Tails was surprised when Sonic agreed to let him piece Metal back together. The engine was still off-limits, other than necessary repairs, but at least Metal would have his limbs back.

Tails was aware of Metal's uncertainty regarding the repairs, so he had taken the time to plan how to approach the topic.

When he entered the workshop that morning, Metal was looking through the new box of books. Tails sat down and started organizing the workstation. As he did, he talked to Metal.

"Good news: Sonic said I can reattach your limbs and finish cleaning your engine out. Bad news: I know you still don't like me working on you and I can't get you back to full working order. But we can work together on this. Flipping through the dictionary is probably pretty tedious, so I also wanted to try to find an easier way to communicate with you. I've been working on the Miles Electric and I think I can make something like the program I used with the wisps. You can send a signal to it, and it will write out what you want to say. How does that sound?"

Metal nodded.

"Good! I've been tinkering with it, and it should be pretty easy to finish so I'll start with that."

Tails connected Metal to the Miles Electric and started tapping at the screen, focused intently. A moment later he cheerfully announced, "Got it! Try it out! Hopefully this will go smoother than it did with the wisps."

Metal hesitated. What should his first words to Tails be? He remembered something he saw in one of the encyclopedias. The traditional first command in programming.

A shifting row of lines appeared on the screen of the tablet and a moment later a short phrase appeared.

"Hello World."

Tails grinned. "Ha! I think we'll get along great!"

Metal beamed with sincere happiness.

"I want to add a voice to it eventually, but I want your input. We'll worry about what voice you want later. For now, what do you want to do about the repairs? I want to finish cleaning the dirt out, reattach your arm and legs, and look at your engine, even if I can't repair it. And the parts came in, so I can work on your vision too."

Metal considered his options, then sent a signal to the tablet. "Easiest first."

"All right, I'll start with the cleaning. That will make the rest of the repairs much easier. Do you want me to put you in sleep mode?"

It was hard to convince himself, but Metal said, "No."

And with Metal watching curiously, Tails got to work. It wasn't too bad at first. Tails would loosen a panel, carefully clean the dirt out, then replace the panel and go to the next clog. But once Tails started on his inner workings, Metal felt a little unsettled. Tails was taking his engine apart, piece by piece. Metal kept reminding himself that Tails only wanted to help, but his anxiety continued to rise. He watched nervously as Tails scraped mud from his disassembled engine. He couldn't take it anymore. He freaked out. He shoved Tails away and tried to escape. He only succeeded in scattering tools and falling off the table. He scrambled to hide. He was embarrassed by his reaction, but he couldn't help it. He looked at Tails. Tails was shaken and confused. But he calmly set his tools on the table and knelt down.

"Metal? Are you okay?"

Metal shook his head insistently. No. He was not okay at all.

Tails helped Metal up and set him back on the table. He pulled Metal into a warm, fluffy hug. "It's okay. I don't want to hurt you. I'll finish working on you as fast as I can. Let me put you in sleep mode, so you won't be scared. I'll explain it to you when I'm done. If that won't bother you. I just thought you wanted to know what I was doing."

Tails' concern was touching. Metal sat frozen in confusion at the kindness. He slowly returned the hug. Tails activated Metal's sleep mode and Metal collapsed. Tails gently settled him on the worktable and continued his work. He may not be able to fix Metal completely, but he was going to do his best at what he could do. He thoroughly cleaned out the mud, starstruck by the complexity of the engine. He carefully connected the detached limbs, which he had been working on while Metal learned to relax. He carefully unpacked the new optical sensors and, referencing the data he collected on the Miles Electric, he installed them. It was a challenging process, but what friend of Sonic would turn down a challenge? He even calibrated and reactivated some of Metal's harmless sensors and scanners.

When Metal awoke, he instantly noticed the change. His limbs still needed a little calibration, but in the moment, it didn't matter. He could see clearly! He wasn't full of mud! He raised his arms excitedly. Then he tried to stand. He immediately crumpled to the ground. Tails picked him up.

"Sorry about that. I still need to adjust a few things. Until I get it sorted out, you'll probably be pretty clumsy. And you'll drop things a lot. But if you cooperate with me, it won't take long."

Tails didn't even know that Metal could smile until he saw the happy look in the robot's eyes. But the smile quickly disappeared when he realized that his scanners still labeled Tails as an enemy. Technically, Tails was his enemy. Tails was an enemy of the Eggman Empire, and Metal Sonic belonged to the Eggman Empire. Therefore, Tails was his enemy. But calling Tails an enemy didn't feel right.

The Miles Electric lit up. "Alter the sensor settings. You are designated as an enemy."

"You don't consider me an enemy anymore! That-that's really nice. Thank you."

Tails actually looked like he was about to tear up. He quickly got to work.

"What do you want to call me?"

Metal considered the options. "Ally."

Tails smiled as he typed. "Ally. I'm your ally now. And you're my ally. My friend."

Friend. Metal had plenty of allies in the Eggman Empire, but he didn't truly consider anyone his friend. This was new. Metal had a friend.

Tails spent a while examining Metal's limbs and changing variables on the Miles Electric before he let Metal go.

With Tails' prompting, Metal maneuvered himself to the edge of the table. He gingerly placed a foot on the ground. When his joints refused to buckle, he let himself slip off the table. For the first time since his rescue, Metal stood on his own. He didn't realize how much he had missed the feeling of being steady on the ground. He felt less scared, less vulnerable, more confident. He took a few shaky steps away from the workstation before breaking into an energetic march around the workshop. He looked back at Tails. Tails gave him a thumbs up and grinned. He was proud of Metal.