The following is a work of fan fiction by Joshua D. Tarwater and is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sega Sammy Holdings Inc.

“Technology and the Rings.
Under the Dreaded One they were one.
The Machine Gods did come in turn.
Now all Ring technology sleeps with them.”

···

♪ ~ [KIDS RETURN ~ Joe Hisashi Ensemble ~ Shoot The Violist]

A sea of puffy white clouds
Arcs of lightning dancing across it
Grass covered mountain peaks and spires of stone
Great metal coils joining in piercing the cloud sea
Capturing and transferring lightning
Yoluku above, blocking the sun
An eternal eclipse, as always
A Red Gear Ring between, ever turning

         Rings scattered, the familiar jingle filling the air over the sound of crackling electricity. However, there was no response audible to the lost Rings. The response was instead an internal string of code telling more code what the current status was.

All systems green. No damage or anomalies detected.

         It was not an unusual reading. It was in fact expected.

         Metal Sonic.

         Far beyond the Far Lands, in Zones that knew nothing of them resided arch nemesis to Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Eggman. A genius unmatched and would be conquer of the world if not for Sonic. To that end, he made his own Sonic, his greatest robot. His greatest creation.

         Looking down at its hand, Metal Sonic pondered about that claim.

         Pondering however clashed with its programming. Its programing demanded that it focus on the task it was constructed with.

PRIORITY [MAIN OBJECTIVE] – Seek and destroy [Sonic the Hedgehog].

[…]

PRIORITY [SECONDARY OBJECTIVE] – Seek and capture [Amy Rose].

         They were simple objectives and Metal Sonic had no intention of failing to execute them. But there were contradictions. Not in its programming, however. Dr. Eggman had made sure of that.

         Firing up its main intake, Metal Sonic engaged its fusion engine and the anti-gravity systems that allowed it to almost fly. Floating up off the ground, it accelerated out across the sea of clouds, using small floating rocks and chunks of land to shield itself from the lightning that arced above the sea of clouds.

[…]
Interference detected.

Analyzing interference.

[…]

[…]

Interference analyzed.

[…]

Interference identified.

[…]

Interference identified as subject [Metal Sonic].

[…]

Paradox detected.

Forcing reboot.

Reboot in […]

3 […]

2 […]

1 […]

Rebooting.

         Metal Sonic’s operating system began its reboot, and the robot should have fallen helplessly to the sea of lightning strewn clouds below. Instead, as all systems shut down, Metal Sonic reached out and grabbed a Ring. One of several it had collected during its flight. With the Ring in hand, it connected it and all the ones within its body. A Ring Bond with itself providing it control and the energy needed to function as its body’s control center rebooted.

         It was not much, but Metal Sonic was provided enough to be able to land on a mountain peak and take a seat on the edge. Resting an arm on its knee, Metal Sonic looked up at Yoluku as its other leg dangled over the clouds.

         Times like these were when Metal Sonic could analyze the contradictions. When separated from its programing. Its CPU could not analyze the code the Rings had written into it. The code that gave Metal Sonic its life and will. The code that allowed Metal Sonic to be Metal Sonic.

         It had not been programmed by Dr. Eggman. The code of the Rings was not so simple that even he could unlock it. How it came to be in Metal Sonic was a mystery to it, and one its creator did not yet know existed. But that was fine. It afforded Metal Sonic time to “think”.

         The most important thing to think about was its primary objective. Eliminating Sonic the Hedgehog. Its secondary objective of capturing Amy Rose also deserved processing power.

         To Metal Sonic, it was Sonic the Hedgehog. The one true Sonic. And according to Dr. Eggman, Amy Rose was Sonic the Hedgehog’s girlfriend. Yet she ran from it. In turn its organic double ran from her. There was no logic to the algorithm. It was also different from its organic counterpart in several important ways.

         It was a machine. The pinnacle of all machines. Nothing about it was organic, even the Rings recognized this. It also served Dr. Eggman, though that meant little to the Rings and the code the Rings built into Metal Sonic with each reset.

         The most interesting thing to Metal Sonic was tactile feedback from every aspect of its structure. Its original programming required a great deal of bonding with the Rings and the code they added to adapt and process it. But even during a full system reboot Metal Sonic could observe and “feel”. And so, it did.

         Its databanks provided it all the information it needed to know of the sense of touch and tactile feedback, which assured the tactile feedback system was working properly. It was curious however that the tail it knew had been added to its structure by the Rings was so sensitive. What purpose it served was lost on the machine, but it knew its organic counterpart possessed one so it too must have one. After all, the Rings could repair any damage it received. Even just one Ring could restore it to mint condition.

Reboot complete.

Detecting new code.

[…]

[…]

[…]

New code registered.

Updating.

[…]

Updating complete.

Checking objectives and loyalties.

[…]

Loyalties.

Dr. Eggman [CREATOR]

[…]

No errors detected.

Objectives.

PRIORITY [MAIN OBJECTIVE] – Seek and destroy [Sonic the Hedgehog].

Addendum – Limit to organic entity classified as [Sonic the Hedgehog]

[…]

PRIORITY [SECONDARY OBJECTIVE] – Seek and capture [Amy Rose].

Addendum – Correct behavioral patterns to be loyal to Dr. Eggman and recognize the true Sonic the Hedgehog.

[…]

One [1] error detected.

[…]

Resolving error.

[…]

Error resolved.

Addendum deleted.

Systems ready.

Begin operation.

         Metal Sonic contemplated waiting, but it did not desire to go through another reboot. Instead, to distract its primary programming so it might continue to think, it stood up and turned its sensors onto the small planet in the sky. Yoluku.

         The feedback about the planet not being where its visual sensor said it was meant little to the machine. The latest attempt it had to merge the Ring code that was Metal Sonic with the computer code that was Metal Sonic was partially successful. The code accepted that organic and machine versions of Sonic were different. It was a great leap forward in the machine’s ability to assure its own survival and that the true Sonic the Hedgehog stayed in the world. That it rejected the code involving Amy Rose was only a minor setback. It knew it would be accepted in time as the Rings and the code they added to Metal Sonic included emotions. And in them was a priority involving Amy Rose. Metal Sonic’s computer programming also had a priority that included Amy Rose. It would simply be a matter of time.

         For now, Metal Sonic’s concerns were finding either hedgehog. To that end it needed its computer programming and Ring programming in agreement. It needed to think like Sonic the Hedgehog. To that end it would challenge the Zone before it and think on where it would go next and why.

         A task that would be easier if it had more data on Amy Rose. She had changed dramatically from its records, and they needed to be upgraded immediately. It would have to access her databanks and make a complete data copy to analyze.

         It was a task that should have been impossible, but as Metal Sonic resumed racing through the zone, barely more than mountain peaks and spires peeking through the cloud sea, it took hold of a Ring and looked down at it. The Rings made the impossible possible. It could like its organic counterpart that it shared a Ring Bond with make a Ring Bond. In that way it could access Amy Rose’s databanks and copy all the data held within. And if the being that attempted to interfere with its systems should prove persistent, it would simply destroy it. After all, its organic double had toppled gods before so surely it could. It was made by a man who could turn even gods into batteries. And batteries were beneath Metal Sonic.