his chest. It was almost too much to bear, to feel this level of hurt again. His gaze shifted to the wall, distant. He felt as though his self was beneath him, but watching from above, too.
He wondered if that other self hated him for his shortcomings.
The room in front of him was mixed up in his eyes. He re-focused his optics and his mind seemed to change the image. Absent-mindedly, Neo moved his fingers, watching his reflection shift on their metallic surface. He recognized himself, but at the same time, his CPU refused to perceive what he saw, erasing the picture.
Slowly, Silver looked over to him with a softer expression.
"I'm sorry."
Neo met his gaze with an unreadable look.
"I didn't mean for this to happen. You have to believe me..." Silver continued, an uncharacteristically despairing tone to his voice. "You were both hurt really bad. I didn't know what to do, and I..." Those old feelings of loneliness and guilt threatened to overwhelm the usually peppy robot, and he clenched his fists and grit his teeth. "I had no choice but to take you and go! I know you don't trust me, still. Like I said before, I won't beg anyone to trust me. But I trust both of you and I'm sorry that I let you down, I-"
His voice trailed off as Neo rose to his feet and took those few steps closer to him, closing the gap. He glared down at Silver, the red in his optics casting a dangerous glow on the younger robot's armour. He leaned down slightly so that he was practically in Silver's face.
"I... Uh..." Silver shrank away slightly and lowered his head. Was this it? Was Neo finally going to tell him how he really felt, or punish him somehow for losing Mecha? For failing? Or maybe a tirade about how he couldn't be trusted? His fingers dug into the underside of the chair and his arms went rigid, as if ready to spring to his feet at any moment.
But what came wasn't a blow or verbal assault that he couldn't understand.
Instead, Neo lightly hit Silver on the head with a fist before pulling him into a hug.
Silver stiffened in the other robot's grasp, hands shaking ever so slightly. Slowly, he relaxed into his older brother's grip and hugged him back. "Metal? W-Why?"
Neo couldn't sign a reply with his arms around his younger sibling. He just held Silver tight, letting him know that he was loved.
With his head on the other robot's shoulder, Neo caught his reflection in one of the monitors behind them. He studied it and watched his expression soften.
Neo chose to be something more than bitter and hateful. And he would keep choosing as many times as it took to finally get this right.
After some time, Neo released Silver and knelt in front of him, the touch and mental dialogue having grounded him somewhat.
He couldn't deny that he was livid. Full of hate for Mecha's situation - he didn't deserve to be harmed at all. But in the end, it hadn't been Silver's fault, and Neo knew exactly how it felt now to feel so alienated from those around him. He refused to push the same cycle onto the younger robot who had done nothing but put his own life on the line for them. The blame was solely with the humans who had attacked them, and he now consciously directed all of his fury towards them.
"Do not blame yourself," Neo signed with a stern look, "you help. Thank you."
Silver watched intently, almost baffled by his older brother's kindness. Something in him shifted, and his expression was one of grief and sadness. He couldn't cry, but even so, he turned his face away and bit his lower lip. "But I failed both of you. I was too cocky... You had to save my butt so many times out there. What good am I, really?"
Neo shook his head, his look growing softer as he signed, "you are young and learning." He rose to stand, looking down at Silver as if to emphasize his point.
Silver's expression softened, and he found a small smile spreading across his muzzle plate. "Yeah... And I'm learning from the best. You were badass, Metal." He couldn't deny that he admired both of his older brothers. "And I really do mean that. Promise."
The ghost of a smile flashed over Neo's optics and he offered Silver his hand. Silver took it, and Neo pulled him up to a stand.
"We must save brother," Neo stated, "together." He held out a closed fist to Silver.
Silver's gaze shifted from Neo to his fist a couple of times before he figured out what was being asked of him. When he did, he grinned and bumped his own fist against his brother's. "Then lead the way, oh great Lord Neo Metal Sonic." He jokingly bowed, getting another bonk on the head from Neo, which he sheepishly smiled at. "Too far? Sorry bro."
That was when Eggman came back in with another toolbox, which he shook at the two brothers sternly. "Both of you! Get your metal asses back in those seats, I'm not done! You're not going anywhere until you're in perfect working order, and I'm not risking that meddling hedgehog destroying you both out there."
