PoC: PenFullofChaos819 own nothing within, including info in the data his computer erased when it crashed T_T

Metal: It erased me too. It…it was awful… Like being stuck in a lonely world of darkness with not so much as a speck of joy-giving light… Uh… Actually Pen, can I be erased again?

PoC: You cannot! Now sit down and suffer my latest chap! No data deletion will slow me down!

Silver: No big deal anyway, right? I mean this IS only the epilogue right?

PoC: ?

Metal: Again with the frog-talk Silver? Just what the hell are you babbling about?

Silver: ? The story's end, of course! What else?

Metal: Neither this story nor my pain is ending anytime soon, so just shut your mouth!

PoC: Oh I get it now.

Metal: Eh? What? You get what?

PoC: We're not where you are yet Silv. No spoilers if you please.

Silver: Whoa my bad! My lips are zipped!

Metal: CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?

-l-

Unrequited

-l-

Now miles above the ground, it became apparent that the cargo was weighing the ship down something awful. Tilting, teetering, or taking small turns all made the lower deck groan as if it was planning to separate any second from the main body. Panic may not have been a standard protocol for the aptly trained pilots of Eggman's ranks; however the current crew still blew several fuses whilst handling the situation. Flying the ship had escalated to a full on argument between the educated, but individually stubborn, pilot and co-pilot, both of which fought the other for control of the wheel. Matters were complicated further when a careless rookie, who's rational remains mystery to this day, felt compelled to activate the fire alarm, thereby plunging the cabin into total darkness save for a small flashing red light. Naturally this prompted the cabin bots to inform the pilots of the newly 'discovered' fire, which of course only led to more deranged chaos aboard the once-happy vessel.

Only one member remained indifferent to the surrounding idiocy. His immunity was not self-chosen, as he normally would've smacked the designated driver or drivers upside their heads for being ridiculous. Right now he was preoccupied elsewhere; assuming preoccupied meant the same thing as 'spacing out'. His blank looks were more than fitting for someone who had just returned from a mission filled with treachery, revelations, and ultimately the death of a fellow soldier. Then again, he was a robot. What was a mindless machine supposed to say or do? He couldn't mourn, but nor could he relax. Instead, he resigned to a state of apathy and to a mind of silence. Was that so unfitting for a slave of Eggman's make?

Maybe not, but that's probably why he was upset, why he couldn't stay apathetic. 72 had left so many things on his mind, things he knew he shouldn't be thinking. In him burned a blaze of latent emotions, but none of them were centered on anger. Rather, they made him feel weak and pitiful. What had 85 called it? Sadness? Had he felt that before? He didn't know because he couldn't remember. All he could do is wonder why he was 'sad'. What was there to be sad about? He had accomplished his mission, he had killed the traitor, and he was now going to receive all instead of just partial credit. All those things were positive, so shouldn't he be experiencing 'happy', a positive emotion?

"Not again…" he thought irritably "So much I don't understand." his eyes vanished to indicate he had 'shut' them. Putting his arms in a criss-cross pattern over his upper legs, Metal had assumed the unmistakable position of a teen drowned in thought. Every day he thought his life couldn't get any more complicated, but then someone or something would come along and prove him wrong. These complications weren't always a bad thing, were they? Dwelling on it now, he found he disliked most of the 'surprises' he'd had so far. Those said surprises usually came in the form of the 'people' he'd met.

"My master: A greedy fool who only tries to use me for personal benefit. E-85: A doting female that thinks she has all the answers." He placed some sexist value on the word female, but mostly out of his pride and not of what he truly thought "Orbot: A classical whipping-bot and probably a spy for the doctor. E-99: A devoutly loyal chump that would probably cut off his own arm if the master willed it. The cleaner brothers: Annoying and filthy fools that seem content with their disgusting jobs. E-72…"

Metal stopped there. Though he hadn't known him long, the fire-machine seemed to have more to say than all the other combined. He was crude, but perceptive; crazy, but farsighted. Metal wished he'd gotten a chance to talk with him, if only to figure out how he thought. 72 never cared for authority or rules. He fought and died following his own orders. Not just that either, as he had also given the copy some advice before dying, despite the fact that he hated his Sonic-like design.

He said… We were mistakes just like him…" Metal pondered this meaning, soon afterwards catching something else "That's right. He said we not you. Was referring to…her maybe?" the replica hedgehog was certain, as not many other creations were called 'prototype' of late. Did this mean they all were flawed together?

Metal could take being 'different' from the other rabble. No hatred by the lesser crowd was going to bother him, even if they did make attempts on his life like 75 had. As far as he knew, only E-99 had specs high enough to pose a minor threat, and he was the master's tool. There's no way he would take matters into his own hands as the pyromaniac had.

