Approximately 52 years before the kishin's reawakening.
A human named Maria examined the shoreline of her home without stepping onto the beach. Doing so would only bring sand into her shoes, an annoyance that far outweighed the experience of viewing such a mundane sight up close. All she needed was something peaceful to look at while she pondered the many questions lingering inside her mind. Once that was done, she'd move through the island's forest.
The island housing the ARK facility was experiencing mild, pleasant weather as it had the day prior. And the day before that. And just about every day that Maria could remember. Although she knew that this was the result of one of ARK's many functions, and a necessity for her survival, it didn't fail to wear on her over time. Temperature management, air filtration, and others that she couldn't quite recall, all seemed to be antagonizing her now. Natural rainfall was one of the few changes in weather that weren't erased completely. She welcomed those gloomy days that were unfortunately rare.
Seeing how the conditions outside were tediously pleasant, Maria decided on going back inside. She found one of ARK's entrance doors; it easily let her inside. Entering the underground facility caused her to discover the distant sound of a piano playing. She proceeded down various hallways towards the music until reaching the proper door. Once it slid aside, the notes easily escaped at a higher volume. An antique piano restored to the finest working condition was off at the other side of the room. It's sizable frame was covered in polished ebony plating. The person playing it was a hedgehog named Shadow.
"I think we might actually be family," Maria announced.
Shadow didn't stop playing, but did lower the volume of his keystrokes. "We're already family,"
"I mean we're like brother and sister. Sort of,"
"We're already like brother and sister. Sort of," Shadow reiterated.
Maria groaned. "We're MORE like brother and sister," She broadcast her additional thoughts after moving closer. "I've been thinking about Grandpa. He always said I'm his granddaughter, but he won't ever talk about my parents. No photos or anything. It always made me sad, but now I'm thinking I was made in this place too,"
"Does it matter?" Shadow replied flatly.
Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean 'does it matter?'"
"If you knew for certain that you were made here, would anything about your life change?"
Maria crossed her arms and thought. "Well, it would mean I'm not a normal person, I'm a weirdo that was made in a tube,"
"Like me?"
Maria suddenly felt guilty. "I didn't mean it like that,"
"I'll bet," Shadow seemed more amused than offended.
"Shadow!" Maria tugged at a cluster of his quills. His head tilted gently to one side while his playing continued. "You know what I meant,"
"I'm not sure I do know what you mean,"
Maria only responded by tugging at his quills further. Shadow refocused the conversation.
"Didn't you make a big deal about us being family 'no matter what' when we were younger?"
"Yup!" She recalled fondly.
"And now you're saying we're family since we were both born here. Which is it? You're undermining the sentiment by saying both,"
Now she looked quite phased. "N-no I'm not!"
Shadow stopped playing, and appeared completely unconvinced. Maria continued.
"The important thing is that grandpa has been lying. How am I supposed to trust him if he's been misleading me all this time?"
A knowing expression came to Shadow before he resumed playing the piano. "Let me guess, this revelation will emphasize the importance of leaving the island?"
"It could mean he's lying about how bad things are out there, too. Which would mean that I could be doing so much more with my life. I don't want to be stuck here eating seafood forever!"
"What's wrong with seafood?" Shadow asked.
"Nothing, but there are other foods out there, you know?"
"Gerald will bring you other foods if you ask him to,"
"You're missing the point,"
Shadow shrugged. "Most of whatever you think is out there can be experience here,"
Maria sighed. "Grandpa always drops off gifts and things I don't need. But that's not the same. Discovering all the new things out there myself is the real experience. That's what life is about!"
Shadow looked unimpressed again. "But you also have a lower chance of dying here. Most people would see that as a mildly important benefit,"
"Being safe is overrated. I've already seen everything on this island a million times and the only other person here who isn't a robot is a hedgehog-dingus!"
"Dingus? Is that a promotion from hedgehog-dummy?
Maria put her hands on her hips. "It's a demotion!"
"Right,"
A nearby phone cut into their conversation with a persistent ring. Shadow stopped playing again. Maria picked up the phone's receiver with vigor.
"Tell me about my parents!" She commanded abruptly.
"Maria, what's gotten into you lately?" Gerald sputtered. "Behaving like this is unseemly for such a sweet young lady!"
"I'm holding Shadow hostage until you give me answers," Maria replied.
Shadow raised an eyebrow. She wore a look of mischief while shrugging back at him. The remote intercom system activated, and Gerald's voice left the phone.
"Shadow, please escort Maria to the resonance lab,"
"Grandpa!" Maria exclaimed, but he had already hung up.
"Almost had him," Shadow observed with sarcasm. "You really are brave, challenging the Grim Reaper head on like that,"
"Oh, shut up," Maria groaned.
It was a short walk to the resonance lab. Since all of the sensors were built into divots on the walls, the room itself was very plain. They moved into the center of the room and stood side by side. Once a buzzer rang, they resonated. A fair amount of energy moved between them for about a minute, then they stopped. Gerald's voice re-entered through the intercom.
