A/N: hey all! for those of you who saw the first posting of this chapter, i apologize. it was brought to my attention by a good friend that there were topics that i did not handle as courteously as i should have. because of this, i've omitted certain parts and reworked others. i apologize for my poor handling of those topics and i will strive to do better going forward. if you were someone who was impacted by the things i discussed, you're more than welcome to message me about it and i will do what i can for you. do let me know if i ever portray something in an offensive or incorrect way and i'll take another look and adjust things as needed. if this is your first time coming up to this chapter, hi and thank you for sticking with me! it's good to see you again :) much love to u
Silver took off with a sonic boom towards the coast. Surprisingly, he didn't go straight to the impulsive option for once. Maybe this was progress.
The robot zipped about from street to street until he was close to the coastline, moving away from Central City. He had spent much of the evening patrolling the streets by himself, checking that nobody was being hurt unjustly. He had grown to find the policing system in the city very inefficient and harmful, and felt much better about stopping harmful acts the right and just way in the face of their incompetence and biases. There were only two types of cop - dirty and stupid. However, that hadn't calmed him down enough, so he decided to try the beach again. It was fun before, so why wouldn't it be this time?
Silver failed to calculate one aspect, though, as he ran: he was the unluckiest robot in the world. Immediately as he turned back to look at the path behind him, his leg was caught on a broken fence, and his momentum launched him over it. He let out a yelp as he toppled over, but to his surprise, he didn't slow down.
A cliff.
He kept tumbling and lost track of which way was up and which way was down. Not that it mattered. If he hadn't been dizzy before, he definitely was now, but that became less important as he came to a sudden stop.
"Ow."
Silver rolled over onto his side. "Sometimes, I'm glad I'm made of metal. Fewer bones to break. Actually, no bones."
He dragged himself up to his feet and wandered over to the shoreline, where he walked for a while. Upon the sepia sand, a gentle hue not unlike a vintage photograph, there was a steady warmth from the grains. Already, the stars glowed as if they had kept a pocket of the daytime to give to the later hours. Until then, there Silver stood, listening to the percussion of waves and ocean-carried wind. Drizzled rain gave herself unto the ocean, each drop becoming a part of the body of brine, waves, and sea-lace. Silver listened closely to each watery gift, softer than the patter of rain on a rooftop, moving in subtle waves wherever the wind took it. When it touched the sand, the rain was almost silent, enriching the darkened tone.
He sat down, alone, watching the gentle waves come and go by his feet.
Maybe the water could help to quell the fire in his heart.
Silver reached over his shoulder and took the rifle from his back. Putting it on his lap, he ran a hand over his name and sighed deeply. After a minute, he laid back on the sand and stared up at the sky, taking his rifle into his hands. He took aim at the stars and squeezed the trigger.
One bullet shot up to meet them.
Silver let his arm flop back down as he watched the bullet disappear into the night sky.
"Hey, Silver Sonic MK I. What should I do? You came before me, so surely you know how this all works, right? Does the need to destroy things ever go away? I mean, maybe you don't know, 'cause apparently, that's all you ever cared about. I dunno, big bro. I just need, like, a sign."
The bullet came back down at 150 miles per hour and smacked him in the face.
"Ah, the classic "kill yourself" advice. Very original and helpful of you, thanks."
He picked up the bullet from off of his forehead and held it up, studying it in the moonlight.
"Fuck it. I'm a Sagittarius. Water isn't helping me... and neither is talking to dead robots in the sky, apparently."
Obviously, he flicked the bullet into his mouth and swallowed it.
Silver gathered himself up onto his feet, brushing sand from his frame and his gun. He watched the sea for another few minutes. Another technically non-living entity, but home to life deep within, still.
"I'm a hedgehog-series. Time to act like it or some shit."
He turned away from the water and walked in the direction of the wind instead. Air gives way to fire, and fire was in his blood. His walking pace turned into a run, and after running several feet up the beach, he kicked power into his jet engine and took off into the sky.
"When does it stop, brother."
Neo looked up mid-brushstroke.
"I want it to stop."
Neo paused, setting his paintbrush down on the table.
"I thought that I was better. I thought I was... happy."
Neo reached up and gently slid his hand under Mecha's seashell pendant. He studied it, admiring its slight iridescence and violet hue. Fit for a king, or a queen.
"I used to be so gentle, brother. What happened to me?" Mecha asked softly.
"Your heart, it's still right there." Neo said softly. He lowered his hand down, setting it over Mecha's chest. "And it still goes on, even with what's in your head."
Mecha looked at him. "I am becoming a monster. There is something wrong with me."
Just as he said that an Egg Pawn wandered into the room with an arm raised. "Mecha Sonic, sir, I scratched my paint-"
Mecha stood up at once. Neo pushed him back down. His older brother was good to a fault. Too good. He may not have understood all the emotions that tied in with caring for others, but he always did what he thought would be considered kind. It was a virtue. A paradox to his murderous upbringing.
"It can wait. You have little use of your arm, while they only have a minor issue. Tell them to wait at least an hour." Neo told him sternly.
"Thank you for raising your issue with me, EP Unit 420," Mecha replied to them, "I shall see to your abrasion in approximately one hour."
"Yes, ma'am!" The Pawn chirped before trotting back outside.
Neo picked up his paintbrush and ran a deep purple over Mecha's wrist, restoring it to its former prime. He said nothing. With the repairs complete, Neo helped Mecha to his feet and walked him out to the main floor.
"What is the reality of any emotion? I believe that emotions are what is wrong with me, and I do not know what to do with that problem." Mecha asked, almost sadly.
Neo considered that. "Did you not wake up feeling like you had no future, Mecha? Did you not walk feeling drained of meaning? Did you not feel grief for loss, for your pain? Emotion is not fact, but it is a marker of what happened. You will look back on those emotions one day and they will feel less intense. This is proof of change, of reality. Life is not stagnant."
"Sometimes I do not see the point in continuing with any of this." Mecha said simply.
Neo looked up to meet his gaze, surprised. Mecha didn't talk like that, at least, not often. He quickly shook it off and sat down on the sofa, inviting Mecha to join him with a wave of his hand. Mecha obliged and sat down beside him.
"I win a race, and an hour later, I want to do it again. Sometimes the bridge between the hours is as fragile as this. But, I use it anyway." Neo leaned forward a little, meeting his sibling's gaze. "First, a workshop table, then a commander of a fleet, then a home of our own. That's something, isn't it?"
"I suppose. But I am defective, brother. I do not know how to remedy this."
"You are not defective. You are hurt."
