Work Text
Ever since Metal lost his race with that damn hedgehog, he's had a rogue thought swirling around in his code, poking itself into his awareness at inopportune times.He was built to be perfect, superior. And yet, he is not.He doesn't understand why Father has kept him around after that terrible showing. After his failure to complete his task- to win against Sonic. He very nearly did, he got so close, but he still failed. He is imperfect from the start, but he hasn't been discarded. Not yet, at the very least. It all confuses him deeply.[You are his pride and joy,] Mecha states, startling Metal from his thoughts. [He has put much effort into your creation, and it's already yielded good results. He's proud of you, Metal, and so am I.] A large hand settles on Metal's shoulder, comforting.[I still failed my objective,] Metal says angrily. [I am imperfect. Why is he so accepting of failure when I am the one failing, yet the Badniks are discarded the moment they show weakness?][You're a singular unit,] Mecha replies. [Much better to improve an already well-functioning singular unit than to spend the time and effort improving a faulty mass-produced unit. I think that's the Doctor's belief, at least. I don't know if I agree with it.]Metal's screen-eyes narrow. [His logic is faulty as well, then,] he mutters. [I appreciate that I have yet to be decommissioned, but I do not believe that his potential reasoning is sound.]Something in Mecha's chassis hums, and he carefully takes Metal's hand. [Please come with me,] he says softly. [I want to show you something.]Metal beeps, still slightly irritated over the illogical nature of his situation, but nods and allows Mecha to lead him away.The path they take is long and winding, deep into the bowels of the Carrier, where Metal has never been before. He feels uneasy, the dimly-lit area almost feeling haunted by something- but Mecha is unfazed, so Metal tries to shake off his nervousness and put up a brave front.Eventually, they're standing in front of a round, silver door. It's shiny, obviously taken care of better than the rest of the area. Mecha places his hand on the locking mechanism, almost reverent. [Here we are.]Metal watches as Mecha puts in a passcode and uses his immense strength to manipulate the locking mechanism into opening during the brief window of time that the passcode allows, then hauls the door open. He reaches a hand down for Metal to take, and the smaller robot quickly does so. Something about this place has him set on edge.Mecha walks into the hall beyond the door, and Metal trails after. The door closes behind them. [It opens easier from this side,] Mecha assures him.They soon find themselves standing in front of a plexiglass panel, a broken silver and yellow robot stood up behind it. [I wanted to show you our Siblings,] Mecha says quietly- or at least as quietly as he can. [This is our Littlest Brother.]The robot is slightly taller than Metal, but he's built more childishly. He looks young, a goofy smile etched into his muzzle. [MS-01,] Mecha says. [I was still being built when he debuted. He would show me videos of whatever he was looking at. I found out what I looked like before I ever saw him because of that; I saw him for the first time here, when I found this place.]Metal places a hand on the plexiglass, right where Littlest Brother's pincer is behind it. [What happened to him?][He lost a fight against Sonic,] Mecha replies, smoothing his thumb over the back of Metal's hand when he feels the smaller robot tense up in anger. [I believe he thought they were playing. And I believe that, to both him and Sonic, it was a form of play.] He glances down at Metal. [Littlest Brother was unable to speak aloud, like you, and his construction didn't allow him to be as expressive as you. I don't think Sonic knew he was sapient.]Air huffs out of Metal's vents, still frustrated, but less angry. Mecha's reasoning is sound. [What was he like?] he asks.[He was like a child,] Mecha says simply. [He was curious, energetic, sweet, and a bit irritating at times. He gave me my name, Mecha. I wasn't as advanced back then, and I struggled to interact with him properly. He cared for me regardless, and I cared for him.]Metal squeezes Mecha's hand. Mecha is MS-00, Metal is MS-04, and he's just met MS-01. He has two more Siblings to meet. Mecha squeezes back and begins to lead him to the next Sibling.[MS-02,] Mecha introduces. They're standing before another plexiglass chamber, the machine behind much larger than Littlest Brother. He's still silver, but clearly slapped together even more hastily than Littlest Brother. His quills are instead a buzzsaw mohawk, and his fingers are sharp like theirs.[Little Brother didn't last long,] Mecha says, tone somber. [He was only awake for a few weeks- I didn't get to know him very well. He liked cataloguing things. Almost everything he saw or did was put into his memory banks in dedicated folders, and he liked to share them with me.][As for what happened to him... yes, it was Sonic again,] he admits. [Little Brother couldn't speak, and he was fully dedicated to his routine. He stuck entirely to his programmed battle strategies. I think that, even if he could speak, he wouldn't have; he never strayed from his directive once he was given one. He would only go back to normal once his directive was either completed or erased.]Metal shifts uncomfortably. Being completely overtaken by his directive sounds terrifying. He can't even blame Sonic for thinking that Little Brother was no smarter than a common Badnik, because he likely would have thought so too had he been in Sonic's place (a ghastly thought, but one that strikes him nonetheless).[I cared for him, and he cared for me,] Mecha says softly, and moves on to their last Sibling.[MS-03,] Mecha states as they stop in front of a screen. The feed is hazy, but Metal can see the shapes of a... particularly experimental robot kneeling on the ground, eyes still sparking to life occasionally. [Xerox, she called herself. She was the only one of our Siblings to self-designate before you.]Mecha continues to speak, ignoring how surprised Metal is to learn that he has a Sister. [Xerox was... complicated. She was more of a person than I was, until I was upgraded to have processors like hers. She taught me how to speak like a person and hold a conversation. She was rebellious, didn't like how controlling the Doctor is. She wanted to fight and race Sonic. I think, back then, she would have won. He was going through a growth spurt then, still getting used to his limbs being longer.][And what happened to her?] Metal asks hesitantly. [Did Sonic get her too?][She suffered a nuclear meltdown,] Mecha says sadly. Metal jolts in shock. [She was given a nuclear core, which worked well at first, but something went wrong. She was built in an underground base, so nobody except her got hurt, but... she still got hurt.]There's an unbelievable weight to Mecha's voice as he says [All I could do was talk her through it.]Metal shrinks in on himself. As far as shut-downs go, that sounds like one of the worst ones. Looking closer at the camera feed, he can see the gaping hole in her chest where her core used to be, the core itself fused to the floor in a pile of hardened slag. [You cared for her,] he says quietly. It's obvious in the way that Mecha talks about her, the same way as he talked about the others.[I did,] Mecha says, scooping Metal up into his arms. [I still do, for all of them, regardless of their imperfections.] He runs a hand along Metal's quills, soothing. [Just as I care for you, Metal- regardless of your imperfections. You're my Brother, and you're important to me. Don't forget that.]Metal hooks his arms around the back of Mecha's neck, clinging to the larger robot like a lifeline. [I will try not to,] he says, because his imperfections make him nervous that, eventually, he will forget. He is too imperfect for promises.
[That's good enough for me, Brother.]