"Sorry, pops." Silver obediently sat back down and looked over his unfilled scratches. "You're right, we'll just end up in pieces again if we go out now."
Neo folded his arms and sat after Silver. As Silver and Eggman talked between themselves, he found his mind wandering, further and further into hate for his brother's situation.
His eyes shifted to the door. He wanted to just burst out of it and go after his brother.
It was funny, how things had changed. Not too long ago he had walked out of these doors with a cape and a chip on his shoulder, ordering everyone to heed his command, with Mecha on his heel. He had seen Mecha as annoying and overbearing back then, but now...
He hung his head and exhaled through his ventilation systems, claws intertwined and optics glowing dangerously.
Hold on just a little longer, brother. I will come for you, and all will pay.
There was something disturbing about the cell Mecha found himself in. It was engineered with absolute precision. The corners, sharp and straight, the single window a perfect square with evenly-spaced bars. No sound, no light, no furniture of any kind. Mecha mulled over the design to himself. Some organic had designed this cell, sitting in a clean office, probably in the glow of natural sun rays, and used their talents to create something as bleak and mechanical as this. It was almost ironic.
"Are you even listening to me?!"
Mecha's attention was drowsily brought back to the organic standing in front of him. "Negative."
"Then you need to listen good, stupid 'bot. Stop getting distracted."
Standing before him was a G.U.N agent. With his wrists chained to the floor and several system faults on the go, Mecha was hardly a threat to them in that moment. Rather cockily, all the agent had on them was a broken metal pipe they had found lying on the floor in the cell. It was already dented from use.
Mecha lifted his head to make eye contact with them, still reeling from the last hit. "My brother will come for me."
His captor used a metal pipe to keep Mecha's head held up, sneering at him. "Keep thinking that, rustbucket. You're clearly glitching if you think anyone is coming for you. You're not even alive, not to mention human, so you're not worth saving."
Mecha contemplated this, and then gave a simple answer, "but he is."
The human before him shook their head and smirked. "You're glitching out, buddy. Something as evil as you... No human would waste their time."
"That is simply your opinion," Mecha replied bluntly, "because evil is a man-made concept and I do not operate under your laws. Consider this; perhaps what you are currently doing is evil, by your own logic. I am incapacitated by these binds and damages to my systems and cannot fight back, yet you continue to assault me."
The human chuckled darkly and said, "Cheap reverse psychology ain't gonna work on me. You underestimate humankind, we're smarter than you think."
Mecha shook his head. "You assume too much of what you do not have the capacity to understand."
"The capacity to understand?" They mocked with a sneer. "It's your kind that is limited by capacity. You practically fall over and die if your storage gets full."
Mecha's defiance only grew. "What qualities are us machines only programmed to have? I would take interest in hearing another species explain to me my own "kind's" capacity." While the question sounded blunt, he was genuinely curious about it.
"You're joking, right? You're just a robot, you're not really a living person like us. You're just a bunch of electrical signals and processors that make you move and talk shit. You can't really think." The agent bent down slightly to be closer to Mecha's face, trying to antagonize him.
Mecha tilted his head quizzically, unfazed by the attempt. "You are also made up of electrical signals and neurotransmitters that afford you movement and speech. Your nerve impulses are waves of depolarization with a threshold potential of 15 millivolts."
"Don't play mind games with me with that electrical crap. You robots are just given these words and patterns to copy us to make it seem like you have free will. But in the end, someone could turn that on or off, factory reset... mess with the data and delete everything. A human life is nothing like that! A human life is worth something."
Mecha just grew more confused. "If a human sustained a traumatic brain injury, that human would suffer amnesia and confusion. At the most basic level there are undeniable similarities between the two concepts."
They scoffed before replying, "Oh please. There's nothing more than a little computer in your head. We can pull a few cords and have you making us breakfast within the hour."
"That is impossible. My firewall is in working order and it establishes a barrier between a trusted network and an untrusted network such as yours."
"Wanna bet?"
Mecha barely had time to process the pipe coming down on his head. His vision cut out for several moments and his audio sensors picked up a loud metallic bang. He almost drunkenly processed the two sensory inputs before his CPU told him that he had sustained damage to armour and underlying circuits. Slowly, he lifted his head again and stared ahead, confused, to where his captor would be standing. But why? It didn't make sense for this person to expend their energy on a fruitless attack on him.
