Chapter Text
It was a fairly normal day at G.U.N., so to say; with people going about their business or talking in the break room, everything seems to have some kind of order.
Through the hallways, the audible sound of footsteps clinking against metal tiles told the surrounding agents of one irritating person: Agent Ivo Robotnik.
However, instead of stopping by to "lecture" them about their ceaseless chatter and imbecilic behaviors, Robotnik has an unusual business to attend to, and he clearly has no intention of getting sidetracked.
Upon reaching the lab, the takes moment to adjust his appearance with one hand - the other being occupied by a coffee cup - smoothing out his suit, making sure his hair isn't sticking up weird and paying close attention to the curl of his mustache. Once Robotnik makes the finishing touches, his hand comes up to knock on the metal doors.
A single knock rang out, and moments later, the door slides open ominously. Robotnik considers turning back and informing Commander Walters that he was resigning from the task, but decided he wasn't backing away.
When he enters, the lab was pitch black and quiet, only the soft glow of holographic panels illuminating its limited surroundings. Robotnik internally shiver; pair with the eerie silence and darkness, the lab comes with a chilly atmosphere like someone had turned the A.C down too low to cool the scorching summer heat.
Robotnik felt like he just walked into a real life horror movie. He hates horror movies.
"Doctor Stone?" Robotnik tried calling, his hand feeling the wall to his left, keeping his balance and making sure the coffee doesn't spill by taking careful steps. "I'm Agent Ivo Robotnik and I was assigned as your personal assistant by Commander Walters." Robotnik said again, visibly clenching his fist at the mention of Walters.
Not that Robotnik held grudges against the man, no, but the way he operates pisses him off.
With not so much as a noise of acknowledgement from said person, Robotnik begins approaching the light, hoping to find out the switch to turn on the electricity in the lab. However, before he reaches the control panel, he jumps back in fright as a pair of (glowing?) eyes glared back at him.
The air becomes thin as Robotnik tries to recover from the fright, his hand pressed tightly to his chest to try and stabilize his breathing. It didn't take long for the agent to recover his composure.
"Doctor, I'm Agent Ivo Robot-"
Dr. Stone raises his hand, cutting Robotnik off mid-sentence, turning his chair to reveal an unimpressed and unamused expression.
Robotnik frowns at the interruption, but doesn't say anything further as he just stands there, awkwardly and involuntarily engaging in a staring contest with his new boss.
The lab's lights spark to life unexpectedly, sending Robotnik into another momentary shock, flinching calmly just enough to go unnoticed.
After regaining his bearings and facing the doctor once more; Robotnik knows his face must be very unpleasant for some superiors to deal with or even look at, the fact that it's expressing his judgement towards his new boss might get him killed.
Slowly, he hands over the coffee cup to Dr. Stone, who stared at it for a brief moment before reaching out a gloved hand, tentatively taking the cup and bringing it up to take a sip.
At that moment, Robotnik decides to avoid eye contact with the doctor, but his lingering, almost curious gaze bore holes into the agent. Robotnik has to say something, just anything! But seeing that the man he'll be working under for the next month was just as crazy as the rest - his previous agents - claim makes him perspire.
It might have been a solid minute or two of Robotnik standing there by the doctor's side for him to finally speak up. "How's the coffee, Doctor?" Robotnik asked at a weak attempt of starting a small talk.
Dr. Stone didn't answer, he just stares up at Robotnik with that empty, blank and cold glare of his. Robotnik quickly notes that the doctor's pupils aren't that dilated; he looks like he has eye miosis. Maybe he does.
Another second ticks by, just the two of them staring at each other. Awkwardly.
"[Beep bap boop]! Magnificent, Agent! Never had a coffee like this before!" Robotnik said loudly, the sound bouncing off the walls and back at him.
It was yet another weak attempt at some sort of communication since his new boss doesn't seem too keen on engaging in human interaction. Robotnik could tell the doctor was taken aback by his sudden and possibly eccentric behavior, looking back down to his coffee and taking another sip. His pupils have dilated a bit.
Robotnik is immediately silently directed to his work station after their awkward first interaction, and the Agent couldn't be more glad than to get to work so he doesn't have to try and communicate to his weird new boss.
He never cared what his superiors thought of him, mainly because his file and track records show that he is flawless in most of the things he do. But, for Dr. Stone... Perhaps he would be a bit more careful around him.
The day drag on without so much as another exchange between the two, all besides working on their perspective jobs either on the laptop or the holo-screens.
It was until later when Robotnik decides trying to sort through the pile of emails was fruitless, he looks up to be met with a machine floating in front of him.
The machine's shape could be described as a flat pentagon with rounded edges. There's a circle in the middle that emits a purple sensor light; it dilates how the Doctor's pupils would, focusing and unfocusing on Robotnik as he continues to examine its design.
Overall, the tech looks simple but eye-catching, though not very impressive in his opinion. Robotnik has built prototypes of his own machine-like-drones but has never got around to finishing them, mainly because he had piles of missions and assignments to finish.
Robotnik stares at it for another moment, noting down the rest of its exterior design to use as reference for his own. Knowing the risks of getting hurt with unfamiliar machineries, Robotnik decides to return to his work, typing away on his laptop.
The machine didn't bother him any further, seemingly just doing scans around the lab and taking note of Robotnik's presence. The Agent thinks it classified him as a potential threat to the doctor, but that's not something new to him.
The other agents see him as a threat, a bomb about to explode at any given moment. Robotnik silently hopes people will always think that, that way he could minimize his contact with the stupid peons that make up nearly the 99% of the world's population.