Work Text:
Metal Sonic booted in the morning and ran basic diagnostics, as usual:
MS.OS v4.3. Patch Vers.12.80
Checking for updates...
No updates available.
-
Core Temperature: 35°C
Network Connection: Secure
Battery A Status: 100%, Estimated 10 Hours at full load
Battery B Status: 100%, Estimated 5 Hours at full load
Fuel Tank: full, 400 miles on ground, 75 miles flight.
Days Active: 10958 incl.
By all metrics, day 10958 had no reason to be anything but perfect for the most perfect of the Doctor's creations. All systems were performing perfectly at 06:00.
Metal Sonic was dashed across the rocky ground of the canyon by the blue nemesis at 06:37. Overclocked already, Metal launched off the boulders, causing a landslide to roar behind the fight.
Sonic wiped his nose as sand and dust flew up around Metal Sonic, and waited for Metal's fist to just graze a quill before he rocketed off in the opposite direction, bouncing from the cliffs. His speed was attainable but incomprehensible to Metal, who had to assign some cpu-space to predicting Sonic's movement instead of observing it, limited as Metal was to 80 frames per second.
Metal's core temperature climbed high, and the fans started to roar. Metal would have to choose between restoring optimum function, and maintaining pursuit of Sonic, and that was no choice at all. Sonic made the mistake of going down a long hill, where Metal's greater weight provided advantage. The metal claw stretched out to grasp the quills, but Sonic whipped himself out of reach by turning on a dime, leaving Metal careering down the track alone.
Metal Sonic revved engines to turn and follow, but between resisting gravity, lacking momentum, and a slowed processor, Sonic was gone. Gone from sight and from detectable range. Metal didn't bother to keep up, just drifted to a stop on the hillside at 06:38.
Metal Sonic's core temperature dropped quickly, standing on the hillside, thinking of nothing and doing nothing. The engine sputtered a little in Metal's chest; something clanked unhealthily.
Metal Sonic was not the perfect creation - everything needed upgrading. Every day for 10957 days, this fact was restated. Whether being defeated, repaired, or prepared: Sonic lived, unbothered and unimpeded by Metal's existence, despite being the only fundamental principle of Metal Sonic. This didn't hurt Metal, because feelings were the only thing of Sonic's the Doctor wouldn't replicate, Metal was assured. Could that be the difference? Metal wondered, but wasn't permitted to think out of line.
Metal was being pinged of another fast-moving life form nearby, as those were almost always trouble. So, Metal ducked away into the dark of a rocky outcrop, to see if this creature would prove an opportunity to hurt Sonic.
Skipping over the hills with her hammer came Amy Rose, and Metal inwardly sighed. There was nothing to be done here: Metal had failed to kidnap her too many times, and wouldn't be trying again. She skidded on a grassboard down the hill, following the tracks of Sonic's path, and hopped off where the track turned.
"Hmmm, now where'd you go? Ugh, you're the worst!" She grouched, kicking her board and jogging in Metal's direction.
Metal silenced the fans. Amy Rose should not be allowed to identify Metal sulking on a hillside. But Metal logged that she seemed to be sulking too, and maybe wouldn't be observant enough right now.
Creeping around the back of the jagged plants of the green hill zone, Metal timed steps with Amy's so she wouldn't hear the clanking so much.
"I mean, really, it's beyond rude. Of all the days, he just had to spoil - Oh, hi Metal - had to spoil my Birthday - wait, Metal?"
Amy interrupted herself as she spotted the shiny blue ears behind a bush, and instantly readied her hammer.
Metal hopped from the foliage, claws ready, and scowled at her, resigned to a fight that wasn't going to lead to Sonic. If she was already complaining he had ditched her, she may have lost her only benefit to Metal, as bait.
Amy looked resigned too, so Metal made the first move and struck her in the shoulder. She jumped backwards, her dress tearing in one place, and scowled, before she pushed herself up on her hammer.
"Oh no, you're not spoiling my day too!" She twirled around like a spinning top and clonked Metal Sonic out the way, only for Metal to launch straight back to her.
She howled as the shiny blue ball smacked her into the strange chunky outcrops of the greenhill, and kicked Metal back.