"I do not feel pain. You are wasting your time." Mecha stated flatly, but tilting his head to one side slightly at the same time. "You have simply caused minor damage to my circuitry."
The human took a step closer and tauntingly rested the pipe on Mecha's head as he tilted it back the other way. "Whatever. Back to your main point... Bringing villains like you to justice isn't evil. You are scum. The lowest of the low. All you do is destroy the planet and kill innocent people. The world doesn't need hateful things, no, objects like you in it."
Mecha didn't falter. "We do not exist for your pleasure or benefit. Are you satisfied? Are your human needs met by being violent towards a machine?"
The captor smiled and rounded the back of the robot. Mecha shifted, trying to track their movements. Something shifted inside of him and he momentarily lost control of his body movements. Something clicked behind him. Something was wrong. He didn't know what, he wasn't getting any maintenance alerts - but whatever it was it was bad. Really bad.
"Stop."
The movements behind him continued. His CPU's clock rate shot up at once, mimicking what an organic would call "racing thoughts." Mecha was so used to having control, being sure of himself, being the one in authority... and now he was at the mercy of a species he didn't comprehend. For once, he didn't know what to do. And Neo and Silver weren't here to help him understand.
"Stop. You are not authorized to tamper with my software."
It was then that his HUD was filled with error messages. He found himself hurriedly processing each one, trying to understand whatever was happening. Something about his firewall. Something about another user logging in. It was too hard to make sense of it in time. The inability to keep up was testing his bombproof nature - was he... panicking?
"Hush tinman, it's just a little maintenance. Let's see just how "impenetrable" your firewall is..."
Mecha's self-defense programming booted up again as soon as it found a way to do so. He pulled forward against his restraints and strained as hard as he could, shaking with the effort. It didn't last for long though, as he lost control of his body again and collapsed back to his knees. The feeling of dread kept growing, and his frightened gaze fixed on the floor.
"Hold still," said the captor, unscrewing some more fasteners behind him. "No more moving or I could get some of this wrong... maybe slip up and damage something important... just gonna change your mind a little."
"You will never change my mind. You will accomplish noth-"
Mecha suddenly stared straight ahead, no hint that he was aware of them anymore. He stopped registering the sounds behind him, instead desperately trying to fight off whatever tampering was going on to his mind. He was already overheating with the effort and his cooling fan kicked in as best as it could. Whatever had happened to him, it was incomprehensible. Every self-preservation protocol he had was trying over and over to launch, only to be shut down.
His captor moved back around to stand in front of him, looking down at him with feigned sympathy. "Aww, not feeling well? Didn't you say it was impossible to get through that little firewall of yours?"
Their voice struck Mecha from different angles, discordant and almost nauseating. He couldn't triangulate where they were in front of him, even looking right at them. His head fell forward and he tried to let his visual display fall to the background, giving priority to sound instead.
The captor unshackled Mecha and encouraged him to stand by pulling on his arm. The sudden freedom only served to confuse the robot more, and he stumbled slightly as he stood and tried to regain balance. The human took several steps back and grinned.
"Hey, little robot. Over here."
Mecha took a few stumbling steps towards the first call, but suddenly it seemed to come from the left - no, the right... His displays tried to create a map of his surroundings. He froze in place, unsure of himself, and quickly succumbing to vertigo.
"Are you stupid? I said over here!"
Mecha spun around and raised one fist in self-defense, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It was getting much harder to figure it out.
"Try again. Aren't you supposed to be one of the most advanced robots ever made? What a joke. You're pathetic."
The latest call seemed to come from a new angle, and Mecha shifted focus, turning into an unsteady lunge to the left. He didn't sense the ground under his feet anymore - he must have fallen. In his confusion, Mecha clutched at his ears with his barely functioning hands. The more he tried to grip them, the harder his fingers uncurled against his will.
An error message popped up that snatched what was left of his attention... a virus? How could that be?
"Now, what was that about us accomplishing nothing? You are at our mercy, as you should be. We know you helped Metal Sonic in its little escapade just days ago."
Mecha's voice synthesizer could only produce static for a moment, and he hesitated, unsure if he should save his power for later or keep being defiant.
No, he couldn't give in. Neo and Silver would never. He regained control of it.
"You- You have accomplished nothing. You only increase my brothers' and creator's wrath for you. They... They will come for me. They must."
