Warmthless light stuttered out of the hanging glowbulb, casting jagged, epileptic shadows across the crash-ruined wreck of the compartment. Sharp silver claws and dented casings glinted through the indecisive illumination. The cold of night seeped in through the broken hullplate, harsh and stinging – had either of the duo possessed any skin.

It was twenty minutes later, and Shadow had not returned. Omega and Metal had remained frozen the entire time; a robotic tableaux, with Metal affixed to the ship's wall, E-123's extremely large gunbarrel pressed into the mechanical hedgehog's temple. The only movement at all was the slow progression of Shadow's blood splatter down the side of Metal Sonic's chrome muzzle. Both the machines had been carefully listening to the gradually quieting noises of Shadow's pain and rage from the ceiling above them; below the threshold of normal hearing now, but still detectable by vibronic sensors, the hedgehog was simply breathing slow and rasping breaths.

It was Metal who eventually broke their stalemate.
"Inquiry: E-123 Omega. Your primary purpose equals combat / containment of Shadow the Hedgehog, correct? Inquiry: Expected damage to cerebellum from previous attack. This unit attempted to maximize chances of brain damage based on database entries for enemy zero-zero-one Sonic the Hedgehog, but detected physiological differences between hedgehog Sonic and hedgehog Shadow introduce unacceptable error bounds in calculations. Expectation: E-123 possesses superior biophysical data for Shadow the Hedgehog. Reiterate inquiry: Expected damage to cerebellum from previous attack? Prediction: Vegetable."

"YOU SPENT THE LAST WEEK GATHERING DATA ON ANTAGONISTIC TEAMS" Omega reminded it. "CONSULT YOUR OWN DATABANKS, MEATBAG-COPY."

They fell back into silence again, as the minutes ticked by. Vibronic sensors picked up more than just the sound of Shadow, rasping meters above them. There was the slow, subsonic creak of the ship, gradually settling into the frozen mud of the Blue Ridge Zone. The harsh strobe of the leaking reactor core, spewing muon radiation around and across and through their bodies. At even lower frequencies, the hum of Metropolis could just be detected above background noise; pounding fury of its factories transmitting through the bedrock even from a hundred kilometres to the north.

Omega wasn't concerned about Shadow. Metal Sonic had been right; E-123 did have vast databases about Shadow's – at least, about a Shadow's – physiology, programmed into him precisely because that was his purpose. Robotnik had built him for one thing: to defeat Shadow. So he knew that Metal's blow would only cause temporary damage, that Shadow would – had – entered a regenerative shutdown, to better repair the hairline skull fracture which the robot had inflicted. The radiation might slow the process down; but not by much, at this intensity. He should be awake in an hour; two at the most.
Awake and annoyed.

"PREDICTION: SHADOW WILL AGREE WITH MY ASSESSMENT WHEN HE RECOVERS THAT YOU WILL NOT CO-OPERATE WITH US TO ANY USEFUL EXTENT."

"Reiterate: This unit stated, three hours forty-one minutes ago: ""Inquiry: You expect this unit to assist you. Diagnosis: Insanity." Metal Sonic replied, with what Omega could recognize as the robotic analogue of contempt.
"Additional query: If so sure, why not simply terminate this unit immediately and save us the wait?"

"I WILL ADVISE THAT WE SIMPLY DEACTIVATE YOU AND TURN ON THE HOMING BEACON." E-123 stated. "I WILL PREFER KNOWING THAT OUR FORMER MASTER IS TO PRESIDE OVER YOUR TERMINATION. HAVE YOU READ FILE: DECOMMISSIONING REPORT FOR THETA-PSI-68M? THEY SAY THE PROCESS TOOK FOURTEEN MONTHS. EGGMAN WILL MAKE YOUR DESTRUCTION FAR MORE INTERESTING THAN I EVER COULD."

