A/N: Some things I've been doing that might not be obvious until I mention them: stopped putting "heart" in quotation marks when referring to Silver as he's come to terms with being a person more than a robot. He "forgets" that he can fly or just doesn't because that's such a robotic thing to him and he rejects it when he wants to be more of a living being than a machine. In the beginning I hardly ever used question marks when Mecha asked questions to give him a more robotic "tone" if u will but over time he's learned to inflect more in his speech thanks to being around his more emotional bros.

Here's an imgur dump of memes I've fucked around with for this fic: /a/J4O2jHd big ty to my epic gamer friend sonic for inspiring most of these GVBHNJM

Something was missing. Something big, and Mecha couldn't shake that feeling. And when Mecha sent out a ping to Silver and got no response, he knew instantly that something was very wrong. Mecha took off to Eggman's office at once. He ran through the metal corridors, heavy footfalls echoing against the walls as he moved. Without a second thought he slammed the door to the office open and stood in the doorway. They both spoke at the same time.

"Where is he-"

The human and the robot looked at each other for a long moment. Mecha took a slow step into the room but left the door open. Something was off here, and he could tell. His guard was instantly up, shoulders squared and head raised defensively. Without consciously thinking about it, he sidled towards the lights that were slightly off-center in the room, which illuminated his armour in bright cobalt.

Eggman adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. "Find him and bring him back," the man ordered him, turning back to his computer. "That's an order."

Something in Mecha pinged at that. He shook his head decisively and said, "no."

Slowly, the doctor turned around in his chair to look at the robot. "Are you disobeying me? Again?"

"Affirmative." Was all Mecha said. It was all that needed to be said, he figured.

"I won't have this." Eggman said in a lower voice. "First Metal, then Silver, and now you."

Mecha cocked his head to one side a little, silently asking the man to elaborate.

"You were the one I thought I could trust."

"Indeed. Likewise, we believed that we could trust you." Mecha countered cooly, unfazed by the accusation as always.

Eggman stood up, walked over to the light switch, and turned the lights above them off. The room was swallowed by a familiar blackness, the only light now coming from the robot's visor and the blue-white computer screen. Mecha froze in place. His visor brightened suddenly and his wrist lights flashed on instantly. He took a step back and lowered his head defensively, and all at once his systems went into overdrive and he found his hands and legs shaking in a subconscious fear response. His voice synthesizer threatened to shut off in his sharp spike of panic, but he managed to force out a defensive,

"How dare you."

They looked at each other for another long moment. Mecha was in disbelief that his creator would weaponize his trauma against him, and Eggman stuffed down his guilt about it to get right to the point with him. Getting through to Mecha was his last hope at not only having his sons back, but getting them back into his ranks. They were still valuable assets to his empire, after all.

"Mecha. I brought you into this world. You listen to me. This is all for the greater good-"

Mecha shook his head and interrupted sharply. "The "greater good" that you speak of is irrelevant. What about me. What about my brothers."

"I created you. All of you."

"I was indeed created by you. However, you used all of us as a crutch. And when you use your creation as a crutch..." Mecha took a few steps towards him, steadying his trembling as he did. "You cannot give yourself the title of father. An inventor is a more appropriate word."

"...I told you to bring him back. We need to have a chat about this." Eggman warned him, adjusting his glasses. They glinted in the light of the monitor to his side, and in that faint flash, Mecha saw the slight redness of his creator's palm.

Mecha paused, processing something about it. "You hurt him..." He lifted his head, the realization dawning on him all at once. "That is why he is not here."

"... Get out."

Mecha stopped, his shoulders squaring back and hands uncurling from the fists that had formed. He realized something, then. His father was the childish one.

"Get out, Mecha."

Mecha stayed put, stubborn to the end. His visor brightened as his protective streak grew deeper and stronger.

A slam of fists on the desk reverberated across the room and Mecha's suspicions were proven right to him.

"I SAID GET OUT."

Mecha turned to leave but stopped in the doorway, looking back at his father through the dark. "Do not lay a hand on my brother ever again."

"Look! I didn't want to, but he-"

The door slammed shut behind him. Mecha would take no excuses anymore.

"He's dead and it's my fault. My fault. My fault. All. My. Fault."

An hour had passed and Silver was still stuck in that clearing. The mud that caked his armour stubbornly clung to his knees even with the downpour of rain. The earth under his soles could take in no more rain, running into deep puddles that were suddenly dreamed into reality.

"I killed him."

"I killed him."

Neo had fallen apart and died with him and there Silver stood, existing. And it hurt. There was a word for this, he thought.

Survivor's guilt.

And Silver wanted to go home, but he didn't know where he would go to find that. It no longer existed. Neo was made there, slept there, lived there, but he was gone now, only disappointed looks and death where his memory lived.

From the night came the sound of thunder. Silver tilted his head upward, seeking the lights that flashed, the red, blue, and white in the deepest of blue skies. For a moment he was still, feeling the cool air, the raindrops sliding down his face and dripping off to the earth below. Then, there they were, those crazy passing stars, flying high and ever onward as clouds momentarily parted. In a twisted, ugly turn of anger, he suddenly learned to hate them and what they stood for. The end of life, the cruel twinkle of last light before it burns out. An image of the Egg Pawn he had helped to kill flashed over his vision. He remembered falling, falling, falling, dying, burning out in the bright white with his brother who should still be there.

Silver dug his hands into his robotic side mentally. Maybe if he learned to accept being just what he was made for, none of this would have happened. Maybe being an obedient machine would be better. So Silver shot off into the sky as quickly as he could accelerate. The wind whistled in his ears and ran over his armour as he cut through it. He pushed his engine as hard as he could, making it whirr and scream with the force put on it, and moved between the hallowed space of the earth and the sky, a bird of silver-wing. A sonic boom cracked the air in lieu of thunder. He pushed himself onward, as if stopping or looking back would let the grief catch up to him. As much as he wanted to feel it and work through it, he wanted to outrun it, too. It was maddening. An endless spiral, a circuit of insensibility.

"I fucking killed him."

Silver slammed all of his force into his engine and plummeted downward with a scream of anger. As the earth grew closer he was cruelly reminded of the crash that took his brother away. With a pained and angry yell, he slammed into the dirt with a fist to the ground, the impact making a crater around him. Slowly, he rose to stand and tilted his head back to feel the rain again as he let out a heavy, shaky breath from his vents. He stood there in silence, listening to his engine as it screamed to cool down and the rumbling and booming of thunder. It was enough that he didn't hear the footsteps approach from behind.

