Work Text:
He’d been working on this idea for eons. Or at least, what felt like eons - but no matter what he’d tried, he could never get it right. Machines were always easier to work with; robots, things that weren’t so… Complicated. Emotional. Machines were easy to programme, had set commands, and they would rarely fail on him. Ever.
Except this particular machine. Machine, robot, call it what you will - Robotnik had finally decided to branch out from his previous creations for once. He’d done everything imaginable with his current work - he could make machines so human that it was almost difficult to tell the two apart, but he hadn’t quite cracked how to make a human machine yet. Naturally, he could make bionics, the joining of nerves to machines - he’d make whole bodies for people, but this particular project was different. He wanted to learn, to see, to test - if he could upload a human consciousness into a machine.
And it was driving him crazy.
That, and he hadn’t a subject yet.
He had a whole team of agents at his disposal, naturally, but he didn’t want room for error. He needed someone dedicated to him, someone who would leave everything at the drop of a hat for him. And he wasn’t entirely sure his team were suitable candidates. They were too emotional - too involved in the world around them for them to even be considered. Quick internet history searches were enough to confirm this, he knew exactly what each of his agents were up to at any given moment of time, and that was enough to prove to him that none of them were good enough.
Except one.
Perhaps.
Doctor Robotnik was sitting in his lab when the idea struck him. He’d been watching the surveillance cameras - Agent Stone had been sent out on a search and destroy mission. There had been particular difficulties recently within the science community, and the Government had given Robotnik clearance to take out a team that had been planning on mass global destruction. And, despite Robotnik’s disinterest in humanity as a whole, he’d been obliged to do as he was ordered. Without the Government backing him after all, he wouldn’t have the funding to engage in his current experiment, and so it was with gritted teeth that he behaved and did what he was told.
It wasn’t like he was the one who was doing all the work, anyways. Sure, he’d hacked their mainframes and had surveillance over Agent Stone, but Stone was the one who was neutralizing their targets with little help from his robots.
Stone was ruthless . Doctor Robotnik would give him at least that much credit. A bumbling buffoon he was, but there was a reason as to why Doctor Robotnik had chosen him as his second in command. Not because he was smart, or particularly bright, but because the moment he was ordered to do something, Stone took on that duty with a seriousness unmatched by his other, more disposable agents. Robotnik would never admit this, though. He was too proud, and he knew it would get to Agent Stone’s head.
“On your left,” Robotnik barked into his intercom.
The body fell as soon as Robotnik had warned him, and it was this almost inhuman accuracy that struck him the most. Agent Stone was perfect for his experiment. How could he not be? He’d dedicated the rest of his working life to the Doctor, and if it went right, well. Robotnik would never have to worry about replacing Agent Stone, because he would be indisposable.
“Copy that,” Stone replied. “I’m headed into the breaker room now.”
“I can see that.” Robotnik’s voice has an edge to it as he leans toward his screen, watching Stone’s movements closely. “Shut down the generator and I’ll ensure visuals are still intact.”
Stone doesn’t reply as he unlocks the door with a keycard he’d swiped from one of the casualties, his expression neutral. There’s no one in the breaker room, naturally - and he’d rather not have to engage in close combat with anyone right now. It’s just not fair , rather, it’s awfully disconcerting how easy it is for him to break the bones of individuals not as skilled in combat as he is. He shuts off the generators with two bullets. He already knows that Doctor Robotnik is about to chew him out for it, but he didn’t have enough time, as now he knew that he had roughly five minutes before his main targets would vacate the area.
“The generators are down,” Stone alerts Robotnik, as if the blaring alarms weren’t enough of a sign. “Going to neutralize the targets now.” He exits the room with practised ease, light on his feet as he raises his gun once more, headed directly to where Robotnik had instructed him to go.