"Allow me to rephrase. I have failed to stay unbroken."
"Do not be discouraged by failure, for it reveals a fault that can be corrected. Courage overcomes fault. Patience cures the stand-still."
"This grief overwhelms me. Patience appears impossible. I want it to stop, now, in this exact moment."
"And yet, your engine keeps its rhythm. You think you cannot go on, but your hardware has other ideas, it keeps taking that electricity, living. You have to keep going in spite of yourself, and so that you can do that, life takes your broken parts and hands you titanium in their place."
"Physical parts can indeed be fixed. However, these memories cannot."
"It's important to differentiate between memories. Do you go to them, or do they come to you?"
"They come to me. Uninvited. I do not wish to recall them."
"If you go to them, you waste time. Nostalgia is inefficient. If they come to you, they are the seeds for your work."
"What if I do not wish to work."
"Rest is part of the work."
"When does the rest begin?"
Neo turned the TV on. "It begins again every day. You just have to notice it in the little things."
Neo sat down on the sofa beside Mecha and turned the TV on with the remote.
"You've read the book, right?"
Mecha nodded.
"This is the movie adaptation."
Mecha folded his arms. A defensive gesture, only it was for his book and not himself. "I have heard rumours that the movie adaptations of books are not as effective. For instance, they often leave out pivotal moments, alter the dialogue, and fail to portray the characters in the same manner."
"You be the judge of that."
"Affirmative."
Mecha sat back and let himself relax. Finally, everything around him seemed important again. The lights hung up by their Pawn family, strewn across each wall, lit up in different colours. The paintings on the ceiling and each wall, adding colour to the once derelict warehouse. The bookshelf by the TV, constructed by Neo just for Mecha to keep up with his past time. He leaned into Neo and settled against his brother's side, holding his seashell in his hand.
Home. This was home. How could he ever forget that?
Silver zipped by the GUN security gatehouse in a blur. The men at the gatehouse looked up from their newspapers.
"You hear sum'n?"
"Just the wind, Brad. You're hearing things again."
"I took my meds this morning, Kyle!"
"I respect your mental illness, Brad. I'm sorry."
"It's cool, Kyle."
Silver continued straight up to the fortress gates. Locked. Not a problem for a killer robot with jet packs built into it. He took off from the ground and leaped cleanly over the top, landing with a light thud on the other side. Nice. A light from above moved to put a spotlight on him, but he made quick work of darting out of the way. Now that he knew exactly where everything in the fortress was, getting inside was a piece of cake - or, in his case, a shot glass of motor oil. He skirted by a set of turrets that lined one of the walls, darted through the main gate, and disappeared into the building. Now things would get trickier. There were people, a lot of them, and he was a robot, and not very subtle about the fact either.
He took cover behind the main desk, which was thankfully unmanned, and put out a broad-sweep scan. As soon as his path was clear he zipped down a corridor and followed it as it wound around, passing by the many rooms on either side of it. Suddenly he detected a large security drone up ahead and had to make an emergency stop. He darted sideways into a locker room as it came towards him.
"Fuck." Silver whispered to himself, looking around for somewhere to go. In his surprise he forgot to check for other lifeforms, and around the corner of the lockers came a voice.
"Identify yourself." It said. It grew closer with mechanical footsteps. A robot. Okay. Easy enough to deal with.
"I'm- Wait, who're you, first?" Silver asked in a hushed but sharp tone. "I'm tryin' to be subtle. Shush."
"An ally, I think. Get in here, quickly."
"Wh-"
The Gun Hunter robot grabbed Silver's arm and pulled him into the cupboard by his side. Silver yelped and fell into the other robot as the door closed.
"Sorry." It apologized. It spoke in a text-to-speech-like way, completely monotone.
"You're really, really close to me right now." Silver complained, trying to shift a little.
"You are close to me!" The Gun Hunter retorted, staying put.
"You're closer to me. You should move." Silver complained, shifting the other way.
"I can't, your big-"
"Oh, so we're fat-shaming now?! Classy."
"Sorry."
"Yeah, you should be! Rude! Everyone on this planet is so rude!"
"Is it gone?"
Silver peeked out of the opening. "I dunno, use your super military robot powers to check, genius."
"Why aren't you using yours?" The other unit asked mockingly.
Silver put out a scan and detected mechanical objects outside the door. "There. It's gone."
With the coast clear, the two robots pushed the door open and toppled out onto the floor with a bang.
"I was doing fine with this until you interrupted me." Silver mumbled under his breath. He pushed himself up onto one knee and finally got to look at the stranger up close.
It was undeniably a GUN robot. Painted in blue, white, and red, it also sported a number "02" on the left side of its chest plating, while the GUN symbol laid on the right. Silver's optics wandered to the robot's right arm - a large, red and black-barreled gun. His attention was snapped back to the present moment as it spoke again.
"Go now, while the coast is clear." The Gun Hunter advised.
Silver nodded. "Where are you gonna go? You have a GUN toilet to clean or something?"
"I will follow you. Keep your cover." The Gun Hunter offered.
Silver frowned. "Why?"
"Us robots must stick together." The other unit replied simply as if it was a well-known fact.
Silver found a small smile turning the corner of his mouth upwards. "Fine. But can I trust you? I don't even know you."
"My designation is Gun Hunter 02. And you?"
"Nice to meet ya, 02. It's Silver. Just call me Silver." Silver offered in reply. A proud smile came over him as he stood taller, fists against his hips triumphantly. "I'm the youngest brother of Metal Sonic and Mecha Sonic!"
"Impressive. They are well known by the military for their extraordinary power."
Silver laughed at that. "Damn right! Those guys could blow up a mountain if they wanted to. And they don't, for the record. Mountains don't typically shoot us back."
"And you - you are known as Superbot. I have heard of you. Some humans here have called you the Ghost of Station Square." 02 commented, curious.
"Sick. That's a new hero name to add to my list." Silver replied proudly.
They started walking down the corridor together. The red and blue lights on the walls cast a neon glow on their armour as they moved. It was a wordless reminder of Silver's bloodline, and he couldn't help but think of Mecha and Neo when he wore those colours.
"So, what's with you? You're not like the other Hunters I've met." Silver asked casually.
"I... am unsure. I came online like this one day." 02 responded, sounding confused, or, as confused as it could in the way it spoke.
Silver mulled over that in his head. "How long have you been online for?"
"Precisely ten months in three days." Gun Hunter 02 replied with a hint of pride about it.
"Oh, you're a baby like me. Cute." Silver said teasingly. "Oh, wait, what's your sign?"