"Silver."

Silver didn't move from that spot, only tilting his head forward slightly in acknowledgement.

"What do you want, Mecha?"

"You."

Silver turned his head a little. "Why?"

"You did nothing wrong. I am here for you."

"Why?"

Mecha walked up behind him and without another word, wrapped his arms around his little brother. Silver didn't react, just standing still - as if afraid to return the embrace. He looked down at the ground instead, swaying a little as his engine cooled down. It was almost a godsend that Mecha couldn't process temperature like he could, for he was hot to the touch, burning with anger and hurt and all the feelings that charred his sensibility.

"Was it your fault?"

"Yes."

Mecha released his brother and started to walk around him, slowly. Silver gradually looked up to watch him. He recognized the gesture as an indication to fight, and was painfully reminded of his last encounter with his brother. He clenched his fists at his sides as his brother said,

"Explain it to me."

They started to move around each other in a circle. As much as Silver wanted to run away from the hard memories, replaying how it felt in a controlled way almost came to him on autopilot. Fighting came to him on instinct. He met Mecha's strong, unwavering look with one of anger and hurt. He was sure that Mecha was hurting, too, but not showing it. Of course he wasn't. He would do that for someone he cared about. Silver mentally chastised himself for making him do that.

"If it wasn't for me distracting him he would have been okay. I turned all of it into a game and we both lost, paid with our lives."

"You do not know that for certain."

Silver threw the first punch and Mecha blocked it with his arm.

"Yeah, I do."

Mecha pushed Silver back using his arm and went in to kick his chest, but Silver sidestepped, pinned Mecha's arm behind his back, and pushed him down into the dirt. Mecha let him, completely unfazed by it, and more focused on getting through to his hurting sibling.

"I disagree. Regardless of your actions, the call would still have been made to attack each of us," Mecha said as he turned his head slightly, "for their prejudice against us was strong. It is not your responsibility to educate others."

Silver shook his head with a frown. "Wrong. I wasted time trying to help the commander. I saved his life. If I had left him there... stayed the big bad robot he believed I was..."

Mecha flipped over onto his back and landed a swift but restrained kick to Silver's middle, pushing him back just a few feet. The other robot skidded back until his heels dug into the mud enough to stop him.

"You would have sacrificed your morals."

Silver gathered himself up and held up a fist. "Fuck my morals! Nobody thought about their morals when they exploded three kids over and over! They didn't care how bad it hurt! They didn't care that we were a family! They tore us apart like animals!"

Mecha lunged for him and Silver caught his fist, then the other. They held each other back for a long minute, evenly matched, looking each other dead in the optics with intent.

"They did not perceive us as children. They were ignorant. They simply saw a threat and attempted to eliminate it." Mecha countered, holding his ground.

"They were ignorant and I was naive. I thought I could change something and lost everything!" Silver hissed back at him, hands shaking with a lack of restraint now.

"You have me."

"For how long? 'Till the military comes and explodes you too? Be realistic, Mecha!"

"For as long as you require, you have me."

"They'll take you away next! I can't stand it! Everyone around me leaves or smacks me in the face when all I want is for them to... to..." Silver looked up and met Mecha's gaze. His bottom lip trembled as he searched his brother's face, in disbelief at how messed up they had both become. Mecha's face still marred by his own brother's claws, and Silver still "bleeding" from being attacked by said brother - they both wore the scars of their grief for the world to see.

"You want them to love you. I know."

Silver hissed through his teeth and hung his head, defeated. Mecha released his grip and Silver fell into him with a loud sob. As Silver collapsed into him, Mecha herded him closer and held him tightly, with promise to stay by his side.

"You have me, brother." Mecha told him softly. He rested his cheek on the top of Silver's head and rubbed his shoulder.

"Say you won't leave, Mecha," Silver shakily whispered into his armour, "even if it's a lie. Please. I'll take some bullshit answer if it stops how badly this hurts."

Mecha took his brother's face in his hands and ran a thumb over his cheek, where Eggman had hit him. He caught the tiny flinch from the smaller robot and softened his touch, leaning down to rest his forehead to the other's to soothe him.

"You have me. It is you and I against the world. That is a promise."

"Forever?"

"Until we both cease to function, I shall remain by your side. I am not going to abandon you."

Silver found a weak smile coming over him. He leaned into Mecha's hand, letting his strong but gentle touch soothe the sting that burdened him there. He gave a sigh, finally releasing the tension from his frame as he did.

"I'm so fucking tired, Mecha," Silver murmured through the last of the air in his vents, "why aren't we good enough? Why does everyone wanna hurt us like that? I hate it so much, it's not fair."

For a moment, Mecha heard an echo of Neo's voice, telling him that he was tired, too. That defeated child on the other side of the glass now took on another form, standing before him in a cruel repetition of fate.

"You do not have to be good," Mecha answered him, cupping his brother's face in his hand to lift his head up, "you were made worthy of love even in the absence of goodness. There is no line of coding that would lessen or increase that for you."

Silver smiled with a small sigh. "...For a 'bot who claims to have no empathy, you sure do sound like you just wrote yourself a code for that exact thing." His smile fell, though, and his gaze trailed down to the ground.

"What do you need." Mecha asked him, watching as Silver broke eye contact.

Silver kept his gaze fixed to the ground. "I want to go back so badly. It hurts to remember and know it's all gone. They're right when they say you can never go home again. Not the same way as it was before."

Mecha regarded him with a small nod. "Nothing is preventing us from making a new home elsewhere."

Silver looked up at him inquisitively. That small spark of hope that had died out came back to life, just a little. "What are you thinking?"

"We will construct one, together." Mecha put his arm around his little brother, who leaned into his shoulder with a smile.

"Okay. As long as it's with you."

Above, they saw a serenade of sky black and rich blues supporting the chorus of stars. Now, as the storm came to its end, they seemed so much slower, resting in the deep trenches of the dark clouds, as if finally asleep.

"Hey, Mecha?" Silver said softly.

Mecha looked at him.

"I just had a thought. People only ever appreciate the stars themselves. But, think about it," Silver continued as he tilted his head back, "they should talk about the dark, too. It's together that they make the night so beautiful. Makes you realize what you really have. The bad shit doesn't erase the good that's to come, I guess."

"Is that an analogy for loss?"

"It might be."

"How poetic."

"It's borderline pretentious at best."

"There is some truth to your words, although they are somewhat ostentatious."

"... Not gonna pretend to know what that word means."

"That is for the best."

"Thanks for the emotional support, bro."