Metal was ready to fight again, but held the pose, ready to strike yet scared stiff: Amy was crying. This was alarming, because it wasn't accompanied with begging, pleading, or even losing. They were evenly matched on most occasions, and she had not taken a substantial hit yet. Despite this, she cried as she readied to hit Metal.
Amy noticed the tears after Metal did. She fiercely sniffed and ran her arm over face.
"Is that all you got? Didn't hurt!" She snapped, and ran at Metal. Metal threw her away by her hammer, then stomped after her, standing over her with those unfeeling eyes. She growled.
"You - have no idea who you're messing with!"
She kicked her heel where a crotch would be as she flipped herself up, but her foot clanged on nothing and Metal Sonic just stared at her.
Her face was red and a bit puffy now, which made her eyes sparkle brighter green. Metal parsed knowledge on Amy Rose behaviour, searching for a clue.
"What?" She huffed; "Come at me!"
Metal flicked through all the logged memories of fighting Amy, and like a flipbook she grew younger in the screen, until she was just a little girl, with no weapon or skill to fight Metal, adopting this very same stance nontheless. But she didn't cry until situations were dire, did she?
"Oh come on, would you hit me or shove off? You've never been too good to hurt a girl!" She barked at Metal, and Metal re-acquainted with the present.
Present?
Something in the facts about Amy Rose sparked, and Metal was reminded of her key statistics. It was her Birthday. How did Metal know that? Was it something the Doctor kept track of?
Amy Rose swung her hammer like a golf club and launched Metal down the hill; her aim was excellent, and Metal landed in hole in the ground.
Now she leant over Metal, her burning teary face in a bitter smirk as she leaned on her hammer.
"Shall I bury you here?"
Dirt was very bad for engines. Metal tried to claw out of the hole, but she punted gravel into it. As stars and flickies tweeted on Metal's face display - a joke put there to entertain the doctor - A pixel birthday cake displayed, and Amy stopped for a moment.
"Is that a... Are you making fun of me?" She screeched. Metal clattered out the hole and smacked the display with a clawed fist, so eyes returned. She lowered her hammer.
"Oh... that wasn't intentional, huh?" She sighed. Metal ran heavy fans and blasted the engine to clear debris from all crevices, waiting for Amy to attack. She seemed distracted, frowning at the eye-display.
"Did you know it's my birthday?" She said quietly. Metal blinked the pupils, and beeped with an inclined head.
Amy sniffed, then sniffed again, and soon she was holding back a whole waterfall of sobs.
"Why do you know that, when he didn't even r- r-" she howled and shrunk in on herself, before she became self-aware and ran away. Metal's prey drive kicked in and begged to chase, but what would the plan be now?
Metal cast around for ideas.
Amy got to the beach before she stopped and sobbed. She felt safe knowing that Metal Sonic was not good in water, and she could dive in if she didn't feel up to fighting.
Pathetic! She knew Sonic hadn't remembered. He didn't remember anything, or what day it was. He was always jetlagged! He never stayed in one place long enough to notice the seasons! His mind didn't work that way!
She made excuse after excuse, but didn't stop crying. Even Metal Sonic - therefore possibly Eggman - knew it was her birthday. And Sonic, the love of her life, her destiny incarnate, hadn't stopped to say hi.
Something crunched the sand around her. She grabbed her hammer instinctively, and looked up to see Metal Sonic shining in the September sun.
"What? What do you want, round two?"
Though the eyes stayed fixed, the jet behind Metal's back almost wagged like a tail as flames spurted rhythmically. Amy sighed, but she could have laughed.
"Well I don't want to, so go try Sonic. One of us should be chasing him, at least!" She huffed. Metal stood, processing, then opened a compartment in the chest cavity, withdrawing...
A pretty seashell from the beach, and a bundle of flowers tied with a long red leaf like a bow.
"What's that?" She asked flatly. Metal stared at her, claw outstretched, waiting for her to take it, and finally displaying a birthday cake and a present box.
She giggled, but tears welled up again, as she took the strange and useless present.
"... thank you? I think?"
Metal nodded, then instantly braced for a fight again, engine blasting.