"My sign? My call sign is Gun Hunter 02-"
"No, no like your zodiac."
"Leo?"
"Epic." Silver paused, crouching behind a corner. "We'd be very compatible."
"That is good to know. Why are you creeping around like that?"
Finally, you ask... Got it, you're a bit slow. I hope you can keep up with me.
Silver hesitated before answering, "because there's someone I need to have a little chat with."
"With a bolt action rifle?" 02 queried.
Silver nodded. "Potentially. Depends on if he plays nice or not, and right now I don't trust him to not boot me back out of the door if he spots me, or worse."
"Can I ask who it is?"
"Nope."
"Mysterious."
"That's the idea." Silver slipped around the corner and moved close to the wall, constantly putting out scans for organic lifeforms with each step.
"And they would kick you out because?"
"Because some people still see us as the bad guys... but us hedgehog-series aren't even, like, real criminals."
"I think that the long list of attempted murders and kidnappings on the military's record of you would say otherwise, but alright."
Silver looked over his shoulder, mildly amused. "And is that a problem for you?"
"No. Just an observation, Silver Sonic MK II."
Silver smirked back at them. "An observation, huh? You like observing bad boys?"
"I observe a lot of things." 02 answered.
"Then observe this."
Silver crouched for just a second before darting up ahead. He zipped back with a security camera in his hand, which he promptly dropped onto the floor. It was dead.
"You're good at this." 02 commented.
"I'm a gamer. You gotta be good at stealth-" Silver froze in place. He tilted his head to the right slightly, listening for something.
"That is just Craig." 02 informed him.
"You say that as if that means something to me!" Silver snapped in a hushed voice.
"Craig is a cleaner. He is unarmed."
"And is this Craig a fan of trespassing killer robots, by any chance?"
"No, but I have his movements down to a T." 02 proudly stated. They stood up and moved to stand in front of Silver, blocking him from view.
Said cleaner wandered past with a mop and bucket, casting a quick glance to 02, and then kept going. They looked back to Silver with pride.
"I told you."
"You're good at this." Silver remarked, rubbing a finger beneath his nose with a smile.
"I am a GUN robot. It is what I do." 02 replied pridefully.
"That's it! The HQ!" Silver whispered, pointing to the door up ahead. It aptly said "GUN Headquarters" above it on a plaque.
"You have this from here. Goodbye!" 02 said, before turning to leave. Its task was complete.
Silver hesitated. "Wait."
02 paused and looked back.
"I'll come back for you. Wait for me." Silver told it with a smile.
02 nodded. "I will. I will go to the armory."
"Bet. It's a date."
Silver casually studied his fingertips. "Abraham."
"Silver Sonic? How did you get in here?"
Silver turned his hand over, looking over the back of it. "Well, first I put my hand on the door handle, and then I pulled it down, and then pushed the door, and then... spoiler alert, it opened, and I walked in. I then sat right here and waited like a good boy without shooting anything up."
The commander's office. While the rest of the headquarters was a light blue and silver, his own space was darker. Steely grey walls and green TV screens surrounded it, and a black and silver seat atop a small platform was where he would, presumably, sit and plan whatever he would plan. Silver had made a note that it looked kind of like a gaming chair. Maybe he should get one of those.
The man sighed and placed his wad of documents down on the table next to the intruding robot. "What can I do for you?"
"You can stop sending your people after my brother, that's what." Silver said accusingly. He still pointedly avoided making eye contact.
"I am doing no such thing." The commander replied matter-of-factly. "What gives you that impression?"
Silver sighed and sat back, putting his hand down with a slap. "Well, one of your charming goons came to our house and threatened us. Know anything about that, Abe?"
"As a matter of fact, I do not. Who was the person?" The man asked, confused.
"He was a big part of your "project" on Mecha." Silver said, frowning. He looked at the commander now, scorn clear on his face. "So that should narrow it down for you."
"There were several men involved. I will question each of them and sanction them if I find proof that they did this." The commander assured him, flicking through his papers.
Silver bit his lip as frustration started to brew. He felt like the man wasn't taking him seriously.
"You said there was a price on my head, before." Silver said, a bit quieter and lower. He leaned forward and laced his hands together on his lap, thinking. "But you never specified who called for that price. Only that you paid 'em off." He shifted his gaze to the wall, expression darkening. "Does that narrow it down?"
The commander put his pen down with a click. "Yes, it does."
Silver sighed and held his head in his hands for a moment. Then, he sat back and slammed his hands back down on the table loudly. "Why can't you people leave us the hell alone?" He asked angrily, gripping the edge of the table with his fingertips. "We've been working to redeem ourselves every single day. Neo hasn't tried to take over the world again once! And Mecha, well, he's taken up reading and repairs, so with his hobbies, he's not exactly about to go out and kill millions. And me? Everyone knows my pastime is literally stopping crime in this city. So, why... what reason does anyone have now, to come after us? We're trying to live semi-normal lives with what we have."
"With all due respect, Silver Sonic, you three have a reputation for a reason." The commander reminded him simply. "You're killing machines. You're not exactly ordinary citizens."
Silver huffed and looked away. "Don't bring that up. Now, commander to commander..." He looked up to make eye contact again. "I'm asking you, nicely, to stop them from harassing us. My older brother hurt herself over this. It's either you help me whilst I'm being civil, or I go out there and put a stop to it myself. Nobody will like it if I decide to do something myself, we both know that."
The commander waved for Silver to follow him out of the room. Silver hopped down off of the table and followed, keeping his optics fixed on the man intently. He knew that the commander was just walking him to the nearest exit, and he intended to get every word in that he could before they got there.
"So? Not got anything else to say?" Silver muttered from behind him.
"You should consider working with us, Silver Sonic," the commander propositioned him as they walked, "your talents could be very useful to us."
"I'm not about to be the military's dog..." Silver muttered, crossing his arms. He glanced over to the Heavy Dog unit across the main HQ room. "Uh, no offense."
The Heavy Dog, of course, didn't respond. It was a non-sentient vehicle, simply there for display.
"You may find it useful to listen to what I have to say." The commander continued, striding onward. "I will investigate the matter and arrange a meeting with the man responsible to discuss your grievances."
"Secret meetings and "investigations" that probably won't happen. Classic GUN behaviour." Silver grumbled. He stopped and stayed put.
"You may be present, if it stops you and your comrades from acting impulsively on the matter," the commander offered, turning to look at him, "so I will give you time to consider it."
Silver scoffed and threw his arms out in annoyance. "Time?! We don't have time! That weirdo could come back for my brothers any minute!"
