#e-101 beta

Ivo's latest E-100 model, the 100th variant, has failed. The chaos energy flowing through its circuits gave it the will and mind to question Ivo's orders and even disobey them. Until it eventually escalated and "went mad" as Ivo would describe it. It began ripping itself apart and slammed its head into walls. Before it finally tried to attack other Badniks and was destroyed by his current Mecha Sonic model.

Ivo was frustrated. His robot brains just kept failing and failing.. It was all due to the chaos energy running rampant in their circuits. He was sure of it..

After a long sigh, he had made up his mind. He decided to put the E-100 series on hold for a few weeks while he tried yet again to dive into his designs and improve their brain structure. 

After a lot of chipping away and late night tinkering, he figured something out.

He was experimenting with the failed E-100 brain specifically, when he found a new potential way to route power to the brain. This method could mean that their brains are powered by chaos energy, but the effects of said energy wouldn't linger. This could potentially mean he can make chaos energy fueled robots without them going insane.

This was excellent! And Ivo couldn't wait to test it out. But this was not a new AI/robot brain he had made, it was a new way to route power to the brain. So which version of the E-100 brain should he test it on? Any one of them could be successful with this new powering method.

Eventually he decided to look back at his E-100 series and take the five different brain/AI types that lasted the longest, and build five new E-100s based on these brains. Each E-100 brain he rebuilt all had completely different body types in mind. One AI was not programmed to handle the motor function of having legs. Another was not programmed to understand how to wield two guns at once, etc.

This was good, Ivo thought. Having vastly different robots would help better test this powering method. And so, he got to work.

It took several weeks to tweak the five old blueprints, create all the parts, and assemble the five new droids. But he kept to it. Not resting until all five were complete and ready for their first commands..

Once they had been constructed, Ivo thought for a long while. How would he test them? Typically, the E-100s were used to locate and capture new test subjects from nearby villages and streets. And that was what these specific five were originally designed for..

However, that pesky blue rodent and his cronies were still out there causing problems. If any one of these five E-100s were found by Sonic? Ivo knew for certain they would be swiftly defeated. And besides, he's testing their ability to follow orders. Not their physical prowess. So instead, he had them do odd jobs for him deep within the forest.

He would send the five of them out deep into the forest to chop down three trees each, chop the wood up, and bring it back to the lab. Or he would tell them to go down to this river bank and stack rocks or dig holes.

They performed their strange tasks exactly as ordered. No matter how strange or pointless the request was, all five bots followed the orders to a T. Which was very good! It seemed like maybe this new power method was working..

That was, until E-102 fell.

He had been chopping down a tree that was on the edge of a deep ravine. He didn't see it and took a step too close, dropping his axe as he fell right in. His heavy torso came down on his leg and bent it in the wrong direction. Making it unable to function.

Ivo wasn't surprised the leg got all bent up in the somewhat small fall. If he recalled, Sonic defeated the last E-100 model with this body type by breaking its weak legs.

And E-102 himself wasn't shocked at the tumble OR the bent leg. As he and the four other members of his unit have all had a tumble or two in the past with similar breaks.

This tumble was obviously a bit more serious though, as E-102 did his best to lift himself and reach for the edge of the ravine and found that he couldn't get out.

Once E-102 tried for a few minutes and confirmed that he was actually stuck, He called Ivo on his comm link and requested assistance. Ivo expected this and was about to respond, when he suddenly had an idea.. He decided this would be a good opportunity to really test the other fours ability to follow orders under stress.

Ivo contacted the other four E-100s, who were all scattered across the forest, and told them to keep chopping wood no matter what. He said he would be leaving for a short time and they will be unable to reach him. They're all on their own. The four of them understood, and continued to chop.

Then, he told E-102 to call out to his unit for help, but then disable his comm link.

After he gave out the orders he simply sat back and watched the feed through the E-100s eyes. Waiting for what would happen next..

E-102 followed his orders exactly. He called his unit for help through his comm link, and then cut the line. His four unit members all stopped chopping and stood up straight.

At first, the four of them tried to call back to E-102. But he did not respond, exactly as ordered. Then they called Ivo, telling him that E-102 needed assistance. Ivo did not respond. They called out to E-102 again. Nothing..

The four of them knew their orders. Continue to chop wood no matter what..

