Chapter Twenty-Three
It had been several hours since the completion of his mission. With his brothers liberated, Omega decided to reserve his ammo until the next battle by experiencing life. He headed to Emerald Coast, the beach where he'd pursued a frog during his servitude to Doctor Robotnik. Only now, he was going there on different terms.
The bulky battle robot walked along the shoreline, surveying the view, and watching as a pair of Orca whales leaped out of the water. Seagulls flew over, chirping in unison.
Omega scanned his environment, picking up on the temperature and speed of the wind. A gentle sea breeze floated through Emerald Coast and a calm wave rolled in, Omega made sure he was safe enough from the water to ensure his circuitry didn't get wet.
As he took in the tropical scenery, he saw no signs of environmental damage from his battle with the cat known as Big from when he was pursuing Froggy. Nature must have taken course, the sands were undisturbed, and there were no damaged palm trees or fallen coconuts. Omega continued to silently observe his surroundings, processing the ideas of peace.
Just being here, enjoying the organic without any trouble, the advanced Badnik could feel... whatever passed for relief from a robotic point of view. But this felt right; no mad scientists ordering him around, no chasing frogs and fighting organics or other robots. This peace, it made more sense than fighting.
But then, did fighting make sense as well? If peace was the goal of nature, then it was sensible to fight against whatever threatened that peace.
Omega reached into the ground and scooped up a handful of sand in his claws, watching as it sank from his fingers and fell back onto the beach. He took his time to process this, wondering what would happen if he set part of this beach on fire. Mix sand and fire, it would create glass, wouldn't it?
Doing that would mean disturbing the environment and ruining the peace.
Peace, freedom, happiness. All of those ideals leaned into positivity, countering the forces of negativity. War, destruction, sorrow. No one needed to deal with the likes of pain, tyranny and losing what they loved. When Robotnik created him, it had been for the sole purpose of destruction and terror. Now, thanks to that girl, he had a new motivation.
Omega had fought to liberate his brothers from the doctor's influence, bringing freedom to the animals inside those Badniks. A Badnik fighting against its own creator, fighting on the side of organic life.
Perhaps it was so, that there was a future where organics and machines could co-exist without the likes of Robotnik to dictate how it could be done.
"Well, well. I didn't think I'd see you again, big fella."
He turned around, detecting a life form in the vicinity. And there she was, the woman from the hotel at the pool; Shirley Budacous, wearing a straw hat and a light pink swimsuit, walking in Omega's direction. The robot felt a click in his circuitry, his hand briefly twitching, and memories of his first interaction began to replay in his memory banks.
Omega looked at the approaching human female, his red eyes blinking as he gave her a brief scan before he looked up into her orange-colored eyes. He could understand peace and, while he never thought much about it, he was starting to process the concept of beauty.
Not just the beauty in nature, human beauty, the beauty of a human female.
What was this, was some part of him falling in love with a human woman?
And this was his second meeting with Shirley, he needed to treat her kindly and make her comfortable around her. When he met Shirley, he'd been trying to catch a frog, and he made a very questionable inquiry revolving around human anatomy. Omega would not make that error again; it was time to start treating organics with... courtesy.
"SHIRLEY BUDACOUS." Omega intoned.
"You remember me." Shirley said with a smile, "E-123 Omega, is it? We met the other day, and you were chasing a poor little frog. What are you doing here? Are we looking for more frogs?"
'Play it casual.' Omega's instinct told the robot, 'Tell her why you're here and be nice to her.'
"CAPTURING FROGS ARE NO LONGER A PRIORITY." He said, "PRIOR MISSION IS IRRELEVANT, DOCTOR ROBOTNIK'S MASTER REGISTRY HAS BEEN DELETED. I HAVE NOW UNDERTAKEN A NEW MISSION: TO UNDERSTAND PEACE, LIFE AND BEAUTY! NEVER AGAIN WILL I BE USED AS A WEAPON FOR CONQUEST AND TERROR, OMEGA FIGHTS FOR PEACE, FREEDOM, AND BEAUTY!"
"A Badnik who rebelled against Doctor Robotnik and is now learning humanity..." Shirley remarked curiously, "How are you doing so far, learning humanity and understanding peace. You were built to be a weapon, but how are you feeling?"
"I AM FEELING CALM, NO NEED TO CAUSE GLORIOUS EXPLOSIONS, UNLESS THERE IS DANGER. THIS BEACH REPRESENTS BEAUTY. BEAUTY MUST BE PRESERVED, THERE CAN BE NO LIFE WITHOUT BEAUTY."
"How do you feel... about humans, especially after interacting with Robotnik?"
"DOCTOR ROBOTNIK REPRESENTS THE SIDE OF HUMANITY THAT STANDS AGAINST WHAT PEACE, FREEDOM AND HAPPINESS STAND FOR. THE DOCTOR DOES NOT VALUE FREEDOM OR PEACE, NOR DOES HE TREAT ORGANIC LIFE IN THE HIGHEST REGARD! ROBOTNIK IS A SYMBOL OF TYRANNY AND PAIN THAT MUST BE OPPOSED!"
"Just hearing you talk about your creator like that, that is pretty impressive, big guy. Hearing you speak of opposing Robotnik, I think you'd get along well with Sonic, since he opposes the doctor too."
"WHILE THERE ARE OTHER HUMANS JUST LIKE DOCTOR ROBOTNIK WHO HURT OTHERS AND CAUSE PAIN, THERE ARE HUMANS WHO SHOW COMPASSION AND HELP OTHERS; THE SIDE OF HUMANITY REPRESENTING PEACE, FREEDOM AND BEAUTY!" Omega buzzed.
"You're right about that." Shirley nodded, "Robotnik's not the only one in this world, there are other people out there who will lie, harm others, and conduct terrible crimes against their fellow humans in many different ways. And seeing someone want to make a difference, do the right thing, it shows you are a special robot, Omega."
"THERE IS A PART OF LIFE YOU REPRESENT!"
She looked at him curiously. "And what do I represent in this world, big boy?" Shirley asked.
Omega processed what he was going to say next. He maintained eye contact with the woman before him, even as the sounds of the seaside filled his sensors and Shirley watched him. And then, Omega spoked, "YOU REPRESENT BEAUTY!"