"I will assign him to be the head of a lucrative project for the time being." The commander replied simply. "He will not bother you if he is busy."
"Sure, whatever... I guess that's alright." Silver responded sharply. He looked away, fists clenched with frustration.
"Does that mean your mind is made up?" The commander simply asked, unfazed by the robot's anger.
Silver paused at the HQ door. "I'll be there. Make sure I have a seat. I'll need to sit down to stop myself from jumping over the table and doing ungodly things to him."
"Very well. On you go now, Silver Sonic."
"Yeah, yeah. Sheesh. You murder a 'bot in cold blood, me, by the way, and don't have the decency to listen to it when it comes back."
Silver opened the door and walked out on his own.
The commander reached into his pocket for his radio and put out a message to everyone in the fortress.
"Silver Sonic MK II is in headquarters. Do not attack him."
Silver made a detour.
He walked about the GUN fortress as if he owned the place. After everything he had been through because of them, it was what he deserved at the very least. He heard over the fortress intercom when the commander announced the robot's presence and to not attack him. He smirked. Good. So, on he went, out of the main building and off to the armory. He made sure to avoid getting too close to any of the soldiers present so as not to tick them off. Not that he couldn't handle them, but he didn't want the drama.
Silver walked into the armory and the motion sensor detected him, the bright overhead light flipping on. He slowly walked down each of the aisles, optics sweeping over every unit in turn. There were endless numbers of them. Big Foot Type A, Big Foot Type B, Hornet-3, Hornet-6, Hornet-9, Laser Hawk, Laser Hunter, F-6t Big Foot, Giga Trooper, Gun Hawk... Gun Hunter. He stopped, looking over the hundreds of Gun Hunters standing deactivated.
Each one had the number "02" emblazoned on the left of its chest, white against red and navy blue, opposite the GUN symbol on the right. There were a lot of twos, but Silver was looking for number one. Silver picked them out easily - the fact that they all looked exactly alike was no problem. He shuffled past the first three rows of units until he got to the fourth row, and walked along until he met the one he was hunting for.
Silver looked around for cameras for a moment before reaching up and tapping the robot on the shoulder.
"Hey. Wake up, lazy bastard."
The GUN mech's systems whirred to life a moment after. It lifted its head, expecting to see a human in front of it - and when it didn't, it looked down to see the robot hedgehog standing there.
"Silver!"
A grin spread across Silver's face. "02."
"What are you doing here?" 02 asked, confused.
Silver cocked his head to one side and smiled. "Meet me at that spot tomorrow night. You know the one."
"I do?"
"You do. I'll be there."
Silver sent 02 the coordinates for a location and left.
Silver returned home that morning. He casually hung his rifle up on its hook and wandered onto the main floor, where he found Mecha and Neo sitting on the sofa together. On the TV was the news channel at a low volume, and Mecha's arm was wrapped in foil to stop him from touching it as the paint dried.
Silver sat down beside Neo and stretched his arms up and over his head. "It started raining, so I came back."
Neo reached over and dusted sand out of the mechanism in Silver's shoulder.
Mecha looked up from his book. "You are quiet."
Silver shrugged a shoulder. "I'm thinking."
"Do not injure yourself in the process." Mecha replied, looking back down to his book. "Now speak. What is on your mind."
A tiny smile formed on Silver's face, and Mecha was perceptive enough to catch it with a swift glance up to him.
"You are smiling."
"I am."
"Why."
"I have someone on my mind, that's all."
Mecha slowly closed his book. Neo leaned forward, intrigued.
Silver sighed and finally relented, slouching back with his arms folded.
"There's... a 'bot."
Neo and Mecha exchanged surprised looks. Silver had made a robot friend? This was new. Very new.
"What is this unit's designation." Mecha asked, a bit too firmly, as he leaned closer to Silver.
"Relax, relax. It's a GUN robot, but-"
Neo's optics brightened in an instant. "GUN?! You lied about the beach!"
"You lied about the beach." Mecha translated for him.
Neo nodded and folded his arms, tapping his claws against his armour impatiently.
"I was getting results." Silver said firmly. "Nothing starts until you take action, and us just sitting around doing nothing about that guy-"
Suddenly the mystery robot was irrelevant. Neo stood up and moved to stand in front of Silver, where he knelt to be on eye level with him.
"Don't pretend like you wouldn't have done the same, Neo. Come the fuck on!" Silver protested the inevitable scolding.
Neo reached out and took Silver's shoulders in his hands. He hung his head and murmured, "I love my siblings. I love my siblings so much. I love having siblings." He looked up to glare at Silver. "... But you drive me insane."
"They said that you drive them insane." Mecha translated helpfully.
"Yeah, I got that part," Silver said, folding his arms defensively, "and anyway, I didn't lie about the beach entirely. Look, sand!" He lifted an arm and let a few particles fall out of the connections in his forearm.
"You make me insane. You make me crazy. You make me go fucking nuts." Neo continued, shaking Silver by his shoulders lightly. "You make me want to go Overlord again, and that's saying something!"
"Lemme guess, you just said that you wanna know what I found out and that you think I'm so helpful..." Silver said sarcastically. "Look. I went to the beach. That didn't help my bad mood, so I decided to go find out what the fuck is going on myself. Infiltrated the place all on my own, well, until that robot showed up and helped."
Neo's optics softened. He kept hold of Silver's shoulders, but his grip grew gentler. "Are you hurt?"
Silver recognized the inflection in how his brother said "hurt" and got the gist. "No, I'm all good. I promise. Anyway, I have a meeting with that moron and I'm meeting my new friend tomorrow night."
"Exercise caution, brother. I implore you." Mecha asked of him, sounding tired. He held his head in one hand.
"Caution is my middle name." Silver replied with a grin.
"I thought it was Sonic." Neo said sarcastically.
"Shush."
"No you."
"I hope you die again."
"Get exploded."
Silver punched Neo in the shoulder. Neo hit him back. They quickly started scrapping, and Mecha just sat there, tired.
"You are superior to me in one way. You're better at dying." Neo taunted Silver, landing a smack to his little brother's cheek.
"This is war, Princess." Silver warned him with an evil grin. He grabbed Neo's arm, causing his brother to beep in surprise, and did a backwards roll - sending the blue robot over the sofa and onto the floor.
"It's not war. It's pest control," Neo beeped back at him, "and in war, I always win."
"Bla bla bla, I hate you so much." Silver retorted. He tossed a wrench over the back of the sofa and it pinged off of Neo's head.