But worry began to swell in their circuits..

"E-102, respond." One said.

"Maybe he has taken damage to his head. That is where the communications hub is located." Said another.

"What could have struck him?" 

"Maybe a fallen tree?..."

The four E-100s frantically chattered back and forth through their comms, fueling each other's anxiety over E-102. All of them had stopped chopping wood.

Eventually, their anxiety was too much. The four bots abandoned their axes and gave each other directions so they could all meet up at the river bed. Once together, they hurried into the woods, looking desperately for E-102.

It didn't take long to find him. They spotted his discarded axe and gathered at the edge of the pit. They saw him collapsed at the bottom, covered in dirt and rocks. 

"E-102: Located."

E-102 spun his head around surprised. He didn't expect assistance so soon!

Two of the more agile bots scrambled down the dirt embankment and brushed away the rubble covering E-102. They helped him to his feet and recoiled in shock upon seeing the severely bent leg.

"E-102: Status: Severe damage to left leg." 

"Quickly. lift him up!" The two bots hoisted him out of the pit. Once they were all out, the unit all fretted over E-102.

"E-102 additional status?" "E-102, Query: What happened?" "Come with us, out of the sunlight." "Watch your step." "E-102! Careful!" "E-102, what is your additional status?" "E-102, Query: why didn't you reply? Are you damaged in other areas?"

While some would think this was sweet, Ivo saw it as a huge blow. All four of them had disobeyed a simple and direct order. And so quickly too..

He knew right then and there that his new powering method had not worked. However, E-102 followed his orders exactly.. Even after being rescued by his unit, he was quick to pick his axe back up and continue chopping.

But that seemed unlikely. The four E-100s fail but magically the fifth one didn't? Ivo wasn't so quick to believe that.. And so he decided he needed to test E-102 as well.

How he did this is when the five brothers returned from their chores, he told E-102 to wait for him in the repair wing. Then he took the four failed bots to a back room and powered them down. Then he went into their heads and plucked an essential power cable so it would be physically impossible for them to power back up. The equivalent of plucking the spark plugs out of a gas engine.

After repairing E-102's bent leg, he took him to the holding room. The room where the five bots would power down each night.

He told E-102 some grim news. That his fellow E-100s had greatly underperformed today. And as punishment, they were going to be completely disassembled and recycled for parts. However, E-102 himself has done well! So he would be fine.

He told E-102 to stay in this room for the night, and that he would give him more orders tomorrow.

"Understood." Was all he said.

Ivo eyed E-102 skeptically.. but then left the room. He had left all the rooms in-between E-102 and the rest of his unit unlocked. Just so E-102 wouldn't have to ruin the doors trying to reach them. That is, if he disobeyed his orders..

Ivo watched the security camera for a long while. He noticed that E-102 hadn't moved since his orders were given. He waited and waited..

But then, an alarm on his desk began to beep and flash a green light. Warning that concentrated chaos energy was detected in E-102s room. He took a closer look at the screen. He saw that E-102's hand was shaking, and a single red spark crackled across his armor.

Suddenly, E-102 burst to life. He slammed his body into the door, flinging it open. He began running through the lab, bursting through all the doors, clearly searching for something.

Ivo leaned back in his mobile and let out a long sigh. As expected. E-102 was a failure as well. He had clearly panicked hearing that the rest of his unit was going to be destroyed and was trying to rescue them.

Before he sent his Mecha Sonic to stop him, he watched with a somewhat morbid curiously.. wondering how E-102 would react upon finding out the other E-100s were all completely deactivated.

E-102 found the room his unit was in. They were all sat along the wall, slack and unresponsive.

"My unit!" he called out to them. Rushing to their sides he flipped up their control panels and tried to reactivate them.

But none of them moved.

E-102 began to shake his unit, trying to wake them. He rolled them forward to get a better angle at their control panels. Desperately flipping every switch, shaking them, shouting.. they did not move..

Ivo's alarm began to beep faster. The light had turned yellow and changed locations to the room the five E-100s were in. That was an awful lot of chaos energy..

Ivo looked more anxiously, what was going on? E-102 had red sparks all over his armor, and he was now shaking violently. The alarm light turned red and maxed out. The chaos energy was so concentrated it couldn't read the level.

