Chapter Text
STAR ☆ BOY
Chapter One: What Is A Star?
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“As beautiful as it always is. Every day. When we stop by to watch the sun.”
“And it’s still gorgeous~”
“It’s still the same, Maria.”
A young woman– with pale peach skin and blonde shoulder-length hair– stood by the large window that took over the entirety of the wall that she and her shorter companion looked through. Her hair was the same shade of gold that the flaming star shared as it peeked over the planet known as Earth. There was a twinkling flash as it continued its rotation, a glimmer that winked at her as she gazed towards the light longingly. Beside her stood a hedgehog Mobian; darkly quilled, with red stripes that decorated along his head and patterned along his arms and legs. Though he was indeed a Mobian that stood at half his human companion's height, there were parts of him– such as one arm and one leg– that were mechanical. If there were other parts of him that matched, one wouldn’t know just by looking– the limbs had been replaced long ago when he was first adopted into the Robotnik family, and were constantly adjusted as he had grown, and as technology advanced.
A frail hedgehog in need of a home, taken into loving and caring arms by Dr. Gerald Robotnik, a scientist who studied biomechanical engineering. A perfect coincidence to find a youngling in need of rescue.
“You know, down on Earth? You don’t get to look at the sun.”
“Lucky them.”
The young woman, Maria, turned her head showing an obvious pout to the Mobian “Shadow!”
The Mobian, Shadow, looked up to her with a neutral expression as one of his ears twitched atop his head “What? You talk about the sun almost daily and wake me up just to look at it. As if it doesn’t exist in space.”
“You really don’t think it’s beautiful, though~?” Maria whined now, taking hold of his hand and practically tugging him closer. The dark hedgehog was pulled against her side, which more than likely caused her to feel his prickly quills even if she wore a decent few layers of clothing. But, after the years they’ve been together, she had probably gotten used to it by now. She was a very touchy sibling, Maria Robotnik. Though she was pale, her emotions brightened the space station.
Shadow allowed himself to stay hugged to her side as she beamed down at him, eagerly waiting for a response. He eventually caved and rolled his red eyes “No, I do think it’s quite fascinating–”
With that, Maria was satisfied and turned her attention back towards the window. The glass was so clean that if either of them leaned too close they would feel like falling into the vastness of space. Which, funny enough, happened a few times when the two were younger. They would peek downward as if there were an actual ledge, and in the moment of feeling a sense of ‘free-falling,’ the siblings would smack their foreheads against the glass.
As if their thoughts were intertwined, Maria and Shadow both approached the window closer and placed their palms against it. Maria’s fingers were thin, and frail– much frailer than someone’s should be at her age. Shadow’s hands were gloved, but only to protect others from the one hand that was pure and sharp metal, and the other that was a dark claw to match his sharp nails. The sun flickered and kissed the glass before them.
Thankfully the window was heavily layered with UV Protection, as well as reflectors, to prevent the two from the truth of what the Sun was capable of. To make certain the Sun was not harmful when it revealed itself to the space station. The brightest star in this universe of theirs was the most deadly, and the most kind. It brought warmth, it brought life, but it also could cause so much more than that– things that were far worse.
As Shadow and Maria stood in silence and stared out of the window, the hedgehog mulled through his data on stars.
What was a star?
The Sun was known as the largest and most beautiful star the Earth, and humanity– which included Mobian-kind– had ever seen. It was specifically a yellow dwarf. What made people choose to call it a ‘star’ if it didn’t look similar to what Shadow had read of in books, or seen in pictures? The only knowledge he retained in his memory card didn’t include why some things were named what they were, or looked nothing like other things they referenced. No one truly knew what a star was. And at this point, Shadow believed that everyone was making up their own meaning behind a ‘star’.
“What is a star, Maria?” Shadow bothered to ask. He knew the science, he knew the math, he knew the literal forms and types, species of stars. But Maria was the creative one of the two. Smart, thoughtful, and artistic. She could imagine, she could dream. Which made the two of them work so well together.
Maria takes a moment to answer, clearing her throat to hide a cough that was obvious to Shadow. He didn’t acknowledge it though, he never did.
