I let out a deep sigh, trying to collect my thoughts as Topaz escorts Project: Shadow back to its--his--cell. I can't believe how powerful it is.

"Well, we were wondering about how Earth was balanced in power with Mobius--being a dimensional counterpart and all--and I'm pretty sure this is why," states a middle-aged man as he shakes his head in disbelief. "That thing is unstoppable."

"All of the technology we've tried to combat Doctor Robotnik with, all of those times we tried to capture Sonic before Earth and Mobius became allies, put to shame," laments another man. "Gerald's 'Ultimate Lifeform' is beyond Sonic Team's collective abilities already, and it's had no formal training! This could finally let us put Mobius in check, let us show them that we're not a group of helpless children to be protected against Robotnik's evils!"

"It certainly has incredible potential," analyzes one of my top weapons experts. "We should start instructing it immediately so that it can be mobilized when we need to counteract a threat. It's an apparently fast learner, and it has enough intelligence that we could teach it basic maneuvers in a short span of time."

"It's a kid," says one of my generals dumbfoundedly. "It's a little, really powerful kid. I mean, can it even handle the heat of battle? It seems to have the mentality of a ten-year-old! How do we know it wouldn't just burst into tears at the first sign of danger? There's a reason soldiers are adults!"

"If Gerald created this thing as a weapon, I'm sure it has strong nerve," muses another general. "Remember, this thing is also known as the 'Ultimate Bioweapon,' and Professor Robotnik took his titles seriously. I'm willing to bet it has a pretty ferocious personality when cornered."

"Agreed," nods the same weapons expert, "it was quite stoic when facing a potential death sentence."

"Stoic?! It was shaking!" The first general shakes his head, putting a fist on the table. "It might take years before we can steel its nerves enough to stand up in a fight against Eggman."

"No," I interrupt, shaking my head once. "This creature will fight without fear, have no doubt. We just need to scare it until it becomes angry, have it overcome its apprehensions about fighting. Then it will cast aside its mortal fear."

"Scare it?" Asks a skeptical captain. "Isn't that a double-edged sword? It might end up too fearful to overcome whatever obstacle we present it with."

"Project: Shadow has a young demeanor, but it has the will to survive. It fought back when it was captured, and only became docile when it realized escape was a futile endeavor. If we can corner it, present it with a real threat, it will become angry at its own helplessness and fight back, showing us its true potential. Besides that," I say, addressing the room at large, "it's prideful. When Topaz comforted it when it was afraid of being disposed of, it became angry. That hardness is what we want to see from it all of the time. Pride and anger are the key to doing away with its childlike personality, be assured. Experience in battle will also help."

"A worthy sentiment, and not a bad idea," nods another general. "But, what can we use to scare it into anger? We can't afford to lose it, and we only get one shot to do this properly."

"I recently got a request from the robotic weapons department for a testing session for one of the new Robotnik-counteracting prototypes. I think Project: Shadow would prove a worthy sparring partner for it. I also have a hunch it would greatly dislike losing to a robot; I think we can count on it fighting harder than it would against a simulator."

"That's a nifty plan, and the reasoning seems sound," smiles the first general. "I look forward to having myself proven wrong, in this case.

"But, I have a question. It is proper to refer to Project: Shadow as an 'it,' or as a 'he'? Topaz refers to Codename: Shadow as a 'he,' and I've started wondering. It's not physically male, right?"

"No, it's not. As for your first question, the answer depends on how you think of it," I reply, feeling as if this topic isn't really that important. "Refer to it--'him'--however you prefer."

"She also calls it 'Shadow,' without an address. Is there a particular reason?"

"Gerald called it Shadow as a name. The main reason Topaz does so is courtesy. Gerald referred to it as both 'it' and 'he' in writing, but male pronouns seem to have been used whenever he actually addressed 'Shadow.' The creation was treated as a person by the old man; whether you choose to do so is entirely up to your opinion of it." With that, the meeting turns to more technical topics, and I send a message to several of the section leaders around G.U.N., explaining my plan to Geena Ayers, Ira Marya, and Topaz, among others.

