Chapter 2: Reboot

"Dave! Hey, Dave, get over here!"

Dave Derring, the appointed leader of the archeological excavation of the Rail Canyon site, headed over to where his assisant and half-brother was crouched over something.

"What is it, Bob? Another android?" Dave asked.

"Not too far off. Look at this."

Dave adjusted his glasses. He blinked, took his glasses off, put them back on, and then slowly turned his head towards his grinning assistant. Then they both started shouting and laughing almost hysterically. This was the find of the century. They were both going to become very rich men, and they both knew it. This was it: the Masterpiece, the one creation that the long-passed Dr Eggman was never able to top in his lifetime. Sure, the paint was stripped off, half its limbs were smashed, and the engine torso was a wreck, but as long as that huge head filled to the brim with amazing AI hardware was fully intact, this artifact was the ultimate treasure of modern archeology.

Once he'd calmed down, Dave Derring immediatelly got to work. "Bob, go back to the camp and tell everyone they're back on duty right now. I want cameras, trace samples, the works. We've got a lot of documentation to do here, and no time to waste. Go!"

That event took place only two days after Silver and Blaze made their initial discoveries. Now it was two weeks later. Silver would probably have forgotten about the ruin by now, if it weren't for the image of the decapitated Shadow android, which still had him waking up in a cold sweat at night.

It was Saturday night, there was no outside work available, so naturally Silver was at home in his Central City apartment, watching TV. Blaze was there, too, sitting on the opposite end of the couch, munching chili peppers out of a big bowl like they were peanuts. She'd never felt the need for a permanent residence, so she usually crashed at Silver's place whenever she was in town.

"Tonight," the television announcer announced, "live from CC University, you'll get to watch the event of the century. In a few minutes the infamous hermit Shadow the Hedgehog will no longer be the only living witness around to refuse an interview-"

The announcer, a really annoying newscaster who spent way too much time in front of the camera, had an amazing sense of humour. Just the fact that he got both Silver and Blaze to roll their eyes in perfect synchronisation said enough about it.

"The greatest scientists of Earth have been working 'round the clock to restore this astounding relic to functional capacity. And tonight, for the first time in two hundred years, before your very eyes, it will be reactivated. Rest assured, though, folks, even though we're dealing with a monster the likes of which few have ever seen, it will be fully restrained and unable to do any harm to yours truly until it's deactivated again at the end of our show, in about an hour."

Loathe as he was to let anything other than himself fill the spotlight, the announcer waited until his speech was done before letting the cameras shift their focus to the thing positioned at the center of the stage.

Silver gasped. "Metal Sonic!" he shouted, standing up in the couch.

"That's right," the announcer went on. "The greatest robot villain in all of recorded history! Metaaaaaaal Sooooooonic!!"

"That idiot!" Silver shouted over the roar of applause from the audience in the television studio. "We've got to get over there and stop them right away!"

Blaze had enough respect for her friend's judgement that she didn't argue, but ran out along with him. She hadn't been present when Silver chased Eggman Nega back in time and encountered the evil blue robot, so she accepted that he probably knew of Metal Sonic's capabilities better than she did. Still, Blaze doubted just how dangerous a two centuries-old robot could possibly be.

-

Total blackness. Darkness within darkness. Then, suddenly, lines of bright green text spanning across a black screen.

System online...

Long lines of technical gibberish, barely comprehensible even to a computer wiz. Dr Eggman, seeing the faults and limitations of the available coding languages, had rejected all of them and written his own from scratch. His was more versatile and offered greater potential by far, but only he or someone with an IQ approaching his formidable 300 could possibly understand any of it.

Finally, the last lines of text were plain English:

Review objectives:
1) Defeat Sonic the Hedgehog (Primary).
2) Serve and protect Dr Eggman (Secondary).
3) Aid in establishment of Eggman Empire (Tertiary).

In the television studio where he was held by a metal containment device, locking his limbs in place, Metal Sonic's red irises blinked to life for the first time in two centuries. His first sight was of hundreds of humans and animals sitting in rows of seats in front of him, applauding loudly. He looked to his right and saw a pathetic-looking human watching him with anxiousness but not fear. On the far sides of the stage were humans working devices that resembled recording apparatus.

"Welcome back, Metal Sonic," said the human on stage. "How does it feel?"

ERROR! Memory files conflicting with initial system configuration. Repairing...


Overwritting erroneous data...


Review objectives:
1) Defeat Sonic the Hedgehog (Primary).
2) Defeat Dr Eggman (Secondary).
3) Establish total supremacy (Tertiary).

"Where is Sonic the Hedgehog?" said Metal Sonic.

The announcer gave an annoying cluckle. "Well, Metal Sonic," he said in a patronising tone of voice. "You've been asleep for a really long time. I'm afraid Sonic died a long time ago."

"Incorrect," said Metal Sonic.

The robot's actions happened so fast that by the time the first audience member had time to scream, Metal's claws were already at the announcer's throat. What had happened, as the slow-motion replays would show in the news broadcast later that same night, was that Metal fired up the jet engine located in his chest, releasing a flame that melted through the restrains holding him. With the metal bonds weakened, it was a simple job for the powerful robot to snap its arms and legs free.

"Where is Sonic the Hedgehog?" Metal Sonic repeated, increasing the pressure on the human's throat.

"He's-He's-dead! B-buried! I ca-"

"Incorrect!"

Metal Sonic killed him. Just like that. Then he turned his attention to the panicking audience.

"Where is Sonic the Hedgehog?"

In the next chapter:
- Metal fights our heroes.
- Blaze is injured.
- Shadow does absolutely nothing.