Robian

Wires and data

"Try to relax," Maw said while adjusting a light source over his head. Angling it so that it focused on the open panel.

"Relax! You kidnap me, open up my head, and expect me to just relax!" Shadow shouted, trying once again to free himself, to no avail.

Maw didn't answer, he just toyed with the device in his hands. He plugged something in before saying, "you don't know how easy this is going to be."

"Wh-what?"

"You're just a program now, nothing more. I can alter you as easily as I can alter code. Nothing, and certainly not a machine like yourself can stand in between me and the doctor's favor."

That's when it clicked for Shadow. "You don't just want the doctor's approval, do you? You want to take over, for your 'world wide government.' But to do that you want to get close to him. I'm your ticket in. "

Maw relaxed, "impressive, most of that is true. In order to get the Doctor to notice my work, I need for him to see that I've gotten his Roboticizer working, but that won't work if I bring you in as you are. I needed your loyalty as well as your metallic form. Hence this set up here. However, this is also to end my curiosity on the Ultimate Lifeform, your unique structure made me question if you could even be Roboticized fully, programming and all. " Maw adjusted the overhead light again, "There we are. This may be uncomfortable..."

"Wait! No!" Shadow panicked searching for a way to get his limbs back online as he felt something prod his frontal circuits. Shadow internally winced, a thick tingling feeling filled his head as Maw pushed it till it hit a small circuit board by the edge of his ear.

"There. One down," Maw muttered.

Shadow gulped, his head felt strange and the device that was poking his circuits wasn't helping. As disorienting as this was he needed to keep his captor distracted. "What did you mean before, about me just being a program now?"

Maw picked up another circuit probe from the tray, " if you still have a soul, then how am I able to alter you as I alter a computer program? Studies from the Eggman Empire show no significant difference between Robians under the doctor's control and those who have 'free will,' I proposed a theory that 'freed' Robians are memory copies from the old Mobians. These memories are just replacing the Eggman Empire's programming. " Maw inserted the mental probe as he finished.

Shadow internally winced as the probe pressed against the circuits.

"How can you be so sure?"

Maw adjusted the device before responding, " In Roboticization, Mobian tissue is replaced with robotic materials. A brain is replaced with circuitry. A heart, batteries. So how can you be sure that you still have a soul? Is your soul within your memory banks? Is your soul within a battery now? It's far more likely that your memories are copies from the organic body than a soul being within a machine. "

Shadow shuddered, no it wasn't true! He was still Shadow. He was still here! He had to be.

"I must say that I'm impressed with your neural-circuit setup here. "

Shadow didn't hear him, he was still reeling from Maw's existential point. No. No matter what, he was still Shadow...right?

A click above him brought him out of his crisis. He lifted his eyes and noticed a vent above him. A small smile filled his face, seeing a heart-tipped boot peek through the slits in the vent.

Suddenly Maw's comn started going off. "Sir, there's an intruder outside the base, he's taking out our defenses. "

Maw sighed as he picked up the comn. "Can you handle it? I'm in the middle of something."