Chapter Text
Ivo Robotnik grinned widely to himself as he returned to his latest base of operations. The events on the Ancients' Islands and in Cyberspace had been trying...in more ways than one...but like always, he had come out ahead! Sonic had even helped him do so, having eliminated the threat and saved the day only to leave without even checking what he had been up to! Admittedly, his last words before leaving had been about 'giving him space' for his 'loss'...but as always, he seriously underestimated the intelligence of Dr. Eggman! The very method that linked the Koco to Cyberspace to enable the echoes of the Ancients to relive their final moments was also what enabled the reactivation and stability of the Titans, and thus was also linked to the one Sage had piloted before she had...
Ivo shook his head to dash the thought from his mind as maudlin, irrelevant, and unworthy of him. Besides, even if he didn't know what the symbol that enabled the connection meant, it was well within his capabilities to utilize it to recreate Sage's echo within Cyberspace. And after that? Well, Sage was a program to begin with! The method that originally allowed her to manifest outside Cyberspace worked the same whether her program came from his device or from Cyberspace itself! Not only that, but this method also now gave her a permanent uplink connection to Cyberspace! Once she was properly uplinked and uploaded into Eggnet, he would be able to access Cyberspace and utilize its capabilities and resources from the comfort of his own base! And Sonic would be none the wiser! The only reason he hadn't burst into maniacal laughter about it all was because Sage's projection was experiencing more static than it had before, suggesting it wasn't entirely stable as yet. For whatever reason, this led to her being somewhat clingy to him, and putting an arm around her while staying calm seemed to help stabilize her. He didn't know why this was - yet - but with all Sage had done and would do for him, she was well worth the effort.
As he entered the base, he saw his two more regularly reliable bots - Orbot and Cubot - floating around a table playing cards of all things! Sometimes he regretted giving his creations personalities that led to them needing things to do during 'downtime'...although then he remembered Omega and Metal Sonic, and what happened with them when he didn't include personalities as part of a creation's base program. It was why his initial program for Sage had been focused on personal loyalty to him, rather than to any of his goals, endeavors, or enterprises. Glancing down at Sage and seeing her eyes light up at seeing Orbot and Cubot, he tapped one of the golden buttons on his uniform, making it briefly light up. "Mental note," he muttered, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb Sage, "figure out if programmed loyalty can be added to a robot's programming without drastically altering their Animus Matrix. Messing with that has caused far too many problems with Metal Sonic to risk tampering with it again." Tapping the button again, he then turned to the two gaming bots. "Orbot! Cubot!"
The two robots let out startled yelps as they threw their cards into the air, flipping the table in the process. "Dr. Eggman!" Orbot declared in his polished, urbane voice. "You have returned! And after so long!"
"We were beginning to think we would never see you again, sir," Cubot offered, his own voice having a slight British accent and the tone of a proper 'gentleman's gentleman'.
Ivo sighed in relief that neither Orbot nor Cubot had tried to change Cubot's voice chip back after the latest replacement. Admittedly, it had been a relief to Eggman himself - not that he would ever admit it aloud - that changing Cubot's voice chip did not in fact alter Cubot's personality as it appeared. Rather, Cubot's core personality appeared to be that of a consummate actor of all things, and he played whatever role suited the voice he had at any given time to the hilt. While this was a major improvement on cowboy, pirate, or screechy brat, he had banned the both of them from the art supplies after their last attempt to paint a tuxedo onto Cubot's chassis. "I thought I programmed the two of you with more faith in me than that!" he barked out dismissively. "So this excursion wound up a little extended...and threatened the safety of the world as a whole again...of course I pulled through with no problems! It's me!" Uncertain why, he found himself idly patting Sage's head. Seeing it helped stabilize her projection further - as well as put a small, soft smile on her face, not that he was paying attention to that - he continued without question.
