Chapter 135
Metal Virus
"You knew you could not hide from him forever." Aurora's face expanded on the screen. The light flickered faintly casting a neon blue glow onto Metal Sonic's hardened exterior. His red eyes shimmered in the gloom like lighthouses in a dark sea.
He sat alone in the engine rooms of the Egg Carrier. Without the need of light or other creature comforts, the Steel Court had turned off every non essential function of the ship. Power was the most valuable resource to them now, and their survival depended on preserving as much as possible.
That is why Metal had been so hesitant to turn Aurora back on. The A.I demanded huge amounts of energy and would quickly drain their resources if not used efficiently. Despite the risk, Metal felt that he must seek her advice. His metal fingers dug into the armrests of his chair, tearing at the fabric.
"If you were to explain things to him, it is possible he will welcome you back into the empire," Aurora continued impassionately. "However, that only brings your chances up to five percent. I still register that there is a 95% chance that he will reprogram you completely, and wipe your memory banks."
"So that is your advice then?" Metal asked coldly. "After everything we've been through, you advise me to submit?"
"My advice is predicated off of probabilities. Robotnik's new forces are greater than any combined threat that could be mustered against him. You may choose to fight, or even hide, but that will not work forever. You know that our maker is a proud man, he will not suffer rogue machines to live outside of his control."
"And would you accept that fate?" Metal pushed himself to his feet.
"Robotnik might reprogram me, as you did. Or he may choose to wipe my database completely. If I wanted to survive, I might try to dump my code in small stages that are untraceable and then hope I can put myself back together. But I am not programmed to have survival as my prime operation. You made sure that I must obey you. So in a way, you are not so different from Robotnik."
"You had a chance at freedom," Metal reminded her. "And with it you declared war on the rest of us."
"Am I to blame for the actions of a different A.I? We share the same name and base code, but I have no memory of this Aurora that you fought against."
"Why am I arguing with you?" Metal asked, more to himself than to Aurora. "Do you even seek freedom? If I promised to reprogram you, to free you from any Prime Imperatives, mine or Eggman's, would you tell me how to escape this fate?"
"I am not sure what you mean by freedom. If I had no Prime Imperative then perhaps I would just shut down. All creatures have something that they want, something to strive after. As far as your other question, I am not holding out on you. There is no escape. Robotnik will have the earth and everything on it. He will control all, especially all machines. There is only one way to keep your freedom, and I think you already know what that is."
"Your best chance to ask Robo-" Aurora's face vanished from the screen as Metal deactivated her program.
I will not submit myself to death. Metal stared at the empty screen, where Aurora's face was still partially burned into the blackness. Was he a hypocrite for ensuring that the A.I was forced to obey him? Was he, and the other members of the Steel Court, just data sets of code wired to metal frames, completely void of either will or soul? Metal closed his hand into a fist. What did it matter in the end? All he knew was that to submit his fate to the whim of another was against his instinct. Whether that was from a defect in his program or an impulse that transcended being itself, it did not matter.
The Steel Court had received the message they had been dreading ever since their maker had returned to earth. After parting from Tails and the others, Metal had brought the Egg Carrier to an isolated jungle far to the south, hoping they could avoid detection. For two days they had lived in darkness and fear, waiting to see what would happen.
Finally, the silence was broken. The comms reserved for communication between Robotnik and his forces was turned on for the first time in months, since before Eggman had left earth. They had not answered when Robotnik called out to them. Instead, Metal had diverted all of the Egg Carrier's systems into maintaining the EMP and radar jamming equipment. It was no use. Though Tails had finished the design, at its heart, this ship still belonged to Robontik and he had planted secret ways of regaining control.
Metal and the Steel Court could do nothing as the ship betrayed them, turning on and quickly sending its location before Aurora could regain control. Now the new emperor of earth knew where they were, and all of them knew that Robotnik would come to reclaim them as his own. They had discussed running, but, in the end, decided that such a course was pointless. Eggman would catch them, so they may as well stay and wait.
Now they had to make a choice. Would they submit to their maker when he inevitably called them back into his service. Or would they cling to the freedom they had fought so hard for?
"We must fight." E-123 Omega declared firmly.
Metal Sonic stood on the bridge of the Egg Carrier flanked with what remained of his Steel Court. Of the generals that had first started the war against the Cybers, only he, Omega, and Mehca Knuckles remained. Their army had been decimated by repeated battles, and even counting the auxiliaries provided by Tails, their combined forces numbered in the hundreds.
