Eggman really wasn't sure what had gotten into him that day, his curiosity was always his biggest crutch, he supposed. The fox he had captured was just another mobian, and mobians always went into his prisons to be kept out of the way, or used for his own gain, so by all means this fox kit should have been thrown in with the others.

Yet instead, Eggman had brought him back to his newest creation, wanting to keep a close eye on this kit, watching the young thing hide under the cot in the large cell he was in, the walls being a one way mirror. The doctor could always see the fox, while the fox couldn't see anything. Orbot standing right next to him, filling him in on what happened before he went offline. As always, he had been right about the bot being shut off during the riots, and left to rot away in the woods.

"When I was reactivated, most of my motor functions were offline, I had assumed that you had found me by accident and decided to reactivate me to look through my memory chip." The bot was watching the fox child as well, holding the smaller, now deactivated, bot that had been beside the fox, in his arms.

"Instead, it was this fox that had jump started my processors and rebooted me. My voice box was still offline but I could hear him just fine. He was very excited over the fact he had managed to repair me so far and claimed he could fix me up 100%." It got a scoff out of the doctor, but Orbot continued on. "After that he continued to remove damaged parts and replace them from what I assumed was from other broken down robots he had come across from the riots."

"What else did he tell you?" Eggman finally glanced away from the still hiding fox to glance down at the robot.

"It was mostly just him muttering things as he worked, nonsense to keep his mind busy as he worked I believe. Regardless of such, he was very impressive with repairing me, all of my functions have returned to above eighty percent functional."

"Eighty percent?! Why that is impressive, especially for a child…" Eggman rubbed his chin in thought, his mind working overtime as he tried to decide what to do next. Perhaps he wouldn't just throw this child away. He wanted to test a few things.

"Very Sir, what do you believe we should do with him? If I may, I think he's far more capable than any other mobian we have found on this island. I do not believe just throwing him into a prison would be the best course of action."

"I don't pay you to think Orbot!"

"You don't pay me at all."

"Bah! Regardless, you have a point. I have an idea, bring some tools and a broken down badnik, any kind. We'll offer the child a deal, if he can repair the bot, then he'll be rewarded." Eggman grinned as he thought more about it, causing Orbot to glance over to the doctor.

"Rewarded with what sir?"

"Why a better situation then just being a prisoner! Perhaps depending on how well he does, maybe he won't have to be a prisoner at all…" The doctor started to walk away, he wanted to do a little research first.

"Right away sir."

"Oh and Orbot." Eggman paused for a moment, causing Orbot to turn back to him

"Yes sir?"

"Leave that robot in my control room. I wish to take a closer look at it."

"Understood."

The duo parted ways, Orbot pausing one last time to look at the cell again, if he could, he would have felt pity for the poor kit. But alas, he was simply a robot and he had orders to fulfill.

Miles Prower was currently absolutely terrified, he knew that someone had attacked the island, for a few days he thought the Kukku Army had come back for revenge and hidden away inside a cave, not leaving for days until his hunger forced him to risk going outside again.

He had a simple goal, find some food, eat, and go back to hiding. Simple enough right? But then he had found that busted up robot and he hadn't had anything to tinker with in days and the itch was almost unbearable after he discovered it. He hadn't had the heart to disassemble T-pup so this was the best thing to happen. After all, the robot didn't look like anything the armada used, so he had been hoping for the best as he repaired the robot piece by piece.

So when he had suddenly been captured in a net, he had panicked to put it lightly. He hadn't seen who had grabbed him, only hearing a voice talk to the now online robot he had fixed up telling it to grab T-pup, honestly things couldn't have gone worse.

Now Miles was currently hiding underneath the bed he had in his cage, it was pretty big for him being a prisoner but he wasn't going to let anything else take him off guard! If he was lucky- maybe someone would open the door and he could run away! But he had no idea where he was so that could be a problem…

Miles felt himself whine as he hid his head in his hands. He had no idea what was gonna happen to him and it was terrifying.

He wasn't sure how long he had stayed underneath the bed, at one point he may have actually fallen asleep, the constant staying away watching the entrance of his cave for a few days catching up to him. He wasn't sure what woke him up, but some kind of noise pulled him from unconsciousness and made his eyes snap open when something heavy hit the floor. The bright light of the room blinding him for a few moments as he had to wait until he could see properly again. He felt tense, his shaking starting again as he started at the unknown, blinking as it slowly came into focus.

