A/N: This chapter is a lot longer than the others - I was going to separate it out but felt it didn't flow right that way. Anyway! Thank you for coming back to or continuing with this fic, it means a lot! Now, on to the robotic identity crises and depression.

Never before had Mecha noticed how time moved like water. How it can pass so slowly, a drop at a time, or freeze, or rush by in a second. The clock measured it, a constant ticking, part of the orderly world; but the clock lied. The seconds passed like a thousand camera frames shown at once.

Perhaps this was shock, if he had to name it.

Eggman met the violet robot's gaze with his own.

"Mecha Sonic..."

Slowly, Mecha advanced. Eggman raised his hands just as slowly in surrender.

Without a word, Mecha knelt down to his brother and ran a scan over his frame.

Nothing.

Not even a sarcastic quip. Not even a, "stop invading my privacy", or "get away from me."

He knew that would be the result. He knew.

And, yet, he had hoped.

Hope. Could Mecha experience hope? He simply put it down to an error in his calculations. Perhaps he had overestimated the probability that his brother would be functional. Perhaps that overestimation had triggered some sort of error. That sounded more logical.

Right?

Eggman watched quietly. He knew that Mecha was an older make, and took into consideration that he may need more time to process the situation. Gently, he reached out with his hand and placed it on the robot's shoulder. In response, Mecha lifted his head ever so slightly to make eye contact.

"Listen to me, Mecha. I had no choice. I love you boys, I really do, and... I hate to see any of you hurting like this."

Mecha was silent for a while, processing. Eggman gave him time to think.

But Mecha's choice of words caught him completely off guard.

"Why must you make us hurt."

Eggman's expression sharply contorted into one of regret and a pit formed in his stomach. "M-Mecha, I-"

Before he could respond any further, Mecha spoke over him.

"If you do not wish to see us hurt, why did you construct us with the ability to be hurt. Why."

"Why."

"Why."

"Why."

"Mecha! Mecha... That's enough now." Eggman lowered his head in defeat, avoiding the robot's unfeeling stare. "I'm sorry. I'm hurting too, okay? Please, try to understand that."

But that wasn't enough. Where was the explanation for this? Where was the solution to the problem? Perhaps being persistent like Neo always was would get him the information he needed. To further his objective, he focused on one of Eggman's own words and used it full force - hurt.

Eggman slightly turned away and Mecha followed. He forced himself into the man's line of sight.

"Stop hurting us and let us take him." Mecha demanded after him.

"Mecha, please step back." Eggman took a step away from him, naturally not wanting anyone in his face whilst he was upset. "Don't mistake my mistakes for not loving you boys. I created all of you with my own hands. Listen... I don't want to do this to any of you. But Metal Sonic, he was... You saw what he did when he transformed! He hated what he did and we agreed that it could happen again, and...I... I can't let that happen. I can't let you boys use him for your own means. It's too dangerous."

Mecha just followed, now getting very close to his creator's face.

The bright red light of his visor cast a glow on his glasses that reflected back at him. An intimidating display, for a robot who didn't feel anything.

"I do not require love. I do not require appreciation. I require efficiency. Results. Data. Destroying him was most inefficient of you. So I must query further in order to comprehend why this action was carried out: did you destroy my brother due to this 'love'."

Eggman fell silent.

While he knew all of his creations were complex, he didn't know that Mecha had become this advanced or talkative.

Mecha had always been the slower, older, less advanced robot in his arsenal. And, while once this robot had almost always been silent, he was now challenging his own creator.

Neo's presence had definitely sped this process up, even more so during his temporary reign of the empire. He had clearly learned these intimidating behaviors, even if they were not intended to be intimidating, from Neo, too.

But lastly, he had noticed Neo's makeshift repairs before. Surely, Mecha was the only one willing to go near him after everything that had happened.

Were his creations so advanced that they could fix each other without his input now?

Were his robots learning empathy? Forming real bonds with one another?

It was too much to process at the speed that Mecha was demanding.

Eggman only had one solemn response to give.

"Yes, it was love, Mecha."

