Chapter Text
Change is hard. It’s unpredictable, it’s scary, and at its worst, change is chaotic. Not everyone is ready when change comes into their life. It can flip your world upside down and turn you on your head, for better or for worse. Not all change is frightening, but the uncertainty that comes with change is frightening in and of itself. Change can either make you, or break you. The most important thing that one must remember about change, is how you react to it. How you respond to the dramatic shift in your life will determine if you’re strong enough to keep moving forward.
In Maria Robotnik’s case, she took the change in her life with stride.
The move from her hometown to her grandfather’s laboratory was a smooth transition. She asked many questions of course, about why she suddenly had to stay with her grandfather. Her questions were met with deflection and unclear answers. Though that made Maria suspicious, it did not dampen her spirits at all. She loved her grandfather, and was excited to see him. It had been a while since she had last seen him in person. Over the years, she had spoken to him over the rare phone call, and always had all sorts of questions for him about where he was and what he was doing. She had a curious, intelligent mind, and wanted to hear all about her grandfather’s life. Living with him indefinitely would satiate any and all questions she had.
One thing she did not expect was that her grandfather’s laboratory was hidden inside a mountain in Oklahoma. Despite her initial surprise, it made her all the more curious.
Upon arrival, Maria was welcomed and escorted by officers of G.U.N. inside the facility. She carried a box of her own things, while a few other G.U.N. members unloaded the remainder of her belongings. Once inside, she stopped momentarily to change out of her shoes and put her roller skates on. Her grandfather’s laboratory was enormous, and the floors were flat and steady for her to be able to skate her way around the place. After her laces were secure, she picked up her box again, and strode her way through the halls to her new living quarters.
Though she knew no one at the base besides her grandfather, nearly every G.U.N. officer knew who she was. Some members thought that her staying at the lab was not a good idea, while others thought it was a good chance for her to bond with her grandfather. And some were indifferent to her presence. It did not matter if anyone from G.U.N. wanted her there or not; she was there to stay.
After strolling through the halls and maneuvering around the throng of people, Maria came to a stop when a G.U.N. officer held up his hand.
“Hey,” he said. “This is a restricted area.”
“It’s okay.” Another G.U.N. officer stepped forward to placate his partner. “She's the professor's granddaughter. He takes her everywhere.” He turned towards Maria. "Welcome to the lab, Maria. I'm Captain Walters."
"Oh, do you know where my room is?" she asked.
"Yeah. Down the hall and to the right," he replied. "Make yourself at home. But, uh, let's lose the skates, okay, kiddo?"
"Okay," Maria smiled.
Maria skated farther down the hall before stopping to remove her skates. She gently placed them in her cardboard box before continuing her journey. As she rounded the corner, she noticed a strange green glow along the wall coming from one of the research rooms. She creeped forward, and poked her head inside the door. What she found inside was… incredible.
In the middle of the room, enclosed in a pod filled with fluid, was an alien creature she had never seen before; that she didn’t even know existed. It was black with red stripes along its head, and wore gloves on its hands and shoes on its feet. Was this what her grandfather was working on? Curious, she set her box down on the floor and tip-toed towards the pod. Strangely enough, the creature reminded her of a hedgehog, because of the big spikes that protruded from the back of the creature’s head. The creature was sleeping, and had no awareness of Maria’s presence.
At least, that’s what Maria thought.
The moment Maria raised her hand to put her palm on the glass, the creature opened its eyes and turned towards her. Surprised, Maria took a step back, but easily recovered. She stared at the creature, and the creature stared right back. Though the creature’s stare was more of a scowl. Maria jokingly scowled back at him, and immediately thought of a way to diffuse the tension.
Reaching into her sling bag, she pulled out a permanent marker, and drew a funny bunny face on the glass, surrounding the creature’s face. She grinned to herself when she finished, proud of her work. The creature was unimpressed, and simply confused as to what she was doing. It stared at the marker on the glass, and pondered what Maria was up to. Maria giggled to herself, which grabbed the creature’s attention again. The creature gave her another confused stare.