"What, so now you want a fight again? No, I can't! I'll break my shell!" She laughed. Metal drooped.
"Is that all you know how to do? I guess so..."
Metal smarted at this, and folded clanking arms.
"Well, I suppose it's not true. I didn't know you could display thoughts. Why don't you do that more?"
Metal glared at her, but she just stared back, waiting for a response. When she didn't elaborate, or fight, Metal rolled those red eyes and showed a rolling screen of hexcode numbers over the faceplate, occasionally sparking a little icon, or a target picture of her friends.
"It's limited, then? I guess lots thoughts aren't things Eggman wants you to communicate."
Metal nodded.
Amy looked at her present, and fingered the bow.
"Where did you learn to tie a bow? That doesn't seem very useful to a killing machine!"
Metal loaded memories; lots more numbers and letters jumbled over the screen. Amy shook her head, as none of it meant anything to her, until a grainy picture of herself as a young hedgehog in the snow with a ribbon, flashed briefly into view.
"I taught you? I... guess I did? And you remembered?"
Metal stared at her again.
"No, I speak pictures better than evil glares! C'mon, it's my birthday!" She whined the last. Metal beeped, but flicked through the pictoral memories of Amy on the display that usually held eyes.
"Hold on, slow down!" She said, holding Metal's face in her hands. She pulled Metal Sonic down to sit on the sand - which was usually forbidden, as it clogged vents and got into cracks, but not the strangest banned activity of the day.
From Metal's perspective, Amy was staring intently into where the red eyes should be, but of course, she was looking at the grainy images displayed on the visor.
"Wait, stop there!" She said, as Metal recalled Amy, from high above as the Metal Overlord roared.
"I didn't even think you noticed I was there! You had eyes only for Sonic!"
Metal beeped indignantly, displaying crackly clips of the teams fighting the draconic beast Metal had become.
"Huh, fair enough, sorry I misjudged you!" She laughed slightly.
When Metal finished the flipbook, Amy had more questions. Most of them, Metal couldn't answer pictorally, but some managed to dredge out old files. Amy delighted at seeing Sonic, Tails and Knuckles as little creatures, before they all grew up, and was tickled pink by Metal's view of them.
"You were little then, too, y'know!" She chuckled, as Metal printed an arrow with the word "Tiny, located", pointing to Tails hiding in a plantpot.
Metal whirred, but returned no memory of old designs. In fact, it returned only one image of the self at all: it was blurry, as though taken through a thick casing, of a destroyed small Metal Sonic thrown in the incinerator of Eggman's lab. Amy stopped laughing.
"You... were little. I remember you. Let me see if..."
She pulled out her phone, and tapped through a drive of grainy and compressed images.
"My old camera, didn't port well with my phone, maybe there's one..."
She searched some more, as Metal wondered what on earth the Doctor's greatest creation, who took less than 40 minutes to fail this morning, was doing sitting next to Amy Rose, half an hour later as the sun rose over the sea.
"Here you are! Oh, you were a grumpy baby!" She snickered, pulling up an old article from the newspaper, of an early Metal Sonic blasting through a building and devastating an office block that printed Sonic Comics. The robot in the picture looked so furious, but it was barely two feet tall, with a shiny round stomach and stubby hands. Metal Sonic didn't recognise it, but Metal Sonic had never had much association with self, so just shrugged, but logged that picture to memory.
Amy reminisced some more, as Metal recorded details. She certainly shared more than she should have, and filled gaps in Metal's knowledge of where her friends had gone and what they feared. She seemed to have forgotten who she was talking to, but Metal had too. And Amy seemed more like Amy now, which was reassuring somehow. Like being beaten by Sonic, it was part of Metal's routine to hear his friends laugh and be merry.
Talking about Sonic mellowed Amy. She stroked her bouquet as they walked along the coast, Metal scanning shells for symmetry and digging every so often for the nicest ones to give to her to hold.
"I gave Sonic a shell bracelet made of ones like these, once. I don't think he kept it though."
She stroked a smoothed mollusc shell as she thought. Metal logged this information too, like everything she said, even though it didn't seem important to the Doctor.