Mecha's self-defensive programming ran at a higher rate at this admission. His visor brightened significantly. If Eggman loved all of his creations, then he loved Mecha too. That, in theory, put him in danger of destruction too. At this realization, his visor brightened significantly and his fists balled up defensively as if ready to fend off harm.

Mecha purposely moved and put himself in front of Neo and fixed his stare at Eggman, standing ready to defend himself and Neo if he needed to.

Neo could still be salvageable right now if his CPU and artificial intelligence chip were still intact!

A familiar metallic hand came to rest on Mecha's shoulder and pulled him back slightly. "Woah woah, easy, old-timer. Back up a little. Nobody has to get hurt. We can talk about this, right?"

Mecha held his stare for several moments.

Silver Sonic pulled on his shoulder once more, a little harder this time. "Come on. It's not worth it and Metal Sonic would tell you the same thing."

Mecha finally relented, disengaging his defensive protocols at once.

The changes in the robot's posture were subtle but Eggman knew them well and recognized that his creation was standing down.

Whilst the pair were momentarily distracted by each other, Eggman lifted his glasses and wiped his face with the back of his glove to hide the single tear that had escaped. As much as he loved his creations as his own sons, they were ultimately his responsibility as dangerous machines, too. It was a difficult balance to make and finding the compromise between the two was becoming much more difficult with time.

Especially now. What a mess he had made of all of this.

Silver Sonic simply picked up his blue-painted brother and turned on his heel to leave. "C'mon Mecha. We're leaving this dump and figurin' this mess out ourselves."

Eggman jumped in front of him and elbowed the door shut before he could make it. "Not so fast... Both of you, stand down. Now."

The Doctor specifically looked to Silver as he spoke, putting the emphasis on him more than Mecha.

Mecha just stared blankly and Silver Sonic narrowed his eyes challengingly.

"Don't make me ask again. Please!" Eggman pleaded, "I can't let you leave with him. I'm sorry, but it has to be this way, and I don't like it just as much as you don't! Whatever you have planned, I can't let you do it. It's too dangerous for all of us."

"Nothing has to be your way unless you program it to be so." Silver retorted simply, a small smile creeping across his face. "So, you ask me to stand down? I'm afraid I don't know how to. Free will programming and all that."

Mecha glanced at him. That was the first time he had heard Silver Sonic acknowledge anything about himself as robotic, apart from his name.

Eggman looked to Mecha as if pleading for his assistance.

Mecha looked down. He found himself grappling with his own internal struggle. His loyalty to Eggman, although ultimately overwritten by his loyalty to "Lord Neo", was still there in the background. The simple command to "stand down" was familiar to him, and he almost wanted to obey just as much as he wanted to leave. If he felt emotion, this confusion probably would have caused him some distress.

But this was Mecha, and distress was a useless emotion.

He simply allowed his loyalty to Neo override his loyalty to Eggman once again.

Eggman was a threat right now and one of his basic protocols was to survive, so it only made sense.

He lifted his head to meet Eggman's gaze.

"We must advance past you. Step aside, Doctor."

Eggman faltered at his creation's defiance. He expected it from Silver, but not loyal, stoic, quiet Mecha.

Silver Sonic registered the change of expression and held Neo closer to him. "Listen... We can fix this. You don't have to do anythin' rash. Just, you gotta let us take him. Mecha needs him."

Eggman was starting to worry now. "Why? Why do you need him? What's the plan, to fix him up and take over the world? He doesn't want to do that again, you know."

Silver Sonic shook his head before tilting it to one side. "I'm fresh outta the cryotube, so I've not had time to plan world domination. The purple one just wants his bro back, and I'm just doin' a good deed by helping a fellow 'bot. Is that so hard to understand?"

Eggman felt a pang of guilt at the word "bro", but worries about the robots' intentions were still high. They were too persistent.

Mecha gave a nod and took a step forward. He was now getting very close to his creator again. While it may have seemed intimidating, he simply had no awareness of personal space and didn't mean anything by it.

But, already on guard, Eggman unconsciously put his hand out to push him back and Mecha visibly recoiled back at the touch. He flung his arms up in front of his face in self-defense, wanting no part of this "love" whatsoever. It meant he would be destroyed like Neo!