I'm going to have to set aside my personal vendetta against Project: Shadow; the past is the past, and it seems innocent of the crimes I once thought it committed. It's too valuable an asset to alienate simply because of my opinion. I must treat it fairly, if only for the sake of G.U.N. There may very well come a time when Project: Shadow's abilities are needed, and I intend to make sure it is ready to face its given duties. We can test it against the robot tonight, start its training tomorrow, have it become the weapon it was always supposed to be. I only wish Topaz wasn't so affectionate with it, but, then, it reacts well to her. Perhaps their closeness will prove for the best. No matter; we have to harden it before we can truly train it, and that alone will keep its friendship with Topaz in check. Now, there's only a few hours wait until we set it against our best technology, until we see what it's really made of. Until then, I must work...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Project: Shadow, you will be beginning your training by sparring with Guard Dog, Version 2.0. Do not attempt to escape or to attack anything but Guard Dog; you will be reprimanded by potentially lethal forces. You may use any of the abilities at your disposal, but you are to cease immediately if ordered. Do you understand?" I look down through the glass at the small creation, watch as it nods exaggeratedly. "Good. You may start when Guard Dog begins its assault." The black and red weapon assumes a balanced stance, waiting for the match to begin.

Let's see just how well it fares against Professor Marya's best work yet. Guard Dog starts moving as the tech team runs final diagnostics, then moves to attack the hybrid hedgehog. The robot's movement is swift, but the creature it battles easily evades it. Project: Shadow starts circling the robot at high speed, keeping a large berth. Well, at least it isn't completely ignorant on how to not get blasted. Guard Dog has a circular sensor band around its girth, developed to help keep a 360-degree view of opponents--especially fast hedgehogs. Using this, it starts tracking the creature without the project's knowledge. This battle is about to escalate...

Sure enough, Guard Dog targets the alien hybrid with incredible accuracy, striking it dead on with a stream of rubber bullets. The weapon seems more surprised than injured as it flies across the room, and it lands in a crouch. I guess it really is bulletproof; that should have hurt it more. The robot targets it again, firing, but the creation dodges and runs in a sideways arc, curving back to attack as it rushes to beat the sensor. Codename: Shadow almost succeeds in its attempt at an offensive, the people maneuvering Guard Dog only barely activating its energy shield in time.

"Aghh!" I raise an eyebrow as the creature is jolted by the live energy, not having expected it to cry out. It flies backwards through the air, seemingly stunned, fur smoking slightly, and it lands badly. Sliding across the floor on its left side, partially curled, it's appearance is already that of an outclassed opponent who's ready to give up the fight. Guard Dog hesitates, but then moves to 'finish it,' the robot's gun only filled with fake ammunition. To the living weapon, though, the threat it faces is legitimate, and it struggles to rise. The last time it dealt with energy fields, it was able to adapt its body to handle them quite nicely. I wonder why it seems so injured now. It occurs to me that Project: Shadow might not have been expecting such an intense battle, the thought making me frown. It isn't used to being a weapon, is it?

"N-No!" A small shout from the arena catches my ear, bringing my attention back to the match below. The sound came from the creature that now struggles in the grip of Guard Dog, pinned against the floor by a large, metal, mechanical arm. The robot's gun is held against the bioweapon's head, and the hybrid's eyes are wide with fear. It's now or never. Or, at least, now or later. Even from here I can see the shaking that plagues the creature's lithe, dark form, its fear obvious to the world. I may have overestimated it; it's not reacting like I expected. Perhaps it's just too young to know anything but fear. I sigh, dejectedly reaching for the communicator button that will tell Guard Dog's operators that the match is over, but just as I do so...

"I...won't...die...here...!" The weapon's strained words reach my ears, stopping my hand. Yes! Come on, fight back. Be angry, overcome your fear! Show us what you can really do! "I won't! I...will..." The creature pushes against the arm that traps it, managing to lift it slightly. "I...have to..." The weapon's strength battles against Guard Dog's, but the robot still seems to be stronger. "I need to fulfill..." A slight choke cuts off its words as its energy is entirely devoted to trying to escape. One of its arms free now, it starts summoning a Chaos Spear. However, its arm is immediately pinned down again as Guard Dog stops its attack before it can do damage. A feeling of disappointment grips me, and I groan. It doesn't have the training to beat the robot. Suddenly, I notice a small, red glow coming from the creature. ...what? What is...?