What of 72's other warning? What did he mean by making a choice? It was another bad question to ask, for there was no E-72 left to get answers from, leaving Metal to deal with everything on his own…as always. How frustrating could life get?

"We're going down! All personnel strap on your escape trans-locators! I repeat, all personnel strap on your escape trans-locators!" a crewman shouted as the turbulence began to get even worse.

"When you ask for trouble…" Metal sighed, attaching a trans-locator pin to his chest. The ship was now oscillating in an unnerving rhythm, feeling more and more unsteady as they lost altitude. Pretty soon, the crew with Metal included had to cling at an angle to avoid being dropped out of the gaping hull.

"Alright people, specify your trans-pins for these coordinates." the officer in charge of the crew said whilst given out the needed information "If anyone here doesn't have a trans-pin, have the troop that has one be in direct contact with you. Is that clear?" the group nodded and did as instructed "Alright, begin transfer on my mark: Three…two….one!"

"WAIT! Don't leave me sir!" a voice shouted from the front of the ship. All heads turned to see the rookie trapped by a malfunctioning door that had smashed down on his leg.

The officer offered a look of concern, but at the pilot's warning that they were now seconds from impact, he finished his orders "Activate transport NOW!" and vanished with his group.

Metal had witnessed the head of these men, starkly against protocol, abandon ship first instead of waiting to make sure the others were out safely. Sickened by the robot's cowardice, Metal had noticed that the others around him hadn't left because none had trans-pins of their own, a fact that only left him more disgusted.

Choosing to forgo time wasting orders, Metal gathered the leftovers and, against his ego, gestured for all of them to lay hands on him. Two touched his shoulder, while the third and fourth grabbed his right forearm. Trying to keep his balance long enough to get the pin activated, Metal stole a short glance at the rookie who was still trapped at the leg. Knowing he had no way of saving him in these conditions made the doppelganger's despair start to kick in, almost making him hesitate. However, the firm but shaky look of understanding on the inexperienced robot's face ensured him that he was doing the right thing.

Lifting his left hand up as fast as he could, Metal jammed the trans-pin as hard as he could. Not a fraction of a second later, he and the others vanished in a flash of light.

L

*Egg base: Sky-port*

L

A large body of units was standing as ordered. Most had thought themselves either foolish for being early, while a handful had feared had missed something in their lateness. In both cases, the prepared robots were wondering the exact same thing as the general in charge:

Where was the last mission's ship? Why had it missed it's strictly scheduled arrival completely?

The person in charge, E-99 of course, was too beginning to fear the worst. He had received word several hours ago indicating that Metal and the crew and indeed obtained the Gerald project and were en route to the base. All signs of enemy pursuit were reportedly negative on numerous occasions. If not an enemy attack, what could've gone wrong in the short distance they had left to cover?

E-99 didn't know how much longer they could wait before telling the master. Feeling heavy disgrace for giving up on a unit of brave soldiers, the war-bot refused to stop hoping. He had been informed that E-72 was dead before the voyage started, thus already suffered some guilt on that matter. 72 was a loose cannon to be sure, but he was still a brother worth protecting and mourning for. Now he only hoped he wouldn't have to add the rest of them to the R.I.A. list.

He wasn't prepared to be startled by a sudden tap on his large arm. Whirling around to investigate, inwardly hoping for an update on the missing men, he found nothing. Confused by this, he looked left and right for some trace of the person. Realizing he might've been imagining it, 99 shifted back to his original position.

As soon as he had though, he heard someone clear their throat. It was not synthetic, as used by his kind for calling attention to himself, but instead was a 'real' sounding voice in the same direction the 'poke' had come from. Shifting around again more sharply resulted in yelp coming from the ground. 99 at last shot his gaze downwards to see an unexpected sight recovering itself from a fall.

"Well if it isn't the little prototype." 99 spoke rather diminutively, as if talking to a child. He then sunk down on one large knee to get more on her level "This really isn't a place for you. You should be getting back inside with all the others." he kindly advised the smaller special robot.

Silvia was so glad he didn't ask her why she wasn't in a coma, as question she had had to dodge off several times already. Seeing him treat her so…differently would've felt insulting if she were not so concerned about something else. Sitting up as straight and formal as she could, the girl asked in the most soldierly way she could manage "Excuse me sir. I'm here to inquire about the late arrival of…um…the-the project - yes the project - at master Eggman's request sir." She softly cursed herself for blundering in front of the general himself, but hoped her act would suffice enough to make him talk.