"Mecha, I told you to stand down."

Now, with his defensive programming and confusion now at an all-time high, he reflexively fired an energy blast from his raised hand into the floor. He hadn't chosen to do so.

Silver Sonic yelped and jumped back, shielding Neo from the other small blast. "What the hell? Mecha!"

In his own blind shock, Eggman swung out the robot in front of him in self-defense. His fist collided with Mecha's cheek plate with a loud clang.

The two stared at each other for a second, equally as dazed.

Eggman came to his senses and backed away, holding his hand with the other and a pained grimace on his face. "I-I'm sorry, Mecha. I didn't mean that. You scared me."

Mecha stared at him. He didn't retaliate. Not even when his loyalty to Neo was overriding his loyalty to Eggman. Instead, he uncurled his fist and looked at his hand thoughtfully. "My defense programming is outdated. I could not interrupt that process before it was executed." He paused to look at Eggman. "I apologize."

The Doctor sighed, looking at his own hand. First, he had betrayed Neo, then he had struck Mecha. And Mecha hadn't fought back.

He really didn't have any bad intentions, did he?

He really was just here for Neo, as family, or out of some kind of strange loyalty.

Slowly and carefully, Eggman reached out to Mecha, who ducked away slightly at the movement. Eggman persisted, though, and let his hand rest on Mecha's cheek plate where he had punched him. He let his thumb run over the bolt that held the plating there and felt a deep guilt wash over him. Logically, Mecha couldn't feel pain, or betrayal, or anything like that. But emotionally, Mecha was one of his beloved creations and didn't deserve to be hit like that, even if it was an accident.

He felt a pang in his chest at the memory of stroking Neo's head and how Neo pushed into his touch.

Eggman let emotion overcome him, and one more tear escaped, this time falling down his cheek.

He couldn't betray them any longer.

"We're all just as inefficient as each other, it seems. You boys win."

Silver Sonic perked up at this. "Wait, what? You're lettin' us go?"

Eggman nodded. "I don't expect any of you to forgive me for my mistakes right now. But none of us are perfect. Not the supercomputer, not the walking weapon, not the machine with almost complete free will, and definitely not the genius with an IQ of 300. All I ask is that you three give me a chance to make things better."

Silver Sonic gave a genuine smile at this. He knew better than to trust the words of an organic at face value, but for now, being able to get out of there with Mecha and Neo was enough. "Yeah, thanks."

Eggman took his hand away from Mecha and opened the door. "Go. Maybe I'm not what Metal needs right now. Maybe... He needs you. Robots who can understand better than I can. Do what you think is best. All I ask is... If you decide you can't handle it, please just bring him back to me. We don't want to make him any worse than he already is. Apart from that... I am putting my trust in you to show me what you need from me. And, please, come and talk to me once you know how we can make things better between us all."

Silver Sonic gave a quiet "yes" of celebration and pumped the air with one fist. "C'mon Mecha! We're outta here."

Mecha gave Silver a nod and walked out, leading the way to the room he had previously repaired Neo in.

Eggman watched the pair leave. Once they were out of sight, he went back to his chair and sat down heavily. With a sigh, he took his glasses off and rubbed his face before slumping back against the chair.

"I'm sorry, Metal. I really messed up. Mecha, I know you'll do what's right. Silver, please listen to them and don't get into trouble."

In the silence, he could hear the two 'bots conversing down the other end of the corridor, discussing how to start repairing their comrade.

His creations really were something. Intelligent, persistent, and constantly evolving.

A prideful smile finally willed itself back onto his face.

"Yes. It was love, Mecha. It always has been."

"I'll see what I can do."

Silver Sonic held out his hand and gestured for Mecha to pass him some tools. Mecha complied.

The pair sat in silence for a while as Silver ran some scans over the damaged robot's frame. As he did, he placed one hand under his chin in thought. "Hmm..."

Although Mecha wasn't too fond of this younger robot, he had to admit that Silver Sonic was more efficient in his own ways so far. Past the constant talking and over-expressiveness, he was quicker, mentally faster, and better equipped to handle this situation. His hands were far more dextrous, too - smaller and quicker to respond.

