Chapter Text
Metal Sonic, cooped up in secret bases and storage units for months at a time, was irritable.
He was Sonic, of course he was irritable. The need to do something was by design and heavily encouraged when on the field. But stuck without a mission, it was only his orders that prevent him from bouncing off the walls and destroying everything. He needed to keep moving to prevent himself from ripping himself apart.
This feeling wasn't there back when he could shapeshift, making his body into something better than Sonic's, grander than anything his loathsome copy could imagine being. There's only one reason to tear apart perfection like that, and that would be to overcome all odds, to be more powerful than perfection.
Of course, that ability was taken away from him. His father deemed him too much of a nuisance to have such power, an irrational decision. For ages, though, it felt like love from his father was slipping away. Elsewhere was Belle, a novelty to the doctor, succeeding in her own right. And, within the Eggman Empire, was Sage, the prodigy, the new golden child. Metal was being outclassed by his 'younger sisters'.
… Metal Sonic could only ever see his copy in the reflection, again, by design. There was a program built into him, tampering with his eye-like cameras, to perceive his body as identical to Sonic's. It had went away when he shapeshifted, too different to recognise the pattern. Looking in a reflection and seeing someone he was meant to overtake and destroy didn't help Metal's irritability.
The strategic thing to do would be to find a distraction before Metal blew up the place from lack of enrichment. One of his father's many computers was unoccupied and nearby, though many of the games had been deleted from it for the sake of storage. It was fine, though, for the online access was enough for Metal to find something, anything. As long as he didn't see his face.
What was there to even search, though? Just typing in 'DISTRACTION' to the search engine resulted in hundreds of hours of mindless videos, plenty made by false artificial intelligence as opposed to the genuine thought process that made Eggman Empire tech far superior. 'GAMES' required money, 'HAPPINESS' provided several ads for therapists.
Frustrated, Metal felt an ache. Not a true ache, but something that simulated the feeling. Some line of code that made him feel empty, despite his body being filled with whirring machinery. He was an outdated model, outpaced by better, newer things before he even had a true chance to be his best self, to show what he was made of.
He typed: 'I HATE MY BODY AND MY YOUNGER SISTERS ARE BETTER THAN ME IN WAYS THAT MAKE ME FEEL WORSE AS AN OLDER BROTHER.'
Improbably, some sort of manga and anime were the first thing to appear in the search results. Metal at least had something to read and watch as a distraction, now.
◇◇◇◇
Despite being hooked up to the entire Eggnet, there were some things Sage couldn't access. The things she didn't have permissions for included a file of gift ideas for holidays, codes to access the most deadly and unpredictable devices, and anything deemed above her artificially placed maturity level.
Sage thought she was quite mature, actually, but she wasn't complaining about being a child in appearance. It allowed her to be more curious, finding more answers. Her design was approachable, and it frequently helped in making people more fond of her. If that meant she was denied access to places online that could hold garbage data, then it was a fine compromise.
It just made it all the more curious to know that Metal Sonic had been accessing something restricted.
The hundreds of .PNG files, as well as a handful of pirated .MP4s, had been accessed many times in the past few days, something that normally would be blamed on a fault in Metal's task manager. But given these files came from outside the empire, Sage decided to track where and how Metal could have found these bizarre files, starting with-
… Internet searches.
Did Metal truly feel inferior? Sage didn't even have a body beyond her hologram, and Belle was a failure, a non-combatant. What was there to feel inferior about? He was the best big brother the A.I. running a megalomaniac's empire could ask for. Just like Sage chose to be Eggman's assistant and daughter, Metal chose to be a ruthless killing machine and Eggman's son.
The data had to be elsewhere. While Sage lacked the permissions to see the files Metal had been accessing obsessively, she was still capable of finding a synopsis online. Apparently, it was all a piece of fiction, about an older boy being altered to have the body of a young girl by his genius younger sister. The mature sections seemed to be secondary to a tale of a boy being happier as a girl.
There were a few… Simulations, of sorts, Sage had run without her father's permission, out of her own curiosity. The hypothetical situation where Sage was able to gain physical form, flesh and blood, to truly be her father's daughter in a way she currently wasn't. She had run those simulations on repeat for days, longing for them. She still played through the good simulations on nights her current state of being prevented her from powering down.
Could Metal be using these pieces of media in a similar way?
It was unlikely, really. After all, during her own development and self-discovery, Sage was given full permission to go from nothing to a more feminine identity, it/its to she/her. Metal used a more masculine identity, similar to the hedgehog he was based on. Presumably, he chose that himself… Except he was deliberately made with a pre-existing identity in mind, different to Sage.
An inquiry had to be made, leading Sage to go right to the source of the necessary information. "Father?"
"Ah, Sage, I didn't hear you come in," Eggman noted, despite fully knowing his daughter could teleport practically anywhere due to a lack of body and the world wide web of interlocking Eggnet terminals, "How can I help?"
"I require access to some information that isn't in any database," Sage cut straight to the point, "I wish to know more about Metal Sonic's self-understanding, in order to understand him better for maximum efficiency in planning."
"Ah, good, my children are bonding!" That at least showed some care towards the faux blue blur, "Most of it should be recorded in his memory, though, so you can pick his circuits about it."