Silver sat by the railroad. His legs dangled off the edge of the platform, and he swung his feet back and forth in anticipation. Above them, the sunrise was in full swing, the cherry red aftermath of the thunderstorm. As if the golden sun had long ago transformed into towering rock, the canyon ahead of them had the feeling of sunshine after the dark of night. In the far distance, they could hear an approaching vehicle thundering vaguely in their direction, echoing faintly against the grand walls of rock and plant life.

"There she is!"

"She?"

"We're robots. I'm not above assigning genders to other forms of machinery."

"I suppose that is fair."

"C'mon M, live a little."

"I am not alive."

"You're about to feel alive. Follow my lead."

Silver hopped down onto the tracks and turned to wait for Mecha to join him. They stood side-by-side, watching the train cut through the distance. Silver smiled and stepped onto the side rail, balancing on it as he walked. Mecha reached up and took his brother's hand to keep him steady as they went.

The path ahead cared not about the terrain it laid upon, that was for the robots to deal with. The path was just that - the path. So whatever came for them, they kept going. When they got knocked down they had to get up again and again, for there was no other way. The universe told them "just walk" and they did. Perhaps at the other end would be peace, happiness for all of them, and they decided they had to keep going even if that path made them "bleed".

"Like I said, follow my lead. We have a ride to catch." Silver reminded him, gesturing for him to follow.

Mecha gave a nod. "Affirmative."

The brothers exchanged looks before starting on their way. All at once they accelerated down the tracks, pushing their engines to the max. Under the ruby and amber of the rising sun, Silver and Mecha flashed down the train tracks side by side, a silver and cobalt blur that moved faster than the stars ever had.

Silver shot a challenging grin over to his brother and ran forward up the rail on his side, speeding up eagerly. His balance was far more honed than Mecha's, and Mecha tried to mimic him, secretly impressed by it. The tracks followed up the bend of a canyon and Silver leaned into it, passing Mecha easily. Mecha's visor flashed red at that and Silver laughed as he heard Mecha's engine growl as he pushed himself to catch up. Mecha then pulled up alongside Silver, gave a taunting wave, and flashed on ahead. The tracks followed another long curve, where they cut through a tunnel and descended down a hill. Mecha and Silver were neck and neck, throwing taunts at each other as sparks sprayed from their heels.

"I'm so gonna beat you!" Silver yelled, flying down the grade, the rail shrieking loudly under his feet.

"Your attempts are in vain," Mecha replied, just barely audible over the rushing wind, "for I predict with great certainty that I will be the victor of this race."

"Hah! We'll see about that!" Silver shot back, speeding up. "You sure your engine has the capacity for this?"

"Affirmative. I am uncertain if your central processing unit does, however." Mecha retorted and matched his brother's speed with confidence.

Their ride was fast approaching now. The pair shot towards the oncoming train with terrifying speed as it rushed to meet them, and the brothers met the thrill with open arms.

"This is suicide." Mecha warned him, but not without a "smile" after. He looked ahead, already calculating the seconds left until potential impact.

Silver grinned dangerously at him. "You only live twice!"

"This is highly reckless."

"Have we ever done anything the calm and quiet way?"

"Negative. Let us proceed."

Several feet before the train, Silver gathered himself up to jump. With one last grin to Mecha, he sprung into the air, landed on the carriage roof, and skidded to a stop with a squeal of his feet. He then spun around and extended a hand, expecting Mecha to reach up to grab it - only for Mecha to go leaping after him, colliding with him with a loud bang. They both tumbled and rolled several feet down the carriage before coming to a stop in a messy silver and violet robot pile. They sat up and looked at each other for a moment before bursting out into laughter, Silver doubling over into himself.

"I was gonna catch you, idiot!" Silver told him after reaching over and flicking his brother's nose.

"You are insane. I recommend clearing your cache, it may assist with your poor judgement in the future." Mecha retorted, reaching over to scrub the younger robot's head in turn.

"My cache? Your head's in the recycle bin, bro. My cache is alllllll clear." Silver replied mockingly as he batted Mecha's hand away. "Anyway, I won. Loser."

"I merely allowed you to emerge victorious." Mecha said with a shrug, folding his arms.

After a few minutes of chatter, they both sat back on their hands, watching the world move steadily around them. They may have been kids, but they were riding high, grins broader than the streaks of pink and red bowing across the sky. The journey was relaxed and enjoyable, and for an hour or two, the two brothers put down the burdens of their trauma and just had fun.

Some time later, when the sun had fully risen, the train slowed to round a corner, and that was when Mecha rose to a kneel and nodded his head to a derelict warehouse just a way off the track. The two robots jumped down from the carriage roof as the train thundered on behind them. Mecha landed neatly in a kneeling position, while Silver added a flip into his jump before landing in a crouch with an "oof". He promptly fell back onto his behind and laughed, so Mecha turned to help him up.

Before them was a secluded, abandoned warehouse, a few miles from the nearest city. Long left to nature's devices, it was surrounded by twisting ivy, broken glass, and graffiti on every inch of every wall. They approached the building and Mecha took the lead. They stepped over the fallen planks of a damaged fence and walked around to the back door of the building. Mecha got to work quickly, pulling open the heavy, rusted shutters with hardly any effort at all. He walked in as if he knew the place well. He had been aware of this place since he was first constructed, and it was big then and big now, maybe even bigger. Silver followed behind him, trusting his brother's lead as well as his smarts.

Within, the abandoned building almost had a soul, one that was stoic and sober, as if patience was easy for its grand, unwavering pillars of metal and stone. The building had been left to rot for sure, but it was home to wildlife that sheltered within, those tiny heartbeats and tiny legs giving it life. Shelves towered as high as the eye could see, reaching the high ceiling like pillars.

"What is this place?" Silver asked, peering around with curiosity. He switched on any lights that he could find as he went, keeping in mind Mecha's inhibitions about the dark.

Mecha flipped his wrist lights on as well and proceeded onto the main floor. "Following my defeat in Sky Sanctuary Zone, I found sanctuary in this location. I attempted self-repairs here before returning to the base that I resided at during that time."

"Huh. Small world." Silver stayed close, keeping a hand on his real rifle as they walked. He paused for a moment, realizing something. "Did... dad not come for you?"

"No. He did not. But it would have been unnecessary for him to do so." Mecha dismissed the emotional implications of that easily.

"If you say so. Uh, should we expect some less-than-civil friends to come after us?" Silver asked, looking around with a little wariness.

"Negative. This location has remained unused for several years." Mecha reassured him steadily.