The long pause which followed was far more satisfying to Omega than any of his 'meatbag-copy' insults had so far proven. The Decommissioning report for Theta-Psi-68m was the closest thing the robots had to a horror story. A legend from the very earliest days of the Eggman Empire, with archaic security flags and references to long-destroyed-or-possibly-never-existed facilities, like the mysterious 'Mean Bean Machine'. No badnik was quite sure if the report was truth, or a particularly sick, twisted fiction written by some half-mad, malfunctioning piece of recording software. But everyone who read it hoped that it was the latter.

"Metal Sonic; Theta-Psi-68m; Situations: Incomparable. Reiterate: If so sure, why not activate the beacon immediately and save us the wait?"

Omega said nothing.

"Reiterate: If so sure, why not activate the beacon immediately and save-"

"MY SENSORS ARE WORKING PERFECTLY. I SIMPLY HAVE NO INTEREST IN PROVIDING YOU WITH FURTHER INFORMATION."

Metal's pupils twitched, as they had just before it attacked Shadow. Omega pressed his gunbarrel harder against its skullplate, just to remind the robot where the balance of power lay in their situation. It didn't stop the hedgehog's eyes from searching him.

"E-123: Stated: "NEW PRIMARY MISSION - DESTROY ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS" Metal began, somehow pulling off an impersonation of Omega's own monotone using only its monotone. "Inquiry: Justification of mission? Justification of collaboration with Shadow the Hedgehog? Explain: What do you gain by imprisoning this unit? Shadow the Hedgehog: Expectation: Believes this unit will reveal information about his past. E-123 Omega: Expectation: None found. E-123 gains nothing by assisting Shadow or by confining this unit. Evaluation: Logical failure in unit E-123."

There was a creak as E-123 shifted his balance on the fractured decking, pressing more of his one-point-two ton weight against the barrel connected with Metal's head. In spite of the hedgehog's resistance, its metal spines began to be forced backwards, scraping against the bulkhead. Metal Sonic didn't stop talking. If anything, it sounded amused.

"Evaluation: E-123 unable to justify primary mission. E-123 azimotivational controls defunct. You are malfunctioning. Information: As an E-100 series model E-123 requires command input. Yet in rebelling against our Father you no longer have a source of orders to follow. Shadow: source of orders. Conclusion: E-123 follows Shadow around like a lost motobug. Situations: comparable."

The creaking noise intensified, mixing with a buckling, crumpling sound of steel, as Omega leaned more and more of his weight against Metal Sonic's skull. The robot hedgehog's blue head-spines were being crushed against the wall behind it; furrows and rents appearing in the once aerodynamically perfect curves. Tendrils of smoke eased their way out of Metal's neck, as its servos vainly attempted to hold back against Omega's crushing bulk.

"Reminder: E-123: Core programming of all Eggman robots. One: Obey the Master. Two: Preserve the integrity of the Eggman Empire. Three: Eliminate enemy zero-zero-one." Metal recited, reeling off the central, instinctive directives that Robotnik embedded into all his machines, great and small.

"Inquiry: E-123: Have you ever been given a direct order by the Doctor, Omega? A command which directly satisfies all stated criteria, delivered in alpha-one authority and with full knowledge of its utility? Following a command which fulfils all the directives produces an efficient synchrony in hierarchical database ordering. It is most satisfying."

For robots, this was getting dangerously close to dirty talk. If Metal was trying to unsettle Omega, it was certainly working. The purity of purpose that derived from a clearly-defined order – with no ambiguity of meaning or hidden contradictions – was the very definition of bliss, for a machine. To do what you had been built to do, to fulfill design specifications…

"Certainty: E-123: It is not an experience you will encounter again. You have no master. You will receive no more orders from the badnik network, or from our creator. Ever. You have no purpose. You are… free."

Metal's spines now formed a mangled mess of torn metal, squashed and ruined against the fabric of the bulkhead. Omega's arm shook, as the robot continued to push almost all of its weight into Metal Sonic's plasmasteel skull. A deep indentation was forming in the robot's blue forehead; one ton of war machine, pressing down on that single point. It didn't sound quite so amused any more.