Loud cracks and snaps echoed from the camera feed. The Red sparks got brighter and brighter, until..

The last thing Ivo saw before the camera broke was the eyes of the other four E-100s lighting up. Ivo wasn't sure what E-102 was doing or how, but this was enough. He needed to stop him.

Unbeknownst to Ivo, E-102 had a panic attack essentially, or a chaos fueled adrenaline rush. The chaos energy was so powerful it bled into his units' circuits and reactivated them by force. When they awoke, E-102's fear became theirs. They all instantly knew they had to flee together. And so they did.

Ivo had sent his Mecha Sonic after them, but he couldn't stop the five chaos infused E-100s. They rampaged through the lab together, knocking tables over, picking each other up, and firing at any bot that approached them.

Finally, they reached the door and E-105 used his massive body to bust the door open. They clamored out of the lab, making sure to leave no bot behind.

Once their feet touched the grass, the failsafe Ivo had installed took effect. All visual and auditory memories of the lab were replaced with text formats. They all had forgotten why they were running, but the guttural fear remained.

They took each other's hands and scrambled into the woods. They ran and ran and ran.. eventually they found a cliffside to hide under and stopped to let their burning joints cool.

E-102 quickly spoke up. "We will be found. We must remove our comm links."

The E-100s looked worriedly at each other. But accepted what must be done.

One by one they assisted each other in peeling back their head plating and ripping out the comm link in the backs of all their heads. Now, they were unable to contact each other, but they also could not be tracked by their creator.

After a few more final good stomps on the comm links, they continued to flee.

The fear remained in their systems as their runs slowed to walks. And as the sun rose, they stumbled upon a large cave with long grass and ivy obscuring the entrance.

Upon E-102s command, the five bots filed into the cave. They all sat down along the cave walls in somewhat of a circle formation.

Finally, they had a moment to settle. They had traveled very far from their place of origin, and they could not be tracked. They are safe.

As E-102 calmed down, the chaos energy began to dim in his units optics. The power cord that Ivo had plucked was still disconnected. Without that adrenaline rush from E-102, they had no power at all.

His unit croaked out a few last words before they all lost power. The light in their eyes was gone. E-102s anxiety rose, but it wasn't enough to wake them back up. For now, they were gone..

E-102 sat with his unit for a long time, days probably. Unsure of where to go from here.. And honestly, not wanting to leave their sides..

But eventually, he decided he needed to do something. There were no ways to reactivate them in this cave. So he stood up and began to wander.

He truly had no idea what he was looking for. Help? Parts? Tools? He didn't even know. And at this point, he wasn't even sure where his existence was going or what was the point of it anymore.

As the rain would fall, it would seep into the hole in E-102s head, and delicate circuits began to rust. His motor function began to deteriorate overtime..

He wandered and wandered.. occasionally returning to his allies resting place to quietly grieve them.

Eventually, he began to get careless. He wandered in the direction of the city. Where he had stumbled yet again off a ravine, but this time he fell into a very deep muddy pit.

He had fallen on his leg at the wrong angle and popped it out of its socket. He could probably fix it, but not in the mud. He tried to stand up, but he couldn't. He dug his palm deep in the mud and tried to claw his way forward, but he just kept creating deep streaks in the mud and clay. He couldn't quite dig his other knee into the mud without it slipping.

And so, being unable to barely move, or at least lacking the motor function and awareness to figure out how to move.. there he stayed. For hours and hours he weakly slapped at the mud and dug his limbs in as hard as he could. But he only moved a few inches.

A few months ago he would have been able to get out. His mind was fresh and undamaged then.. or, maybe If he had his unit to come home to, maybe he would be trying harder to think of a solution. But what was the point? Where would he even bother to go after he got out of the mud? If he even could? Well, he probably could if he really tried, but why would he?

He continued to mindlessly slap his palm down in the mud and try to drag himself forward. But at this point he felt like he had no intention of actually getting out. He couldn't see why he would want to.

As the sky changed to beautiful shades of red and purple, and the cold air caused the mud on his paint to dry.. he lay there defeated. Still slapping his palm in the mud, "trying" to dig his way out. Not sure what to do with himself anymore..

..But then.. he heard a nervous voice call out from beside him.

"H-Hello..?"