As Silver looked through a doorway, a small sky-blue bird fluttered down from a stack of shelves and landed on his arm. He tilted his head and lifted his arm to meet the tiny creature.

"Oh, uh, hi. Sorry, I didn't think to knock," Silver told them with a small laugh, "didn't think this room was occupied."

Mecha scanned the little creature with interest. "A Flicky. These beings inhabit various environments around the planet, including South Island, Angel Island, and Little Planet. They are also capable of understanding our language."

Silver tilted his head the other way and smiled. "Little Planet, huh? Maybe you know my bro, Metal Sonic. Interesting guy, isn't he? Sorry if he uh, was a dick to you guys at all. He was going through some stuff."

The flicky nodded and cheeped.

Mecha looked at the creature with growing curiosity. "Blue Flickies were recorded following Sonic, going as far as to halt their movement when he was out of range to allow him to meet with them again."

Silver gave a small laugh and lifted his arm a little higher, studying the tiny bird. "I'm not Sonic, lil' dude. I'm just a hedgehog-series."

The Flicky proceeded to leave a generous gift of shit on his arm before taking off into the room it had come from.

"I- Okay."

Mecha laughed, almost doubling over. Silver wiped his arm on Mecha's side and pushed his shoulder with a pout.

"It's not that funny."

"Negative. It is highly humorous."

"I hate you so much."

"You do not."

"I do too."

"Proceeding to recover audio files wherein you state that you do not hate me-"

"Next time you jump onto a train I'm pushing you back off."

"You will be unable to complete that task if I push you off first."

"Taking that as a challenge, M, and it's dangerous to challenge me."

The pair proceeded into a smaller office room, where empty crates and boxes lay sprawled out all over the floor. As they took their first steps inside, a red Flicky spotted them and came dangerously close. Silver put his arm up and swatted his hand a couple of times. "I'm not falling for it, demon! I'm not Sonic so get over it!"

Mecha squeezed Silver's shoulder with a chuckle before walking ahead of him. "We shall make this our home for the foreseeable future. It would be wise to take refuge in a location that is not on the military's radar."

"Yeah, fuck them guys..." Silver murmured behind him. "Fuck everyone, actually."

"We shall refrain from fucking everyone." Mecha told him matter-of-factly, stepping around a wooden crate on the floor. He rounded the corner of a shelf stack and nodded to a toolbox and wooden board on the floor. "We will "lay low", bide our time until our brother meets us."

Silver unstrapped his chest bag and dropped it onto the floor by the plank with a soft thud. "That could take ages though."

"Affirmative," Mecha nodded his head towards a computer in the corner, "however, you will have sufficient time to engage in your "gaming" tasks here. You will remain sufficiently occupied as we await his return."

"Hell yeah!" Silver unstrapped his rifles and set them against the wall before flopping back onto the wooden board. "You get me."

Mecha walked across to the other side of the room and rummaged through a crate, digging past the empty cans and boxes until he found a tarp folded up at the bottom. He took it, walked back to Silver, and dropped it on his head. Silver scrambled to pull it off and stuck his tongue out at his brother before wrapping it around himself. In the warmth of the covers, it was easy to forget that Silver had hardly felt these comforts before. It was strange, but nice.

"In an attempt to engage in "normal" and non-murderous activity," Mecha rolled the desk chair over to Silver's side and sat down with a book he had found, "I shall read you a story."

Silver rolled over onto his side and watched Mecha open it in his hands. "Okay. Hit me."

Mecha sat back and got comfortable. "Welcome to Windows XP. If you are new to Windows, or to computers altogether, you are starting at the right chapter. This chapter covers the "bare-bones" basics about learning how to start your computer and load Windows. You'll learn how to operate the mouse by clicking, double-clicking, dragging and dropping, and right-clicking. You'll also learn about your computer's keyboard and what those cryptic-looking keys on it are used for. Finally, you'll learn how to exit Windows and shut your computer down. Before we start, take a deep breath and relax. You may find this difficult to believe, but computers are not nearly as difficult and complicated as you probably think they are. No matter what your previous experience with computers has been, this chapter assumes you are the most computer-illiterate person in the world and keeps everything as simple as possible. Actually, you are probably going to find that some of the lessons in this chapter are a little too easy. When you come across something you already know how to do, go ahead and skip the lesson. Turn the page and let us get started."

Silver quietly laughed, relaxing with an arm flopped over his head. "What happens next?"

Mecha turned the page. "Your desktop is the large background area of the Windows screen. You can customize your desktop by adding shortcuts to your favourite programs and documents. You can also change the look of your desktop to fit your mood and personality."

"Such gripping dialogue..." Silver said through a snicker. "Oh, Mecha, what would your desktop background be?"

Mecha paused, lowering the handbook to look over it at his brother. "Must it fit my mood and personality?"

Silver shrugged a shoulder, looking up at the ceiling. "The story says so, right? We have to follow canon."

"I suppose... I would create a quick-response code that leads one to a "Rickroll" video file." Mecha stated, leaning back in his chair a little more with unmistakable pride.

"Yeah, that's very you." Silver replied, smiling. "Okay, what happens in the next chapter?"

Mecha dutifully flipped to the next page. "Your my documents folder is a special folder that conveniently stores your files and documents. My computer allows you to see everything on your computer. Double-click the icon to browse through your files and folders. The recycle bin stores the files that you delete from your computer. You can use the recycle bin to retrieve files that you accidentally deleted and to create more disk space. The- Silver?"

Mecha peered across at Silver, finding it unusual for him to be so quiet - only to find that he was in sleep mode already. He chuckled and reached over to pull the tarp over his little brother's frame, then leaned down from his seat to gently bump his forehead to theirs.

"Sleep well little brother."

Mecha shifted in his chair and continued to read, keeping watch over his sibling at the same time. He looked up after a while, regarding each of the darker corners of the room in turn. The more he looked, the brighter his wrist lights became, and he had a sudden thought about it. No, he didn't fear the dark itself. He feared what the dark had done to him.

Mecha used his wrist lights to illuminate his handbook instead.

Metal watched his reflection in the window as he walked by it. He reached out to trace his palm across the wall as he walked by, optics fixed on his own face. He couldn't make sense of his situation. The arrow half-painted on his face haunted him. And, now when he looked at himself he no longer saw a person. No, he saw a weapon, a soldier, Sonic's greatest enemy. Yet he stood and stared, wondering if coming up to this point did have something more to it. The confusion was making him angry, and what he didn't realize was that it was out of fear.