The robot that he had fixed up and- another broken one…? He frowned watching this, his fur standing on end as the robot looked over to him.

"Ah, I'm sorry did I wake you? I did not mean to." The robot spoke to him making him blink, he hadn't expected it to talk to him. None of the robots he had encountered before could speak- "I just needed to drop this off, oh along with your dinner as well." The robot pulled out a tray with hot food on top, as much as Miles hated it, the sight made him drool, he couldn't remember the last time he had a hot meal… He tried not to say anything, but the robot continued on.

"I must thank you by the way." that made Miles blink in confusion "For repairing me, if it wasn't for you I would have been offline permanently. You have my gratitude."

"You- you can feel gratitude?" The question slipped out before it even hit Miles' brain, and he immedietly regretted it. Curling up further, afraid of any kind of backlash for asking such a question. Yet instead of what he expected, the robot just turned to look at him tiling its head.

"Well in a way I suppose, the doctor has been working on new AI chips that learn as time goes on. I perfectly understand what gratitude is, and while I may not be able to feel it properly, I know it's the correct word for what you have done for me." The robot put a hand to its face, Miles couldn't help but notice how human it looked doing the motion…

Honestly just hearing about something like an AI chip sounded amazing, but the word was lost on him. He only new basic programming, after all the machines he had encountered were always piloted by people, not working on their own. Miles desperately wanted to know more, but fear was still bigger then his curiosity.

Still… he could smell the food the robot had brought in, god it had meat too? Miles couldn't remember the last time he ever got to eat meat, he felt his stomach growl without his permission as the Robot seemed to blink at him.

"You are free to eat you know, I did not bring you this food to mock you in any way." Miles didn't move, biting his lip as he watched the other, he was still a prisoner…

The robot seemed to take notice of this and think for a moment, before grabbing the plate and moving closer to the kit. He squeaked and shoved himself further underneath the cot as he watched the robot, his eyes snapped shut, expecting the worse before he heard the sound of glass clinking on the floor, and the smell of food getting stronger. Miles cracked an eye open to see the food was now placed at the edge of the bed on the floor, and the robot back on the other side of the room.

"I suppose you are still anxious about all of this. I cannot blame you, I apologize for how rough the capture was, we thought you were some kind of criminal ripping me apart for spare parts. I'll leave you be so you may eat," The other turned around to Miles surprise and started to leave, pausing for a moment "Oh, and by the way, this robot is here for you to tinker with as much as you please. As you managed to repair me, the doctor feels like you're a very smart young man, and thinks you'd enjoy something to keep busy with while you're here. Have a good night kit."

And with that, the robot was gone, and Miles was left alone blinking in surprise. Ten minutes passed before he crawled out from the back of the bed, and sniffed at the plate, some kind of beef, some leafy greens and what he assumed was just a plain potato. Nothing to write home about, but it was the most amazing meal Miles had seen in months. While mostly cold now, that failed to deter the boy as he quickly ate everything on the plate. Whining when he finished, he hadn't had a full meal in forever…

Licking his fingers clean, he paused and looked over to the broken down badnik, not that he knew it's name of course. And slowly walked towards it, he was alone, and his curiosity was finally winning out over his fear. Circling the bot, he hesitated for a moment before reaching towards it and testing what he could take apart. He couldn't help himself anymore, he desperately wanted to tinker with this machine and know how it worked.

Just beyond the walls, Orbot was watching as Miles started to tinker with the badnik, Doctor Eggman watching beside him curiously.

"He's very quick with taking apart the outer shell sir."

"Very, this kit is much smarter than anyone else on this island. I think perhaps he'll be of far more use to me than the others in those prisons." Eggman's mind was on overdrive at the moment, thinking of his next step "Keep bringing him meals, and try to get on his good side, the less scared he is of you the better. Since he's a child fear wont do much for making him work."

"That is very kind of you sir."

"Don't mistake this for kindness Orbot. Children work best with being rewarded, this kit is obviously hungry, so we'll keep rewarding him with food. I have big plans if this kit can fix the badniks like he fixed you."

Eggman watched Miles through the glass, noting how his eyes lit up as he figured out how to pop off the outer shell of the badnik without damaging the inside components. Oh yes, with genius like that Eggman could make some big plans, he'd just need to get on the childs good side. And with the research he had been doing on this island…

Well with how these people must have treated him? That wouldn't be hard at all.

This story is also being crossposted on Ao3 and Tumblr under the same name, as well as the same pen name Lotus Lucky