"Good work. I'll analyze the results, then call back,"
After a punctual click, the intercom went silent.
Maria turned back at Shadow after she stepped out into the hall. "Let's go to the library, Dingus!"
"You should really be nicer to hedgehogs that can produce blades from their bodies,"
Maria grinned and shook her head. Shadow smirked slightly in response before leaving.
Despite most of ARK's facilities being stiff and spiritless, the library was much more welcoming. It was thoughtfully furnished, colorful, and unsurprisingly held a vast collection of books. Maria was standing near a table bearing an assortment of papers and texts.
Shadow scanned a few of them. Many of the loose papers were official schematics of equipment available at the ARK facility. He noticed that Maria had made plenty of hand written notes in her own notebook, as well as on the papers themselves. Some of the books on the table were ones Shadow recognized. They contained many locations that Maria was interested in visiting.
"A lot of the stuff Grandpa has here can protect me from the outside world, even if it's just for testing. If I combine different equipment and make some changes, I should be able to go out there pretty soon,"
Shadow closely examined a picture of a bulky hazmat suit. "You really want to go see the world while stuffed inside some weird suit?"
"Most of this stuff can be trimmed down," She smiled. "Plus, I think it'd be kinda cool to wear a gas mask. It'd be a good look for fighting any monsters I run into,"
"You don't know how to fight," Shadow observed, bluntly.
"I can learn. You train all the time, so I can start too,"
"How will you get off the island without Gerald noticing?"
A glint entered her eye. "We'll use chaos control,"
"How do you know about that?" Shadow inquired.
Maria giggled. "You really think I wouldn't be interested in teleportation? Besides, it's not like Grandpa kept it hidden. I've been going through his research on your powers,"
"Then you should also know that I can't use chaos control until I become a death scythe,"
"Are you sure about that? Have you even tried?"
Maria took on an unfamiliar expression, one Shadow mistook for stubbornness.
"So what, you want me to teleport you off the island so you can run around in a hazmat suit and fight monsters?" He asked with impatience.
Maria frowned. "I just want to show Grandpa that I can go out there. He's always so protective. If he actually sees that this is possible, he'll be more likely to change his mind,"
"Gerald won't change his mind. He'll go ballistic if he finds out you left the island, especially if he knows I helped you. I'll be shipped out right away,"
"Maybe I'll let him take you next time. It's not like you're going to help me anyway,"
Shadow flinched at the statement. Maria already appeared conflicted after saying it aloud. She wouldn't look at him either.
The intercom system euthanized their silent standoff.
"Shadow, I'd like a word,"
Maria sifted through the various materials on the table instead of acknowledging Shadow's exit. His call with Gerald took place in a compact, private room with one monitor embedded into the wall. The old man appeared profoundly worn when his image hit the screen. Shadow's interest was drawn after Gerald rambled for a bit.
"The effects of your resonance with Maria are really promising. I'm surprised at how well your souls interact. Keeping you there has really worked out,"
"That's good," Shadow stated without much emotion. He was trying not to think about how angry Gerald had been when Maria first argued over letting him stay at ARK. He didn't need his emotional state getting any worse.
"With all that I've learned from your soul, I'm feeling optimistic about reshaping the world,"
"You think Maria can leave the island soon?"
"I'm not feeling that optimistic," Gerald grunted. "Your soul can neutralize magical wavelengths, but there are more problems that still need solving. Namely, the atmosphere. Even if I could somehow harness your power and remove chaos energy from wider regions of the world, the air itself is still hostile to humans,"
Gerald sighed with frustration before speaking further. "Even the diseases progressed quickly in a short time after the calamity. It's like the whole world is out to get the human race. I can't have a generation of artificially bred humans all running around the world on ventilators. They need the ability to thrive in this world independently,"
"But she could go see the world with the proper equipment, right? If I were with her,"
"I suppose, but there are still other concerns. You know the kinds of monsters that are out there. Plus, people will be wary of her simply because she's a human. If anyone finds out she's a Robotnik, it will only make others target her. That's why I've been spending so much time at the academy. I need to establish some form of order in this world that isn't completely reliant on me, since it's becoming harder and harder for me to leave,"
"Seems like all that might take a while,"
"Yes, that's why I don't want to get her hopes up this early on,"
"I see,"
"Don't you worry about Maria. She's tougher than she looks! She takes after me in that regard,"
Gerald laughed. It was a grating laugh that annoyed Shadow more often than not. It had easily managed to annoy him this time as well.
"Besides, I made her a promise that I fully intend to keep. I'll terraform the whole damn planet if I have to. But until I get it all figured out, I need you to keep Maria's mind off the outside world,"
"Right,"
"That's all for now,"
The screen abruptly cut to black. Shadow soon found that Maria had gone from the library. Despite the fact that tracking her down wouldn't be difficult, he wasn't sure he wanted to. In the end, he headed straight for a certain hilltop.