"Oh, Sonic." she sighed, stacking the shells so the bigger ones held the smaller, like a matroshka doll. Metal Sonic looked up, then down again, eyes blank red dots. She grimaced.
"Sorry, I meant Sonic Sonic."
She grimaced awkwardly but they kept walking.
"I wish..." she didn't finish.
Metal waited, ready to record this new desire, too, but she seemed stuck. Metal looked hard at her, waiting. She scuffed her shoes in the sand, flicking it on herself moodily.
"No, I don't. I don't wish things were different. I have to make things different. If I can. I don't know how."
Metal recorded: "I wish I knew how to make things different.", then nodded, because it rang true.
"Like, is this it? After all these years, I'm crying on my birthday, and he still doesn't see me like I want him to? I'm just... so tired of failing. I'm tired of being the loser."
Metal nodded, because that rang even truer, through the metal cavity of a chest and through the flashing lights of a CPU.
"And, what even happens when he does finally love me? Is that even going to have been worth all the effort? I don't know what I'm saying, of course it is! But all this heartache, I just don't know. Life just... keeps going around in a loop. And he doesn't even notice."
Amy rambled to herself. Metal listened, but also scanned for another pretty shell. Instead, the sensor pinged with something metal in the ground, so that had to be dug out, even though it was deep. Amy paced next to Metal as she thought aloud.
"I mean, seriously, it's not even about the birthday, why does he just ignore me when there's nobody else around to make him feel bad for that? Like, it's really rude, and I just... whatever. What have you found?"
She knelt down next to Metal, as pointy claws turned a golden chain over. It was a pendant locket, but the enclosed image had worn to a grey smudge of paper.
"Oh, that must have been there for ages! Aren't you a good sniffer dog!" She patted Metal's head. Metal didn't receive pets or pats, and didn't move for a moment, before deciding this action was not a threat, so allowed Amy to sweep the sand from the cracks around the ears.
Metal handed it to her, and expected to carry on walking, but she didn't take it.
"I can't take this, it's probably somebody's. And it's a loveheart! You don't know what that means, but you don't mean to give me a loveheart." She sighed, giggling a little. A tilt from Metal's head egged her on.
"I mean, heart shaped things are romantic. That's why I wear them, I guess! But if you give them to someone else... No, you found it, you keep it! Maybe you have a true love!"
She handed it back. Metal stared from Amy to the gold chain, then displayed a present and a question mark.
Amy blinked.
"Oh, I suppose I am giving you a present now! We are in a pickle, then!" She laughed. Metal waited for her to finish, then she took the chain and put it around Metal Sonic's neck. It was small, and hung like a dog's collar, but avoided the exhaust of the blaster.
"When you love somebody, you put them in that heart, okay?"
Metal noted that down, even though it was decidedly not important.
They walked in the sand. Metal stopped scanning for things to dig, fearing what they might find, and listened to the soft clinking of gold on titanium breast.
"Do you have wishes, Metal Sonic?" Amy asked quietly. Her hand grazed Metal's claw accidentally. Metal recorded that, but didn't have an answer.
"Do you wish to be a real person? Or, the real Sonic?"
Metal didn't know where to begin answering that, but Amy didn't seem to expect Metal to know.
"If you could change something, what would it be?"
Again, there were too many factors. Metal would have to pull a full report, and Amy wouldn't be able to read it anyway. So, Metal thought of what the Doctor would want Metal's answer to be: eyes rolled into a low-pixel gif of throwing Sonic into the sun, where he exploded.
Amy looked at Metal's face and burst out laughing.
"Did you make that? It's horrible, can you send it to me?" She brushed tears from her eyes again, and Metal panicked, nodding 'yes' to whatever she wanted, if it kept her from crying. Something pinged in her pocket and she pulled out her phone.
"Okay, weird, how do you know my number? I guess same how as my birthday? Creep!" She laughed, bumping Metal, but shed no more tears, and laughed at the gif.
"So what happens then? Sonic explodes into a ball of fire, and you're free from your destiny, what's next for you?"
Metal stopped walking. That answer should have been somewhere in the depths of the code. But nothing was drawn out. Nothing? Nothing. The Doctor had no plans for Metal after that.
