Undying spirit

•~Ep3: Chaos within~•

June 23, 2002

After a week of thinking and analysing I have come to a conclusion, that it is actually safe to keep Shadow freely move around the ARK and let him accompany my dear Maria. She developed a very strong bond with the creature and I wouldn't like to rip the happiness out of her hands by putting the hedgehog away. Even if this is not the true reason, why I created him, it is still a good news to me, that he has at least some effect on her.
Today, it will be a bit stressful time however, for I need to run tests on Shadow as to take him on kind of check up to see, if his body works well. Due to the chaos energy flowing within his blood circulation I am afraid, that he might, one day, run out of control and... end up just like his first failed prototype in the shape of giant lizard.
On the other hand, Shadow does not seem to have a violent gradients, so hopefully that is a good thing. He reminds me of Maria, when she was even younger. So.. for me it is like I have two grandchildren here instead of one. But to be honest, I see Shadow rather as my son, for I am his creator. I wonder how Maria-

A small hand suddenly pulled the edge of the scientist's lab coat, making him stop writing and look down at the intruder, who invaded the train of his thoughts like this. He was a bit surprised to see the ultimate lifeform himself looking up at him with pleading expression in his ruby irises.
"Shadow? What is it?"
"Professor... I.. may I have a question?" the creature asked in quiet voice and his cheeks got decorated by a light shade of pink.
"Go ahead," Gerald nodded his head while motioning for Shadow to spill out the question, that surely chased his mind for a while.
"Why do I have to wear these things?" Shadow extended his left arm towards his creator, pointing out the golden ring on his wrist he raised an eyebrow curiously. Gerald sighed as he knew, that this question will come - sooner or later - out of the hedgehog's lips.
"This is a bit complex, but I will explain that to you," the scientist started and picked Shadow up to sit him on the table in front of him, so he would be at his level. The hedgehog's ears perked up and he fully focused on the words spoken by his creator.
"When I worked on your creation... I used a thing named chaos emerald to create a chaos drives, so I could inject a chaos energy into living beings. And you, my dear Shadow, are one of those beings."
Shadow stared at Gerald with slightly opened mouth as his mind processed the shocking news about his own being.
"You mean... that..."
The scientist chuckled a bit and continued:
"Yes, Shadow. Along with your blood, a chaos energy runs through your veins. This is also a reason, why I need to run tests often on you. I have to see, how your body deals with such power."
Shadow widened his eyes a bit in a slight fear.
"What if... m-my body-"
"No need to be scared, Shadow. That's why I gave you those rings. I call them Inhibitors, because they keep your chaos energy stable. Don't you dare take them off, or else you will release all your energy into the space around you and your body will get exhausted. I am not sure if that might even-"
"Alright, I understand that, professor," Shadow raised his hands defensively and cut the scientist off, before he would hear the worst. Gerald nodded his head.
"I mean it!" he added with his index finger being held up as a warning. Shadow nodded and lowered his head, taking all those informations in slowly. It was obvious, that he was still a bit afraid. And he had a good reasons...
Life with chaos energy flowing through one's system is really no fun. And Shadow was not in a position of aknowledging the full potential of his powers yet! So his worries were understandable.
"Speaking of tests.. let me do the check up, so you can soon get back to Maria. Where is she now, anyways?" Gerald spoke again after moments of silence.
"She is in her room, professor. After coughing a bit I gave her a glass of water to drink and she told me, that she's tired, so she is probably sleeping now," the hedgehog confessed, making his creator narrow his eyebrows and turn even more serious.
"I see... I'll go check up on her later."
Shadow tilted one ear down a bit both worried and curious.
"What is wrong with her, professor?" he asked in a bit shaky voice. Gerald sighed.
"She... suffers from illness she was born with. Currently, no cure for it exists anywhere and... the more she ages, the worse her condition will become and I cannot do anything with it," the professor confessed and shook his head slowly while looking down sadly. He was not ready to tell Shadow the true reason, why he created him, yet. He couldn't let him know, that he will be the possible cure for poor Maria's desease.
Shadow could sense his sadness and placed his hand on Gerald's shoulder.
"Professor... there is always something we can do. I mean... after this short life of mine, I managed to realize one thing. Maybe she is suffering, but she won't be alone" he spoke to the nearly broken old man with a big silver mustache, trying to cheer him up and not to give up the hope that is still lingering around here. Gerald slowly raised his head to look at his own creation, that just spoke some words into his mind, plastering a small sad smile on his face he nodded slightly.
"Thank you, Shadow" he said quietly, Shadow shook his head.
"No. I thank you, professor, for creating me. I am more than happy to stay close to her and protect her. I don't know why, but I feel the urge to do that for her" he replied softly and unexpectedly leaned on his creator to give him a comforting hug. Gerald happily pulled him close to his body and smiled little more.
"I am happy, that you two like each other. You are my dearest kids I could ever have. I love you both" he said sounding like a father proud of his children. Shadow felt a warm sensation spreading all over his body and it made his cheeks turn darker pink. Why? He wished to understand that feeling. It was not uncomfortable at all, even though his heart skipped a beat. When he felt this thing for the first time, he panicked that he might suffer from some heart desease, but then found out, that he is completely fine, so it was not going to kill him anytime soon. Now he understood, that it happens occassionally, whenever someone shows him an affection and gives him the needed love. Of course, the 'newborn' lifeform couldn't fully understand, what love is and what it feels like, when he had zero experience with that.
Shadow eventually pulled away and got down on the ground.
"Let's get this over with," he stated as he prepared himself for another series of tests.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