"Actually, it relates to your intent as his creator," Idly, Sage floated in such a way to give the illusion she was sitting on a table, "Did you program an identity onto him, or was he like me?"
"Of course he was built with an identity in mind, he's deliberately a superior Sonic!" The gravitas of Eggman's ego was quite admirable, "Everything that hedgehog is, I made Metal a better version of."
"I see…" How to phrase this in a way to get the right response… "Does that include being better at being a boy? And if so, how?"
"Hmm, I suppose it wouldn't make sense to you, given your more flexible initial programming," Eggman mumbled before continuing, "Yes, reflecting Sonic's identity as a boy was highly important to Metal's purpose. Every detail had to help mess with Sonic's head."
The low probability prediction had been true. Metal Sonic had been unable to make his own choice, resulting in a lack of freedom that, frankly, wasn't Sonic-like. Even disregarding how unfair it was that Sage got to choose while he didn't, it had to be far more stifling on someone built to live wildly without restriction, although restriction was necessary within the empire's ranks.
Some quick tests were run through Sage's simulations as she kicked her feet back and forth. In almost all circumstances, the request to free Metal from that limitation directly was denied. That was the problem with badniks built with such a direct purpose, it was hard to convince Eggman they had any ability outside of that.
The optimal way to see if Metal needed to identify some other way was to throw him in the deep end, ideally in an environment where he couldn't be Sonic. Any results brought back to Father from such a test would be irrefutable if Sage monitored them herself. If nothing changed, then it would prove a better, unchangeable connection to the identity of Sonic, thus making Father proud in himself and slightly prouder in his creations.
"Thank you for the help, Father," Sage smiled, already looking for potential assistants in this project of her own, "I will ensure this information is put to good use."
"I'm sure you will, my dear girl," Eggman smiled before turning around to work at his latest gadget again, "Your enthusiasm in these endeavours of yours is admirable."
Of course her enthusiasm was admirable, she got it from her dad.
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Having freshly washed and polished herself, Belle let her body sink into the soft cushions of the chair in her little mobile home. She knew how important to take a break between projects, and her own self maintenance was a project in itself. Other than Tails, Belle was the only person with both the knowledge and trust to repair herself, especially after Mr Tinker…
Thinking about her family during what was meant to be self care was slightly counter-productive. She couldn't get Mr Tinker back, and the closest people she had to siblings were devoted to Dr Eggman. That train of thought typically lead to her feeling far too lonely to be good, which was why she had actually brought her mobile home just a small bit outside of Emerald Town.
Her hope was to meet back up with Tails to start a larger scale project, something to tinker with a bit that she couldn't fit in her home. Building was often better as a group activity, too. Belle had simply yearned for a bit more conversation, some genuine connection she couldn't find wandering aimlessly, even if it was with trouble magnets.
Right now, though, it was very tempting to let herself power down for the night. She'd wake up in the morning, see what Tails is up to, have breakfast with the ghostly white entity floating in her peripheral, jog, and-
Wait.
"Hello, step-sister," Sage startled the pseudo-marionette, "Am I interrupting something?"
"Gears and starters…" Belle had to catch her fake breath, "No, I'm… I'm fine, just a little spooked…"
"Good, because I come to you with a proposition." The A.I. floated closer to the floor, an illusion of effortlessly standing.
"I'm not joining Dr Eggman, not unless I can genuinely have my father back," This had been something Belle had to repeatedly put her foot down about, "That isn't changi-"
"I come to you as a sister, not as a representative," Assured Sage, "I believe that Metal isn't well, and it's due to an inability to choose who he is. Did you get to pick your gender?"
"Well, no, but I didn't need to," Mr Tinker's face smiled in Belle's memory, "Dad told me I could be anything, but I'm happy as is."
"Metal is different, though, as someone encouraged to be a pre-established person," A single digital finger was held out, like that one alien from that old movie, "I can share the files I found that show Metal is unhappy with his current self, if proof is needed."
"That feels like an invasion of privacy, I'll just take your word for it," Belle wasn't exactly built to process external files, anyway, "So… You want my help to make Metal happy?"
"Yes," Sage's smile definitely made her seem more childlike, "I want to run a temporary test, away from Father. I believe there is a higher likelihood of Metal exploring his identity if he is given a fresh start away from the empire. The test would be monitored by us, as his sisters."
One major concern clicked for Belle. "And… What if he chooses not to return to the empire afterwards?"
Sage froze for a moment, processing something. It was pretty spooky, how her entire body seemed to halt to put all the power into certain thoughts. Had she really not considered that, in giving someone the freedom to choose who they are, not everyone would so easily return to Eggman and his regime?
"… There are too many variables to determine if Metal will return or not, but I would like to believe he will," It was hard to tell how hopeful Sage really was, "If he chooses not to, though… I… I will interact with him as you and I do, step-sister. Father may not be so easily persuaded."
"That's better than nothing, then," Belle sighed in relief, grateful Sage was understanding, "So, how do we do this? Is Metal just going to show up in a dress, or…?"
"No, Father would be able to track Metal's chassis, which could interfere with the experiment" Sage seemed a little more luminous, a little more excited, "We're going to build our potential sister a different body."