“I think… a star is a beautiful wish that just aims towards someone who truly wants something.” She sighed as she now pressed her forehead gently against the glass. Her bright blue eyes reflected the twinkling light of the sun that was slowly gracing through the window further as time ticked by “A star is a wish that has this gravitational pull towards a force that has a stronger gravitational pull– and that pull is someone’s wish, wishing for something madly, deeply, and is willing to hold onto it.”
Shadow pulled back some from the window just to turn his head slightly at her. He cocked an invisible brow, but the arch along his red-eyelined lids was apparent “Huh.”
Maria pulled back from the window, immediately falling out of her trance-like state to turn and directly face Shadow as she held up a finger “ Every object in the universe, including stars, planets, and even you, has gravity. A star is a massive, luminous sphere of hot gas, primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, that shines due to nuclear fusion reactions in its core.” She took in a deep breath as if she had exhaled all the information in quick succession. “The more massive an object is, the stronger its gravitational pull.” Maria paused, noting that Shadow was dead-panned gazing at her. She continued anyway as a smile grew on her lips “The surface gravity of a star, which is the strength of the gravitational pull at its surface, depends on its mass and size. More massive and smaller stars have stronger surface gravity.”
“I wasn’t– asking for a lesson on astronomy, Maria.” Shadow scoffed, and Maria just giggled as he continued “You know damn well what I was asking about, smartass.” He gave her a little shove, which she returned with a small hip-bump as she giggled “I know, I know~ Sorry~”
She returned to looking out the window, her smile still on her face. But now, Shadow noted, she was beaming. “A star is… well from Earth, a star is just a little flicker in the sky that you see at night. In space they look different to us, but from Earth… the ones that twinkle are the ones close enough to the planet but still so far away.” She sighed, clearing her throat as she had done before. She needed rest, Shadow thought to himself. But Maria was very much into their conversation. His ears flicked.
“To me, other than the science behind it all, a star is just a bundle of light that is attracted to the Earth’s gravity, but the gravity of Earth is still not strong enough to lure a star to fall, hence why from earth they appear to stay put and never get too close or wander away. But sometimes, I would think that they aren’t moving or changing because no one is trying hard enough to bring them closer.”
Maria continued staring through the window, the vastness of space and the glimmer of sunlight reflected in her eyes. Shadow continued to stare at her though. “A star is a wish, waiting for someone to call to it.”
“I miss Earth. A lot, actually.” The blonde commented softly, her smile faltering just a bit “You probably don’t remember much of it, when you were adopted you were practically a baby.”
“Pfft, I could've sworn I was your age, I’m quite sure.” Shadow remarked, not being quite sure if he was actually her age.
Maria snickered “Nope, you were much younger, but fine then. I digress, almost as soon as we got you we were only there for maybe… a few months? Before we wound up coming here.” She now took a deep breath. Shadow noted that her pulse had been racing for a short period of time, but she was working on calming her nerves. This was good. Her heart rate was stable. She was relaxed.
“It would have been easier, and more fun, to talk about the stars with you while stargazing from Earth. Down there you get shooting stars.”
Shadow wrinkled his nose, his mind reeling through data and text to research and unbox anything about ‘shooting stars.’ There was an obvious processing noise that emitted from his skull, and it made Maria turn her head to look in his direction. She snorted “Uh oh, I know something you don’t~”
“Don’t hold information hostage.” Shadow huffed.
Maria stuck out her tongue “I’m not! I just find it funny you’ve never at least heard about them.” She hummed as she tilted her head, trying to recall her own knowledge and lessons on what created a ‘shooting star.’ “Mm… technically speaking, a shooting star is a meteoroid. We see them a lot up here, mostly ones that are floating around. But remember, sometimes we see a few crumble apart that fall downward.” She peeked towards the window as she now folded one arm over her chest, and the other rested atop it just to support her elbow– as she tap tap tapped at her cheek with a single finger. “A shooting star is when a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere at such a high speed, that it burns up and disintegrates, causing a streak of light in the sky that’s visible from Earth.”