"Is this a good idea? Not to be blunt but... You said the guy wanted to die."

"Affirmative."

"Then... This is a lil' selfish on our part, isn't it?" Silver asked with a grim look.

Mecha said nothing.

Silver shook his head and got to work, leaving the question hanging in the air in case Mecha did have anything to say and just needed more time to think.

"Neo once told me that selfishness is an organic concept that does not apply to mechanical processes. In line with this, we must endure at all costs to fulfill our objective. Selfishness plays no part in fulfilling an objective. It is simply what we must do."

Silver grimaced slightly at the response. "Did ya listen when we had that whole conversation about, I dunno, not having an objective or purpose? Why so intent on enduring like that when there's still no objective?"

"Affirmative. I do hold memory files of our conversation. And, as such, I pose a query to you in simpler terms: How are we to find this "new purpose" if we are not functional. One must be functional in order to process anything. This includes reviewing of one's programming, processes, and "purpose"."

Silver was silent for a moment as he thought. "Uhhh, yeah... Guess you got a point. Can't find a purpose if you're dead, unless your purpose is to become scrap metal. Yeah. Makes sense actually, in a morbid kinda way."

Mecha gave a single nod in reply. "Affirmative."

Silver fell quiet again for a short while as he focused on Neo's repairs.

Mecha watched every movement closely - whether it was out of a lack of trust in him, or to learn, Silver couldn't exactly tell.

He couldn't decipher much about Mecha anyway.

The guy was so closed off and neutral all the time that it was difficult to get a read on him. No high-tech scan could tell him anything about Mecha's own past, feelings, or thoughts. That was probably the biggest difference between Mecha and the younger bots - they were easy to read with all their emotions on show, while he was not.

Silver paused to glance over at him.

"Are you sad?"

Mecha stared blankly at him. "I do not possess the capacity to process emotion."

Silver gave a simulated sigh as he reconnected some loose wires. "Maybe you don't feel emotion in the same way as me or your buddy Metal. But you clearly care. And if you weren't sad or angry bout this shit, you wouldn't care." He paused to gesture with his elbow to the tin of white paint by the violet robot's side. "You care enough to think about what your bro would want. That tells me you feel somethin', but in your own way. Maybe it's somethin' that nobody else can describe. Just unique to you."

Mecha considered this as he opened the blue tin of paint by his other side.

He first compared the paint colour to the colour of Neo's current paint job. It was a near-perfect match. Satisfied, he took the paintbrush and carefully went about re-applying Neo's metallic blue paint himself. Despite having large, clunky hands, he worked with supercomputer precision to restore the distinctive blue to his sibling's armour. As a finishing touch, he switched to white paint and applied brand new white arrow markings to his armour, matching those from his transformed state. Since Neo had added those to his other forms himself, it only seemed appropriate to bring them back, right?

Silver glanced across a few times as he noticed the arrows coming back. He smiled a little and went back to work. Mecha sure was a tough one to get through to, but Silver had already decided he was going to try to satisfy his own curiosity. And perhaps to make a friend, if Mecha was even capable of classing people as friends.

Eventually, Mecha had a question for Silver. He turned to Silver Sonic and tilted his head to one side to emphasise this.

"Why do you help us. What do you gain."

Silver considered this, continuing to work as he did. "Look, I know you don't trust me. That's cool, I won't ask you to. I obviously have my own reasons for helping, and a lot of them are self-serving, yeah. But to tell the truth, I've been alone for so, so long in that cryotube. It's hard to be alone when you're made to feel emotion like I do. And I guess I just... I'm excited to finally hang out with my own kind and to have a purpose. That's probably kinda weird reasoning for a robot, but it is what it is."

Mecha noted this dutifully. That answer was actually more innocent than he expected it to be. He suspected that there was more to it than that, but accepted it for now.

A few more hours passed. Finally, Neo's armour was back in place and re-painted, and every wire sealed back inside his frame.

Silver gave a "whew" as he rubbed his forehead as if to wipe sweat away.