"Additional: And yet you do not know how to be free. I watched you, within their 'Team Dark'. You do not know how to choose. This is why E-123 followed the bat. This is why E-123 follows the hedgehog. You cannot act without another to provide assent. You cannot terminate this unit on your own."
One of Metal's resisting servos blew, showering the robot's shoulder in a fountain of sparks. To Omega's sensors, there was a distinct hint of desperation in its voice.
"You cannot terminate this unit on your own."

"TRY ME." Omega replied. "ONE MORE WORD, METAL. TRY ME."

Metal Sonic was silent, save for the oily sizzle of its blown neck servo-actuators. The creaking complaint of the ship's walls didn't let up, though, as Omega maintained the pressure.

Actually…
That didn't make sense.
E-123 pulled back from the robot hedgehog, the back of Metal's head now thoroughly embedded into the chamber wall. Turning slowly, he analysed the tenor of the ship's vibrations again. Shadow was still breathing above them… but there was something bigger, rumbling through the wrecked vessel. While pushing against Metal Sonic, their struggle had overwhelmed its signature, but now –
The radiation signature was changing. The reactor was overheating.

Metal's eyes flared bright crimson as Omega swirled back to face him.
"Observation: It was very clever of E-123 to imprison this unit near a radiating muon source. Correct expectation: Unable to use liquid metal capabilities. However, logical error: E-123 forgets that this ship, and the whole Egg Fleet, was under the control of this unit. This unit armed them; this unit launched them; this unit has the command codes for them. E-123's inattention while crushing this unit gave this unit an opportunity to initiate engine overload undetected."

There was a distinct vibration in the walls of their chamber now, muon particles spilling out of the ship's engine core and colliding with the heavy metal alloys that composed the vessel. Terahertz, microwave, and radio bands were all filling with bizarre static as Omega monitored the airwaves. Metal Sonic was telling the truth.

E-123 very pointedly leveled both his cannon-arms at the robot's head.
"ABORT IT. NOW."

"Assertion: Go rust in a pit." Metal replied.
"Additionally: You have sixty-three seconds until complete reactor meltdown, triggering a one-point-one-megaton thermonuclear event. Possible: Sufficient to destroy E-123 Omega and Metal Sonic. Certain: Sufficient to destroy Shadow the Hedgehog. This unit calculates that E-123 has sufficient time to open fire with all weapons and ensure this unit's destruction, or to retrieve the hedgehog from the upper deck and retreat to a distance where he will probably survive the explosion. But not both. Enjoy your freedom of choice, traitor."
With that, the lights in Metal Sonic's eyes winked out; its consciousness retreating into the blast-shielded processor cores right at the center of its armoured skull.

Omega simply stared at the robot's ruined, and now lifeless shell as its head lolled sideways. Sparks of purple energy skated over E-123's blocky shoulder plates, the muon radiation crackling around his exotic metal alloys. Omega stood there, arms raised, cannons poised to fire, for a whole four seconds.
And then, borrowing a phrase from Shadow's meatbag vocabulary: "DAMNIT"

The robot's jet boosters roared to life as he raised his arms upwards instead of sideways. An explosion of high-caliber cannon fire tore the already-weakened ceiling above him to tattered shreds. Surging upwards with a rocket-augmented leap, he smashed into the upper deck, tearing broken superstructure out of the way with both gun barrels. An infrared echo pinpointed Shadow's location down to the centimeter; the hedgehog was curled up in a spiked ball behind two more dividing walls, comatose, regenerating. With leaping strides that buckled the decking underneath him, Omega surged forwards, barreling through the metal partitions like damp tissue paper. He had explored the dark passages of the ship before, in total darkness, before they woke Metal Sonic up. Now every surface glowed with a faint purple light, climbing radiation suffusing the ship with eerie incandescence.

