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[evilgrows]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, DR. ROBOTNIK. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 905.77.247.37 *** DOCTORROBOTNIK has joined 905.77.247.37 <DOCTORROBOTNIK> You've reached Doctor Robotnik. Leave only one message, and I'll get back to you if I find it necessary.

Comments

[evilgrows]

Looks like you've got a whole jet engine in there. Exciting, huh?

[Robotnik's probably the only person to find it that exciting, but c'mon. Some people just can't appreciate what they've got.]

You should relax. If it hasn't killed you yet, then it's probably unlikely to.

[King of reassurance, he's not.]

[endlesspastability]

A wh-- [he is stricken by a coughing fit, though the sound is rattly and coarse. It sounds a lot less like a cough and more like an engine trying to turn over. And it finally does, and the jet in Sonic's chest sputters to life, beginning to spin and throw some sparks.

Which makes Sonic panic a little more. It's an incredibly strange sensation, and while not painful, it is unpleasant.]

O.... ok that's enough.... we can stop now...!

[The computerized voice chimes in again.

"NEGATIVE. CONVERSION 89.3% COMPLETE. 10.7% REMAINS. WE FINISH THIS. QUICKLY."

And that's when the last part of Sonic's robotization kicks into high gear. His body throws sparks and spasms as the liquid engulfs his shoulders and neck, no longer creeping but gushing. There's a moment where Sonic's scream is echoed -- part from his mouth and part from the new speaker that just materialized at the base of his neck. But both screams abruptly stop as the liquid fills his mouth and nose, then pushes into his eyes, up over his head and hair.

The hardening process can't quite keep up, and for a moment, from the shoulders up, there's a vaguely head shaped blob of quicksilver. It vibrates, ripples like ferrous fluid exposed to a magnet, and new features coalesce from the fluid. A sleek, mouthless muzzle. A pointed spike of a nose. Large, dark, glassy eyes. Pointed ears on rubber gaskets. And bundles and bundles of cables, crackling with energy.

There's a last burst of energy and a convulsion in Sonic's body that causes the machines in the lab to flicker, glitch, and blip off for just a moment.

Then the newly minted robot's body relaxes, slumping on the stool, the wild cables coming from the back of his head looking like a tangle of yarn in no particular order. Everything is still. No sparks, no hums, no engines sputtering.

There are no life signs. The screen that had been giving readouts is black.]

[evilgrows]

[So much is happening all at once all of a sudden that it's a little difficult to keep track, but Robotnik watches with clear excitement. Big kid in a candy store energy. And it's all happening precisely in his lab! What a great place for it. The rest of the change goes so quickly that his machines are also struggling to record everything, but they dutifully continue their work.

That is, at least, until everything flickers and they stop in their tracks. Sure, they go right back on, but that kind of interruption is never a good sign.]

Oh come on--

[Good thing he'd been keeping backups, terrible as the local tech is. At worst, his wrist computer is wireless and the only piece of good tech he actually has here, so that should be able to keep track of all of the most important information.

In the meantime, there are other things at hand, such as the observation subject being, y'know, off. He waves a hand in front of Sonic's face.]

Do I have to get out the jumper cables?

[Hey, it worked with Slade that one time. Despite the shock from earlier and potential risk for more, he still moves to gently shove his shoulder to see if that'll get him up.]

[endlesspastability]

[It's all on camera. He can watch the footage slowed down, later!

Robotnik waves his hand, and nothing happens. The robot seems to be completely off, some smoke rising from the inside of the jet engine and a few of his seams.

The shove, however, does cause a reaction. Sonic's arm shoots out, striking with deadly accuracy, grabbing the offending wrist in a tight, strong grip and not letting go.

The robot shudders, and there's the sound of mechanical parts engaging and the jet engine beginning to spin slowly. The robot raises his head in a smooth motion, black eyes dark. They flicker to life like old computer screens -- bright red with glitchy yellow irises -- staring Robotnik down. Keeping his iron grip, the robot stands from the stool and swipes away any connections to the machine with his free hand with precise motions.