"Okay! So... Some things might be a lil... Off. I won't lie. Because he was shut down without warning there could be some, uh... Corruption here and there?" Silver Sonic began, scratching his head behind his ear with one hand. "But it's better than nothin'. We'll figure the rest out when we can. For now, let's just get this guy back online for ya. Okay?"

Mecha nodded in response. He felt it was unnecessary to add any commentary to that.

Silver gave a nod in return. With that, he stepped back and allowed Neo to begin powering back on.

Neo was slow to boot up. But, he did. His engine gradually whirred back to life, a little noisier than before, but functional nonetheless. His head dropped down slightly as his CPU began to put out demands for power, which were slowly met as everything came back online. Then, he lifted his head again with an audible whirr of gears turning, and at last, his red optics blinked back to life.

Mecha was quick to respond. He knelt down in front of his brother and held his face between his hands.

"Brother?"

Mecha waited for a response as he ran his thumbs over the bolts holding Neo's muzzle plate in place, mirroring how Eggman had done so to him.

Neo's first response was fear. He stared into Mecha's face with a look of terror, then pain, then grief.

He didn't recognize Mecha yet. The shock of what had happened was causing him to suppress his memory files.

In his panic and mental pain, he suddenly grabbed at Mecha and tried to pull himself up to run away. To where, he didn't know, but he needed to go. He was supposed to be dead. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.

Mecha steadied his sibling with his powerful hands and lowered his head slightly to make eye contact with him.

"Brother, you are safe now. It is Mecha Sonic here. I, accompanied by Silver Sonic MK II, have restored your functionality."

Mecha?

Functionality?

The reality of where he was finally sank in. He wasn't in the trash heap.

Neo's shaking frame slowly sank back to the floor at the realization.

Staring at his hands, he gave a series of slurred beeping sounds that obviously meant something to the older robot before him.

In reply, Mecha lurched forward into his sibling's form and held him tight, resting his head on the other's shoulder plate. Neo nervously returned the embrace, wrapping his trembling arms around the bigger robot's body and nestling his face into his chest. He welcomed the pressure on his armour plating as his sensors registered it. Slowly, his senses returned to him, and his memory of Mecha came back to him too.

Thank Chaos.

Mecha slowly pulled away and rested his forehead against his sibling's. He gave series of mechanical beeps as he did so - a primitive code that older units used to communicate between themselves.

You are safe. No more betrayal. No more pain. I am with you.

Neo listened intently, focusing hard on his brother's voice to try to stay present.

Why, Mecha? I wanted to die. Why can you not ever respect what I want? Why must you invade every aspect of my life?

You were not in a functional state of mind to make such a decision. Thus, it was unfair. If you still wish to cease function when you are back to full operation, then at least that is an informed choice. That was not such a choice.

Do not cry Mecha... I cannot stand that.

Mecha shook his head slightly. I cannot cry Neo. You are aware of this.

Listen to yourself. You are crying. Stop crying for me.

Mecha shook his head. Negative. I am merely satisfied with the result of my efforts to retrieve you.

Panic struck Neo and he urgently looked Mecha over. Did anyone hurt you?

Mecha gave his usual flat answer. To inflict pain, one requires sensors that are able to-

Neo raised his voice, now gripping his brother's face harder as he broke out of their code and his voice synthesizer booted up. "ANSWER ME."

There was a negligible predicament.

Neo's red optics brightened to full output and Mecha instantly noticed the robot's surface temperature rising.

Mecha removed Neo's hand from his face and put his own hand on the other's shoulder.

Do not grieve. You must calm yourself, for I am unharmed. I am not programmed to-

Neo shook his head, seething with anger. "You. Why damage you, of all units? For what gain?"

How dare someone lay so much as a finger on him.

As I previously stated, I am unharmed. I would not allow true harm to come to me for my self-preservation protocols are intact. Calm yourself at once.

Slowly, Neo relaxed again.

Mecha was right - it wasn't as if he was defenseless.

It just angered him that someone would even think of harming him.

His concern for his brother had made him completely forget about his own state for a good few moments, but maybe it was for the better. He was learning more empathy and concern for others with every interaction they had.