Maria raised her hand again, and slowly pressed her palm against the glass. She silently urged the creature to do the same. With some hesitation, the creature raised its hand and pressed its palm against the glass, right on top of hers. Maria smiled brightly at its action, and in turn, the creature’s scowl melted off its face, and instead was replaced with a soft half-smile.
Their first meeting was short-lived, as Maria heard voices coming down the hall. She reluctantly stepped back from the pod and scurried over to where she put her box of things down. She picked it up, and began backing up towards the door. With one last glance at the creature, she grinned brightly and waved goodbye before heading to her new room.
During dinner, Maria brought up the elephant in the room to her grandfather.
"What was that creature in the pod?" she asked. She slurped her spaghetti and spoke with her mouth full. "Where did it come from? Why is it here?"
Dr. Gerald Robotnik smiled at her from across the table. Having his flesh and blood with him gave him a sense of satisfaction no successful research project could ever give him. He comically slurped his spaghetti as well and answered her in kind. "That creature, my dear, crash-landed here in a meteor. He is an extraordinary being that we know not where he came from. And neither does he. He's a complete mystery."
"What's his name?" Gerald responded with an unimpressive, technical, not-at-all-easy-to-say designation for the creature. Maria made a face and shook her head. "You can't call him that, grandfather. He needs a proper name!"
"Since you're as brilliant as they come, perhaps you could give him a name," Gerald suggested.
"Hmm..." Maria pondered for a moment. "I need some time to think about it. A name is really important and I don't want to screw it up!"
"Take all the time you need. You'll think of something fitting, I'm sure of it."
That night, as Maria settled in her room and stared up at the ceiling, she went through a long list of names for the mysterious creature that dwelled in the laboratory. But no matter how long she thought about it, she couldn't make a decision. So instead of dwelling on it any longer, she decided to sleep on it. Making hasty decisions was not the way to go. After spending a few days in the lab, she was sure she would come up with something amazing.
The next morning after breakfast, Maria went sliding around the halls in her socks, ready to face the day. She excitedly sought out the interesting extraterrestrial from the day before. When she came upon the research room he was in, her smile dropped. He was no longer in the containment pod. Pulling her lips to the side, she wondered where he might be.
“Grandfather should know!”
Continuing down the hall, she looked left and right for Gerald. With the facility being so huge, there must’ve been hundreds of rooms that her grandfather would’ve been in. Instead of searching every single nook and cranny, Maria did the smart thing and asked someone for help.
“Excuse me?” she said, catching the attention of a woman in a lab coat. “Where’s my grandfather?”
The woman paused writing on her clipboard, and gave Maria a quick once-over before giving her an answer. “He’s in Sector Nine with the alien,” she replied, turning her eyes back to her paper.
“Thank you! Um… where is that?”
With a sigh, the woman tucked the clipboard underneath her arm and began walking down the hall. “This way,” she said curtly. Unperturbed by the woman’s attitude, Maria happily followed behind her. She took in her surroundings, fascinated by what each room had to offer: the bright lights, beakers of colourful liquid, and dozens upon dozens of tools and equipment. She had a lot of time to venture around the entire laboratory and memorize where everything was. So despite the urge to wander off and discover things for herself, she stuck close to the scientist in front of her.
After a lengthy walk, the woman stopped in front of a grey door.
“He’s in here,” the woman said, turning around to face Maria. “Please be quiet while he works.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The woman opened the door and let Maria go in first. Stepping inside, Maria looked all around her. As with every room, it was a very sterile environment. The tall, white walls curved inwards towards the ceiling, creating a spherical shape. In front of her was a landing with a large control pad and glass railings. Multiple scientists sat at different stations, one being her grandfather. At the far end of the room stood the black and red alien. His eyes swept the room, patiently waiting for instructions. Maria’s presence went unnoticed by him.
