Chapter 3

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow were all sitting around the dinner table as Tails recounted his trip to the university.

"Test subject? Specimen? If I ever meet this guy face to face he'll be calling me his worst nightmare!" scoffed Shadow angrily as he folded his arms. "So this guy wants to examine me?"

"Yes," replied Tails as he played with his water glass, "It would cover the basics such as brain scans, X-ray, MRI, CAT-scan, you know. The purpose is to see if use of the machine has altered anything in your brain at all. And if so, is it detrimental."

"I see…"

Sonic leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, "I say it's bogus. Shadow's fine. I don't like the sound of this creep and this whole thing reeks like Knuckles' cooking!"

The red echidna glared at him, "My cooking is NOT that bad! You still eat it! But anyways Tails, I say you go with your gut."

"I agree. I don't like his attitude but if you think Botner can be trusted, I'm willing to trust him as well." said Shadow as he gave a thoughtful nod.

"Well if you're on board Shadow, I'll give it more serious thought." Replied Tails as he finally took a bite of his pizza. "Mmm this is great Shadow!"

"Better than Sonic's?"

"Hmm… not quite."

Sonic smiled triumphantly, "Ha-ha, I knew it! This is good but only mine is the best!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes as he got up to get another helping, "Actually, I like Shadow's pizza better."

"What!? How is Shad's better?!"

"Crisper crust, more cheese, and it's not drowned in sauce." listed Knuckles as he munched on another slice. "Mmm, perfect!"

Shadow grinned as he elbowed Sonic, "Looks like we're tied for best pizza! What should we do for a tie breaker?"

Sonic thought for a minute before jumping up and dashing towards the living room, "Best two out of three on Tour of Duty! And I call first player!"

"Dammit Sonic you can't just call first player! Besides, I always get first player!" shouted Shadow as he dashed after him. The two pushed and shoved a little through the door way to the living room and after a slight scuffle for the remote and first person controller, they were blasting away at each other.

"For the love of Chaos…" mumbled Knuckles as he face-palmed, "You could swear they were kids sometimes."

Tails laughed as he poked Knuckles in the shoulder, "Oh, don't act like you haven't solved disputes with a couple rounds of Tour of Duty! Besides, it's so funny to hear them fight over first player."

"True. But Tails, about this Botner guy…" Knuckles' expression turned grave, "Are you sure it's such a good idea to let him examine Shadow? I mean I know I told you to go with your gut, but I can't help listening to mine either. Do you really trust him?"

"Not completely… but…" Tails glanced into the living room where Shadow and Sonic were playing video games. "If there's something wrong with Shadow, I'd rather know about it than not. But don't worry Knuckles; I'll keep a close eye on Botner. Now let's go see who's winning!"

About a week later, Shadow and Tails went to the University of Neurological Studies and met with Dr. Botner in his office who was delighted to see them. "Oh my goodness, Miles! Why didn't you mention your subject was Shadow the Hedgehog?! It is such an honor to meet a marvel of science like yourself!" exclaimed Dr. Botner as he heartily shook Shadow's hand with his massive paws.

"AHEM!" said Tails as he frowned, "Shadow is not my subject, he's my close friend."

"Right, of course. Silly me." Muttered Botner with a hint of annoyance before putting on a smile and asking pleasantly, "Would either of you care for some coffee? It's the only thing we have in abundance around here."

Shadow nodded with a skeptical glare, "Yes, just black."

"No problem. What about you Miles?" Tails shook his head as he dug out some notes from his bag. "Very well. Mikysara! Fetch some coffee if you're not too busy twiddling your thumbs over there! Black for Mr. Shadow and the usual for me." Mikysara, who was bent over some work, jumped up and dashed off. "Now then, before we move over to the laboratory let's do a basic exam. If you please?" Botner gestured to chair and Shadow took a seat.

"Don't you think you were kinda rude to that girl? It looked like she was busy." Commented Shadow as he sat down and followed a small pen light shined in his eyes.

"Oh pay her no mind, she's just an intern. Mikysara graduated from the University and she's studying under me to become a full-fledged scientist and teaching professor. Miles can you do me a favor and take notes? Pupil dilation and response is normal."

Tails opened one of his notebooks and scribbled down the information as he said, "Still, you could be a little nicer. She seems really sweet."

