Once again Metal found himself heading through one of the many familiar hallways toward one of the many familiar training areas. 'But this time,' he reminded himself, 'Will be the last.'
The doors at the end of the hall slid apart to reveal a robot identical to the trainerbot from yesterday, only painted in darker colors. Other than that, he looked the same: Clipboard in one clamp, pen in the other. Aside from him, 266 was the only one in the room, leaned back against the wall, looking a bit more like the average Shadow Android. His right ear flicked when the doors opened, but he was otherwise unresponsive of Metal's entrance. He seemed to be more interested in staring distantly at the floor. Before Metal could say anything about his sudden change in temperament, the trainerbot spoke up.
"Good, you're here," he nodded in approval, looking over the sheet attached to his clipboard. "Now the only one missing is 30-…" he cut off in mid-sentence. "Oh…" his tone drastically changed, at which 266 shut his eyes tight, as if in pain.
"What?" Metal cluelessly asked to anyone who would answer.
"Oh, nothing," the trainerbot shrugged, "just a typo. 301 won't be training with you today."
"Why not?" "Metal." Upon hearing his name, the walking weapon spun around to face his crestfallen crush, who simply shook his head as if to say, 'don't.'
Before Metal had the chance to ask any more questions concerning 301's absence, the trainerbot started giving out instructions. "Today you'll both finish up the last part of your target practice training. Metal, you'll be done with training altogether. Congrats."
"Thanks…" the machine in question was still suspicious, and it was clearly audible in his cautious answer. His teacher, however, acted as if he hadn't heard it, typing in the code to gain entrance to a training area more akin to a shooting range.
The trainerbot left his students alone to get up to the viewing area. Metal didn't drop the previous subject.
"Why isn't 301 here?"
"I don't know," 266 shrugged, shaking his head and folding his arms neatly over his fluffy chest.
"Yes, you do. Now tell me." For once, Metal's glare matched his words.
"I can't," 266 sighed in defeat, his shoulders drooping a little. "At least not right now…" his ears folded back.
"Why not?" Metal pressed, his curiosity and impatience getting the better of him. 266 glanced nervously at the viewing area, which still lacked an occupant.
"Look, I'll explain later. For right now, just focus on the shooting, okay?" 266 reassured his slightly younger friend in a rushed whisper. Metal strained his patience and nodded.
The target practice went the same as always. Both students were given machine guns and competed to see who could shoot the most targets, some of which would move, deduct points, or even shoot back. In the end, 266 won, thought not by much. The prize was the same as it was yesterday. After the session was over and done with, both he and Metal left the base. This time, however, 266 lead Metal through the flora at top speed, intent on getting as far away from the base as possible. His companion didn't question it aloud, though he wanted to.
Eventually the thick trees, bushes and all else gave way to a vast, wide open grassland. Once he'd put some serious distance between himself and the forest, 266 slowed to a steady stop. Metal copied, coming to a halt in front of the robohog.
"Why'd we have to come all the way out here?"
"Keep your voice down!" 266 whispered urgently. Unfortunately, this only confused the cobalt machine even more, though he obeyed. "I wanted to make sure we were far enough from the base so Eggman's surveillance cameras wouldn't see us."
"He has surveillance cameras set up in the forest?" Metal tilted his head slightly to the side.
"Yes. If they catch me telling you what I'm about to tell you, we'll have to deal with the system," the Shadow Android tried to begin explaining, but with little success.
"The system?" the cast-iron head tilted a little further.
"Just listen. You've noticed that sometimes, robots will randomly disappear, right?"
This time the head nodded.
"But then they'll come back looking brand-new and acting differently, right?"
Another nod.
"What happens is: When a robot malfunctions, gets a virus, tries to escape or defy Eggman, or can't do their job for some other reason, the system finds out."
"But what's the system?" Metal insisted, his patience wearing thin.
"You name it. Surveillance cams, the trainerbots, Shadow Androids 1-100… They're all part of the system." The urgency in 266's whisper was steadily increasing.
"OK, so what happens when someone gets caught?" "The surveillance cams alert the trainerbots. The trainerbots send you to the Shadow Androids. And the Shadow Androids… take you to the meltdown chamber," 266 listed off the chain of events, drawing out the last sentence dramatically.
"Whoa, wait. You can get melted down just for catching a virus?" Metal forgot to keep his voice down but 266 quickly corrected this by slapping a hand over where his mouth would've been if he had one.
"Quiet!"
"Sorry."
The gloved hand fell back to its owner's side. "That's what happened to 301. He accidentally downloaded a virus from the Internet. He'll be replaced by a new copy by tomorrow," the android's voice cracked just enough to catch the other's attention.
"Are you okay?" Metal's hand rose as if to rest on his crush's shoulder, but stopped mid-reach out of self-consciousness.
"No." 266's head hung. "I'm not. 301…" he stopped to regain his posture and steady his voice, "301 gave me the virus a few nights ago." Black-and-red eyes would've widened if they could.
"You mean you and him-?"
266 gave a brief nod to answer the unspoken question, looking straight into his admirer's false eyes.
"Oh…" Metal's hand came to rest at his side. He wasn't as crushed, since he'd already suspected the two were an item, but it was still more than a disappointment. There was a tense, drawn-out moment of solemn silence.
Finally Metal shook his head to clear it. 'There are more important things to worry about right now!' he chided himself inwardly. "Isn't there any way to escape?"
"No," 266's ears folded back. "All of us have a tracking device installed in our systems. It can't be deleted, erased or removed. If we try to escape, Shadow Androids 1-100 will be sent out. They're stronger than any of Eggman's other robots, especially in a group."
"But didn't Omega escape?" Metal hoped.
"Not for long," 266 tone took on a solemn tint. "He got melted down just a few months ago. And I'm next," he hung his head again, putting a hand to his temple hopelessly. "Only one robot has ever escaped and survived."
"Who?"
"Silver Sonic." His head rose back up.
"He was lucky enough to get a virus that made the tracking device malfunction, over a decade ago. No one knows where he went and by now he's probably shut down completely." Metal didn't like a single word of what he'd been told. He didn't even know how to respond to it. How long would it be until he never saw 266 again? What if he were to lose against Sonic tomorrow? Would he be melted down too?
"Don't ever speak a word of anything I just told you," 266 tore him away from his doubts to add new ones. "If you do, the system will get you too."
"But what about you? Isn't there any way-"
"There's nothing any of us can do but our jobs. We just have to do our best not to get caught until something eventually goes wrong." Metal didn't much care for that answer.
Neither of them was able to pick up the faint sounds of a camera lens zooming in to focus on them, hidden beneath the billowing grass…