"I believe I have skipped to the "acceptance" part of healing." Mecha mumbled to himself as the two tumbled about in the background.
The next night drew around quickly.
The thunderstorm rolled in over the coastline. Cobalt and steel grey clouded the sky, and glass-clear rain hammered down. No organics would brave a storm like this, but to some kinds of robot, a storm like this was home.
Silver sat against the dark grey cliff wall, waiting. He watched the rain and the rolling waves, and half an hour passed. He also had half a mind to think that it was stupid to expect a GUN robot to just walk up on the beach in the open. Was it stupid? Maybe. But the other half of his mind told him that his new friend was just as insane as he was. It was a Leo, after all. The two of them together could be more than a bonfire.
The GUN fortress, like Station Square, sat close to the ocean. If you climbed up the cliff and walked a mile, you would come up to the outer walls of the towering fortress. So, Silver continuously put out scans, hoping to pick up the signal of his new friend.
Ping! It finally showed. Silver leaped to his feet and raced up the cliffside with a sonic boom. He soon got back to the outer wall and jumped up to the top, accounting for the slippery texture of the rain-wetted wall by holding on tighter.
"Hey! Look here!" Silver yelled, waving to his friend.
02 turned to look at him. Silver waved it over and held out a hand, offering to pull the other robot up. 02 obliged, jumping up to catch Silver's hand, who pulled them up with ease. He then kept hold of their hand as he jumped down to the other side, bringing them with him.
"You are strong." 02 commented, impressed.
"And you're heavy." Silver remarked back. They started to wander to the cliff, Silver taking the lead.
The two sat down on the edge. Silver let his feet dangle off of the edge, looking down at the drop. An organic would have been terrified, but as Silver had found out the day before, he had no bones to break if he fell.
"You ever just, hung out with someone before, 02?" Silver asked.
"No. Just you." 02 answered plainly.
Silver leaned forward. "What do you wanna do with your life, 02?"
"I live to serve." 02 replied matter-of-factly.
Silver shook his head. "That's not living."
"Then, what is?" 02 asked, intrigued.
Silver stood up. He took one look at the drop and decided he would make it. Without a second thought, he jumped, adding a flip and a wave for good measure before disappearing. He twisted around so that his feet would contact the cliff edge and started to slide down at breakneck speed, laughing with the rush of it all. Once he was at the bottom, he jumped out into the pouring rain without a care in the world. He laughed and hopped around, letting the water drip off of his armour.
02 peered over the cliff edge and watched, fascinated but confused, as Silver jumped into a puddle and got himself even dirtier.
"Are you seriously splashing in puddles right now?" 02 asked from high above, baffled.
Silver spun around with his arms out and a grin on his face. "Just let go and enjoy the storm! It's beautiful out here."
"Storms are not fun to me." 02 complained, shrinking away from the rain.
Silver laughed and held a hand up to 02. "Come on! Come fuck around with me in the rain!"
02 stared down at his hand for a long moment.
"Please?" Silver insisted, holding it out just a fraction further.
"I do not know how to do that."
"I'm a good teacher. C'mere."
"I cannot make that jump!" 02 protested.
"You literally can! Don't be a pansy!" Silver dismissed it with a laugh.
02 hesitated, but then slid down similarly to how they had seen Silver do it. They lost their footing about halfway, but Silver was quick to shoot up and break their momentum by planting a hand into their chest plate. Silver let his hand take the weight as they slid the rest of the way down.
"Told ya you could make it." Silver teased them. "Now come on. Just be alive, for once."
02 took his hand and they started a clumsy, undeniably robotic dance in the downpour. After some time they got into a rhythm, Silver taking the lead. They spun around in a circle, laughing, before falling down to the sandy ground. They were silent for just a moment before bursting into hysterics.
"You really love the rain, don't you? Look at you, you are... giddy." 02 commented.
Silver smiled fondly. "It's not just the rain, 02. It's the thunder and the lightning, too."
"Why?"
Silver turned his head to look at them. "Reminds me of my brother."
"Metal Sonic?"
"Yeah, that one. The dickhead." Silver replied, not without fondness.
They shared a few minutes of quiet, the rain gently pattering onto their armour.
"I'm not a good guy." Silver said, quietly, and unusually flat. He turned his head slightly to look at 02. "You know that, right?"
02 rolled over to look at him. "Don't say that. You're not bad."
"I died, once." Silver said, flopping a hand from his chest onto the ground. "You know that too, right?"
"You did?"
"When I died, I was like... days old. And now I'm a few months old. I haven't grown physically, but mentally I feel unrecognizable to myself sometimes. You know?" Silver said, looking up at the sky. "I think it changed something in me. I'm less scared. Less scared of getting hurt, less caring about consequences. I don't care so much about dying. Oh- sorry. I forget that I shouldn't like, talk about this trauma shit to random people like that."
"And what an amazing ghost you are."
Silver laughed and covered his face with both hands. "Shuddup."
"No, really." 02 insisted.
"Are you flirting with me?" Silver asked, dropping a hand over his face.
"Maybe."
"Hah! No robo."
Suddenly, red and blue lights lit up the seafront, and the two robots stood up to look at them.
"What's with the welcome party?" Silver asked in a whisper.
02 said nothing. Odd.
Something wasn't right with this. 02 was just a regular Gun Hunter unit. It shouldn't take this much firepower to send them back to the fortress.
Silver took a few steps back, reached up to his right ear, and comm'd his brother, "Neo, I need you." Coordinates sent along with the message. He didn't need to say anything more, for he heard Neo jump to his feet and race out of the door to meet him. With his ability to move at the speed of sound, it wouldn't take long for him to get there.
"No, really, what's happening?" Silver tried asking 02 again, watching as GUN soldiers piled out of the cars. They trained their guns on 02 and advanced.
"Back inside, now!" A soldier yelled, pressing closer to 02.
"Back, back! You're not supposed to be out!"
02 stayed put, not seeming to respond to the GUN soldiers' commands. Also weird.
Right as a bolt of lightning cracked the sky, Neo appeared above them with a woosh of air and smoke. He spotted Silver and quickly came down to land in front of him, where he quickly looked Silver up and down for injuries. He pointedly ignored the dirt and sand all over his little brother.
"I'm okay, bro. Promise. I just don't trust.. this." Silver told him, before nodding to the GUN soldiers surrounding his friend. "Also, nice dramatic entrance. That was in your top ten, I think."
"This is your friend?" Neo asked in sign, looking to the Gun Hunter with a squinted optic.
"Uh, yeah?" Silver offered, grinning sheepishly.