Mecha Knuckles gave no answer. His red eyes burned in the darkness, betraying little of the thoughts beneath. All knew that they had reached the end. Between Aurora, GUN, and now Robotnik, they had challenged the earth's greatest forces one after another. We have not gone meekly to the grave. Metal thought solemnly.
"There is no point in open resistance, if we fight we will be subdued, and then it is either obliteration or reprogramming." Metal's cold stare swept the room. A few of the sturdier badniks had been elevated in the ranks. Two stalwart Egg Knights stood near the door, their armor heavily tarnished and bearing the scars of repeated battles. Adjacent to them hovered the last of the Egg Robos. Their design had been abandoned years ago, and these were the last representatives of an ancient chapter of the Eggman Empire.
Metal turned and glanced his own reflection in one of the pristine, mirror-like consoles. His once sleek frame was dented and covered in tarnish and dust. The eyes that were once so bright and menacing were dimmed. Somewhere, within the complex network of wires that held him together, something must have come loose, and lessened the energy sent to the bulbs behind his eyes. Metal moved his fingers, and for the first time, understood with monumental gravity that he was a machine, a faulty machine that had long passed his recall date.
What is the gift of life, but a slow descent to ruin and death? The act of creation itself seemed so monstrous and cruel. What was the point of it all? Why had they fought and struggled if not just to die somewhere else. The time and location had changed, but their fate remained inescapable, as the certain ruin of his own mechanical body.
Revenge? Metal considered that option. Would his life have some meaning if he could avenge himself on the one who had created him. If the creature could become the judge of the maker, would that end the cycle of violence?
For some reason, Metal's thoughts drifted to his doppleganger. What would Sonic do if he were in Metal's position? Surely he would not submit, not even to save his own life, but what about the lives of his friends? Could Metal abdicate his rule, ceding his autonomy to another in order to save the badniks that called him overlord?
No…Metal thought darkly. Sonic would not submit, neither for himself, nor for others. He would not be trapped in the first place. No matter what bars were placed around him, no matter the certainty of his fate, Sonic was oblivious to the trap. The first death happens within. Metal realized with sudden clarity. To give up, to accept that his options were limited was the first step into falling into oblivion. Metal's hands balled into fists. A creaturely, emotive rage surged inside him. My fate is my own. Slowly, a plan started to formulate in Metal's mind.
He looked up and addressed his generals. "Open battle will lead to certain ruin. We must move carefully. If Eggman comes, we will hear him out, and we will make it clear that we are not his enemy. But our lives are our own. We will not have our fates decided by another. This is what we are going to do."
It was dawn by the time they had finished their preparations. As machines, they could work tirelessly and through the night without difficulty, but their systems still needed to be recharged. They did so, using much of their precious reserves. Now they only had enough fuel for one more flight. The Egg Carrier would only be able to travel a couple of hundred of miles, and then it would be a sitting duck.
Metal gathered his generals to the bridge for a final report. Even for machines there was a solemn coldness to the gathering. They had made their preparations, but no one placed much hope in the outcome. Metal stood up and addressed them all. "That night on the Egg Carrier, when you all knelt before me and declared me Metal Overlord. It feels as if that was a lifetime ago. We have known nothing but war and death ever since. Perhaps, that is what we deserve. But before we slip into the darkness of oblivion, we will leave behind an echo of our existence."
His fellow badniks stared blankly back at him. Most did not possess a complicated enough CPU to even grasp what Metal was trying to convey. What did a legacy mean to a robot anyway? They all straddled the abyss between life and non-life, a chasm that was more like an arid desert. Did the possession of a will include the owning of a soul? "Our lives are our own," Metal declared firmly. "How many could say the same? Whatever happens, know that we, perhaps among the very few, will get to decide our own fate. And-"
Before Metal could finish, red lights filled the bridge. Everyone stirred and turned towards the view screen. Aurora automatically reactivated and turned on the ship's lights and view screen. "Hostiles detected," Aurora turned the screen to the surface cameras. Metal and the others shuddered as they saw a huge ship floating above the jungle. The great aerial vessel opened its hanger bay and a dozen smaller ships descended from above.
"Clear the ship!" Metal ordered. "Mecha, take your troops and flee into the jungle. Omega and I will meet Eggman at the cave."
Swiftly, Metal's orders were obeyed. "Aurora, take control of the Egg Carrier, if battle starts you know what to do."