"I'm not going to die here!" It shouts, tossing its head to the side in rage, its vermillion eyes narrowed and nearly glowing themselves with anger. "NOT TODAY!" The glow is bright now, waves of Chaos energy rippling across the small, furred form. "Chaos... BLAST!!" A sphere of crimson energy explodes out from it, the force of the blast throwing it off of the ground and hurling Guard Dog to the other side of the room. I sit in shock for a moment as the weapon lands gracefully on the floor, a feral snarl covering its muzzle. It--much to my surprise--does not seem exhausted. Rather, it looks invigorated and ready for a fight at last. Guard Dog, on the other hand, looks like it got punched by a giant, hemispherical fist. I wince at the amount of damage it took, pressing the pager down so I can stop the creature before it decides to launch another attack.

"The match is over. Project: Shadow, wait quietly until told otherwise. Do not use your powers." The black and red hedgehog blinks, startled, and a profound look of disappointment covers its face.

"...but I was just getting into it..." The creature sits, its response barely audible to human ears. It looks thoroughly disgruntled, ears folded and twitching in a mixture of boredom and irritation. I don't have much time to worry over its feelings, however; I'm too busy being blasted by concerned scientists babbling about how expensive the robot will be to fix. At least Project: Shadow isn't as apprehensive of battle as before. And, that seemed to be a new power. I'll have to speak to it to make sure... I spend the next half hour comforting my distraught robotics scientists, finally assuring them they'll have the funding to fix their robot. Then, after checking to make sure the hedgehog's powers are now cut off, I head down to the arena.

"Project: Shadow," I say, striding into the large space. It gives me a cursory glance glance at first, boredom evident on its alien features, but then it scrambles to its feet when it realizes who I am. I feel one of my eyebrows trying to rise as the creature snaps to attention with evident inexperience, but I keep my composure and walk over until I'm standing in front of the living weapon. "That was a new ability."

"Yes, sir," it responds, and I resist the urge to smirk as I see that it's only waist height on me. I never payed attention to the detail before, but that is rather...amusing.

"What did you call it? Chaos Blast?" 'Shadow' nods, then remembers his manners and stutters out another "yes, sir." "A fine name. Did you know you could use that attack before now?" The creature answers in the negative, and I can't help but feel myself wonder what other abilities it has. Close up, I can only be horribly fascinated by how large its eyes are, the fact its two, white sclera are attached making it no less strange. Its irides are also huge, their cerise depths surprisingly acute and intelligent. It stares at me with confusion, likely wondering as to why I've been peering intently at its eyes for the past 30 seconds.

"What am I to do now, sir?" It asks after about a minute of silence, in which I've been observing it the entire time. Its ebony fur looking like a void from which light never returns, its crimson streaks incredibly vibrant, its fluffy tuft of chest fur shining with a white rainbow of hues, its tan facial skin smooth and lightly covered in what looks like a small dusting of sparse, white fur. It's an incredible feat of design. I've never seen such a deep black, nor such a pure white, or even such a gorgeous red. Gerald spared no effort in its appearance, though he did not make it look quite like what I might have expected for a weapon. In all honesty, it would make as good a display creature as it would a soldier...

"As for right now, you will return to your room and rest for tomorrow, when we'll test the power of your abilities--new and known. As for the near future, you will begin training in earnest to reach the height of your power. You have an impressive amount of talent, but you need proper instruction. With the right tutelage, you will excel at combat."

"And after that, sir? How will I serve G.U.N.?" I can hear the nervousness in its voice, its fear that it won't have an opportunity to serve its own agenda. I'm glad that it talks in its sleep; otherwise, we might not know about its determination to protect Earth. Makes it a bit easier to trust with its powers.

"Then you will go into active service, working to defend Earth from threats here and abroad. You will be a guard to people who have not the power to defend themselves." Its ears perk, its eyes brightening at my words. "I trust you'll cooperate with that future?"

"Happily, sir," it responds, and it does, indeed, seem happy. Its tail, only moments before held still, curving downwards and away from its small body--the resting position for this particular creation--raises and starts to wag slightly. Project: Shadow's posture improves, its shoulders lifting a bit as it stands up a little straighter. A slight crease in one of its cheeks tells me its stifling a smile, and all of these signs point to it truly being pleased. The ease with which I can read the hybrid hedgehog's body language astounds me, and it occurs to me that Gerald probably engineered its expressions to be recognizable to humans.

"Good," I say, and then I switch my attention to Lieutenant Topaz, who just walked into the arena. I pass the creature's care on to her and watch as it practically bounces out of the room, steps jovial and excited. What an odd weapon. I take a deep breath, preparing to delve myself into work once more.