“I see.” Shadow said, his mind that had been whirring the entirety of the explanation had started to calm as it was saved to his memory chip. Maria continued “It’s a custom on Earth to wish upon them when they streak across the sky. I don’t know where that legend came from, but I enjoyed doing it! Grandpa always helped me with the telescope, and would teach me about the potential locations of where a star may fall just so I could get as many wishes as possible. Sometimes, I would feel like the stars looked like people–”
“I thought you said moments ago that stars helped your wishes actually come true if you believed hard enough–” Shadow mocked “You know, a gravitational pull .”
“Right!” She now held up her arms, bending them and showing obvious determination “I just wasn’t wishing hard enough! But when we see another shooting star again when we go back down, I’ll be sure to wish extra hard and loudly!”
“How do you wish loudly…?” Shadow asked, which was a mistake, as Maria suddenly shouted “LIKE THIS!” And threw her arms upward, causing Shadow to jolt back and fold his ears to protect his eardrums. The blonde laughed as she quickly pet his head and ruffled his quills, before calming down as she took in a deep breath.
A wheeze. Shadow noted. Her lungs were struggling for air now. Maria was taking a much longer moment to recuperate and calm herself from her sudden outburst of energy. Shadow wished she could be herself, but the doctor was working on it.
“You were too young to remember being down on Earth, but there was a short period of time when you and I would play tag together. It was when we would go to the local playground in our neighborhood.”
Stabilized. Shadow relaxed.
Maria hummed “You toddled around after me, and were so cute.”
“ Were?” Shadow feigned betrayal, but she nudged him out of it as she pushed “The food up here sucks, but down there? There’s so many amazing things to eat. Gosh, don’t even get me started on all the beautiful plants… flowers, trees. The animals, the insects…just life in general down there.” She peeked downward then towards Earth with a happy little sigh “The people. I think I miss the two of us getting to meet new people.” Maria turned her head slightly to Shadow, who was back at looking out the window alongside her. She continued “We have a cousin down there still, you know. I can’t remember his name.” She looked back outward.
“I wish I remembered anything from down there.” Shadow admitted with a light huff “But my mechanics hadn’t been installed then. So my memory is fuzzy about my time before being brought into the family.”
“Which isn’t bad, Shadow.” Maria turned to fully face him, reaching to hold his hand into her own. It was a sign of reassurance. Not that Shadow needed it– he didn’t feel bad for his lack of memory from when he lived on Earth. He might have wished for the memory to return, but he didn’t truly care for it. He enjoyed the life he was now living with his family, not the one from before he met them, and certainly no other route would make him happier than the one he was on now.
She thought he was hurting because of his memory loss, but in actuality Shadow was quite relieved. He was knowledgeable, smart, strong, enhanced thanks to his biometrics and robotic-upgrades. He could help people up here, he could protect Maria up here. His home was wherever Gerald and Maria were, his family. And therefore, his home was in outer space.
“The heat of the Sun was stronger during certain seasons.” Maria kept a hold of Shadow’s hand, but had looked back out the window “I miss Summer, and Autumn…”
“We will make sure we get back to Earth as soon as possible.” Shadow nodded firmly “I want to explore the Earth with you, and we can study how much has changed since we left.” He found himself smiling a bit, which actually surprised Maria as he continued on “I know you will feel better soon.”
The corners of her lip twitched, Shadow noted. She was nervous, anxious. She didn’t believe a thing that Shadow had just said. His ears flattened, but as soon as they had Maria seemed to smile only more as she pet the top of his head “I like that. Just remember, no matter what, do your best to think of Earth as a beautiful planet, even if we are so far from it and haven’t been there in so long, okay?”
“I only think it’s beautiful because you think so.” Shadow snickered. Maria rolled her eyes “I know. So that means your love for it isn’t genuine. I know to you it’s just a dream, but I know someday you’ll get to see it for yourself.”
‘You’ll.’ You will. Maria didn’t refer to the both of them seeing Earth together.
Shadow wasn’t happy that she didn’t include herself in this dream of theirs, but it must have been obvious on his face since she gave a reassuring squeeze of his hand.
“Dinner!”