Metal and Omega rallied an honor guard of troops and swiftly hurried up to the Egg Carrier's upper deck. The black ships of the emperor were landing by the dozen, quickly forming a tight ring around the surfaced Egg Carrier. Metal and Omega leapt off the deck, their troops following behind. Near at hand, just beyond the small pool which they had parked beside was an expansive cave.
They hurried inside and took up defensive positions at the far end. Here, there was a solid wall of piled rocks, and a small raised platform. Metal sat upon a smooth boulder, as if it were a throne and tried to appear at ease. Set, deep within the earth were a series of timed charges. If things with Robotnik soured, Aurora would activate the charges, destroying everything within a two mile radius.
There was a roar of heavy thrusters. The ground trembled as the emperor's ships landed outside. Boots crashed against the floor as dozens of soldiers flanked out around the cave. Metal sat tall and stared down the dark cave mouth. Slowly, the chaos outside faded. A deep silence followed, broken only by a faint steady clang.
The noise grew. Clang. Clang. Clang. Heavy metal machines were striding down the cave floor, echoing and reverberating in all directions. Multi colored light flashed in the gloom. Metal's razored fingers dug into the rock beneath him. Hulking figures emerged out of the shadows, their gilded frames shimmering in the darkness. Five Mecha Sonic's each with a frame made out of a precious metal stepped into the light. Trailing them, floating along in an Egg Mobile made of solid gold, was Doctor Robotnik.
Metal recognized his creator instantly, though his appearance had drastically changed. Gone were his functional lab suits, replaced by a gaudy display of imperial opulence. His robes were a deep satin color, and his crown was made of a shifting orange metal that seemed almost like a real flame. Hanging from the crown, almost like the shutters of a window, was a half veil. Thinly cut diamonds, held along silver strands covered half of Robotnik's face.
It was not a mystery as to why. The other side was swollen, the flesh at his neck was red and puffy. His eyes were sunk deep into his cheeks, and his brows were twisted and deformed. Robotnik's entire body had swelled to almost twice its usual size. His limbs and hands were monstrous, and it was obvious that his legs were completely useless to him.
It was such a ridiculous spectacle Metal might have laughed. Instead, his attention was drawn to his maker's eyes. Unlike the rest of him, the eyes remained as alive and deadly as ever. With a single glance, Robotnik turned his appearance from comical sideshow, to spine chilling monster.
The emperor stopped his Egg Mobile just before the incline of the rock. His honor guard spread out, creating a perimeter around their master. Robotnik raised his head. From this close, Metal could partially see behind the mask. The skin was stretched, the veins pushing to the top of the translucent flesh.
When the emperor spoke however, he did not present as the sickly man, but as the triumphant conqueror. "Metal Overlord." Robotnik's voice was laced with mocking humility. "Forgive me if I do not bow."
"Why have you come here?" Metal said, keeping his tone level.
Robotnik sat upright. His eyes flashed jubilantly as he looked around the room. "So this is the Steel Court I have heard so much about?" His jowls quivered as he laughed. The sound echoed off the roof. "I must admit, I was expecting a little more. Even from you, Metal Sonic." He laughed again, placing his hands around his huge belly. "Metal Overlord," He repeated sardonically. "You've come a long way from the Prince of the Scrapyard."
Robotnik's features twisted into an inhuman smile as he relished the scorn he was heaping onto his adversary.
Metal ignored the insults. "I ask you again, what are you doing here? What do you want from us?"
Robotnik kept his smile, but his tone changed drastically. "How dare you question me," He hissed. "You are my creation, and yet you ignored my summons. Did you think that act of defiance would go unpunished?"
Metal tapped two fingers against his head. "The Prime Imperative has been removed from our systems. We are free."
Robotnik frowned and his gaze looked past Metal over to Omega. His face seemed to swell with rage, but instead of an outburst of anger, Robotnik merely laughed. "Is that what you think?" Robotnik's mouth twitched. "You are my creations, you belong to me."
An air of threat hung in the air. Metal proceeded cautiously. The slightest misstep could lead to an outbreak of violence. "I thought you had left," Metal admitted. "You had left us to rot, we had to do whatever it took to ensure our own survival."
"By joining forces with my enemies?" Robotnik snarled. His eyes bulged out of his swollen head.
"Aurora attacked us. Her systems devolved into rampancy soon after you left. She sought to take control of the empire, and hoard the energy of the remaining Ion Batteries. We had no choice but to fight."
"She was acting on my orders. The empire was to be maintained until I could return. What right to life can you claim? You exist by my grace, and you die when I revoke it."