"That's only because you don't work with her every day. Reflexes normal." Replied Botner with a tone of cynicism as he hit Shadow's knee with a little rubber mallet and it kicked out immediately. They proceeded to do a basic auditory test and determined that all of Shadow's basic senses were normal when Mikysara came back with the coffee. The group than went down the hall to the university's laboratory and preformed several other tests on Shadow while taking careful notes of the results.

After two hours of being poked, prodded, and run through various scans and devices, Shadow sat down heavily in a chair and remarked, "So, are my brains going to run out of my ears or am I going to live?"

laughed, it was very loud, rough booming noise that made everyone want to cringe slightly, and replied, "No, no Mr. Shadow from the looks of things, everything is normal. The machine has given you no detrimental side effects." He turned to Tails and shook his hand, "My congratulations Miles your machine works perfectly. We should begin compiling a full report for the Association for Applied Medical Research and Sciences and-"

"Hold on Doctor." interrupted Tails as he held up his hands in a time-out signal, "One successful trail doesn't mean the machine is perfect. I would like to test it a few more times and see if I can increase how much can be restored in one usage."

"Well how much can it restore in its current state?"

"Only one memory."

"One memory is a miracle in itself, more would be bordering on an act of Gaia! Really Miles, I think one memory at a time is-" began the doctor as he turned away while scribbling on a clipboard.

Tails jumped in front of him shouted, "It's not enough! With all due respect to your intellect , you have NO idea what sort of technology went into making the machine a reality! To reproduce it, especially on a large scale, would be extremely expensive so as a result, treatments would have to be expensive so hospitals and clinics can cover the cost."

Botner was clearly becoming irritated as he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "And that is a problem because?"

"It's a problem because patients being treated with the machine would get less for their money and would only afford to get some of their memories back and they would be forced to choose the ones more precious to them. How would you feel, Doctor, if you were forced to choose a few memories that you want to keep out of an entire lifetime of living?" There was a long silence as Tails glared up at the elderly bear, his expression firm. Shadow looked on, carefully examining both of their faces while Mikysara watched in shock as Tails stood up to Botner.

At long last, Dr. Botner sighed, "Very well Miles. A wise man once said, 'If it isn't broke, don't fix it' but if you feel the need to tinker with it more, who am I to stop you? After all, you're the inventor, not me. When can I expect results?"

"That depends." Responded Tails as he relaxed slightly, "I don't know how long the modifications will take. If you don't hassle me with your phone calls, I believe I could manage at least a slight increase in a month or two."

"A month or two!? That's ludicrous! How are we supposed to present this machine at that slow rate?" exclaimed Botner with frustration clear in his voice.

Shadow now stepped in as he placed himself in front of Tails, "Hey back off! I don't see you making the damn thing! When it's ready, its ready so just be patient, your Noble Prize isn't going anywhere."

At this Botner scoffed as if the thought had never crossed his mind, "Noble Prize? Miles and I already agreed to focus on making sure this machine gets to the public and not the notoriety that could come of it. And because of my interests of getting the device to the public that I want to move this project along."

"Sure you are. Are we done here?"

"Yes; we are." muttered Botner as he turned to back Tails with a small glare towards Shadow, "I'll be looking forward to your progress Miles. Good luck."

"Thank you Doctor, I'll be in touch." Said Tails as he gathered up his notes and him and Shadow left the office. On the way home, the kitsune remarked sarcastically, "That went well. I can't wait until this project is over and done with so I don't have to deal with him anymore…"

Shadow nodded with agreement, "Amen. He's an asshole; especially to that poor intern. If I was her, I'd find a new job."

"Yeah. Thanks for having my back in there by the way. It's not easy staring down someone three times your size."

"Don't mention it. He's lucky I didn't knock him on his ass."

"TIMBER!" shouted Tails playfully before bursting out laughing, "Oh, that would have been awesome to see!" The two laughed the whole rest of the way home as they made jokes about Dr. Botner and his mannerisms. Upon arriving home, Tails and Shadow recounted the day and Sonic and Knuckles immediately shared in their dislike of Dr. Botner. After hearing some words of warning and suggestions to be cautious, Tails went down into the lab to begin working.