He didn't even know his real name, yet a strange guilt tugged at him about all of this. Again and again he dismissed it. He had one role to fulfill and he would do so at any cost.

What happened to me?

He dismissed it again.

Why do I not feel real?

And again.

Why does father not tell me what happened?

I do not have relatives. I am a robot.

Did anything happen?

He shut off his memory retrieval protocols and proceeded onwards.

I am Sonic. I am Sonic. I am Sonic.

They are lying. Attempting to dissuade me from my objective.

Metal shook off the thoughts and continued walking down the corridor towards the training room. As he went, he heard whispers from the side rooms, and other robots peered out at him as he passed by.

"He's acting so weird."

"Is this another mental breakdown?"

"He saved us and now he's ignoring us."

"Did Eggman wipe his memory?"

"He's acting so shifty- gives me the creeps."

"He just doesn't talk. You should try it sometime, EP Unit 420."

"Oh shut up!"

Metal tuned his auditory sensors to rid himself of the noise, but his mind kept nagging at him to listen to their words, over and over, and it tipped him over an invisible edge. Anger welled up in a pit in his lower body and he slammed a fist into the wall. He stopped, turning his head slightly to glare at a pair of Pawns who were staring at him. They quickly scrambled away into the dark. Satisfied, Metal continued on his way. He soon reached Eggman's office and let himself in, standing ready for command.

"Ah, hello my boy! So good to see you." The doctor greeted him, shifting his chair back just a few inches before rising to stand. "I have a mission for you. Are you ready?"

Metal nodded.

"Very good. Your target is Sonic the hedgehog and you are to eliminate him by any means necessary. Do you have any questions?"

He did, actually. Metal strode over to the doctor's computer, loaded up the files for his apparent "siblings", and pointed at them. He had to know if they were relevant to his mission, the most important mission of all that defined his very being.

Eggman halted his breath for a moment before saying, "They're not important to you. Don't worry." He reached over and patted the robot on the back, forcing a smile. Metal gave a nod and edited his own files on his "brothers", changing their status from "neutral" to "inferior."

"You are going to be what the Eggman Empire needs..." Eggman began, walking around his creation with his hands behind his back. "We will punish that hedgehog and any others who stand in our way. You are our symbol. My greatest creation. You will be the one to bring that hedgehog down."

Metal watched his father obediently.

"Stand tall, Metal. Show them what they are."

Metal painted over the last remnants of his arrow later that day, his father's words playing in his head.

"They are all inferior to you."

Months passed with no changes, but changes of a whole other caliber were happening far from Eggman's clutches.

The cafe was homely, made up of easy and natural colours. White cups and black coffee, small jugs filled with cream, and the ambiance of friendly chatter - it was a place that writers would be drawn to. Chattering staff and customers alike could be heard from the tables, joking and teasing.

Completely out of place to any newcomer to the area, a silver-and-black robot walked casually into the café and took their place at the counter on a barstool. None of the regular customers reacted to their presence, for this was a regular occurrence, and everyone was used to it. If anything, people relaxed when they walked through the doors, apparently at ease in their company.

The robot leaned on the counter. "I'll have the usual."

"You got it. Our finest motor oil coming right up!"

The ex-GUN soldier poured said motor oil into a shot glass and slid it over to the robot with a nod.

Silver took his shot glass and messed with it absent-mindedly, resting his chin on one hand with his elbow on the surface.

"You seem down today. What's wrong?"

"Oh, I don't know... just indescribable amounts of robot PTSD. The usual." Silver murmured. He sighed and folded his arms on the counter, resting his chin on them dejectedly. "You know how it is."

"... I like the new getup."

Silver smiled a little and straightened again. "Thanks. It's in memory of my bro." He looked at his reflection in his shot glass, inspecting his face for a moment. A black arrow sat quite regally on his forehead, falling back down his razor-sharp spines. Four more arrows painted his other spines in glossy black. His trusty rifles were strapped to his back with a black sling, the real one with "Silver Sonic 2" written across it in bright orange. The fake was decorated with an orange smiley face, the paint slightly dripping down from it. Messy but bold, a lot like his character.

"I'm sure he would think it looks cool." Pisces offered him a smile. "Want me to make it a double?"

Silver let out a sigh. "Yeah. It's that kind of day."

"You act as if there's actually alcohol in this..." Pisces commented with a smirk as they poured Silver another shot. "Here you go, kid."

"Thanks." Silver took the first shot and swigged it down, putting the glass down with a clink. "It's actually kinda morbid when you think about it. It's like I'm drinking robot blood."

The ex-soldier's lip curled. "That's disgusting."

"I'm a killer robot with daddy issues. My standards can't get much lower than this." Silver responded with a smirk.

"So... Speaking of killer robots with daddy issues, you heard from your bro yet?" Pisces asked as they ran a damp cloth over a used coffee cup.

"Nah. Not yet." Silver answered, eyeing his other shot glass with a small sigh. "Still waiting on that asshole to remember who he is. Neo's stubborn to the end, even with amnesia. Heard he's been causing all sortsa trouble in other cities, duking it out with Sonic. Generally just bein' a menace to society."

"That's rough. Well, you two seemed pretty tight. I'm sure he'll come around one day."

"Yeah. I'm not giving up on that." Silver replied, reaching over to pick up the glass. Just as he went to down it, he heard something outside. He paused mid-sip and turned his head slightly in interest.

"Ugh. It's that moron again..." Pisces said with an aggravated sigh. "Thinks he's a tough man. Knew him in boot camp, he was "honourably" discharged for being a total prick. The boss said it was for "medical reasons" but I think his medical condition was just being a knob."

Silver tuned his auditory receptors, lowering his hand just a fraction as he did. He caught bits of the altercation outside and quickly found that "moron" was indeed being a moron, and potentially about to become violent towards someone.

"Hold my beer. I'll talk to him. I got a way with the local humans, as Mecha always says."

"Go get 'em, killbot."

Silver shoved his shot glass into Pisces' hand, hopped down off of the barstool, and marched out onto the street, cracking his knuckles as he walked. Without a second thought, he marched right up to the perpetrator and put himself between them and the woman he was threatening. An ex-girlfriend, apparently.

"Oh, you're a real hard man, huh?" Silver said tauntingly, grinning up at them without fear. "Threatening someone smaller than you make you feel big?"

"This isn't your business, freak." The man hissed down at him, squaring up to him. The size difference was almost comical and didn't faze the robot in the slightest.