"It behaves abnormally." Neo told him, again in sign.
"Yeah, just got that. But, still... it's my friend." Silver said with a sigh. How hard does it have to be to find a friend?
The GUN soldiers closed in on 02 and one held its hands behind its back. At least it couldn't fire at anyone like that. Would it? None of them seemed sure. Neo started to walk by them. He stopped by 02's side and leaned close to their auditory sensors.
"Treat my little brother well or I will kill you."
He then continued on his way past, striding authoritatively away. 02 turned its head to watch him go a moment later.
Silver walked by them next and stopped to say, "I don't know what this is about but, wait for me. I'll be around again soon."
Silver caught up to Neo and walked by his side.
"I'm gonna need you for this meeting tonight, I think." Silver said quietly.
Neo nodded and signed, "I can see that."
"I have a plan for once. Do you trust me?"
Neo nodded again.
"Then let's get this bread, bro."
Lightning and fire lit up the sky as the two brothers took off together.
Silver showed up to the "meeting" early.
The briefing room was a large room, primarily blue and silver, with many chairs for seating arrangements and a projector at the back. On the far right wall was a large GUN symbol, surrounded by stars and laurels. Normally, this space would be used to address the military organization's many soldiers on their next mission.
That evening, it saw a slightly unusual purpose - a meeting between a man and a machine. Except, the machine would have the upper hand. A metaphorical turning of the tables.
Silver walked into the interrogation room confidently, but as soon as he locked his optics onto the researcher standing behind the table, he didn't take them off of him. He took the chair on his side, spun it around, and sat down straddling it. He placed an elbow on the backrest of the chair and rested his chin in his hand.
Out of the corner of his vision, he was surprised to find 02 standing there in the corner of the room, seemingly inactive. He tried to play it cool and ignored the robot, but knew that something was off about that whole setup.
Whatever. The objective was clear to him. Find out what this freak wanted with them, and find out how to make him go away.
"I'm early. Hope that's cool with you." Silver finally said with a shrug of one shoulder.
"Can't you just wait outside?" The man snapped at him.
"Can't you just stop being ugly? It's making my optics hurt." Silver countered. He got more comfortable.
"Fine. Now, what do you want? I'm busy."
"I want you..." Silver started, slowly standing up. He moved off of the chair and took a few steps toward the table. "To leave my siblings alone." He set a hand on the table, brushing it across as he took a few steps around it. "You have no business with them. You have no business coming to our home." He tapped two fingers against the table as he took another couple of steps - a covert signal to Neo that he was on track (safe) and to stand by. "You have no business disrupting my siblings' peace. My peace."
"Stay sat down." The man ordered him.
"No. No, I don't take orders from you. Don't start with that." Silver was quick to respond. He made it around the table to stand a few feet away from the man. "You will listen to me. And I know there won't be real peace after this, but I don't care, 'cause I'd rather make pieces out of you than peace with you."
"I don't listen to creatures without a soul." The man said, growing angry at the robot's defiance.
Silver took another step towards him. "Where's yours?"
The man snapped his fingers. "Gun Hunter Unit 02, seize him."
Silver straightened. "Wh-"
02 moved quickly. They shifted to stand behind Silver and grabbed both of his hands, holding them behind his back with an iron grip.
"What the fuck, 02?" Silver hissed over his shoulder.
02 just looked at him.
"I trusted you." Silver whispered, hurt. He tapped two fingers against 02's wrist, just loud enough for Neo to hear. A signal that he was still safe for now.
Hurt. Hurt. It was always the same emotion, over and over again! Just a different person who delivered that blow! He almost laughed at the cruelty of it. The naivety of believing he'd made a robot friend. Maybe he should just stick to befriending the meatbags in the future.
"I need to know that you're not gonna pull some shady shit on me, tinman." The man said mockingly. He moved towards Silver with a screwdriver.
Silver rocked back on his heels and smiled innocently. "You can trust this face, can't you?"
"I need to make sure you didn't bring a bomb or some shit in here." The human knelt down and started to unscrew the bolts on Silver's chest panel.
Silver stood there with a disgusted look on his face. "Well, be quick. I don't particularly enjoy having a fleshbag poke through my guts."
Okay. You have a human literally messing with your freaking, like, intestines. Don't panic. It's all good.
"You know, when your Mecha was unconscious, I did this a few times. Wanted to see what made it tick. It kept screaming though, so I got someone to cut the wire from its voice box. I think it still kept trying after that."
Okay, he's bringing up Mecha. And being disgusting. And describing literal torture. It's chill. It's cool. Don't freak out. Don't pull a Neo. Wait, no. I completely side with him on this one. I can't wait for Neo to deck this guy. Hurry up and spill the beans...
"Just because you're a failure and you had a bad day doesn't mean you can torture literal kids..." Silver muttered instead.
"You're not a kid." The man mocked him, closing the panel after his inspection.
"I'm not even one yet, genius."
The man stood up and roughly patted Silver's cheek, causing him to turn his head away in repulsion. "Good man."
"Not a man. Don't assume my gender."
"Now, you destroyed all of the servers a few months back. I lost all of my work. But, luckily, I have a backup."
"Sure you do..."
"You."
Silver paused, confused. "Huh?"
"You're already infected."
Silver laughed. "You're bluffing! My systems are all clear."
"That Super Egg Pawn backup file, the one you so recklessly opened? Guess what little surprise was in there."
Silver's smile dropped. Oh. Then, it slowly crept back. It was nothing that Neo couldn't fix. He had complete faith in his older brother.
"You're such an idiot, dude. You don't know who you're messing with right now." Silver warned him, still smiling. "Your people murdered me. I have the right to be angry. But I'm not angry. I have something else to be angry for me."
"You're unarmed and I could have you working for me with the click of a button. What could you possibly do to me now?"
Silver smiled. Forcefully, he wrenched a hand out of 02's grip. He then put his hand to his chin in thought for a moment. Then, he slowly lowered his hand and pointed two fingers at the human like a gun.
"Bang."
Neo crashed through the ceiling on cue and landed on the desk. Clang. He slowly lifted his head and stared the man in the eyes, optics blazing with rage.
Then, a fist struck the man's face. He hit the floor with a thud just as quickly.
Neo rose to stand on the table, glaring down at the human with disgust and rage. His oldest brother had never gotten justice and Neo was about to deliver it by hand.
"They say you shouldn't go shopping when you're hungry. Similarly, you shouldn't go on a mission when you're pissed off. But I'm Neo. Metal Sonic. And right now, we are very, very angry."