“Is this thing on?” Gerald tapped a microphone, and the alien winced from the feedback. Gerald cleared his voice and tried again. “Good. Now, all you have to do is teleport from one spot to another within this room. Do it as many times as you can while we record the data.” With a silent nod, the alien agreed to the experiment. A few scientists donned their eyes with goggles as a precaution, including Gerald. Maria stood in her spot silently, wondering what her grandfather was talking about. Could the alien really—
With ease, the alien disappeared from his spot, and reappeared in another, seconds later. He teleported throughout the entire room multiple times, and only stopped when he deemed it necessary. Maria was floored by what she was seeing, and gasped in complete shock and awe. That captured the alien’s attention. He found her face within the crowd and stared at her the same way he did the day before: confused. Maria’s gasp also caught Gerald’s attention. He turned around from his spot, removed his goggles, and grinned at her.
“Maria!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. “How nice of you to join us! Come, come.” He encouraged her to join him at the control panel. Maria heeded his call and happily ran down the stairs to be with him.
“That was incredible!” she said. “How did he do that? What else can he do?”
“Ohhh, my dear granddaughter,” he grinned. “He can do so much more than that.” The Robotnik pair stared at the alien with nothing but appreciation and wonder. Maria couldn’t wait to see what else the alien was capable of.
Over the course of a few days, Maria spent as much time as she could with the alien. In-between her lessons, after meals, and before bed: she used her downtime to visit him. Every time she visited him, he would surprise her over and over again. The biggest shock she found out was that he could speak. Human language no less! It made communication with him immensely easier. The more time she spent with him, the more she grew fond of him. Despite being a brooding, quiet, closed-off alien, he was still pleasant to be around. And she was glad that he enjoyed—or at the very least, tolerated—her presence.
It was after the fifth day that Maria approached her grandfather with good news.
“I’ve got it,” she said, practically buzzing with excitement.
“What’s it you’ve got, Maria?” he asked with a tilt of his head.
“His name!” she said. “I thought about it a lot, and I think I came up with something that perfectly represents who he is.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Maria clasped her hands together, and paused for dramatic effect.
“Shadow.”
Gerald blinked in surprise, and then he laughed heartily the more he thought about it.
"Leave it to my incredible granddaughter to come up with such a fitting name for our new alien friend. Let's go tell him the news."
Shadow did not exactly have a spontaneous, joyful reaction to being given a name. The enthusiasm from the Robotnik pair was received with a simple nod of Shadow's head. Despite not having a huge outward reaction, he still appreciated the fact that they gave him a proper name. He didn't even know if he had a name before he crash landed on Earth. He supposed "Shadow" was better than the scientific designation that he was given beforehand. And it was certainly better than what anyone else decided to call him when they thought he wasn't within earshot. In any case, being named "Shadow" was an upgrade.
From that point on, everyone was to call Shadow by his new name. Unbeknownst to them, Shadow got secret satisfaction from it. He would get all warm on the inside, and his heart would race occasionally in elation. He was a master at concealing his emotions, so no one had a clue. Well, no one except Maria.
Though Shadow didn't know it yet, Maria was quite an observer. She was in-tune with her emotions, and noticed the little things when it came to subtle shifts in behaviour. When she got the chance to be with him and she called him by his name, or a scientist did, she noticed that Shadow's mouth would twitch like he wanted to smile. And sometimes he would glance down from whomever he was talking to, almost as if he was embarrassed. Maria secretly revelled in the fact that Shadow was happy with his new name. Most importantly though, she was happy that he was happy.
Seeing as how the scientists and researchers were not very interested in teaching Shadow about Earth itself and would rather collect data on him instead, Maria self-designated herself to be the one to teach Shadow all about human culture and customs. It was a very lengthy list to get through, but they had all the time in the world.
She couldn't wait to get started!