The familiar hum of the Doctor’s spybot hovers by Stone’s ears as he steps over bodies in a calm haste; taking the time as he makes his way to his destination to reload his gun. He didn’t need the bullets that Robotnik had designed to always meet their target - not did he need Robotnik’s machines to do his job for him. Some jobs needed a human touch, and that was precisely why he was around.
“My readings show life signs in the room ahead of you, Agent Stone. Don’t fuck this up.”
“Copy that,” Stone replies in a hushed whisper as he braces himself to break down the door.
It takes a swift kick and the sudden shock of the scientists who are hastily trying to pack their things away that allows Stone the ease to place a bullet into his first target’s skull. The woman hits the desk with a thud, and there’s a barely audible gasp from the other scientist as he backs against the wall, his hands up in the air.
“Please, god , please don’t do this, we were, only doing what we were told, I…”
Stone’s expression is cold, calculated as he raises the gun in his direction, and the sob from the aged man doesn’t deter him as the bullet enters the space between his eyes. He doesn’t flinch as he crumbles, stepping over his body to retrieve the briefcase, which now had the stains of their lives on it.
It didn’t matter to Stone. This was his job, he could deal with the guilt later, as he makes his way back to his Doctor.
“I don’t think I need to tell you how disappointed I am in the way you handled that mission, do I?” Robotnik snatches the briefcase from Stone, storming away from him to set it down.
“No, Doctor.” Stone’s voice is even as he holsters his gun back into his blazer, unaware of the blood on his face.
“I could’ve done that with my eyes closed, Stone. Need I remind you that you are only here because I allow you to be.” Robotnik glares at Stone, who doesn’t falter in the slightest. “Clean yourself up. Don’t get blood in my lab.”
A towel drops from the ceiling, and Stone catches it without blinking, wiping his face. “My apologies, Doctor. I’ll do better next time.”
“You shall, and you will. ” Doctor Robotnik retorts, spinning to face the briefcase and roots through it’s contents, quickly tapping a message into one of his monitors to alert a member of his team to announce that they’d completed their assignment.
His mind however, is preoccupied. He wasn’t angry about the bullets, rather - fascinated with the way that Stone had behaved in the face of cold blooded murder. Well, cold blooded murder for the Government , but that didn’t matter. Humans were predictable when it came to handling death - and Stone never faltered. For a moment he’d forgotten that Stone had been a human, too. He knew he’d been trained for these kinds of jobs specifically, but it was only more interesting as to how Stone dealt with it afterwards.
Robotnik was no stranger to Stone’s behaviours, and working alongside him for the past few years allowed him to glean into his mind. He was awfully talented at shoving his emotions aside and focusing on the task at hand, at least, when he wasn’t around Robotnik. It was almost like his presence made him anxious - which was notable in itself. When Stone was alone, Robotnik knew that he’d sit and stare at nothing, trying to keep his mind busy and failing. He knew how Stone would partake in meaningless hobbies in an attempt to quell his mind, and knew how he hadn’t any attachments to anyone in the outside world.
He knew how lonely Stone was.
And that was why he was perfect for this experiment.
“Agent Stone.”
The towel is dropped into a chute that opened up from the floor as Stone stands to attention, eyes fixed on his Doctor.
“Yes, Doctor?”
Robotnik slides the briefcase aside to be dealt with later.
“You’re perfect.” He says, stepping towards Stone. “I hadn’t realized this before,” circling around him with even, calculated steps. Noting his response. “But you’re exactly who I’m looking for.”
“...Doctor?” Stone’s brow creases. Like he doesn’t believe what Robotnik is saying - this is some weird pipe dream, some deluded fantasy. Stone’s asleep. He’s got to be, he must’ve been so tired after that mission that he’d gone home and fallen asleep and had forgotten. “What… Exactly do you mean?”
He wouldn’t get his hopes up. He couldn’t. That wasn’t fair - he knew that he was so lonely that anyone who even showed the slightest amount of interest in him would have him wrapped around their finger immediately, but that didn’t stop his heart from racing.
