A Black and Red Rose (Revision) [Shadamy]

27: Reprogrammed

I...feel stiff. And cold. Why?

Maria slowly opened her eyes. Enhanced mobian senses? Somehow that didn't correlate. Nothing has since she woke up. Somehow, Maria knew she wasn't who the doctor said she was. It wouldn't click however. It was too good to be true.

And something that blue robot stuck to her. "Sister."

As a human she was an only child. Here, that robot called her a sister. Why? Maria set on making her bed and breakfast. The most she thought of it, the more her head spun.

It was years and years since she had passed away. She'd never met this man, nor known anything of him. Was she really... Maria?

She dropped a glass as the thought hit her. Was she... really... Maria? Or was she told that was who she was? Somehow programmed with the memories of a child long gone? If so who was she? What was she?

Maria reached down and tried to clean up the broken glass. Her eyes widened as she cut her finger.

She expected something. Anything. The stinging pain she remembered when she would accidentally cut her finger with a piece of paper. The small dot of blood that would gather at the cut.

However nothing happened.

No stinging.

No blood.

"What... what am I?" She blinked rapidly. I'm not...

"Maria! It's your uncle! May I come in?" Came Eggman's voice.

I'm...

"I'll let myself in— Maria, what happened? Are you alright? That's quite a mess you have there dear."

"I'm not..." she looked up at the doctor in his robotocized wheel chair.

"You're not what, Maria?" Her eyes widened at the question. It was simple, but if asked slightly different, it was as if he were questioning her identity. Then, it made sense.

Orbot.

Cubot.

The blue robot Heechul referred to as Metal.

His laboratory.

Her "reawakening".

"I'm not... I'm... I'm..." she felt herself shake as she struggled to say what was on her mind.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what's the matter dear."

She puffed up her chest, getting dizzy as she did so.

"I'm a robot." Maria finally said.

The silence that ensued was deafening. Even though she had said it, Eggman had yet to confirm whether it was true or not. She saw as he looked down, hand on mustache in thought.

Maybe, just maybe, Maria was wrong. Maybe she had been biologically engineered like Shadow and born in a test tube.

"Well... I didn't expect you to figure it out so fast." Came the quiet, low voice from the doctor.

Maria's face fell, something in her broke, all hope shattering. So, she really was a machine with the memories of a twelve year old girl. A girl who wanted to explore the planet Earth, be where the people are. A girl who had been murdered more than eighty years ago.

Suddenly, rage filled her. "Why?" Her fists balled up. "Why would you tamper with her? I'm not her! You're nothing to me!"

"I never said you weren't Maria. You contain a small essence of her, one I barely managed to salvage. You and her are one. More so it's you more than her. You have her memories and an appearance similar to hers, however," he pressed a button on his chair and Maria crumbled to the ground, buzzing in the air.

"Ugh..." She groaned, twitching as small blue bolts shocked her.

"You seem to possess an attitude entirely your own. That seems to be a problem and the plan can't continue if you act that way."

"What?!" Maria ground out, she looked up at the leering doctor with rage. "So you brought me— brought her back for some stupid plan of yours? She was at peace! Maria had what she wanted and you brought her back. You disturbed her!"

"Oh shut your trap. With out her you wouldn't be here. You'll do my bidding, whether you like it or not."

Eggman shocked the robot one more time, making her pass out.