Silver looked around. "Hang on, I'm just looking for the moron who asked you..." He made a show of searching, and then looked up at them, smiled, and sent his fist into their face. The man was sent packing to the floor with a thud and a yell. "Now, wanna pick on someone with a bit more metal than her?"

Silver stood over them and looked down on them with an evil grin. As he did, three other men crowded around him, one hitting a baseball bat against their hand repeatedly. Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Who let the kids' science experiment out?" One of them jeered at him.

"Who let their pet clowns out of the circus?" Silver shot back, not even looking at them. He kept his optics fixed on the man, daring him to move and assault this innocent person again. "Your move, friend. I'll let you go first. Actually, I dare you. Make my day."

"You're one of Eggman's rejects, aren't you? Go back to where you came from." Another man spat on the floor at him, right by his feet.

"Hey boys, you think we could use any of those parts for something? I got a car that needs new shit." The baseball bat pointed at him threateningly.

"What are you, a robot cop?"

"The cops are a joke, dude." Silver retorted, finally paying them a little attention. "There's only two kinds. Useless and dirty." He looked at the three backup clowns and smirked without a shred of fear. "You really wanna threaten a literal murder robot?" He slowly reached over his shoulder and took his toy rifle from its sling. He made a show of cocking it and looking down the sights at them all. "As I said, your move, friends. You wanna 1-v-1 this or what?"

"The robot's strapped! Run!"

"Holy shit! I'm out of here!"

"No kidding, fuck this shit!"

"Someone call the cops!"

"What? Was me being a murder robot in itself not enough of a warning for you?" Silver asked with a shrug of one shoulder.

At the realization of what they were messing with, all of them scrambled away and fled like cowards. Silver smirked triumphantly and put his rifle back in its sling with a satisfied nod. He looked over his shoulder to the person who had been ganged up on and smiled kindly.

"You okay? I don't think they'll be back anytime soon." He asked, genuinely concerned for them.

"Y-Yes, thank you, thank you. They're real pieces of work. I don't live here, I was just visiting and bumped into them..." The human thanked him breathlessly. "You're a real hero to this city, Silver Sonic. Thank you. You saved me."

Silver grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, almost perfectly mirroring a certain blue flesh-hog as he did. "Nah... I just can't stand by and see someone get ganged up on like that. It's not right."

"Will they actually call the cops? You won't be in trouble for this, will you?" They asked cautiously.

"Doubt it. And even if they do, I can handle it, swear." Silver replied reassuringly. "Now get home safe. Need me to walk you?"

"I'll be fine, I have a train leaving in ten. Thank you again." With that, they walked off to the station, much more confident knowing that the gun-wielding robot had their back.

Silver watched with a smile and a nod. Once they were out of sight, he gave a soft sigh and wandered back into the café, taking his rightful place back at the counter with a slight huff as his behind hit the seat.

"You showed them who's boss! Nice one." Pisces congratulated them, handing Silver's drink back to them.

Silver smiled sheepishly and finally took his well-deserved shot. "Thanks. It's kinda weird, you know. Being called a hero by organics like that. Oop, hang on-" He paused, tilting his head to one side and pressing two fingers to his ear. "Yeah, I'm good, Mecha. I handled it just fine, those idiots won't be coming back anytime soon. Yes, yes, I'm safe. Promise. See ya back home. Yeah, I'll tell them. Love you too." He ended the call and smiled to himself, resting his chin on his hand.

"That Aquarius?" The ex-soldier asked with a chuckle.

"You think I'd say "love you" to anyone else? Please." Silver said with a small laugh. "He said hello, by the way. But it was more like this..." He paused, making the most neutral face possible, "Hello."

Pisces laughed before taking a drag of their vape, the strawberry smoke clouding the air for a moment. "Oh, I know, you don't have to demonstrate, Sagittarius. I've known you both for long enough. How's he doing, anyway?"

"Better, I think." Silver replied, messing with his hands on the surface in front of him. "But it's kinda hard when we're both, like, fucked mentally. He has a nightmare, I have a nightmare, and we just kind of lay there being freaked out at the same time until someone's cool enough to help the other. Apart from that, things are pretty chill. We have our own place, bit of a fixer-upper, but its ours, and it's nice."

"Chill? So less explosions? Less killer robots slandering your star sign?" Pisces added with another laugh.

"Bingo." Silver replied with a grin. "I don't run into many other killer robots who care about astrology, though. That's just a me thing."

They took Silver's used glass and turned to rinse it under the tap. "You uh... You hear from your dad lately?"

Silver shrugged a shoulder. "Nah. I don't think he even knows we're still online, honestly. It's probably for the best though. He was kind of a dick to me last time we talked."

"How so?" Pisces asked, leaning on the counter with interest. "If I'm okay to ask."

"That information can only be unlocked if you make it a triple shot." Silver told them with a smirk. Unconsciously, he rubbed his cheek with his hand and leaned into it, soothing an old wound.

"It really is one of those days, huh?" Pisces said as they poured Silver their third drink. "Now cough up."

"So... We argued. Really bad, too." Silver started, taking the glass and batting it from hand to hand gently. "He kept telling me to give up on Neo. I said no, obviously. He got pissed. Really pissed. I kinda got in his face and gave him a piece of my mind. He basically called me a mistake and said that what had happened to my brother was my fault. I kinda got more pissed and yelled at him and told him he's not a good dad. And, uh, he hit me." Again, his hand came to rest on his cheek, and he sighed. "Really hard, too. He meant it. He said sorry but... you don't hit someone that hard if you don't mean it. Especially not your own kid."

"Holy shit." Pisces said, frowning. "That's a lot. You know that's not normal, right?"

"Yeah," Silver replied, looking down into the motor oil with a blank face now, "I know it isn't. Like, me and Neo always teased each other. It got kinda aggressive at times, but it was never out of actual spite." He sloshed the liquid around in thought. "I would never hit him out of anger like that. That would be messed up of me. But dad, he... messed me up, he made me like this, and then got angry when I acted out. Yeah, I shouldn't have yelled or accused him of things like I did, but..."

"It doesn't matter what you said or did." Pisces told him firmly. "You never put your hands on your kid. It doesn't matter that you're a robot either. It's still really bad. And blaming you for that, too? Get out of here. You did your best and at the end of the day, shit happens, kid."

Silver felt oddly validated by that. He gave a small smile before downing his third shot. "Yeah. Unless he changes, and I mean really changes, I'm not gonna choose to be around him again. Just saying sorry isn't enough."

"Damn right it isn't!" Pisces agreed with him, taking the empty glass to clean it. "He doesn't know the son he's missing out on. His loss at the end of the day."