The human shook their head and crouched in front of him, tauntingly putting their weapon down right in front of him. "No. You, my friend, are going to be our experiment until you finally kick the bucket. We want to know what makes Robotnik's creations tick... And testing this virus on you? It will teach us a lot about how to destroy all of you."
"Your pursuit is a waste of time. I might be an... Older unit... But..." He almost sounded breathless as he fought off the static that seized his synthesizer, "I will not bow to your organization. I am the property of the Eggman Empire. Not... You." To prove his point, the robot gathered himself back up to his feet and stood defiant, unsteady, but still up nonetheless.
"You're right, you are property. You belong to us now! And if you don't behave, we'll gladly bring in your little friends, too. Would you like that? They'll drag your little friends in here and make you dismantle them piece by piece. Won't that be a fun little experiment? We'll have full control of you when that fun little virus gets into your registry. All we'd have to do is push a button."
"No."
"The mighty Mecha Sonic versus the nutjob Metal Sonic. I can just picture it now... One feels pain, one doesn't, one begs for mercy while the other feels nothing. Brutal, right? A killer robot deathmatch. People would pay to see that! He would go psycho on you and we were all surprised that he hasn't already done it."
"He is not a psycho." Mecha was quick to defend his brother in his absence. "Do not apply such language to his condition."
"And just what do you know about mental health, hm? You're just a computer. That thing's crazy, just look it up - you can do that, right? Or does your killer robot programming only let you think about causing pain?"
"Metal Sonic was never crazy. You are simply ignorant or misinformed."
"Wrong answer!"
That was when he flinched, motor control ripped from his executive permissions. His body collapsed, every joint losing all stability as he crumpled to the floor. Fresh panic flooded his processor. He was unable to execute the basic motor control functions that had always been so simple. He pushed back against the rogue code as hard as he could, repeatedly attempting to boot his self-preservation protocols every few seconds to see if any could get through.
It was now that he finally learned that small doses of emotion could be helpful... Panic made him faster. He allowed it this once.
An opening of just a few split seconds.
With the few seconds of motor control he had, Mecha's focus immediately switched to the pipe in front of him. Before the virus could shut off his motor control, Mecha was able to grab the metal pipe. He didn't hesitate and swung it straight at the organic who was looking down on him. The metal connected with flesh in an instant and the virus shut off his motor control just seconds too late. The pipe fell to the floor with a clang.
Mecha curled his hand into a fist with what little control he had left and his engine practically hissed with the effort.
"Ffforgive me. My "killer robot programming" must have glitched."
"You bastard. You fucking bastard."
Mecha couldn't see clearly, but his captor was now sitting up with one hand covering their face, blood dripping from between their fingers - a broken nose. He felt nothing about this. As far as he was concerned, he had just acted in self-defense, as his core programming told him to. This person shouldn't have hit him or made threats like that, let alone bring Neo into the conversation.
"They'll get you for this. You're dead. The commander will write you off and destroy you, painfully."
"Your attempts to intimidate me are futile. I cannot feel pain like you."
The human roughly smeared their bloody hand over the top of Mecha's head and let the blood slowly run down his face.
"They'll make sure you do. I'll tell 'em you tried to kill me."
"Affirmative."
"You'll be put down like a rabid dog, you do know that, right?"
"Affirmative. But you intend to tell a lie to achieve that outcome. Why."
The human gathered themselves up and roughly placed Mecha back in his restraints, making sure they were tight. "A little white lie never hurt anybody." They then patted him on the head and walked out of the room. "Enjoy your alone-time, rustbucket, It won't last long."
The door closed and locked, leaving Mecha by himself in the dark room. Slowly, he slackened into his restraints and let his head hang forward, finally taking the time to process his situation. His firewall was in pieces, CPU working overtime to process his own thoughts as well as the commands of the virus, and his body was damaged in several places. He kept hearing the sound of the door closing over and over as his auditory processing units re-booted over and over, further making him dizzy and uncertain.
But one thing kept bugging him the most... the fact that he didn't know if Silver and Neo were safe.
His gaze shifted to the wall.
If his siblings were okay, then he would be, too.
"Shoot."
Mecha "obediently" lifted his arm and fired an energy blast at the target in front of him. The force of the shot took him off balance and he stumbled back a few steps, disoriented. A shock ripped through his systems and he stood rigid. It didn't hurt - he couldn't feel pain, of course, but it was uncomfortable and disorienting.