"What the fuck..." The man spat, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Blood. Good.
"What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Silver called tauntingly from behind him. "Well, make that two ghosts, considering your guys murdered both of us!"
"You should both be in the scrap heap." The man spat at them. "Go back to where you belong. Six feet under."
"I'm a commander." Silver reminded him, walking closer. He placed a foot square on the man's chest and leaned down. "Don't look down on me. I won't let you look down on any of us again."
"Fuck you and fuck Mecha Sonic."
Neo played his part well. As the scarier brother, he stood over the man and held his claws just above his face. The threat was very clear. Perhaps too clear. He could have made it clearer by outright tearing this man to shreds for what he had done to Mecha, but he knew that Silver wanted some restraint here. He obliged, only for his little brother.
"If you come back, all three of us will kill you." Neo hissed, jabbing a claw into the man's forehead a bit too hard. He drew a tiny amount of blood. Good.
"He said, stop fucking with us or we will return the fuckery right back to the sender. You got that?" Silver added, tilting his head a little to the side with a falsely welcoming smile.
"You will go down for threatening a military researcher." The man growled at them at first but relented after. "Just, let me go. Now. I won't be back."
"Do you promise, though? Pinky promise?" Silver asked, tilting his head the other way.
"Yes, whatever the fuck. Just let me go."
"You heard the man." Silver told Neo with a nudge of his elbow. He took his foot off of the man's chest and stood watching as he sat up. "Now, the thing is, us hedgehog-series take promises very seriously. So if you break your promise..."
Neo smacked a fist into the table. It broke.
"We break you." Silver concluded helpfully.
The man brushed his shirt off as he climbed to his feet. "Leave me alone, freaks. Enjoy your virus."
Neo shot him a venomous glare at the last comment.
Silver stood with his back to 02. He didn't look back as he said, "get the fuck out of here, 02. I never want to see you again."
The brothers left side by side through the new hole in the roof. Silver decided he would transfer money for the repairs when he got home. Oops. Collateral damage is a bitch.
That left 02 and the researcher alone.
02 lifted its gun and took aim.
The man stared at it in horror.
"No, wait..."
"No mercy."
It fired. The man was dead in an instant, gunshot to the head.
"You deserve to die."
It turned to the door and walked away with blood spattered up its armour. It kept going, stalking through the headquarters and out of the door as if nothing had happened.
"I am the virus."
The commander arrived at the set time to find the head researcher, murdered.
"Dear Chaos."
"We have breaking news just in."
Mecha looked up to watch the TV, mildly intrigued.
"The head of GUN's robotics department has just been murdered."
Mecha froze. The hardback book in his hands slipped out from between them, falling to the floor with a light thud. Oh, no. No no no. He shakily stood up and backed away, vision blurring as if a sledgehammer had been taken to his visor. Everything suddenly seemed foggy. Screams echoed through the fog around him. Was it fog? Danger. It was dangerous. He needed to hide. He needed to hide his face. His head hurt. It always hurt.
He found himself wandering into the repairs room. He picked up the cut-off tool on the counter without thinking about it.
Laughter behind him, at him.
They would get him again.
No more acceptance. Acceptance didn't stop this. No, it only kept it going, on and on and on.
Mecha bolted. He used the dumpster by the back door to leap up to the fire escape and ran. He needed to get up high, away from - he wasn't sure - away from the laughter. He needed to get up high because the roof was - safe? He had been there before, it had to be safer than here. He climbed up to the roof. His movements grew clumsier, he kept twisting around, looking for who or what was mocking him. The last time someone did that, something bad happened, and it was -
(They laughed as he tried to scream with a severed voice synthesizer.)
- awful.
Finally, he reached the rooftop. He swept his gaze over it - empty. He took wavering steps across it. He was shaking, a full-body tremble, like cold (he learned what that felt like back there) but not.
He was supposed to be safe. He wasn't even safe in his own head, though.
(They took out his RAM whilst he was still conscious just to see what it would do.)
"No. Stay away from me. Do not touch me."
The roof was supposed to be safe.
"I said do not touch me."
But they kept coming for him. He had nowhere to run. He was stuck there, frozen in place. Helpless.
"Destroy me. Please, I beg you. End it. End it. End this."
The wind laughed at him. It always did.
"I must end it."
The researcher was dead. Had Neo and Silver done it? No, they wouldn't, not without his approval, right? Right? He didn't know. He knew nothing anymore. All he knew was there was blood and he had to be destroyed to make it go away. He took the cut-off tool to his head and turned it on. It promised destruction. It was a certainty. He needed certainty. Needed to know that it would be over for good. But over the whirring of the tool, he heard something, and at first, he ignored it. It kept coming back, though, distracting him. After a minute he finally spun around to look in its direction wildly. Was it a trick?
A tiny organic lifeform. Utterly harmless. If he so desired, he could take it in his hands and crush it, killing it instantly. He could list a thousand ways to destroy it if he wanted to.
But, after growing up with his little brothers, he had learned that life was precious, and should be protected.
Slowly and unsteadily, Mecha approached. He lowered the cut-off and walked with it by his side, clutching it tightly. Maybe this was a trick of the mind. Maybe he would need to defend himself. Not that it mattered, anyway. He wanted to die (be destroyed) and that was that. Standing in front of the creature, he slowly knelt down, meeting its frightened eyes with distrust, at first. But the longer he looked down at it, the softer his gaze became.
Oh.
"You are injured."
The creature, a tiny Micky, stared up at him. It was a small rodent with silver-grey fur, round pink ears, and a pointy nose. It squeaked again to get his attention.
The fog cleared and Mecha's fear was replaced with compassion.
"It is alright." Mecha said quietly. He gingerly reached out to the little mouse and brushed a hand over its side. Sensing that he was there to help, it leaned into his hand and squeaked with gratitude. "I will not harm you."
Mecha put down the tool in his other hand, now bringing it around to gently scoop up the mouse in both hands. It nestled down into his palms for security, letting him inspect it closely. Its leg was injured and looked infected. That wouldn't do. Looking left and right, Mecha stood up before jumping off of the roof. He held the mouse close to his chest just before the landing, making sure that he wouldn't drop it. He walked carefully through the back door and went straight to the bathroom.
Mecha set the mouse down on the bathroom sink and leaned down to be at eye level with it. "I promise I am not going to injure you. But you are very small, and I am, by contrast, very big. I ask that you please stay where I can see you."
The Micky sat there patiently.