Silver smiled again, meeting the ex-soldier's eyes. "Thanks. You're cool, you know."

"For a Pisces?"

"Yeah. Even for a Pisces," Silver said, finding his smile widening at that, "anyway, thanks for the therapy session. Think I needed it today."

"Any time, Silver. You're always welcome here." Pisces reminded him with a wink.

"Thanks. I better get back to Mecha. He's gonna be worrying his CPU off about me..." Silver murmured as he climbed down from the barstool.

"You're a good kid." Pisces told him, setting a cup down on the counter and resting an arm on the edge.

Silver smiled a little, shrugging one shoulder as he did. "Sometimes."

"Play your cards right, kid, and you could rule the entire world."

Silver laughed as he turned away. "I'll think about it. World domination hasn't ever panned out well for any hedgehog-series, though." He sent a ping to Mecha to let him know that he would be back soon. "Hey M. Yeah, I'm coming back now. What do you wanna play tonight?" As he replied to his brother he started to walk out of the café, sending a wave over his shoulder to Pisces, who waved back. "Again? Oh, come on, I always beat you at that one! No. No. There's no way you'll win. I don't care if you updated your software again! I'm still gonna smash you."

He pushed the door open with his free hand and walked out into the street, standing casually in the glow of the city lights. It was quiet outside, with just a few cars here and there rolling by in the dark. "You're crazy. Increasing your RAM space won't make you win." He took a moment to survey his surroundings. "One day you might be on my level of gamer, Mecha. But today's not the day. Mark my words." He started to walk down the path, adjusting the sling over his shoulder to get more comfortable. "That "affirmative" was very sarcastic."

Silver stopped again, looking around. Although he was generally well-received here these days, his killer programming and trauma still kept him on alert. His hand brushed over the rifles on his back for a moment. The cold metal was reassuring, a reminder that he was able to defend those who needed defending.

A faint noise, hardly audible to an organic, caught his attention.

"Hey, M. I'll call you back." Silver said in a hushed voice before looking around and tuning his auditory receptors up and down a few times. He took his hand away from his ear and started off down the street, reaching for his real rifle and pulling it into his hands expertly. He turned a corner and looked around, scanning for something. The shattering of glass a few streets over caught his attention. He ran towards it, slowing to a jog as he got closer to the situation at hand.

"Hey. You."

He wandered closer, cocking his rifle with feigned intent.

A burglar clad in all-black stared at him like a deer in headlights. He smiled back and waved. The mere sight of the silver and black robot with bright glowing orange optics sent them packing down the road, and they didn't come back. Silver just laughed and slung his rifle back over his shoulder. That's what I thought. As he turned to walk away, a loud, oddly familiar voice behind him halted him.

"You? You're the silver robot defending the city?"

Silver turned back around and tilted his head. "Well, there aren't many other silver robots around h-" He stopped, meeting a familiar face. "Oh. You."

"I thought you kicked the bucket months ago."

"Eh, you know how rumours are. Haven't heard anything about you for a while, though. Thought you walked off into the void or something."

Two once-enemies stared each other down across a dimly-lit space.

The GUN commander and Silver looked at each other for a long moment, both equally as puzzled and surprised to be meeting again. Especially here.

"... Thank you for your help there. Alarm systems aren't working as they should. The base's electrician should be coming out to fix them tomorrow."

Silver gave a nod. "Yeah, don't mention it." He turned and went to walk away again, only for the man to speak again.

"I am sorry for what happened."

Silver stopped and turned his head slightly.

"I called it off after you saved my life. I realized what I had done. I... was wrong."

Silver's engine hitched for a second. He considered making some remark about the man finally using the "W" word, but thought better of it. He let out a long breath from his vents. "Thanks for telling me. I, uh, appreciate that..." He trailed off, painfully reminded of his brother's demise at the man's command. He shook his head to rid himself of the thought and turned around. "It really took two deaths for you to see life for what it is, didn't it? Sucks to see the consequences of your actions play out like that."

"Indeed."

Silver adjusted his rifle sling as he met the man's stoney gaze. "If you're about to ask for my forgiveness... I don't owe you it even if you're sorry. I still don't forgive you. The things you've done to my family aren't forgivable. But if you really do get it now, then... cool. Nobody else will have to go through that, and that's all I can really ask for now." With that said, he turned away to leave again, but the man moved towards him once more.

"Did you know there was a price out on you?"

Something in the man's tone made Silver's instincts ping. He turned his head back to look at him. "There usually is." Pointedly avoiding answering with "was?"

"Indeed. A large chunk of change... There were already a few people looking into it, from what I saw. You did storm into restricted military spaces and infiltrate several areas and threaten human life. All highly criminal activities."

Silver turned back and set the butt of his rifle down, giving the man his full attention. He hummed in thought, the mechanical filter to his voice giving it a subtly flat note. "Oh yeah?"

A pause. "But I spoke with the sector that was funding it; they agreed to pull the order down after we had a discussion."

Silver studied him closely before walking over, closing the gap between them. He looked up at the man intently, not allowing himself to show an ounce of fear. The man knelt down to be on Silver's level and Silver took a step back, his hand moving around his back to touch his rifle instinctively.

"What I am saying is, you are no longer a target of the military. You are free."

The kid's optics brightened. "Bullshit," he said, but oh, the word wavered. "You don't do anything out of the goodness of your heart. What's your angle?"

"A change of heart."

"Bullshit."

"Guilt."

"More believable."

"Maria would want this," The man said, extending a hand to the smaller robot, "and I can only pray that she forgives me for my actions."

Silver held his eyes for a long moment, looking for any sign of insincerity on his face. After everything that had happened with his father he had learned to look for even the slightest changes in a person's facial expression, and he was very good at it. Then, he frowned, quirking one corner of his mouth. The mention of his brother's death hurt somewhere deep. He couldn't trust the man after all of this. This was his fault. His fault! Not Silver's. He went to lift his hand to shake the man's, but stopped. An unresolved anger threatened to build, now. A ghost of something angry and unattended. There was a long, long pause where Silver just let his engine work on overtime, listening to its subtle pulses - make him pay make him pay make them PAY-

"Granddad?"

Two small human children scampered out from the house. They crowded behind their grandfather, peering around his legs at the robot.

Silver's head rose to meet the curious stares of the kids. His engine stalled for a long moment, and his pain deepened into a dull, hollow ache of realization. The commander really had gone to see his grandchildren. He had listened. But, worst and perhaps most beautifully ironic of all, was...