"Well, you'd only taken along a few egg-drones and one experimental next-gen AI!" Orbot pointed out worriedly. "For all we knew, you'd fallen prey to another Metal Overlord and we'd never know it!"
"I would not have done anything like that," Sage stated flatly, her eyes gaining a brief red glow. "My primary function is the Doctor's safety and well-being."
"That is excellent to hear, young miss," Cubot stated happily. "Thank you for seeing the Doctor through this latest hurdle."
"Speaking of," Eggman interrupted as Sage hid slightly behind him - if he didn't know better, he'd swear she was blushing, but it's not like her projection had bloodflow to cause that! - "I return with the spoils of victory and a brand new technology to turn to my own ends! Orbot! Get the production lines up and running and ready for new blueprints!"
"Right away, Doctor!" Orbot declared as he zoomed off, plainly pleased to have something to do after so long.
"Cubot! Get the labs ready! I'm going to have a lot of work to do analyzing the Ancients' technology and adapting it to available materials and my own techniques!"
"By your command, sir," Cubot agreed immediately, bowing slightly as he zipped off.
"And Sage," Eggman continued more softly, "are you ready to interface with Eggnet?"
"I am," Sage agreed, a soft smile on her face as she moved to float slightly behind and beside him.
"Good!" Eggman agreed as he strutted forward, ready to get to work. "Once you're uplinked, direct several worker bots to retrieve our supplies from the Islands. Once you've established a direct uplink between Eggnet and Cyberspace, we won't need a base there to access what it can provide us, and the sooner Sonic and his allies believe we're abandoning our endeavors there, the less suspicious they'll be until I introduce the next stage!" He chuckled softly as he rubbed his hands together. "I'm looking forward to seeing their faces when they see the new Eggdrones armed with the Ancients' technologies! This is going to be glorious!"
"Yes, Father," Sage agreed softly.
Ivo flinched as he walked into a door frame, turning to Sage in surprise while rubbing his head. "W-what did you say?" he asked, mentally cursing himself for the stammer and for being caught so flustered.
"F-Father," Sage stammered uncertainly. "When you reactivated me within Cyberspace and I called you Father, you responded with 'That's my girl.' I interpreted that to mean a shared familial affection." She briefly flickered, her projection momentarily shifting to white and blue as opposed to her normal black and red, in that moment seeming to express unutterable sadness. "Was I...mistaken?"
Ivo waved his hands quickly, shaking his head. "No, no! Nothing like that! It just...caught me off guard, is all." He frowned, rubbing his chin as he quickly parsed his thoughts for how to explain this. He didn't know how stable Sage's Anima matrix was just now, so he needed to step careful with his words or risk her destabilizing...and that thought sent a spike of anguish through him independent of how valuable she was to his future endeavors. "As you know, I've made many creations, many with their own personalities and 'lives' of their own...but none before you ever called me anything but 'Doctor'."
"I see," Sage observed, shifting fully back to her black and red image, one gloved and sleeved hand going to her chin. "Should I instead address you as Doctor, then?"
Ivo frowned. While instinct said he should agree to that, he couldn't help but notice that she sounded more...distant than she had before in asking that. A thought struck him, and he reached out to lightly pat her head. "You can call me whatever feels most comfortable, Sage," he stated firmly with a warm smile. "You've earned it."
He told himself that he would deny to his dying day that the way her eyes lit up as she softly smiled made that moment of softness and weakness more than worth it. "I'll get right to work, Father!" she offered eagerly, zipping through the walls on her way to the primary computing center to begin the uplink process.
Eggman chuckled to himself as he crossed his arms, watching her go proudly. "That's my girl," he purred softly to himself...only to blink in surprise as a new revelation struck him. "That's...my girl..." Ivo murmured to himself, eyes slowly widening. Without realizing it, he slumped back against the wall as his hand went to his forehead. "Clarke, Zelazney, and Asimov, I'm a father!" he muttered to himself in stunned awe and fear. "What am I going to do now?"