There's a bit of static, followed that same robotic voice -- Sonic's voice, but cold, metallic, and monotonous -- coming from the speaker on his chest]

Target acquired. Feeding protocol activated.

[from the base of the robot's spine, four thin cables spool out, then coil like snakes ready to strike, or the tails of some horrid mechanical scorpion. Their tips crackle with electricity and small claws open wide]

[evilgrows]

[This would be the most interesting thing to happen in a long time if it wasn't for this whole being in danger thing. Now, he actually can hold his own in a fight by himself, especially now that he's a monster, but against a machine? Maybe not so much.

He's not too concerned just yet, though.]

Oh no you don't. Don't forget, you're in my lab.

[The only problem is getting his security systems to function fast enough. They're not exactly designed to easily reach into things in here; this place is hard to access compared to the whole building, after all. If only he'd managed to restore the security bots that had already been in here to something better than just movable.

He'll just have to stall for time. So, what's a faerie's best defense? He shrinks down until he can pull his wrist out of Sonic's grip and flutter away from him.]

Which means, of course, my rules. No feeding, unless you're me.

[endlesspastability]

[The faerie slips from Sonic's grip, and he regards his now empty hand. He opens and closes it, then begins to swipe at the air where the little bug doctor is fluttering. Meanwhile, two of his feeding cables attach themselves to the machine nearby, and run a charge through it. There's a loud boom and blue electricity sparks from the machine, leaving it nonfunctional and smoking. At the same time, the robot's eyes glow brighter, and he moves faster. He strikes with both hands and all four cables, arms stretching an extra foot or so when needed.

Though in the end, he's still a teenager-sized robot tenaciously grabbing for a bug in midair. But at least his focus is entirely on the faerie. Any security bots are being ignored in favor of a more energetic prize]

[evilgrows]

[At first he's glad to have escaped Sonic's grip, but then he blows up the diagnostic machine and he shouts at him.]

HEY! You're paying for that!

[While he's zipping around angrily, a few rudimentary machines finally wheel in. The hard part's going to be precision, keeping his other machines from damage while focusing only on the target.

If only he had the kids from back home. This place is the worst.]

Grab him! Apply security measure 0032-B!

[Hopefully they'll distract him by trying to grab at him with their janky robot arms while he zips behind him.]

[endlesspastability]

[the robot's eyes flash and glitch dangerously, but his voice is as even as before. Matter of fact.]

Negative. I will use every inferior machine in this room for power, and then I will take yours.

[Machines directly attacking him changes his focus, and he grabs one of the machines and attaches two of his feeding cables to it, ready to drain it of it's electricity. The other security bots should probably grab a hold of the other two cables before they face the same fate]

[evilgrows]

[He can't even argue about the whole "inferior machine" thing because despite his best efforts, he can't work miracles with local tech. So he's just going to work on subduing Sonic and getting this over with.]

You will not.

[The other security bots reach out to grab the cables while he returns to his full size behind him, grabbing him with two sets of arms.]

You could be the highest of tech, but in my lab, you do what I say. Don't make me shut you down.

[endlesspastability]

[Captured and without his primarily weapons, the robot has few choices for countermeasures. Physically, he's stronger than a faerie, but his energy reserves are low from the stress of the transformation. The energy of two normal machines isn't enough. He struggles, though he's not quite thrashing.

He growls, a sound that's partially the mechanical grinding of an engine and partially something like an angry fax machine]

Release me. You have 5 seconds to comply.

[evilgrows]

Oh no. You don't tell me what to do. I'm in charge here. And if you'd like to keep your chassis intact... well, I'd say you'd better listen to me.

[He jerks his head towards where his tools are, not that it's a gesture that'd be easily noticed from behind. All the while, he's trying to subtly guide him towards one of the smaller, seemingly unfinished machines.]

You're going to calm down, or I'm going to systematically take you apart and let you watch. Understand?

[endlesspastability]

[The idea of being contained, of being controlled, is so completely abhorrent to the machine hedgehog that he feels a jolt of pure hatred shake his body to the core. Simulacrums are often subservient... but this one has yet to develop that trait. Robotnik can't see it where he's from, but the robot's irises jitter and glitch in rage.