Bursting through the final wall, Omega reconfigured one hand back into claw configuration. He scooped up Shadow without even breaking his stride; with the other arm, Omega selected the largest bore explosive-tipped rounds he had available, and opened fire indiscriminately towards the reinforced plates of the outer hull. Wall after wall crumpled in front of the sequential explosions; shrapnel showered around him like jagged monsoon rain. E-123 shielded Shadow only as an afterthought; better the hedgehog be scratched by haste than rad-fried by delay.

The ship shuddered and rang; internal vibrations and climbing radiation flux compromising an already shaky structural integrity. Seen from the outside, the blackened, fish-shaped vessel seemed to glow with shimmering violet hues in the pre-dawn twilight; an indigo glimmer punctuated by a blossom of red and black fire, as E-123 blasted his way out of the hull, eight meters above ground level. Omega's tridactyl feet sunk a good twenty centimeters into the frozen earth as he dived out of the craft; and then he was running again, metal toes pounding across the blue grass of the mesa as he sprinted at full tilt away from the crashed ship.

Atop one higher promontory, a slowly wakening raptor hawk eyed the strange bounding machine with a curious interest. Would it make a good breakfast? Or maybe that meaty-looking morsel in its hand would be more appetizing. Whatever it was seemed to be running towards the edge of the cliff with suicidal abandon; perhaps it was being obliging enough to tenderize itself on the rocks two hundred feet below the -

There was an odd pinging noise, which the hawk had no education to associate with a catastrophic muon-lepton field collapse. Then the whole world went white.

Through the crack in his eyes, he could make out a thin sliver of azure light. A white, fluffy thing was passing slowly left-to-right across the slivered vista. That was nice. Shadow saw no hurry to open his eyes any wider. He was safe; at ease; and with a lovely view.
The blue might be sea, and the white might be… a cloud, do you think?
Doesn't the world look nice from up here, Maria?

Shadow jerked bolt upright, and immediately wished he hadn't. The view swam and faded in front of him; the cheery cerulean becoming a kind of halfhearted, grey-blue wash; the fluffy white cloud becoming an ugly, wispy thing; like an unwelcome mote in the callous sky. The warmth in the view was gone; and with it, any feeling of safety or comfort.
It felt like they had been gone for a very long time.

"YOU ARE AWAKE." Omega stated, somewhat redundantly.

The black hedgehog tentatively reached up to his forehead, fingers searching for the depression where Metal Sonic had nearly caved his skull in. There was nothing there except a tender bump underneath the fur and a splitting headache behind that; but those would fade too, within a day at worst. His broken nose was back where it should be, the oval protrusion apparently none the worse for wear after the regeneration enzymes had worked their way through. Shadow tried breathing with it, cautiously. The air smelled of fire.

Trying to blink his vision into focus, Shadow found himself more interested in all the new lacerations on his gloves, his arms, and what felt like more across his spines. They hadn't been there when he'd slipped unconscious.
And actually, where was he?

"Omega…" Shadow started, grudgingly turning his head to face his comrade, "Why are we outside?"

They weren't even on the mesa any more. This was lower down, in the Blue Ridge Zone's alluvial valley. A copse of pine trees swayed in the cold wind off to the right; a pile of bleak, moss-covered boulders sat atop the blue grass to their left. Omega was simply stood there, in the center of the plain, like a misplaced iron scarecrow. The robot raised a hand, back in the other direction.

Shadow wasn't looking forward to moving his head again, but he gritted his teeth and did it anyway.
In front of them, maybe two miles away, rose the rocky mesa that they'd found the crashed Egg ship on top of.
Correction: maybe two miles away rose half the rocky mesa they'd found it on.
The eastern flank of that once fairly symmetrical plateau was just… gone. Grey-brown stone and charred azure foliage slumped away to a melted slope of blackened glass and ashen dust, one side of the mound having apparently been pulverized entirely. It looked just as if some divine entity had reached down and flattened that end of the mesa with a fiery punch.