They're family too. Godddamn it they're family too.

Silver carefully knelt down and smiled kindly. "Hey. Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."

The two children approached him carefully, at first wary of him. Their fear soon turned to curiosity as they looked over his form, now amazed by his metallic paintjob and how his optics cast an amber glow over it. He bowed his head a little to let one of them touch his black arrow. They stroked a hand over it with a quiet "wow" of awe, admiring how it reflected the yellowed streetlights. And suddenly the tiny space between the child robot and the human kids felt like a void. They were none the wiser to the horrors of the world, whilst he knelt there with guns strapped to his back and immense trauma. It was as bittersweet as it was painful.

"What are you?!" One of the kids asked in wonder, beaming at him with interest.

"Don't be silly! He's the silver superhero, I've heard about him!"

"This is him? For real?"

Silver gave a small laugh and shook his head. "I'm just some guy."

"You saved someone from being kidnapped last week!"

"You stopped a baddie poacher from taking Flickies away from their mum!"

"You stopped a car from going BOOM!"

Silver laughed and sat down, crossing his legs to get comfortable, but also to make himself less of a threat. "Oh, come on guys. It's not that cool. I'm just some guy-"

"It's so cool! You're a real-life superhero! Superbot!"

"I wouldn't go that far..."

One of them grabbed a permanent marker from their pocket, reached over to Silver's arm, and wrote "SUPERBOT" across it in big letters. Silver lifted his arm and turned it in the light to get a good look, his smile growing naturally and easy into another laugh as he let his inhibitions down.

The other kid bounced up and down excitedly. "Can we get your autograph? Pretty please?!"

Silver gently took the marker and nodded. "Of course!" As both kids held out a hand, Silver smiled and carefully wrote "superbot" on them. He glanced up to make sure that their grandfather wasn't about to explode him for going too close to them, but he only looked on with pride for his family. Privately, he marveled at their fearlessness around the killer robot - they were definitely his sprogs, Silver thought to himself.

"I'm never washing this hand again!"

"Me too! It's so cool!"

Silver laughed at them. "Hey, you should wash your hands. You humans catch all sortsa nasties when you don't."

"Superbot says we should wash our hands! Let's go!"

"I'm washing mine first! No germs for us!"

The two kids barrelled back inside with a scream, and Silver laughed to himself as they went. Slowly, he looked up, meeting the gaze of the commander. His smile dropped, and he looked away for a moment. Silver stood up and adjusted his rifle sling. He slowly started to walk past the commander but stopped by his side.

"I don't forgive you for killing my brother, and I never will," Silver said quietly, without looking at him, "but thank you for the changes you've made. The best apology is change, I think. And... I'm not giving up on humans. People can be good... so I want to keep helping them. Keep showing them a better way."

"Admirable."

"I guess so." Silver took a few steps past him, but stopped once again. He looked over his shoulder. "I don't give up on family either and..." His mouth crooked upward in a small smile. "You're family too. So keep being better."

"I intend to. GUN is a force that will protect this country."

"Good." Silver went to go again but halted himself mid-step. He looked back, his expression turning serious. "Protect them from this world. Don't let the shit in this world fuck them up like it did to me. My dad didn't protect me, and now I'm like this. So if you don't, I'm coming for you. That's a promise."

"History will not repeat itself." The commander said, but then added, "if Metal Sonic attacks this city, what will you do?"

Silver looked down at the ground, considering it. "Then I'll kick his ass." He gave a small smirk and lifted his head, tilting it back. "And I'll be strong." He finally walked away, working his way through the bittersweet ache in his chest as he did. It's what he wanted.

As Silver rounded a corner, he checked his HUD to find that Mecha had pinged him several times, the little mailbox icon flashing in the corner of his vision. Cringing inwardly at himself for missing the calls, Silver went to lift a hand to his ear to respond - only to find two familiar arms catching him and pulling him off of his feet. He yelped and looked over his shoulder, meeting his brother's somehow both emotionless and anxious gaze. Mecha held him up off the ground for a while longer before putting him back down.

"Befriending the local megafauna again, are we." Mecha remarked quietly as they started to walk back home.

"You could say that..." Silver said sheepishly, walking close by his side. "More than that, though. I think... I'm breaking the cycle."

But I shouldn't have to. It's not my job. I'm still just a kid trying to survive.

Beep! Outgoing message.

"Hey bro. There was a kickass thunderstorm a few months ago and it made me think of you. Just, it wasn't as cool as the ones you've made before. I'd give it like, a solid 6 out of 10 for form and 5 out of 10 for effectiveness. It made my breakdown over you mentally kicking the bucket very cinematic. I, uh... I hope you're doing okay. I miss you a lot."

Beep! Outgoing message.

"I went racing against someone today, won't say who, but it didn't feel the same without you. Going fast is fun and all, but it's less cool when your opponent can't, like, accelerate into Mach 5 in a ridiculous amount of time like you can. I wanna go racing with you again soon. Whenever you're free let me know and we can tear up the environment like the evil murder robots we are."

Beep! Outgoing message.

"I kicked some guy's ass for trying to poach some Flickies today. Me and the little guys don't always get along, they don't like that I'm not S- the hedgehog. Sorry. Probably still a hard subject for you. I dunno, I keep thinking about how proud you would have been of my technique. Classic fist to the face. Very direct. It's very you. I learned from the best, you know?"

Beep! Outgoing message.

"If there's one thing I can tell you, bro, it's that the longer you spend all alone, the more you believe there's something about you that makes you meant to be alone. Come home soon, okay? I miss you."

Beep! Outgoing message.

"I saved a game I thought you'd like. I'm really good with games now, Neo. It's a good way to vent frustration, so, I think you'd be into it if you tried it. Mecha's too good at it, though. He's just so freaking smart. I swear he hacks the thing sometimes. When we play you better not mod it to win, or I'll take your hands away so you can't sign anymore. Too far? Maybe. But that's just how seriously I take this new hobby. Talk soon, love you."

Beep. Outgoing message.

"I miss you."

"You said to be strong but it hurts so bad, Neo. I don't know how many more nightmares I can take about it."

"Mecha had a panic attack last night. I thought he was gonna do something bad to himself, he was freaking out so much. I wish you were here."

"Why did it have to be me who survived, Neo?"

"You matter, no matter who you are right now."

"You're never alone, Neo."

"I love you."

"I love you."

"Come home."

"Please. I can't take it anymore."

Silver pulled his tarp over his head and tried to go to sleep, but it evaded him for another long night.