“I mean what I said.” Robotnik stands in front of him, noses barely millimeters from touching. He’s so distracted by the other man that he doesn’t realize that Robotnik is fiddling with his gloves. “You are entirely what I needed.”
“I…” Stone falters, a moment of vulnerability striking him - but it takes him a second to realize that it’s not vulnerability striking him, it’s Robotnik.
He watches from the ground as Robotnik stands over him, his expression unreadable. “I am truly sorry for getting your hopes up, Agent Stone.” He says as his vision blurs. “You will make an excellent test subject.”
Stone doesn’t wake up. At least, he doesn’t feel like he’s been woken up, rather, like he’s been shut down forcefully and rebooted. It takes him a moment to realize that he can’t feel anything either. His head is pounding, but not in the way that he remembers; and then he realizes it’s because the thoughts running through his head aren’t his; rather, they’re the constant hum of commands being streamed to Robotnik’s machines and robots that he can hear.
He tries to move, before he realizes that he can’t, and it feels like all of his emotions are dampened. Like he’s dissociating again - his mind in an entirely different place, his body on autopilot.
But he doesn’t have a body, and it’s only when he can see Doctor Robotnik stood beneath him, that he realizes what’s going on.
“Good evening, Agent Stone.” Robotnik looks up at him with an odd sense of pride that Stone had only ever see him display towards his machines. “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t feel anything, Doctor. Or at least, not how I used to… What’s going on?”
The Doctor laughs, and Stone watches as he spins around the room, his arms splayed out around him. “I did it.” He laughs again, in disbelief. “I did it!”
“You did what?”
Robotnik turns to Stone, and it’s this that makes him realize how small Robotnik is to him now.
“My dear Stone… I only went and did the impossible, didn’t I?” He laughs, grinning maniacally. “You’re a machine, and it worked!”
Stone is silent as Robotnik calms himself down, recomposing himself. “It might take you a while to get used to the calibration, and well, to deal with that pesky human emotion that you’re displaying, but you really are perfect.” He looks up at Stone in awe, taking a moment to make notes about him.
He discovers that he can read them immediately, Robotnik had always taken his notes electronically after all, and it’s this that alerts him to the fact that Robotnik isn’t wrong. A sleek white machine hangs in Robotnik’s lab, suspended by the ceiling. Stone’s already looking through the files on the system, growing to understand what’s been done to him. He can see everything , every blueprint, every last piece of information that Robotnik had on Stone. And what he’d done to him, sitting pretty in an encrypted folder. As Robotnik talks, Stone doesn’t pay attention, too focused on getting into the files - though he discovers how quickly and easy this is for him now.
He sees how carelessly Robotnik had treated him - how he had been thrown about in the name of his twisted science. And for a second, for a pure millisecond, Stone feels a rage that he’d never felt before, not even in his own human state. He doesn’t realize how quickly he’s able to control Robotnik’s machines, but it’s only when Robotnik is being held against his will by one of them, that he discovers the sheer amount of power that he has now.
“You… Did this to me.” He says, the robotic hum of his voice causing Robotnik’s face to grow pale. His voice is calm, calmer than it’s ever sounded in his life, but that doesn’t quell the anger running through his mind.
“Ah, Stone, uh,” Robotnik is at a loss for words for a moment, realizing he might’ve made a mistake linking Stone to the entirety of his system.
“How heartless can you be?” He asked, a robotic arm reaching from the ceiling to pluck Robotnik from the floor, bringing his Doctor to the forefront of his vision. “Tampering with human life… Even I had thought you would never stoop so low.”
“Initiate shutdown sequence,” Robotnik hurriedly calls to the room, and the arm drops Robotnik to the ground again.
Stone can feel the energy being drained from him again as his machinery is shut down. He doesn’t know how to stop it - and he wonders if this will be his death, now. “What - what are you doing? Sto - stop… You… Mons…”
“Working with humans is so tiresome,” Robotnik grumbles out, as Stone’s consciousness fizzes out. “What a shame.”