And finally his voice begins to sound somewhat angry]

You have chosen poorly. I will show you just how in charge you are, organic.

[the engine in his chest starts spinning much faster, making a whirring sound that increases in pitch and volume. Then, with a dull boom, the robot electrifies his entire body at once, blue electricity surging through every piece of metal plating and each strange cable and making him into one humanoid tesla coil.

Which, in retrospect, was not a great idea. While it may injure Robotnik and short circuit the machines holding him, it also overloads his own circuits, electric current arcing where it shouldn't and making the robot's body seize up and convulse.

He collapses to the ground, eye LEDs glitching between several different colors and patterns, then static, and finally completely black. A small crack crawls across the eye screen that impacted the floor, and acrid black smoke rises from the jet engine and joints. He twitches and sparks, then stops moving entirely]

[evilgrows]

[Well, that's one way to do it.

Robotnik does immediately let go once he hears the jet start spinning, but that just keeps him from getting shocked by direct contact. He's still close enough that he gets a little zapped before he can flutter his way back, but it's not like it's the first time he's ever been shocked by a machine.

It still hurts, he still screams and falls back, but it's not a particularly life-threatening injury and Sonic seems to hurt himself more.

He's going to have to get back to work on the security bots soon, though. Once he's recovered enough to get up again, he peers over at Sonic, assessing the damage.]

What was that about how in charge I am?

[Of course, he has a few things to take care of now. Whenever Sonic wakes up, he'll find himself in a makeshift cage with a coloring book, a big bulky security camera in the corner, and Robotnik nowhere to be seen.]

[endlesspastability]

[Sonic is off for the rest of the night. And then, he's only in and out of consciousness sporadically for the next few days, evidenced only by static on his eye screens and the quiet whirring of his engine fan. Never for long, and never enough to wake up completely.

But the fog eventually rolls in, and with it, the healing energy of their captor god. The cracked screen knits back together, fried circuits clean up, dents and scrapes smooth themselves out, and his messy "quills" style themselves into six distinct spikes.

And finally, he wakes up, eyes lighting up with bright green irises]

Whaaaa..... who....? Where...? [that's a more normal Sonic voice! though it sounds a bit tinny. Sonic puts his hand to his neck, then reaches up and touches his face]

GYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!! WHAT EVEN!!! WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!

[evilgrows]

[While Sonic's out of commission, Robotnik's busy, busy, busy. He's got a lot of work to do, and he's doing it all with his music turned up really, really loud. Sure, he's taking it as easy as he can while still getting work done at first, but the fog fixes up any damage from the shock, so it's not long before he's multitasking with the best of them.

He's got to fix all the machines that got damaged or destroyed, interpret the various recordings and readings from Sonic's change, and, of course, he has to keep an eye on him to see if he wakes up again.

Eventually, he notices movement on his big clunky security monitor (not to mention the noise despite his music volume), and he goes to visit Sonic in his little makeshift jail. He knocks on the scrap metal bars and peers in.]

Either that's you, or your programming learned to throw a tantrum.

[endlesspastability]

[When Robotnik comes back, Sonic is holding on to the bars like the world's saddest criminal, his eye-screens displaying big, blue, wibbly irises. His ears are flat and he's making some sort of whining noise from somewhere]

Whyyyyy am I in jaaaaail? Where did my mouth go...? how am I supposed to color without any crayons....!!!

[he presses his face against the bars, metal clanking against metal.

Well, it seems like the simulacrum programming had shocked itself into dormancy... for now.]

Can I have a mirror? I need to see how bad it is....!

[evilgrows]

[Despite the fact that Robotnik's still a little miffed about the whole situation, seeing the major difference between how he'd been acting before and now is still interesting enough, and the way his eyes display emotions seems like something worth studying all on their own.]

You're in jail for the crimes of not listening to me and causing inordinate and unnecessary damage to myself and a number of my machines. I didn't know if you could be trusted with crayons.