E-99 nodded endearingly down on the eager little helper below him and replied "It's good to see such fine spirit in one so small, but we have the matter well in hand as you can see. Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell you and the master if there is anything to report, sound good?" the large robot was too full of his important air to see the look of raw anger on the girl's face. Rising up to his full height, the old general left the hybrid without answers.

"I need to know about Metal." Her little voice spoke again, this time making no attempt to hide her frustration and informality "Tell me if you've heard from him!"

E-99 was a tad put off by this new 'face' he was seeing in her, and so decided it was time to lay the truth down on the smaller robot "I'm sorry miss, but what you are asking for is classified information. I cannot tell you anything about him, so you might as well stop asking and run along." His dismissals complete, the robot leader intended to offer her no further reply.

"Who said anything about 'asking'?" the girl growled just loud enough for him to wonder, before he felt some sort of sting in his side. Whatever it was, it restricted his movement and voice while keeping him in a calm standing position. Though jarred by this sneak attack, 99 looked up to see the mobian-like girl perched on his shoulder "I'm not trying to start trouble. I just have to know if Metal is alright. Please! You have to tell me!" she begged quietly, so as to not attract any more unwanted attention.

The big general immediately turned to obeying his programming, which inclined him to refuse. It wasn't her place to know what goes on inside internal affairs. Not mention this attack on him could result in her dismantling without Eggman's approval.

However, he didn't catch something he should've caught in her tone earlier. She was worried, no fearful. Her whole body was trying to keep from rattling so hard that only her chin now quivered slightly. Add this to the fact that she would risk attacking a man of high command, meant that she really must be worried over that renegade Metal.

Against is better judgment, 99 chose to forget his instincts for the smallest moment to say "We've been looking for him and the others for awhile, but have so far made no contact. Soon we will be dispatching a rescue team out to their possible point of impact; meanwhile others will send an update to Eggman. As I said before little one, we have the matter well in hand."

Silvia's ears drooped at the expected information, but she still remembered to set the large E-99 free, who thankfully chose not to seek retaliation. Ever since she had heard from E-85 that Metal was well past his scheduled arrival, Silvia had walked across every part of the Sky-port searching for someone who could answer her questions. It wasn't until she found 57 and 69 again that she learned about E-99's investigating team. Now that she was here, she almost wished she hadn't found out. The ordeal was not enough to make her panic, but it was inciting some unhealthy behavior, such as attacking general and dunking a janitor into his own bucket.

Her carelessness aside, Silvia didn't know where to go from here. She would go off searching for him in a heartbeat if it meant she'd actually be able to help. Her logical side told her to stay put and wait for further developments, while her third side was telling her to do whatever she had her heart set on.

And so that's what she did.

Using her own invasive systems to obtain the approximate crash site coordinates; the hybrid was ready to go out at look for him and his crew. Unnoticed by the huge crowd around her, the girl knew it would be easy to get outside the base limits. With general course set, Silvia bravely prepared to march out into the unknown, to hell with the punishment for going AWOL.

"Incoming transfer signatures! Three and a half clicks off our current location sir!" a scout's voice rang in her powerful ears, followed by a distant "How many are there?"

That was enough to make her retrace her steps back the huge commander's side. Only E-99 noted her presence briefly before turning back to his scout saying "Get the medical crew down here immediately. I need you to count heads for how many we lost."

Lost? What did he mean by lost? Did that mean dead or just missing? Agitation and lack of answers sent the over-eager prototype up the general once again. 99 had seen her of course, and was not looking to happy about the current report he had received. Tipping his head down a bit to meet her desperate gaze, 99 prepared to break the sad news to her "I'm sorry little prototype, but I'm afraid Metal is…" but his sentence never got farther than that as his scout returned with a second report "Sir! Another transmission seconds after the first! It appears to be the rest of your men!"

Before he could express his shock or relief, the general felt something small blast by his feet not a millisecond after the scout had spoken. Blinking several times in confusion, the general soon let out a hearty laugh of understanding "Good work soldier. We'll get the story from the survivors, and then we can assemble crew to retrieve the lost project. Dismissed."

L

*With Metal*

L

What a remarkably uncomfortable landing. His transfer away from the human base hadn't been nearly this jostling or hard. Then it occurred to the copy that he had carried along several stragglers for the ride home. One of them was crushing his face with their big torso, prompting him to toss the scrap heap off him. As soon as the robot rose, he and the rest of the crew busily thanked him over and over for saving their lives. Having all this attention didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. Actually he enjoyed having the credit for a change, although, he couldn't get the one bot they left out of his mind.