"Not good enough. Do it again."
He took aim a second time, firing at the target. This time he tried as hard as he could to stay still, but his arm betrayed him, shaking with the effort of holding it up against his will. His engine hitched loudly, cutting out entirely for a moment before re-booting.
"Again. Stop moving about like that."
Mecha couldn't describe the way he felt mentally. All he knew was, his CPU was too hot and desperately trying to cool down all the time. It made it hard to think anything at all, let alone fight back against the virus eating away at it. The commands given to him sounded like they were coming from all angles at different volumes and his vision was either blurry, filled with errors, or failing him entirely.
The third time, Mecha lifted his hand and was unable to charge any kind of attack from it. He turned to look at the G.U.N commander, trying to convey to him that something was wrong - he just couldn't do it even if he wanted to.
"Do as I tell you or suffer the consequences!"
Mecha found his voice synthesizer and grabbed control. "I cannot. You have removed my... motor function permissions. Allow me more permissions and I can fulfill the command. It is simple."
Some of the researchers quickly scribbled down notes while others looked at the readings on their computer screens.
"No. You will do it and you will say sorry for disobeying."
"I physically cannot do it. I will not apologize for that when it is not my fault."
"You're lying to be disruptive."
"I am not being disruptive. You are withholding my abilities and chastising me for being unable to access them."
He got another shock, which caused him to lose control of his left leg and forced him to kneel.
"Stop doing that." Mecha warned him. "If it is data you seek, you risk destroying it by overloading my systems."
"You deserve much worse, you foul creature. You just tried to kill one of my men, so kneeling like the pathetic machine you are is a good look for you right now. This is justice, and justice is what we seek!"
Mecha shook his head, but didn't say anything. He knew that the commander wouldn't believe him even if he tried to dispute it. He looked down to the floor and clenched a fist.
"You know what I don't understand?" The commander stated more than asked. His eyes, one green and one brown, rested spitefully on Mecha, who looked back unemotionally.
"You do not appear to understand much. Go on."
"If you robot hedgehogs all want to kill Sonic, but you all think you're Sonic, so why do you help each other? Why not fight one another?"
Mecha, as expressionless as he was, looked almost grim at the question. "You think... that we are that that unintelligent. Yet you ask me to afford you the respect of believing in your intelligence after posing that question. That does not make sense. Consider rephrasing the query."
He got a shock for that, which only made him more confused.
"Why do you attempt to punish me for proposing a genuine question." Mecha asked, steadying himself once again.
"I expect an answer, not sarcasm. The more information you give us, the less we have to do to drag it out of you. Now, answer the question. Why don't you attack each other? Did one of the others program you? This is relevant, by the way."
"It is classified information. I do not owe it to an outside organization such as yours." Mecha paused for a second, mulling over the implication of the question presented to him. "You have access to my data banks, do you not? What is stopping you from reading them for yourself."
There was an irritated edge to the commander's voice as he replied, "Two things. Two very frustrating things. One, some of your memory files are corrupted by our virus and we can't open them. Two, it's you. You keep fighting!" On the last word, perhaps to emphasize it, he gave Mecha yet another undeserved shock, much to the robot's confusion and distress.
This time Mecha's main engine completely shut off as it failed to cope with the overload of electricity. It was like being without a heartbeat, in human terms - without it, he couldn't convert mechanical energy to supply his most integral parts. He dropped to the floor and shut down seconds later.
"Sir, I think you just put it out of commission..."
"No, it's fine. Watch this."
Another shock to his systems kicked his engine back into gear, causing Mecha to scramble to his feet before he had even booted up properly. He lurched into the wall and banged into it almost drunkenly before sinking back to the floor. His systems booted in recovery mode first, then safe mode, then in his standard operating mode. Only then did he come to his senses, completely confused and disoriented by the experience. He stayed leaning against the wall, shaking as his CPU's temperature skyrocketed and burned.
His auditory processors barely registered mocking laughter in the room, but he didn't care. Several background processes were now out of his control or entirely corrupted, leaving him unable to regulate things like his temperature and balance. His cooling fan noisily booted up, then shut off, then booted over and over again every time he tried to move.