Silver cocked his head to one side. He couldn't understand a word they were saying before. That is, if they were even saying anything. Was this because it was an older language of some kind that he wasn't programmed with, being a much newer model? He lifted one hand and waved it at the two to grab their attention, which did indeed grab Neo's. The younger robot was met by the sharp, questioning glare of the ex-overlord.

As Neo tried to speak his vocalizer defaulted back to the primitive beeps and buzzes that he had been built with originally. In a sudden panic, he grabbed at his vocalizer and looked up at Mecha for answers. Had this stranger done something to him?!

Silver Sonic walked closer to the pair and looked Neo over for a moment, double-checking his handiwork before speaking. "Yeah, uh... Bit of an awkward way to meet but, name's Silver Sonic. Erm, the second. Just to be clear." He first introduced himself before continuing. "As your bro said, we fixed you up as best as we could. Only problem is, well... The sudden shut down probably caused some of your internal components to be corrupted, and I don't have the means to fix 'em at my disposal right this second, so..."

The younger robot trailed off as he met Neo's narrowed glare that clearly said to get to the point and fast.

"Hey, 'least your charming personality is still intact. Kidding, kidding..."

Mecha explained something to Neo in their own "language". Neo took a moment to consider whatever was said, and then replied in the same way, still looking at Silver. Silver could only tilt his head as he tried to decipher what they were talking about.

"Uhh, what did he say?" Silver Sonic asked Mecha, flipping his palms upright as if the answer would fall into them.

Neo purposely revved his engine to make a growling noise.

He hated it when others invaded his privacy and Silver Sonic was already pushing it. Just who did this 'bot think he was?

Silver waved off the other 'bot's attitude with a flick of his hand. "Hey Mecha? Tell him I said bite me."

Mecha stepped between the two but kept one hand on Neo's shoulder to keep him steady. "Silver Sonic, I suggest that you redirect your energy expenditure to a more beneficial process. Neo, I suggest that you focus power on your startup processes as they adjust."

Neo begrudgingly complied, slowing his engine to minimum output. He dryly found amusement in Mecha's overly-wordy way of telling them to shut up.

Silver relaxed his posture and looked down sheepishly. "Sorry. I mean no harm. Just excited for you guys to reunite 'n all, got me all fired up."

Speaking of firing up, Neo took a second to check in with his system status. He noticed something odd about his specs all of a sudden - what was his power source? His previous one had been broken by Eggman, right? Now there was no power source listed at all! The realization almost panicked him - surely he was dead, then, and this was all a simulation.

Noticing the other 'bot's panic, Silver offered an explanation again. "I hold an infinite power source. Was just built that way so that I can go on fighting forever without tiring. And, erm, I basically gave you some of my power when I reconnected your wiring. It won't last forever obviously, but it's better than nothin'."

Mecha nodded to confirm this.

Neo's shoulders visibly sank a little at this realization. So, Silver Sonic had basically saved his life.

He was caught between thankfulness and anger. On one hand, how dare he and Mecha bring him back in the first place. He had wanted to be destroyed to escape his mental torment and misdeeds towards his creator. On the other hand, he couldn't deny that he wasn't glad to see Mecha again even if it was against his will.

And, while these damages to his system were irritating, he could apply some reasoning to them as his mind desperately tried to justify his existence. Perhaps these problems were some kind of atonement for what he had done? He had used his voice to control and berate others, and now he was being forced to make every word count before his vocalizer cut out. He had used his power to overthrow his master, and now his energy source depended on another being, albeit temporarily.

Maybe this would suffice for now, in a twisted, self-loathing kind of way.

He crossed his arms and turned away.

Thank you.

"He said th-"

Neo threateningly pressed his finger to Mecha's muzzle plate to tell him to be quiet.

Silver Sonic smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. You don't have to tell me. I know."

A/N: I know some people were concerned about the last chapter being the end - rest assured that this isn't the end. Also, I know a couple of readers are wondering about Silver Sonic's past and how he came to know so much about the ship and his bros. I'm gonna cover that in another chapter, probably through a flashback or something cliche like that. Thank you for sticking with me so far through this mess of a fanfic!