Chapter Text
"And all complete! Welcome to your new room lil' bro!"
Orbot had guided Alpha Shadow Android to his refurbished room. "Good job Orbot." The room had a fresh black paint, the containment pod was fancied up, the workbench had computers, and there were four strange masks on the wall. "What do the computers at the workbench do?"
"Since you're a very complex robot, software updates are just a important as hardware updates."
"What's with the masks on the wall?"
"I asked that same question to big bro, and all he said was 'that's for Alpha Shadow Android to know, not you'"
"Neo Metal Sonic does know the most"
"Yep," Orbot tapped away at the workbench. "Can you get on the table please?"
Alpha Shadow Android walked towards him. "What for?"
"So I can upload Eggman's bio-data to you"
"Understood" He got on the table as several wires connected to him.
"Aaaaaaaand.....finished! You can get off now"
Alpha Shadow Android hopped off the table. "I don't feel too different."
"Try saying something smart."
"The quadratic formula is negative B plus or minus the square root of B squared minus four times A times C, all divided by 2A"
"That's pretty smart,"
"Wha' be ye two doin'?"
"Oh no"
Cubot entered the room, something clearly off. "Do you require assistance Cubot?"
"Wha' be ye natterin' about? I be fine"
Orbot face palmed. "His voice chip is on the fritz again." His face suddenly lit up. "Hey, this can be useful."
"How so?"
Orbot grabbed Cubot and put him on the bench. "For us to tell if you truly have acquired Eggman's mastery of machines, you can repair Cubot."
"Sure." He grabbed a few tools and went to work.
"Wha' ye be doin' back thar?"
"そこから出てください！"
"我知道 70 种扭断男人脖子的方法！"
Suddenly, Cubot's eyes went dark, before turning back on again. "Did he fix me?"
Orbot raised his hand for a high five. "Great job lil' bro! Not even Eggman could've fixed Cubot's voice chip that fast."
"It was actually pretty simple." He noticed Orbots hand. "Why are you doing that?"
"Oh, Mobians call it a 'high five', it's a simple sign of comradery." Orbot guided Alpha Shadow Android's hand to his. "Just put your hand like this." Orbot clapped them together. "And high five."
Alpha Shadow Android pulled his hand back. "I don't get it"
"Neither do I, yet Orbot insists it's helpful"
Neo Metal Sonic entered the room, standing tall and stern. "Neo Metal Sonic, the transfer of Eggman's data to Alpha Shadow Android's body was a complete success!"
"Was it?"
"Of course, he fixed Cubot's voice chip in less than five minutes with basic tools"
"A fine job" He glared at Alpha Shadow Android.
"What?"
"Orbot, why is he still the same personality wise?"
"What do you mean?"
"He still appears somewhat lost, and he's missing my confidence and Eggman's cruelty"
"One primary reason, due to Eggman needing to make two upgraded hedgehog robots, he needed to...cheap out on some parts. This meant that Alpha Shadow Android lacks the same AI that we use"
"Isn't cruelty a bad thing?" Everyone turned to face Alpha Shadow Android.
"Not for Eggman, he uses it to control and cause fear in the innocents"
"So you're aware that you're terrorizing innocents?"
"They are misguided, they choose to follow Sonic, so Eggman has to teach them to follow him instead"
"From what I've seen, this Eggman guy is not a nice person, so I understand why innocents don't follow him"
"Are you questioning the might of Dr. Eggman?!" Neo Metal Sonic raised his voice.
"It's not questioning, it's constructive criticism"
"Eggman is the true king of Mobius! Everyone who opposes him will inevitably be crushed by his iron fist!" He grabbed Alpha Shadow Android by the neck and pushed him into a wall. "You too will be crushed if you don't submit! Understand?" He squeezed, causing sparks to fly out his neck.
"Understood." He dropped him to the floor before walking away. He sat on the edge of the workbench, head hanging low.
Orbot and Cubot sat next to him. "First time getting threatened?"
"You two have been threatened by him before?"
"Of course, heck, boss has threatened to dismantle us to gears and shafts several times."
"Not to mention the times where he'd recite the 78 Robotnik Ways to Destroy and Rebuild a Robot."