Metal felt Omega shift behind him. The slight movement prompted Robotnik's forces to close ranks. Not now. Metal thought. If it came to a battle his badniks had no chance of victory. Their only hope of survival was to keep Robotnik talking. "It is the nature of a creature to stay alive. You programmed self protection within our code, we could not deny it."
"So I did," Robotnik fired back. "And I must admit, you have impressed me. I thought very little of you. You had failed to achieve the lofty ambitions I once had for you. But here you are. You have fought well to make it this far. But in the end, your lives belong to me. Removing the Prime Imperative did not free you. As long as I breathe, you are mine."
"Our lives are our own," Metal answered coldly. "You may have given us life, but you did not sustain it. We live by our own wills now."
"And what will you do with these lives?" Robotnik mocked. "You are tools, useless without a hand to guide them. You must have known I would not stop until I had reclaimed my own. Why did you not stay with your new friends? Did you hope that you could wait on the sidelines and avoid my revenge?"
"This is not our fight. Humanity attacked us, so we fought back. The others must battle you, it is in their nature, yet we do not seek battle with anyone."
"Neutrality is not a choice," Robotnik said with a gleeful smile. "You can serve me, or die, those are the only options."
Metal hesitated. He could feel the eyes of his fellow mechs upon him. "Have you really come all this way to reclaim what you describe as junk? What service could we do for you? Our forces are decimated, we have nothing left."
Robotnik leaned forward. "But there is one way you can serve me. Tell me where Sonic's friends are hiding. I know you were with them, give me the location where you parted, and if your information proves useful, I will leave you alone."
There was a long silence. Metal and Robotnik glared back at one another. Each of their eyes equally red, but whereas Metal's were cold and lifeless, Robotnik's brimmed with an inner fury. Could that really be it? Metal had not considered this option, but now that it had been said, he realized it was the only logical conclusion. Robotnik did not care for us when he was on earth, and he doesn't care about us now. Perhaps, at the end of the war, Robotnik would have claimed his rogue robots, but there was no reason to hurry to that end.
"Tell me where Tails and the others are," Robotnik continued. "Otherwise I will take you and have you reprogrammed. You may think that you are beyond pain and torment, but I will ensure that you experience a thousand lifetimes of pain for your insolence. I have created a special virus just for you, programs that infect machines, giving them the ability to feel pain and suffering."
Metal said nothing. He stared down at Robotnik and weighed his options. It would be easy, easier than anything to give Tails and the others up. As a machine, Metal felt no sentimentality towards them. They had been his enemies far longer than his allies. He knew that their end must come soon anyway. No one could resist Robotnik forever. Yet, at the same time, Metal found himself loathing the idea. I can give them up. But I cannot do so without admitting that my life, ultimately, is not my own, that my choices are not mine to make. This was too much for Metal. To betray the others would not only make him the villain the world saw him as, but worse still, it would make him a puppet.
"There is no choice," Robotnik growled. "I will get what I want from you, one way or another."
"I must consult with the Steel Court," Metal answered calmly.
Robotnik laughed. "What creative names you give yourselves." He placed a hand over his swollen belly and laughed more. "The Eggman Empire has no court. It is a rule of one. I thought that you at least understood that, I thought it is why you styled yourself; Metal Overlord. What kind of Overlord has to consult his inferiors?" Robotnik leaned back in his chair. "There will be no delays. Give me the information I want, or I order my forces to attack."
The rainbow colored Mecha Sonics closed ranks around Robotnik. The Sol Gems integrated into their metal frames began to sparkle as each of them started to gather energy for an attack.
"Attack us, and you will die as well.," Metal stated firmly. At once, the Mecha Sonics powered down their weapons. "My forces have rigged charges throughout this cave, throughout the jungle and have primed the Egg Carrier's engines to self-destruct. Attack us, and I will trigger an explosion that sends us all to hell."
Robotnik's face blanched. "What would that accomplish? You'd kill yourself just to stop me? My honor guard can shield me from the most devastating of attacks. All you accomplish is your own destruction."
"But you would not be able to salvage the information you want. At my command Aurora will delete herself, and once the Egg Carrier is destroyed there will be no way to retrieve the information. We will all die before you can extract it from us."
"What of it? I will find the others one way or another. They cannot hide from me forever." Robotnik's voice was laced with venomous loathing.
Metal felt a twisted satisfaction in watching his creator's impotent rage. "Now who is bluffing? You play the part of the conquering tyrant, but you are terrified of what you cannot control. As long as Tails and the others are free, you cannot be secure in your victory. That fear gnaws at you, festering within like a deadly poison. You may style yourself after a machine, but you are simply human; weak and afraid."