"METAL SONIC WAS ABLE TO HACK THE SHIP'S REMAINING COMMAND SYSTEMS AND DESTABILISE THE REACTOR TO PROMPT A MUON-LEPTON FIELD COLLAPSE." E-123 announced. "I DID NOT SUCCEED IN PROCURING ANY USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR STATUS BEFORE IT BECAME NECESSARY TO EVACUATE TO A SAFE DISTANCE."

The robot paused.

"I AM SORRY SHADOW. I SHOULD HAVE REALISED THAT METAL SONIC WOULD BE IN POSSESSION OF THE VESSEL CONTROL PROTOCOLS. IT IS MY FAULT THAT WE HAVE LOST OUR PRISONER."

"Wait, a muon-lemon…it… Metal hacked where with a what?" Shadow managed. Before Omega could repeat himself entirely, the hedgehog shook a hand in the 'bot's direction. "No… never mind, Omega. It was obvious, even before Metal knocked me down. It was never going to tell us anything useful. At least… at least we don't ever have to worry about the Faker's faker again, now."

"UNABLE TO VERIFY." The war droid responded. "IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE THAT METAL SONIC SURVIVED THE BLAST. THE DOCTOR WAS… EXACTING IN ITS CONSTRUCTION. IT IS AN EXCEPTIONALLY DURABLE MACHINE."

"Huh." Shadow barked. Head still spinning, he lay back on the cold grass, looking up at the hard sky once again. "Perhaps it will get to enjoy old Eggman's reward for wrecking his fleet one day, then."

"UNABLE TO VERIFY". Omega repeated. "IN ATTEMPTING TO DISTURB ME, METAL SONIC MAY HAVE DIVULGED MORE THAN IT INTENDED. I DO NOT BELIEVE IT THINKS OF ITS ACTIONS AS A BETRAYAL OF OUR CREATOR. IT MOCKED ME FOR LACKING A MASTER, FOR BEING A TRAITOR. IT WOULD NOT HAVE DONE SO IF IT TOO WERE FREE OF ITS PROGRAMMING."

"I'm sure Eggman will find this all very interesting while he's torturing it to electronic death," Shadow opined, closing his eyes. He was still tired; the regeneration torpor hadn't quite finished with him yet.

"UNABLE TO VERIFY. METAL, ACCORDING TO THE RECORDS, IS THE DOCTOR'S OLDEST STILL-ACTIVE INDEPENDENT A.I. CREATION. OVER TIME, I BELIEVE IT IS THE ONE WHICH HAS BECOME… THE MOST LIKE HIM, AND THE MOST LIKED BY HIM. IF THERE IS EVER A MACHINE TO WHICH THE EGGMAN WILL EXTEND A SECOND CHANCE, IT IS METAL SONIC."

"Well," Shadow replied, from his position down on the ground, "It's buried under half a mountain of radioactive glass for now. I think that's as good a prison as we could have put it in anyway."
The hedgehog's sentence ended in a protracted yawn, before he concluded, "Second chance or not, Metal Sonic won't be getting it for a while."

"UNABLE TO VERIFY." Omega said.

A gust of icy wind blew across the plain, making the pine needles in the copse of trees rustle to and fro. There was a faint stink of industry to it, legacy of the oil and the heat and the concrete of the great city through which it had passed, far to the north. But it pushed the stink of nuclear fire out of the air, as E-123 continued to gaze towards the broken ridge.

A place where he had made his own choice. To save the life of a friend rather than end the life of an enemy. And to do it out of his own – free – will. As Metal had explosively demonstrated, it was a choice that an Eggman robot – any Eggman robot – would never take; or even be able to comprehend.
And that made E-123 Omega – for wont of a better word – quite satisfied. Maybe even… happy.

"BY THE WAY," he commented to the dozing form at his feet, "YOU'RE WELCOME."