He worked tirelessly over the next weeks doing more research, tinkering, switching out parts and rewiring various things. Finally, a month and a half later, Tails was ready for a second test. All four of them were gathered together in Tails' lab in the basement as the young fox prepared his machine for the test. As he fired it up he said to Sonic and Knuckles, "Ok, I'm almost ready. But, I'm pumping so much power into this thing I might trip the breaker. If that happens, I need one of you to reset it ASAP. I hooked up a back-up power source but it's just three car batteries. It'll do the trick if the breaker goes but not for long. I would use flux crystals, but they are waaay above my budget."

"Don't worry, we'll be ready." assured Sonic. "What'd you do to it that makes it use so much juice?"

"Well, I tripled how many memories get restored, so now it does three at a time, but that takes a lot of power."

Knuckles walked around the machine scratching his head, "Explain how this thing works again? Last time you said something about a disc?"

Tails laughed a little as he crawled underneath the device to double check the connections and such, "The analogy I used was that the information in your brain was data on a disc and the brain itself was a disc player. When we forget something, the data gets corrupted and the brain can't read that part of the disc anymore."

"So the machine takes the 'corrupted data' and fixes it?" finished Sonic.

"Sort of. There's no way to store a memory using technology; it's literally impossible. I've tried everything and read every scrap of research and theory I could find but the only thing that can store a memory is the brain. So, that's why I had to modify my design. Now, the machine takes the memory from Shadow and stores in me while it restores it. Than it transfers it back and overwrites the corrupted memory so he can remember it whenever he wants."

Knuckles scratched his head thoughtfully, "Wait, that's fine for us but what about when this thing is being used in hospitals? Who would be the one acting as temporary storage?"

Shadow took his seat near the machine, "Not to mention, does it have any side effects on you?"

"Not really. Because the machine is using MY brain to restore the memory, I see and experience it second-hand but other than that its fine. As for real world applications, it could be a family member or something, I don't know. I'll work out that later." Tails took his seat as well, "OK, let's gives this a try. I hope the capacitator doesn't blow. Those things are expensive. Ready Shadow?"

"Ready. Fire it up." replied the obsidian hedgehog with a nod. Sonic went over to the breaker and opened the case, ready to reset it, and gave a thumbs up.

Tails exhaled and threw the switch, "Here goes…"

The machine came to life with a slow rumble, the screen showing the message, 'Transferring Memory 1'. Shadow and Tails both flinched slightly as the damaged memory traveled from Shadow to Tails. The young fox caught bits and pieces of a dark room with technology and something white moving back and forth. The screen flashed 'Restoring Memory 1' and Tails gritted his teeth against the static sensation that zapped through his brain. Things were clearer now; Tails could identify more of the objects in the room and he noticed something he hadn't before. In the foreground there was a tray full of surgical implements and some of them were bloody. There was a sensation of pain. The sound of rustling cloth was now accompanied by the movement of the white thing as well as anxious muttering. There was a little bit of light accompanied by a creaking door and a high, sweet voice. This was followed by the white figure turning round and yelling something and the door slammed shut. The machine beeped as an orange light flashed the message, 'Rewriting Memory 1'. Shadow winced as the static now filled his mind the memory came rushing back.

The room was dark and the surface he was lying on was cold. Everything in his body hurt and he felt like it was hard to breathe. He slowly became aware of a steady BEEP BEEP BEEP sound in the background and focusing on that brought him further into consciousness. Shadow's eyes opened a little more and scanned the room. There were bloody surgical instruments on a tray to the right and in front of him, a tall man in a lab coat with a bushy gray moustache was pacing back and forth muttering. Shadow couldn't make it out but sounded like complicated, technical stuff. The room lit up slightly as a door creaked open and a blonde-haired blue eyed girl stuck her head in, "Grandfather? Do you want to play with me?"

"Maria! I've told you a thousand times not to come in here when I'm working! Go; we can play when I'm finished!" scolded the man. The girl looked sad as she left, the door slamming shut behind her.

Shadow gasped slightly as the memory ended and the machine began transferring and restoring the second memory. The second memory was brief; it consisted of Shadow being hooked up to various machines and the same tall man examining him and taking notes.

The third memory was the longest of the three. Shadow was standing next to the tall man in the same room the other two memories took place in. The door opened and the same blonde girl, Maria, walked in slowly. "Maria," said the man, "This is Shadow. He is the Ultimate Lifeform."