"I need to worry less." He offered some self-made advice "Cutting losses is a part of combat, even when working with a team." This was enough get him steadied again, at least so he could enjoy glory-hogging a little bit longer. Sadly his light in the spotlight was dissipated suddenly for unknown reasons. Seeing every crewman turn in the same direction could only mean that that bloated E-99 had come to steal his thunder.

Pushing past the two blot-brains in front of him, Metal was riled up and ready to tell the big buffoon off. That was until he bumped into something soft, warm, and…silver? Rubbing his head from the prior collision, Metal looked up to see…her, the prototype in front of his very eyes…

…who just so happened to be a mere inch from the tip of his nose.

'Blinking' twice the steely hedgehog awkwardly backed up a step, hoping nothing like that ever happened to him again, least of all when he had an audience. Silvia cocked her head puzzlingly, wondering why he had chosen to pull back rather quickly, thus confirming that she still had no understanding of the term 'personal bubble'.

Feeling very foolish for his blunder upon seeing her again, Metal tried to force something out, but kept his eyes averted while he did so "It's…uhh…good to see you're doing well, not that I thought you wouldn't be, I just was worried… W-Wait no! I was most certainly NOT worried! I simply wondered how you were…uhh…getting by while I was gone?" if Metal could've shot himself, or buried his head into a thick wall of steel, he would have done so right now. That couldn't have failed any harder if he had been trying, or at least that's how it seemed to him. Deciding to not risk any further humiliation, the cold machine made a firm effort to walk away.

"I wasn't worried about you either." Her voice stopped him in his tracks "I knew you would come back to us safely." He turned back to see her smiling softly, not even trying hide what she was thinking.

Kicking himself for almost stomping off like an ass, Metal stepped back up to her and spoke "Alright maybe I was a LITTLE worried, but don't you go thinking I've gone soft or something! I was only concerned that you might be a little too new to handle things on your own." That was as close to a confession as he would get, and it was frankly a very poor one.

To his good fortune, Silvia seemed to understand well enough to say "It was kind of tough, but now I'll get to show you how much I've improved." She replied, getting a sideways look from the proud Metal. Stepping away, she turned back for only a short moment to say "And…well I…I was actually worried about you too." Afterwards, she left without another word.

Oblivious to his surroundings, Metal was so stuck on their exchange that he hadn't noticed the hulking robot approach from be behind. Seeing Metal Sonic so clearly distracted caused the heavy E-99 to laugh and say "Welcome back to us Metal. I see you've been looking out for your men where my subordinate did not. You have my thanks."

When Metal offered no reply, not even an acknowledgment that he had spoken, the general continued "However, you're conduct around civilians could use some fine tuning. That one in particular was especially eager to see you. If I were you, I'd give her a more proper welcome than that…before she gets too far away." Seeing the hedgehog wasn't taking his 'subtle' hint, the commander concluded with "Whatever you decide though, we will be staging retrieval operations soon. Should you choose to join us report back to me within the hour." Having finished offering his advice, 99 returned to questioning the survivors.

Unsure of what the general had been implying in his cryptic advice, Metal merely shrugged and left to find something to do with his time.

-l-

End of Chapter Sixteen

-l-

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Well, it may still be the "eve" for me, but you get the point! XD Yes, Metal is a bit hard-headed in this chap, but give the tough guy some time and I'll make him warm up.

Serenity: Yup she's a cool parental figure to those two! Sneaky and cunning enough to fool Silvia pretty easily. Oh you do you now? Heh-heh! Oh and before I forget: Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy yourself as much as I have!

DanceDream: Well who wouldn't? I mean given her circumstances, think anyone would roll over and play dead! E-85 is fun to write XD. Yeah, Eggman needed to get lost so Metal and Silvia can have some priva-uhh I mean…so he can work on his next big scheme! Yeah that's it! What? Don't give me that look! XD All good guesses, check that, very good guesses. But I dare say it's impossible to see what I've got coming! Happy New Year! P.S. That was a beautiful quote. Yes I know it's not Christmas anymore, but still :)

Super Shadix 520: I hoped you liked the chap! Oh and yeah I'm guessing you can kind of guess what Silver went and did now XD. Happy New Year to you! Hope your celebration goes well!

Infamousplot: I'm very glad you liked it. I had to have some time to give her my character development scene. I won't re-write it, even though the scene with Eggman still seems a bit random. By the way, sorry TD's absence! I just haven't found a good time to 'activate' him. Thank you and have a Happy New Year! P.S. I didn't have time to proof read this, so you can expect some errors :\

Until next time, and next year! Ten minutes remaining (geez I stay up too late XD)!