Maria and Shadow turn their heads as the automatic airlock door opens up, and an elderly gentleman with a long, white, mustache steps through with a soft huff. His hands are resting behind his back, which was a common stance for Dr. Gerald Robotnik to take. Countering Maria’s soft blue dress, he wore a rather clean white coat. It was buttoned, as always, to hide his actual attire underneath.
Shadow himself wore a tightly fitted black tank top that failed to hide his bundle of white chest fur. He also wore loose black shorts and his usual heavy, and clunky, air-shoes. While the humans of the space station wore either lab coats or brighter articles of clothing, Shadow often-times wore loose dark clothing. Most cases, only he and Maria even wore ‘color.’
“You two are always in here staring at that Sun.” Gerald clicked his tongue as he entered further in, eventually joining the two and standing behind them. He gently placed one hand on Maria’s shoulder, and the other on Shadow’s “If you stare too long you could burn your eyes out.”
“Grandpa, it’s not like it’ll actually hurt us with all the protection of the ship.” Maria snickered, sticking out her tongue teasingly up at the old man. Gerald mumbled under his breath as he dropped his hands away “It may not affect you now, but when you two are older you’ll wind up with glasses.”
“Pfft. Okay.” Maria said sarcastically as she turned and stepped around him to head towards the airlock door “I can’t wait for dinner, what is it today?”
“Meatloaf.” Gerald replied as he followed the woman along, with Shadow following the doctor “Or, at least, what appears to be meatloaf?”
Gerald snickered “Precisely.”
“Ugh.” Maria groaned.
The meatloaf looked like a weird chunk of brown stuff on a plate, smothered in a mysterious red paste with corn and green beans off to the side of the main dish. It was suspected that the paste was meant to be ketchup, and the chunk of brown on the plate was at least 10% meat.
At least, that’s what Shadow’s diagnostic scans had determined.
When he let his retina’s scan the purple beverage they had been given to accompany the meal, it turned out that even though it smelled like some sort of grape drink, it was not. It was thicker than juice, but not as thick as a shake or smoothie. In fact, even his processor struggled to determine what was the substance they were being forced to drink along with their ‘meal.’
Shadow really didn’t require eating, but he did it out of habit. Over the years as his upgrades continued to consume more of his actual flesh, bone, and organs– a part of his stomach had been replaced. What caused hunger was reduced, and he began to require charging his batteries through ‘sleep’ rather than actually eating anything. It was mostly a force of habit that he ate his meals, alongside Maria and Gerald, three times a day.
He missed needing food, but at least he could still eat it. He had a waste disposal unit, too. So he at least felt normal since he could still perform bodily functions. The way Shadow looked on the outside, after all, no one would know he was mostly a machine.
The hedgehog glanced towards Gerald, who was casually eating the meatloaf with a fork in one hand, and his other occupied by a digital clipboard. More than likely, even if he insisted meal times were about ‘togetherness’ and taking a break from work, he was still working.
Maria was doing what she often did during meal time; staring at the meal and pushing pieces around on her plate instead of actually attempting to eat it. It would often take convincing for her to attempt a few bites. Some cases, she would enjoy it, even if they were rare. Other cases, which were more common, she would either skip the meal or replace it with a smoothie or health drink. There were a few meal replacement capsuled beverages that they received in shipments from an undisclosed source down on Earth, they provided vitamins and protein and were said to keep the belly full from one bottle. Maria would drink two of them, but at least it was something. The shipments had slowed down lately, which resulted in the formula’s running low on supply and having to be used scarcely.
Hence, the attempt at ‘solid’ meals again.
Maria was looking pale, and was growing thin. Shadow was nervous.
Food didn’t agree with her as much as she, or Shadow, would like. But Shadow always wanted her to at least try.
The blonde woman turned her head to Shadow, as if feeling his stare. Shadow arched a brow at her, and Maria mocked him by arching a brow back. The two snickered from one anothers antics, and it caused Gerald to raise his head from his work “What are you two on about?”
“Maria isn’t eating.” Shadow snitched.
Maria glared at him, “Worst brother ever.”
“Only brother.” Shadow smiled, “Ever.”