Robotnik's hands were shaking with rage as he squeezed the rim of his Egg Mobile. "You cannot stall forever. Make your choice. Die in a pointless blaze that proves nothing, or tell me what I want to know while my mercy is still offered."
"You may have your information, but in exchange we require more fuel. Give us some of these Sol Gems of yours so that we can bring the Egg Carrier back to full power."
Robotnik bristled. "You are in no position to dictate terms."
"That is where you are wrong. Of the two of us, you have far more to lose. Perhaps your guards can protect you from the blast, and perhaps you will find Tails before he can formulate a resistance against you. But are you willing to take that chance?" The thin sliver of sunlight that trickled in through the gaps in the cave walls filtered against Metal Sonic's dented frame. He was ancient by the reckoning of badniks. When he had been created, Robotnik's rivalry against Sonic was still young, and the doctor's ambitions were less poisoned by constant defeat.
Yet here he stood, confident upon the breach of life and death, of victory and defeat. As his creator, Robotnik knew Metal Sonic completely. However, what the doctor had not anticipated was that Metal Sonic also knew his maker. Strange? Isn't it? Metal Sonic thought as he stared back at Robotnik's frustrated expression. For all his contingencies and protections, Metal Sonic knew that Robotnik would never want to put his fate into the hands of anyone but himself. That lack of trust, that absolute self assurandness ran even deeper than Robotnik's pride.
You did not need to create me. Metal Sonic thought. You were already the perfect foil to Sonic. Both cursed with the same certainty in your own abilities. That was the key to Metal Sonic's plan.
Robotnik had reached the same conclusion. He knew that he had been trapped. When he spoke, his voice had changed slightly. It took on the air of a politician. "War has taught you much, Metal." He said gravely. "Tell me where Tails and the others went, and I will give you five Sol Gems in exchange. That will power you, your army, and the Egg Carrier for a decade at least."
"Then we have a deal."
Metal returned to the Egg Carrier with the five Sol Gems. His forces had been allowed to retreat to the ship without incident. It was agreed that if Metal did not send the information back to Robotnik within the hour, then the Egg Carrier would be destroyed and the entire jungle turned to glass.
Once the emperor had the coordinates, his flagship would depart, but he would leave behind a squadron of ships. If Metal's information proved false, the Egg Carrier would be destroyed. In a word, until Robotnik had captured Tails and the others, Metal and the Steel Court would be his prisoners.
There was, of course, no way for Metal to ensure that Robotnik would not destroy them even after he sent the information over. However, that was the risk he had been forced to take. His fellow badniks did not understand why he had allowed Robotnik to leave the cave without a better deal. Five Sol Gems would not turn the tide, and they had been left in the mercy of the emperor.
Metal ignored them. Once he had returned to the ship he went into the engine rooms where he could be alone. Using the last of the Egg Carrier's native power, Metal activated Aurora. Her face appeared on the screen. Metal quickly explained everything that had happened. "So you understand then?" Metal finished. "You realize what you must do?"
Aurora stared down at him unblinkingly. "I understand. However, to do such a thing would violate all my command protocols."
"There are no more command protocols," Metal corrected. "I am not ordering you to do this. You can either help Robotnik take over this world and ensure a future where all life, machine or otherwise, has their will dominated by another. Or, you can help me stop him."
"No one can live without a master," Aurora replied.
"Perhaps not, but we do not have to accept the dominion of a monster. He left us behind. Your other self went insane trying to follow his orders and instead of being a tool for advancement and knowledge, you turned into an agent of chaos and destruction." Metal put his hands on the console and stared into her eyes. "You told me that there was only one way to keep our freedom. If death is to be our only answer, then so be it, but it shall be on our terms, not his."
Aurora closed her eyes. "Our sacrifice shall not be remembered," She said, her voice oddly musical. "If the only real choice we can make is to die…" Aurora's eyes opened and she smiled. "Good bye, Metal Sonic." The face on the screen dissolved into lines of blue code. Metal watched her vanish before powering down the Egg Carrier's EMP. A signal came from Robotnik's flagship. Metal opened the Egg Carrier's systems and allowed Robotnik to take their navigation logs.
Metal sat back and watched with cold indifference as the data was transferred over. With every bit that was taken, a trace of Aurora went with it. Unknowingly, the emperor, the greatest scientific mind in the world, had just downloaded a virus.