Metal thought of the dishonoured Robots, gathering dust in the bowels of the eggfleet, waiting to be useful. But Metal wouldn't be waiting, because the purpose Metal was made for would be fulfilled.
Amy stopped at Metal's side, holding her shells, and watched the display whirr with thoughts that stoppes and started. Finally, an image she had already seen blinked to view: The old metal body, being tossed into the furnace, parts ready to be remolded into something new.
"Oh... no that can't be right! Eggman loves you!"
A heart and a question mark dotted the bottom of the screen, as Metal thought about the furnace.
"No, don't let him throw you out, Metal!" She said, tearful again, and threw her arms around Metal's body, dropping her shells and flowers. Metal couldn't move, fearful of setting her arms on fire if the engine ran, so instead ran fans to keep cool air flowing between them.
"Don't let him do that, okay? Even if you fail, or if you don't, just don't let him, yeah? You... you come find me. Or don't, but you can, okay? I'll understand!" She mumbled, her ripped dress blown by Metal's fans.
Metal beeped and nodded, only to prevent any more crying.
"Beep beep, to you too." she said quietly, and made herself laugh again, just as her phone rang.
"Hello, yeah I'm okay. Do I have plans today, why do you ask? Oh, no reason, sure! I'm just out for a walk- when later? Okay, you're sure there's no occasion? Okay, sweetie, I believe you, I'll see you at 11. Bye!"
She was happy-teary again. Metal quickly picked up the shells to give to her, trying to find one that would make her stop crying.
"I'm okay, I - thank you, sorry I didn't mean to drop them! My friends... have definitely organised a surprise party for me. I'd better get home, and changed!"
She accepted the flowers and shells, hugging them to her chest.
"Thank you for being here, Metal! And for my presents!" She smiled, carefully stowing the shells in her bag; she took the bluest one back out, and gave it to Metal.
"Don't think I forgot, it's the anniversary of the day we met! I mean, I remember the date because its my birthday, but whatever. Not everybody has a perfect archive!"
Metal sifted through, and nodded.
"But, when's your birthday? Do you have one?"
Metal tapped a finger to an ear, thinking, then printed: 'Day's active: 10958 incl.'
Amy tapped on her phone a minute, scratching her head.
"That's MY birthday! And... the day we met! I see, you have no trouble remembering those days then! I'll never forget- Happy Birthday, Metal Sonic!"
She hugged Metal again, carefully holding the shells and flowers. Metal's fans whirred again to keep her hands from the heat, and face displayed all sorts of whirring images, including crosses and birthday cake, babies and robots.
"Okay, so you weren't born exactly, but still, that's so- do you want to come to my party? I'm sure everyone will understand, as long as you don't fight with them?"
Metal's face displayed all sorts of sudden flickering numbers and letters, ending in crosses over both eyes. Amy laughed.
"I'll take that as a Very Polite 'no thank you' then! I... get it."
She stood facing Metal in the morning sun, and scrunched her face a little, heart thumping for the robot blowing off his blush with a fan.
"I'd better get going, then... But make it a good one, yeah! Let's make this the year we change for the better!" She smiled so warm Metal's fans whirred harder, or they were blowing out sand. Amy chose to believe it wasn't sand, and poked the gold necklace heart.
"I think you've already started, huh?"
Metal put a claw over the heart, eyes blank. Amy chuckled, and her phone rang again.
She waved as she answered it, flowers in hand and handbag jingling with pretty shells.
Amy had lots of pretty shells, and Metal had one. This made sense to Metal, because Amy was a very pretty girl that was loved by all her friends, and Metal... still had one shell. Which was one more than this morning, and it was still a pretty shell.
One shell and a heart. Although Amy had lots of heart shaped things. This one she could have kept, but she'd given to Metal. That was more than this morning too.
Metal returned from another unsuccessful hunt, and attended to self cleaning and refueling before the Doctor could awaken. The heart locket and blue shell would have been registered as dirt, so Metal placed them in the cavity of a chest that had always been empty, waiting for useful things to put there. They became permanent residents, rattling in there despite Metal's best attempts at muffling them. When Metal went out, though, the gold necklace was always around the cold neck, although Amy was yet to get close enough to see who was in the heart.