“Maria…” Gerald frowned, slowly lowering his clipboard. The screen on it flickered, before turning off due to no longer being used by its rightful owner “You have to at least try.”
“Food… makes me feel ill, lately.” She commented softly. Even Shadow’s ears flattened at hearing this. He knew it was true, but still. He knew that the doctor was correct as well. She needed some sort of nourishment. And for reasons unknown, their deliveries from Earth had slowed. This was the last resort, and the only way anyone on the space station could actually eat. Even if it looked, and potentially tasted, disgusting… it was something, and had all the necessary vitamins and minerals a human required to live and be healthy.
“There is no other option at the moment until the next delivery.” Gerald commented.
Shadow’s face looked openly puzzled, but even Gerald gave the hedgehog a nod of his head. He knew that Shadow understood, but maybe he didn’t realize how little Shadow understood either. The doctor looked serious when he glanced at Shadow after stating this, as if he knew something that maybe he thought Shadow did.
It made Shadow worry.
“I…” Maria started, more than likely trying to find another excuse to refuse. Though eventually, she caved. Sulkingly picking up her fork and cutting a corner piece of the ‘meatloaf,’ and quickly bringing it to her mouth. She took a few bites of the meal finally, and then even managed at least all of the vegetables. Maria dared to take a small sip, or gulp, of the grape(?) beverage.
For dessert they had a strangely chalky candy called Sweettarts.
Once the meal had finally been finished, the older of the two leaned back in his seat at the table as if having eaten a full-course meal. He even patted his stomach in some sense of accomplishment. And as if on a schedule, a fellow scientist opened the airlock door to the dining room and peeked inside. The scientist was tall, with dark skin and short dark curls about his head. From what Shadow read in a few spare magazines around the ship, the hair style was called a ‘jerry curl.’ There was a soft smile on his face as he adjusted the glasses that had been sliding down his nose, pushing them up with a single finger to properly cover his eyes “Sir, we’re ready for the re-calibrations and the medication testing.”
Gerald nodded, and Maria simply nodded as well as both the Robotnik’s stood to their feet, pushing themselves away from the table.
Shadow did the same, since he knew that the repairs were referring to himself.
There was a pattern that Shadow and Maria had been following since first moving into the space station. For Shadow, as he grew older and required more replacement parts and mechanics, he was constantly examined and re-calibrated. For Maria, though her illness had lessened from being out of Earth’s gravity pressure, she would have blood drawn and tests performed. She was unfortunately her own test dummy for new medications.
Maria looked to Shadow just as he finally stood from the table to join his sibling, and she immediately held her hand out for him to take. His own gloved hand reached for hers, holding it gently but firm as the blonde returned the squeeze.
“I’ll see you after?” Maria asked, the two beginning to walk out of the dining room after Gerald led the way. The airlock doors shut behind them, and Shadow nodded “Of course. We share a room.”
“Which is crazy considering how big this station is.”
“Truly.”
“They could have made more bedrooms. The staff don’t have to sleep together.”
Gerald made a soft grunt, his own response to Maria and Shadow’s chattering behind his back. Maria only giggled however, and it made Shadow smile to hear her laugh. After the terrible meal, and now having to run tests and take medications, he knew later in the evening she wouldn’t be so happy anymore.
Shadow squeezed her hand just a bit more tighter, and she returned it still.
“Here we are.” Gerald said with a soft sigh, his hands still behind his back as he stood at the spot just between two open airlock doors. Another scientist, a female with curly blonde locks and freckles all along her face, smiled happily at Maria. She greeted the younger woman immediately “Miss Maria! Did you enjoy your meal?”
“Psh. No.” Maria scoffed, letting go of Shadow’s hand to now join the medic at the doorway. Shadow made his way to the other doorway while removing the glove from his mechanical arm, where the male scientist that guided them greeted Shadow as well.
Maria peeked over quickly “Prepare the scrunchie.” As she stepped through and the door shut behind her with its usual ‘ hissss.’
Gerald frowned at her comment, looking to Shadow in hopes of an answer. Shadow shrugged to feign confusion “I don’t know.” Before turning to enter his own doorway.
The scrunchie was to pull her hair back.