"Why do you two follow him? Why don't you two leave?"
Orbot and Cubot exchanged a look. "Well, we can't."
"We haven't even thought to try that"
"But if you had a chance to escape Eggman, would you take it?"
Orbot and Cubot went silent, clearly not sure how to answer the question.
...
...
...
An hour had passed and Alpha Shadow Android was resting in his containment pod when Orbot came in. "Lil' bro! Neo Metal Sonic needs us"
He exited the pod. "What for?"
"He said it was important, very important"
"Fine"
They walked across the hallway of lesser Shadow Androids. "Why were you in your pod?" Asked Orbot.
"I wanted to make sure my power was at 100%"
"Fair"
As they passed a Shadow Android, Alpha's face grimaced. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just...have this strange feeling near the Shadow Androids"
"How would you describe it?"
"I don't know, I just feel...off about them"
They entered a room filled with computers and a table, all of the robots sat around the table, with Neo Metal Sonic standing next to a wall with a projector. "Is everyone here?"
"Affirmative"
"Yep"
"Yes Neo Metal Sonic"
"Excellent, here is the plan," The projector showed different camera angles of...
"Angel Island?"
"Indeed" The projector then showed a large picture of the Master Emerald. "I have learned that Knuckles, the guardian of the Master Emerald, is busy on the surface. This means that the Master Emerald is ours for the taking" Alpha Shadow Android raised his hand. "Yes?"
"The Master Emerald is one of the most powerful gems in the world, correct?"
"Yes"
"And it has shown capabilities to turn people into a 'Super' form, correct?"
"Indeed"
"So is the plan for you and me to harness the Master Emerald's power and ravage the world with our Super forms?"
"Negative, the Chaos Energy Limiter prevents us from utilizing a Super form"
"Chaos Energy Limiter?"
The projector showed an image of a piece of machinery. "The Chaos Energy Limiter is a component implemented into your body and my own, it's a failsafe meant to prevent either of us from becoming too powerful and rebelling"
"So what's the plan?"
"The plan is to takeover Angel Island and to turn it into a flying fortress. Since the Master Emerald can nullify the Chaos Emeralds, any attempt from the heroes to go 'Super' will be thwarted. However, we need to prevent anyone from knowing that I'm in control of things, that's where Alpha Shadow Android comes in. He will convince Mobius that he is the controller of the recent Badnik attacks, and will take all attention away from Angel Island. From there we will use the Master Emerald as a power source and will use Angel Island to destroy the resistance. We will then sift through the world's ashes to find Eggman and then relinquish control to him. Am I clear?"
"Yes Neo Metal Sonic."
He switched the projector off and faced Alpha Shadow Android. "Excellent, tommorow, you'll board a Super Badnik and fly above Spiral Hill Village, deploying an army of Badniks. When the town is nothing but ruins, reveal yourself, and strike fear into the survivors. I'll have Orbot and Cubot prepare more upgrades for you."
Alpha Shadow Android left, leaving Orbot, Cubot, and Neo Metal Sonic. "Ummm...Boss? You do know that Eggman removed the Chaos Limiter doo-hickey, right?"
"Of course I know! He removed the rebellious parts of my code, so of course he would remove it"
"Then, why did you lie to Alpha Shadow Android?"
"Because he still has it, Eggman kept it on him because it was a fresh AI and he didn't want to risk anything."
"But what if he finds out?"
"By the time he finds out, he'll be completely submitted to me. He's too rebellious right now"
As Alpha Shadow Android sat in his room, he looked at the masks mounted on the wall. He investigated them carefully. One had a yellow hollow circle in the bottom middle, one resembled a lion's face with one eye hole pink, another was a monocle with a blue dot, and a circular one with one purple eye hole.
As he held the lion mask close to him, he felt a surge of strange and terrible emotions surround him, ones not too different from the ones he felt near the Shadow Androids, only exaggerated. He felt the same thing with the monocle and the yellow dot mask, but the purple one was different. As he held it, he felt a surge of strange, distorted glee, like he was witnessing something horrible, but he was smiling.
He hastily mounted the masks back on the wall before resting in his containment pod, and powering down.