[Of course he always has a number of mirrors around to make sure his mustache is impeccable, so he brings a small one over to give Sonic a look at himself.]

Frankly, I wouldn't call it bad. [Of course he wouldn't. He certainly wouldn't complain if he was a machine.] There's a definite resemblance to your pre-human self.

[endlesspastability]

Wh.... what? I don't... [he holds his head in his hands] I don't remember that... I remember... I remember coming here, and then the liquid metal and the monitor talking about... something.... then... then what happened? [he shakes his head and snatches the mirror.

His irises constrict, giving the impression of widened eyes. He touches his face, his mouthless muzzle, the conical nose, the cable quills. It does look a lot more like his true self... but in the bottom of the uncanny valley sort of way. As he stares, silently, his eyes flash from green to blue, then dim. He puts the mirror face down on the floor and scoots to the back of his little cell, expression indistinct]

[evilgrows]

Oh, would you stop moping?

[Now that it seems like Sonic's back to being himself, it's time to let him out of his cage. With an unseen eyeroll, he starts taking it apart.]

You made it. You survived your programming taking over. I survived your programming taking over. You made a pretty big mess in here, you know. [He gestures towards a nearby table where one of his security bots is undergoing heavy repairs.]

Be glad all I did was put you in time out.

[endlesspastability]

[He just sits there, knees drawn up to his chest, expression still unreadable. He picks at his pants, which are pretty well burnt to a crisp by his little self destruct sequence. He finally looks up at Robotnik, his eyes still blue and dim]

.... I'm sorry. I-- I don't want to hurt anyone, not even you or your bots. [Sonic looks over at the remnants of the monitoring machine] My "programming"... is that who was talking, before?

[evilgrows]

Yeah, yeah, I get it, you like to play hero. [He, of course, doesn't sound like he approves.] But for lack of a better way of describing it, yes, that was your programming talking. It's pretty similar to what happened to the guy who used to own this place during his robot stint. Of course, with him I sort of accidentally shut him down and had to... forcibly reboot him, but it's a similar situation.

[Less jail involved, though.]

It's understandable that your base program would take over while undergoing large amounts of stress.

[endlesspastability]

[He "narrows" his eyes, a line creating a brow line] It's not about playing hero, it's about being a half decent person. But fine, next time I won't apologize!

[he stays seated, but picks up the coloring book. So childish. He's not five....

... Oh wait, that's a cool dinosaur]

Stress, huh. Well I guess turning completely into the world's weirdest roomba is pretty stressful.

[evilgrows]

Apologies are little more than words and certainly aren't going to fix the kids. I don't care if you apologize to make yourself feel better or not.

[He jostles one side of the cage free and leans it over on another one. Sonic is free.]

Oh come on, you're far more complex than a Roomba. Give yourself some credit. That kind of complexity is, of course, a lot both physically and mentally. I liken it to when my other arms came in. I didn't have the specific connections to control them with much precision at first. For you, it's the inorganic equivalent of instincts kicking in.

[endlesspastability]

[Well, that response earns an eye roll at least. It's not just to make him feel better... but whatever. It's not worth arguing about.

Sonic stands up and exits the little jail cell, then remembers the coloring book and grabs it]

Instincts... Not sure why a robot needs instincts, but you're the expert. [said a bit sarcastically. He's familiar with instincts at least! He still has a few of his hedgehog ones -- curl into a ball for safe, holes in the ground are good, bugs are tasty. But robot instincts??? He finally looks down and notices... a few things]

.... Who put my pants in the toaster and what are these? [he says, grabbing his now limp and dragging the floor feeding cables] What even.

[evilgrows]

You're a complex machine with a complex AI derived from a complex organism. Do you think you'd know how to do particular robot things if they weren't programmed into you?

[Duh. Besides, from what he can tell, the fog god seems real big on giving people stuff they have to fight against.]

You decided to start sucking the juice out of all of my machinery and myself, then toasted yourself in an attempt to electrocute me. Those appear to be what you use to feed. And to make a giant mess. [He points at an exploded machine.] Be glad I'm not making you pay for the damages.