She looked him up and down before asking, "Is this what you've been working on for so long Grandfather?"

"Yes my dear. Shadow is going to change the world."

"For good right?"

"Of course. That's why I created him; to make the world a better place for you and for everyone else." The tall man looked down at Shadow and nudged him slightly, "Well don't just stand there like a statue, say hello to my granddaughter."

Shadow looked up at him and back at Maria who was staring in wonder at him before saying, "Hello." It was emotionless and bland but never the less he couldn't help but gasp at the sound of his own voice.

Maria giggled at his surprise, "I'm Maria. It's nice to meet you. You seem like a really nice person Shadow." He didn't know how to respond to this so Shadow just stood there looking at his shoes. Maria giggled again, "That was a compliment silly. You're supposed to say thank you."

"Oh… Thank you?" replied Shadow hesitantly. His own voice still sounded so foreign and strange.

His bewilderment caused Maria to giggle even more and the tall man chuckled a little himself as he said, "Don't worry Shadow; I'm sure Maria would be happy to show you the ins and outs of common conversation. You'll get the hang of it."

"I would love to!" exclaimed Maria as she gave Shadow a hug, "We're going to be best friends, I just know it!"

Tails' machine beeped rapidly as a green light blinked and the screen read 'All Memories Successfully Rewritten'. Shadow and Tails took their helmets off as Knuckles and Sonic came back over from the breaker.

Tails rubbed his temples, the memories still echoing in his mind, and groaned as he swayed slightly in his seat, "Ugh… that was a little more… taxing than I thought. Did we trip the breaker?"

Sonic shook his head, "Nope. The lights flickered a little but other than that everything was fine. Are you guys ok?"

"I'm alright. I think I just need a minute to… collect myself. How do you feel Shadow? Did all three memories come back?"

"Yes. All three of them are crystal clear. I think they're some of my first memories after my creation." Replied Shadow as he slowly stood.

"Your first memories huh? That's crazy. Not even normal people who don't have amnesia can remember stuff like that." pointed out Knuckles as they began to head back upstairs.

"Well you have to remember, I was created. I wasn't born like a normal person so I was never an infant, child or anything like that."

Tails nodded, scribbling in a notebook as he replied, "Shadow's right. How he is now is exactly how he was when he first gained consciousness as a living being. He came into the world fully developed and fully functioning so he would have viable memory of his first moments. This test does bring something to my attention though."

"And what's that?" asked Sonic.

"There's no way to control which memories are restored. It just picks them at random. It could be useful to put in some sort of control mechanism that could allow you to select a time period or a certain span of time… If I connect a fixed feed to the cerebral… than an extra joint adjuster…" Tails had flipped to a new page in his book and was now sketching out what new part he would have to create for the machine.

Knuckles rolled his eyes and shook his head, "There he goes off into TechGeek Land. Does anybody understand what the heck he's saying?"

"I sure as heck don't. But, Tails, you should watch your going." said Sonic as he stopped Tails from running into the wall.

"Oh oops. Thanks Sonic. Hey, I'm going to look into this idea of mine. I'll see you guys in a bit." Replied Tails as he turned around and went back down in the lab still scribbling.

Shadow watched him go and sighed, "He works so hard on that thing and the last thing he's thinking about is the fame that'll come with it. All he's concerned with is helping people."

"Yeah, he's a good kid." agreed Sonic, "I'm pretty proud to call him my bro."

"What are we, chopped liver?" asked Knuckles sarcastically as he gave Sonic a playful push.

Sonic pushed him back, "You said it, not me!" Shadow laughed as the two wrestled a little in the hallway but his thoughts quickly turned back to Tails and the machine.

'Tails really is incredible though. To think, he's so young and yet he's accomplishing things that others could only dream of doing! That Botner guy seemed pretty keen to know anything and everything but Tails was pretty firm with him. It's only a matter of time before he starts pestering Tails again or starts snooping around for answers…' thought Shadow as he looked at the door of Tails lab. He could see the genius kit-sun as his desk looking over various reference books and research notes, searching for the answers he was looking for and connecting the dots. 'Chaos as my witness there's no way is going to take advantage of all Tails' hard work for his own greedy uses…'