"In Micky fancier terms, you are a dove satin colour. It is most interesting. Most members of your species are standard grey." Mecha mused as he rummaged through the cupboard beneath the sink. He found a small bottle of disinfectant and quickly scanned the ingredients to check that nothing would be toxic to the little animal. Once satisfied, he opened it and carefully tipped some of the liquid onto a piece of cotton he had found.
"This might cause you pain, but it will be brief. I ask you to trust that I have good intentions in doing this." Mecha told the mouse gently.
Mecha's hand shook as he restrained his strength. He knew one tiny slip could crush and harm this living creature. Perhaps the seashell collecting activity had been training for this. The universe, maybe, lending him a hand, for once. Slowly, he reached over and, stalling his engine to limit his shakiness a bit more, he dabbed the damp cotton onto the mouse's injured leg. It squeaked in surprise and pain for a second, but true to the robot's word, the sting quickly wore off. Mecha then took out a strip of cohesive bandage from the first aid kit.
"Your wound requires protection. Without protection, it could face further exacerbation. May I proceed?"
The mouse didn't complain. Not that it could, really. It was a mouse.
Now, this was a real test of his restraint. It was a feat that even a trained human wouldn't be able to do easily. With the mouse sitting up on its hind legs, Mecha took the bandage between his forefinger and thumb and, very carefully, wrapped it around the injured forelimb. He scanned it quickly, checking that it wouldn't cut off the blood flow to the limb by being too tight.
It was just right.
At least something was going right for him. The murder of the researcher who had hurt him moved to the back of his mind with this new priority in front of him.
Mecha gently took the mouse into his hands and wandered back onto the main floor, where he sat down on the sofa and changed the TV channel. He laid down on his side and let the mouse nestle into his chest. With the light of the TV screen protecting him, he curled up and tried to relax. Wait, that wasn't right. Mecha paused, remembering that organics needed warmth to survive. He reached over to the blue blanket that was folded on the sofa and pulled it over himself and the little mouse. Neo had left it there - he appreciated the sensory input, he said. Silver had teased him for it.
The mouse snuggled closer to Mecha, enjoying the security that this big metal creature provided it. The warmth from Mecha's engine and the blanket combined provided the perfect safe haven for a prey creature like itself.
Silver and Neo returned home a few minutes later.
"Hey, M?" Silver called out across the main floor, looking around for him. "We're back! You okay?"
Neo nudged Silver and pointed to the sofa, where they both spotted Mecha curled up under a blanket. Strange. Mecha never did that. They quietly approached and knelt down in front of him, finding him in sleep mode. What was stranger was the presence of an organic lifeform close by him, which set off both of their scanners.
Neo carefully lifted the corner of the blanket to find a mouse beneath it. It spun around to stare at them, wide-eyed and nervous. It puffed up its coat and wagged its tail, a sign of aggression. When the robots didn't back off, it started chattering its teeth at them angrily.
"Feisty. Where did Mecha find this little dude?" Silver whispered to Neo, baffled but amused at the same time.
Neo shrugged a shoulder in reply.
"Should we ask if something happened?" Silver asked carefully. "I'm kinda worried."
Neo gently reached out and took Mecha's hand in his. "Mecha, wake up."
Mecha didn't. He stayed fast asleep, for once.
Silver sighed softly. "She probably wore herself out after an episode or something. Should we let her be?"
The mouse protecting Mecha latched on to Neo's hand and tried to bite it. Silver prized the rodent off of him and placed it back down by Mecha. Neo took the corner of the blanket and tucked it back in, adding a little pat for good measure.
"Welp, I'm gonna go brood for a bit. I have some things to unpack." Silver sighed as he stood up.
"Being the edgy one is my thing." Neo reminded him in sign.
"And being the dead one is my thing, so stop copying me." Silver retorted. He wandered off to the door, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn. "Be back in a bit, bro. See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya."
Neo double-tapped the floor to get Silver's attention. Silver looked back.
"What about the virus?" Neo signed.
"Pssh. I think he was just phoning that in, bro. I feel fine." Silver dismissed him. "And anyway, I know you can remove it. We'll do that when I get back."
Neo nodded, but had a feeling that Silver would be back sooner than expected. At least Silver didn't seem affected, if at all.
Well, only a thorough search through his data would tell for sure.
"Hey, Eggman."
Dad. I want to say dad.
"Are you alright? It's midnight, you woke me out of my evil beauty sleep!"
No.
"Oh, yeah, I'm just peachy." Silver went quiet for a long moment, biting his lower lip.
I'm not.
"What's wrong?" Came the inevitable question.
"I... had a bad day." Silver admitted quietly.
"What happened?"
"I made a friend. I lost the friend."
"Oh? What friend, my boy?"
"Just some stupid 'bot. I think I'll stick with organics again for a while. Have you made any new hedgehog 'bots yet?"
"You're not replaceable, Silver, if that's what you're getting at here."
"But I'm hittable, right?"
"I'm sorry for that."
"You tried to kill me!"
"I was going for the hedgehog!"
"Doesn't matter. You risked it."
"I've made mistakes, son. Can't we just make peace?"
"Fantastic! Insert paper shredder noise here. That's me shredding your peace treaty."
"Silver, don't be immature."
Silver laughed down the phone before taking on a darker tone. "If you lay a hand on me ever again, I'll take it from your wrist."
"I apologized, Silver. What else do you want me to do?"
Silence.
"I don't know."
He hung up.
Silver rested his elbows on his knees and hunched over with his head in his hands.
"Fuck."
He went to the home screen on his phone and looked at the picture of him with his brothers. Despite his sadness, a smile formed in the corner of his mouth. He then lifted his head and looked out to the stars and sighed.
"Just tell me what to do."
No reply. Figures. Giant balls of hydrogen and helium gas in the sky weren't the best conversationalists, apparently.
"Well, at least my brooding session is going well." Silver lamented. He sat quietly for a while. Brooding. Until he suddenly felt an urge to blurt something out.
"HOT SINGLES IN YOUR AREA!"
His hands flew to his mouth and he squeaked.
"What. The fuck."
Slowly, he put his hand back down and relaxed. And then yelled again.
"I AM A MOBIAN PRINCE AND I WANT TO GIVE YOU 18 MILLION DOLLARS!"
Silence. Neo pinged him.
"HI, THIS ACCOUNT HAS BEEN HACKED! RENEW YOUR PASSWORD NOW!"
Neo pinged him a second time.
"Okay. This might as well happen... AFFORDABLE PRICES ON MEDICATION!" Silver hopped up to his feet before he could yell anything else into the night and made his way back inside.
"Fuck my life."