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It's a nice warm summer day, the sun beaming down over the fields, grass waving with the wind... or well... with me as I create the wind while rushing by. It was a beautiful day for another run, but I was out on an errand this time around. I needed to head over to my buddy Tails to fetch my CD player that I forgot at his workship during my last visit with him. I was in no hurry to get there though, I had all day and just took detour after detour through the woods, enjoying the feeling of the wind in my fur.
I find myself veering through a clearing when a glint of something shiny stops me in my tracks. I slow to a jog, then to a walk before stopping completely, looking over to the shiny object. Situated over a small raised hill was something reflecting the sunlight, some sort of metallic looking item. I walk closer to investigate, my curiousity getting the better of me.
As I get closer, it turns out the object is actually some sort of figure... and even closer this figure becomes immediately familiar to me. I'd recognize my metal duplicate anywhere, the glare of the sun diminishing as I reduce the distance between us. He's just laying there... on the grass. I feel one of my ears twitch as I cautiously get closer, crouching to hide behind a boulder.
I peer over the stone to observe him. He's sprawled upon his back on the grass, no movement noticeable, at least from here. This seems too... out of place. He's in a wide open space perfectly exposed and vulnerable to attack. I find myself growing wary, my eyes darting left and right, believing this to be some sort of trap and a bunch of badniks will jump me any second now. But I find nothing between the trees and in the immediate area... it's just Metal...
I move to continue looking at him again just over the boulder. He's as still as a stone himself... is he broken? Did something happen? Is he damaged or something?
Against my better judgement I slowly creep around the rock and hesitantly loom closer to the robot, sneaking as quietly as I can over the grass towards him. I tip-toe, braced and ready for any immediate burst of hostility, prepared to get tangled in a fight. I expect him to just jump up and lunge at me any second now... but when I find myself now just inches away from him, nothing of the sort happens.
A gust of wind flows over the grass surrounding him, framing him in a gentle green contrast to his own accentuating features. I crouch down to get a closer look at him, fingers on the ground to keep balance. His eyes are gone, just an empty black screen... is he offline? I look him over, and suddenly it really sinks in just how strange this is, my breath caught in my throat at the unfamiliar grounds of this entire scene.
I've never ever been this close to Metal before... not without it being some kind of fight or battle... it's always just one big blur of speed and grandiose monologues, never once have I ever had the chance to really look at him up close. I completely disregard that my curiousity could potentially land me in trouble if he activates and sees me here. My eyes wander over his form regardless.
His chassis is such a beautiful shade of blue, so reflective and clean; I never noticed how shiny he was. The reflection of the sunlight upon him almost makes him look like he's from another world, almost magical even, like a sapphire ocean is trapped within him. I didn't even realize what I was doing when I took off my glove to gently feel along the blue metal exterior. It's unbelievably smooth, and looking even closer I can see hundreds of minuscule flecks of a lighter blue metal along his chassis that seems to give off a slight sparkle to him in the sun.
He really is a wonderful piece of work and I begin to wonder if this fascination is what it's like for Tails when he creates his own machines. A million little intricate workings to build a fluid construct. I peer over to look around the jet along his back, I notice slot spacings in his chassis, like vents of some sort.
Leaning closer I can hear and even feel 'breaths' of air. Is he... breathing? I try to peer through the gaps to the best of my ability to see the movement of some kind of fan inside, rotating one way to draw in air, then rotating the other to vent it out - it's very quiet. I theorize that this must be some kind of cooling system, bringing in cold air and venting out the hot air of his system... like mechanical lungs.
But wait, if this fan is active then... is he actually online right now? I fall back onto my haunches, overlooking the robot before me. He still wasn't moving... is he in some kind of sleep mode of sorts? Why was he just sitting out here? Is it of his own volition? Way in the back of my mind there's a nagging concern that something might be wrong with him, but I try to push it away. He doesn't appear damaged, at least from what I can tell on the outside.
I look into his empty eyes, now noticing the sound of him 'breathing'. I look over his arms and down to his hands, reflexively wincing at the sight of his claws. Those things have done a number on me many times in the past, they sure pack a sting.
I put my glove back on for safety just in case, and grab hold of his hand, bringing it up to look closer at the connecting joints of his fingers. It's so cool how all of this just... works. I fidget around with his hand, bending the wrist of it as if testing it's functions and I even play around with it by making it wave at me. I smile in amusement.
I wonder what it feels like to be him. Hundreds of questions fill my mind. Does he feel pain? Can he feel texture? Does the world look different to him? Is it as I see it, or is it just a billion logistics and mathematical values to him? Is he affected by temperature? Can he feel the warm glow of the sun shining down on him? Can he feel the warmth of my hand right now? My ponderings are abruptly cut short when suddenly the metal hand sharply flexes and crushingly grips onto my own making me cry out and reel back in shock.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" I grimace, my eyes suddenly catching a pair of molten fiery ones glaring right up at me from below.
"What are you doing to me?" Metal angrily demanded an answer before sitting up, still crushing my hand.
"M-Metal, you're awake!" my eyes widened in surprise, suddenly realizing I just got myself caught by my enemy in a potentially dangerous position. "I-I was just... I just saw you laying here and... I was wondering what was up. That's all. No harm or anythin- OW!" he squeezed tighter.
"What did you do to me while I was inactive?"
"Nothing man!" I frantically tried to save myself. "All I did was look at you, that's all, I swear!"
He glowered at me for a few moments longer, his eyes seemingly digging their way into my very soul, before his grip on my hand loosens and he lets go. I quickly cradle my hand to my chest feeling like my fingers almost got completely dislodged from their joints. I rubbed at it to sooth the pain while staring at my duplicate.
"..." I lay my ears back at him. "... What were you doing just laying here anyways?" I try to change the topic before he gets hostile again, still wanting answers.
I lean back warily as he gets up to his feet and stares down at me. "That is none of your concern, inferior copy."
I frown at him before standing up to my own feet, still holding my hand protectively. "So what, you seriously just want me to believe you decided to chill out on the grass for no apparent reason?"
He crossed his arms at me over this. "If you must know, I was recharging my power via solar rays. And the only reason I am not utterly destroying you right now is because I have just achieved full charge for the first time in over a week. I am not about to waste this energy on something as pathetic and insignificant as you."
I narrowed my eyes at him. Why's he gotta be so aggressive all the time? "Fine... be like that... a guy shows a little concern for you and you just gotta kick him down, huh?" I frown at him. He just stares at me with cold silence. "... Whatever... I got more important things to do anyways..." I flatten my ears irritably and make my way back down the hill.
Just before I run off, I take one last look back at Metal. He's looking at his hand, the one I was holding and looking at, and flexing it curiously. He looks back up to me and I blush slightly at him catching me staring at him.
I quickly turn and speed off towards Tails' place, my originally planned destination before this whole distraction. I smile though as I weave through the trees, feeling like I got to know my rival just that much better. Even if he's still as hostile as always... oh well....
That's just the way he is I guess...