...ehm, to complete my report after being interrupted by Shadow himself. It was almost as if he sensed, that the words written here are about him. And Maria. At least, I can finish this report properly, since I have run another series of tests on him. Taking a sample of his blood I decided to make a little personal research with it. Before I let Shadow go, I requested him to send Maria to my lab. As the good boy he is, he did what he was told and soon Maria came to me while rubbing her eyes. My poor little girl. Anyways, I took a sample of her blood as well to be able to run the research I kept thinking about since Shadow has been created. Maria told me many things, mainly how happy she feels since I released the hedgehog and let him spend time with her. It brings smile on my old face, filled with relief I will be able to sleep better. However, she was still pretty tired, so I gave her the pills she regularly consumes every day and sent her back to her room to get the needed rest.
Now, I am gonna do the research finally.... I hope it will be worth it..

Gerald R.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Would you like me to tell you, what I have just got to know?" the dark creature asked Maria while sitting in the center of her bed and staring out of the window at the eternally starry 'sky'. The blond girl nodded her head and smiled as she sat up and kept the blanket covering her whole body, except for her head of course.
"What is it, Shadow?"
"Professor told me about these rings," the male hedgehog said quietly and turned his crimson gaze to his friend while twisting the ring on his left wrist to point it out. Maria moved her eyes at the ring and back at his face, tilting her head slightly to the side she became curious and confused at the same time. Because Shadow noticed her confusion, he smiled lightly as he continued:
"He said, that my blood circulation is... occupied also by something named 'chaos energy', that it is flowing through my system and warned me about the rings. I am not allowed to take them off, or else this... stuff would be released to the outter space and my body would get exhausted."
Maria took all those words in and tried to understand at least a bit of their meaning.
"Waiiiit a second... so, grandpa wants to say, that you are one of the most powerful creatures ever made?" she asked innocently, her eyes lit up in excitement, because she saw Shadow as sort of a hero. It was the hedgehog's turn to get confused now as he raised an eyebrow.
"What? Is that... what you think?"
Maria giggled softly and pulling her arms out from under the blanket she opened them widely, motioning with her head for the dark creature to come to her. Shadow was not in the mood for cuddles at the moment, yet he did, what she wanted him to do. Coming close to her he gasped lightly, for her arms instantly ended up being wrapped around his small figure and started pulling him closer to her chest. The hedgehog frowned a bit before adjusting himself in her embrace and letting her hug him for as long as she needed it. Eventually, Shadow leaned his head on her chest voluntarily and melted under the warm sensation spreading all over his scientifically created body. His eyelids covered his ruby irises and he soon felt himself slowly dozing off.
"Of course I do, Shadow. From what grandpa probably told you about... that chaos thingy... it sounds like you have really big power! Hihi, you must be a hero!" she chirped happily, which made him open his eyes again and get a little startled from suddenly hearing her soft voice. He held back a sigh, that so desperately wanted to come out of his throat. The fur and skin on his head detected her little fingers moving all around, softly caressing him behind his ears, which made him calm down again.
"A hero? Maria, I-"
"Yes, Shadow, I think you are doing very good. And you are soooo cute and fluffy and... soft and-"
"Yeah, yeah.. drop it.. I got it"
Shadow interrupted her blabering while his cheeks were dark pink after he heard all the complements. Maria just giggled.
"Aaww, my cute shy hedgie," she yawned afterwards and stretched her arms. Shadow used an advantage of that to pull away a bit and just curl into a ball next to her fragile figure. Maria pouted, when she saw that and turned on the other side, so basically their back sides were facing each other. The girl was now too tired to say anything else, so she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep along with Shadow, who was already in a dreamland.