"Welcome back. Now, why did you help each other, and going on to the next question, what was your involvement in Metal Sonic's plan to take over the world?"
Mecha genuinely couldn't understand a word that was being said to him. He stared blankly over his shoulder at the researchers, looking distant.
"Are you stupid? Answer the goddamn question!"
"Sir... the readings show that it can't hear you." A researcher turned their screen towards the commander as proof - no activity was showing for Mecha's audio receptors at all.
"Then turn that up all the way." The commander reached over and turned up the settings on Mecha's audio systems. As soon as he did, Mecha reacted badly, covering his ears and turning away as if to escape a deafening noise. His vision rested on the G.U.N commander, who glared venomously at him. Completely overwhelmed and panicking worse than ever, Mecha found a way to put himself into sleep mode and mentally shut down.
"That little..." The commander tried using administrator permissions to take Mecha out of his self-imposed sleep mode, only to find that Mecha had once again outsmarted them and found a way to make it inaccessible by hiding it behind more settings. "Find a way to undo whatever he did! He's not done answering for his crimes."
"Yes sir. Don't you think this was too much for it, though?"
"Not at all, it's just an unfeeling machine after all. We intend to scrap him for parts after this anyway. If it happens sooner than we thought, then so be it."
Mecha was left alone with just one researcher.
After some time, he was forced back into consciousness, much to his confusion. He lifted his head from the floor and pressed himself up with both hands, straining with the effort. His systems whirred back to life as he rose to a kneel, catching the attention of the human left with him. They tried not to take any notice of him, instead studying something on their computer screen. Their expression was irritated and confused, as if unable to do something.
Dizzy and unstable, Mecha staggered to his feet and approached, naturally wanting to help. The agent flinched at this, assuming that Mecha was going to attack - they ordered a shock and reached for their phone to call for help. Mecha flinched at the shock and stopped for a moment, holding up one shaky hand to try to show that he meant no harm.
"I-I am not attempting to injure you. Your fear is unnecessary."
He started again, this time getting close enough to see the problem with their computer.
Mecha peered over the agent's shoulder, causing them to momentarily shrink down to avoid him. Not seeming to notice this, Mecha tilted his head to one side before pointing at something on the screen with a finger.
"You must execute this program first."
"O-oh, thanks."
Mecha placed both hands on the back of the chair and leaned inward, causing it to squeak a little under his weight. The agent grimaced nervously behind their gear. This was the very same robot who had just been practically tortured in front of them. Was this some way to get them to put their guard down so that he could attack them?
"Then, s-suspend this process," Mecha continued innocently, pointing to a window on the screen, "and restart it with administrator permissions."
"I didn't think of doing that before, thanks."
"You are welcome." Mecha steadied himself again and watched the activity on the screen, satisfied that he had helped.
The silence became awkward.
"Why did you help me?" They finally asked, baffled by the robot's behaviour, "our guys just beat the snot out of you."
Mecha slowly stepped to one side, towards another chair, and pulled it closer before carefully sitting down. It took him some time to settle, the movement setting off errors with his balance. "Although your people judge my "kind" as... thoughtless and hateful... I will not make the mistake of judging all organics in the same manner. It would be highly illogical."
The agent turned to him, intrigued by his eloquence. "It must be a dreary existence, being a robot. You can't sleep, eat, love, feel empathy, or even laugh... I almost feel bad for you. Do you get jealous of living things for that?"
Mecha lifted his head and his visor brightened noticeably. "I can laugh. I do have a sense of humour."
"Really?" They raised a brow at his claim and leaned forward. "I've never heard you laugh before. Or any robot, for that matter."
Mecha flatly replied, "I am yet to hear you say something humorous."
Suddenly inspired, the agent turned back to their computer and loaded up a web page, gesturing for Mecha to take a look. He carefully leaned forward to study the page's contents, his attention coming to rest on a specific part of it. He tilted his head, silently questioning the purpose of looking at it.
"Well? What do you think of that?"
Mecha sat back. "It is a Completely Automatic Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. It is more commonly known as a CAPTCHA. It provides challenges that are difficult for a computer to perform but that are easy for human users."
"Solve it."
Mecha almost surgically took the mouse in his hand and clicked on the images that the CAPTCHA asked for with extreme ease. He then clicked the "I am not a robot" checkbox and passed the test. To his side, the human was snickering, covering their face to hide their amusement. It took Mecha a little while to register what the joke was, but when he did, he sat back in his chair and let out a static-laden chuckle. The irony wasn't lost on him.
"You just lied to a computer," The agent laughed, refreshing the page to clear the CAPTCHA, "how does it feel to betray your own kind?"
Mecha considered this. "I cannot process an emotional response to that query, nor is it a betrayal of my own kind to complete a turing test. Does this computer feel regret for being used as a tool to tamper with my software? It does not. Therefore, I cannot betray it in a way that matters to it."
"... But you can find things funny, right? So why can't you feel anything about that?"
Mecha placed the mouse back in its original position before replying, "Must I have an emotional response to everything? Is it not enough that I simply acknowledge something for what it is, with the limited range of emotion that I possess?"
The agent shook their head. "I guess, but... some people might find it rude."
Mecha met their eyes again. "I propose an idea to you. Give up the idea that emotions and thoughts only belong to humans. Our manner of expressing and processing stimuli may differ from yours, but it does not make our experiences less authentic. Whether it is less or more emotion compared to your own capacity... it is still just as real." He looked down. "It is not necessary to impose pity on me for my lack of emotional range. It is not a burden to me, nor do I seek to widen it unnecessarily." His voice softened ever so slightly as he added, "My brother taught me these things."
"I didn't think of it that way. I'm... sorry if I offended you."
"You did not. I, too, have learned from our exchange."
Without warning, Mecha was struck by a particularly harsh attack from the virus, and his balance was completely thrown. He fell to one side awkwardly, but the agent caught him just in time. They instantly struggled with his weight and strained hard to keep him held up.
"Shit, you're heavy! You good?"
Mecha's fans stuttered loudly as he struggled to sit back up. When he did, he leaned back in the chair and tried to relax - but the rogue code kept seizing his motor functions, keeping his body rigid and forcing him to clench his fists. "I-I apologize."
That was when he registered something bad happening. His closed fist was forced up, as if making to take a swing at the human sitting beside him. Mecha looked at it with a sudden pang of anxiety. His stare shifted from his hand to the human several times.
"Woah, easy..." The human quickly rose to a stand and put their hands up. "I'm not going to hurt you, but if you do something I have to call for backup."
"I-I know. This is not my doing." Mecha explained, shakily bringing his other hand to his fist and holding it back. After a few moments of this, his fist uncurled and relaxed, and he now had no use of it at all. He stared at it incredulously, trying to move it, but he couldn't.
His gaze shifted back up to the agent, and a softer glow now emanated from his visor. His shoulders slackened, too, his body language conveying sadness even if he couldn't outright feel it. "I apologize..." He looked to the floor now. "I ask you... return me to the holding cell. I do not wish to harm you."
Hesitant, the agent started to lead Mecha back to the room he had started this hell in. They reached the door after just a minute, and the door was unlocked with the agent's key card. They turned back to him, looking uncertain but sympathetic.
"Why don't you just attack me and go? I don't get it."
Mecha started walking into the cell. "My lack of empathy does not negate my compassion." He stopped, waiting for the agent to put him back in his restraints. "I am requesting that you do this for your people's safety. And, I presume that you have a family to go home to tonight."
"I'm sorry I'm doing this."
"Do not apologize." Mecha asked of them, watching as the binds went back around his wrists. "I cannot feel sadness or pain."
The agent turned to leave but stood in the doorway to look back at him regretfully. "I just... don't believe you."
"Then that is an unnecessary burden for you. I do not possess any programs that would allow me to experience such emotions."
"If you say so."
Slowly, Mecha knelt down on the floor and tried to steady himself, shaking a little from the unwanted commands tearing through his CPU.
Mecha watched the shadow on the floor move as the door closed, taking away the light from the other side until there was just darkness once again. Footsteps started, then stopped, as if hesitating, then continued far down the corridor until he couldn't hear them anymore. The sound of footsteps kept replaying in his processor as his auditory receptors glitched out.
He looked down at his bound wrists.
He unsteadily went from kneeling to sitting, now resting arms on his knees and pressing his forehead against them.
He wanted to laugh with that person just one more time.
A/N: It's okay to struggle with feeling everything just as much as it is to lack a lot of emotions and empathy - you're not any less of a person for being on either side of the spectrum.