Earth certainly had a lot of wonderful things to experience. Anyone could name at least one thing that they enjoy doing in their lives. Whether it be exploring and seeing the wonderful and sometimes overwhelming view of nature or just staying inside, cuddled up in a blanket, and enjoying the hilarious creations of the internet.

Was this planet that Maria loved so much perfect? No. No, it wasn't. It never would be. But she still loved it with all her heart and she was more than happy that every day, she was given another chance to experience its highs and lows.

To her, perfection simply never existed. After all, how can something be perfect if at least one person in the world will disagree with the others? So why strive for something that's unattainable?

But today wasn't a philosophical debate on perfection, it was getting to enjoy one of the best experiences of Earth.

"WEEEEEEE!!!!" Maria screamed, holding her hands up in the air as the roller coaster dashed down the rails at high speeds, even if she knew that she herself could probably go faster.

Gadget was laughing, even howling a little bit as he held his hands in the air.

The roller coaster went up and down, zig-zagged, or even sideways at times. The cheers and screams of several Mobians and humans filled the air before eventually, the various carts began to come to a stop once they reached the end.

Maria blinked as she looked from side to side, her hands still held up in the air.

Gadget laughed, adjusting his glasses. "M-Maria...the ride's over."

"Awww...it is?" Maria pouted. "But that was so much fun!!!"

"Well, Twinkle Park has plenty of other stuff we can try!" Gadget said as he lifted the bars and then walked right out with the yellow hedgehog.

Maria giggled. "True! Thanks again for taking me, Gadget."

Gadget smiled, his tail lightly wagging. "N-nah, it's no big dealio!"

Maria blinked before she covered her mouth slightly, holding in a laugh.

"...did I seriously just say the word 'dealio'?" Gadget asked.

Maria nodded.

"...I wonder if that trash can over there requires rent to live in." Gadget mumbled, his face red with embarrassment.

Maria laughed and pulled Gadget away from leaping right into the trash can. "I-it's okay, it's okay! I can embarrass myself if that will make you feel better!"

Gadget chuckled and held up his hand. "No, you don't have to. But I appreciate the thought."

Maria's cheerful smile just returned before she hummed. "What ride should we try next?"

Gadget hummed. "Well, it's better to get all the spinny rides out of the way before we have lunch...ever ride the Tilt A Whirl?"

"Oh! No!" Maria smiled. "The times I did go to amusement parks were very few, and my parents were always so protective of me. They called them 'big kid' rides, ha! But now would be the perfect chance!!! Especially since this amusement park was so nice to let us both in for free!"

Gadget scratched his chin. "Yeah, uhh, still wondering why. Could've sworn last time I went with my brother, I had to pay."

Maria hummed as she began to think. "...maybe they thought we were someone else? If so, we should probably tell them it was a mistake-"

"Hang on, lemme search it up." Gadget said as he grabbed his phone and rapidly typed into it.

Maria giggled. "I'm still adjusting to how fancy all these new phones are. Tails has been teaching me the ins and outs of how it works, but back when I was human? We could never dream of all these features!"

Gadget just nodded as he came across a result...before his face suddenly turned red when he found the answer he was looking for.

'At Twinkle Park, there is a policy that cute couples receive free access. This is overlooked by the central computer, which has had several reports of not being able to tell if a pair is actually romantically involved or not.'

Maria tilted her head. "Gadget? Did you find anything?"

"N-NOPE! NUH-UH! NADA! NOTHING! LET'S GO!"

After a few more rides and absurd amounts of funnel cake, the two decided it was time to head home. Shadow was probably on his way back from a mission by now after all.

"Thank you so much for taking me, Gadget! This was one of the best days I've ever had!!!" Maria smiled, twirling around lightly.

Gadget smiled back. "I'm glad, Maria! I, uhh, think you deserve a nice day after the whole Infinite situation a few days ago."

Maria sighed. "Yes...and I can tell Shadow is a bit stressed. Eclipse stole a Chaos Emerald from him and I know he tells me not to worry, I...I do wish there was more I could do. But I know I'm nowhere near ready enough in terms of...err...fighting."

Gadget chuckled. "Still kind of nervous about the concept, huh?"

"Very much so." Maria said with a nod.

Gadget smiled. "Hey, if it helps? During The Eggman War, I was in your shoes! I could barely hold a Wispon properly without feeling the overwhelming need to throw up..."

"A...Wispon?" Maria asked. "What's that?"

"Oh! They're state of the art pieces of weaponry that The Resistance used during the war! Each one contains an alien life form known as a Wisp, which serves as the user's partner! The weapon harnesses their hyper-go on energy and is able to utilize it in combat! It's incredibly fascinating and they come in all shapes and colors because of the Wisps themselves! Each Wisp has a different ability unique to them, and depending on the type, the Wispon will have that ability!"

Maria's eyes sparkled, although she was less interested in the weapon itself and more about The Wisps. "Earth has already come into contact with an alien species?!?!"

"Yup! Wisps are not too hard to find around Earth, but they come from another planet entirely! Which is where most of the populus is anyway."

"Tell me everything!!!" Maria squealed, looking eager as ever for knowledge.

Gadget grinned, seeming even more eager to just ramble about everything he knew. "Well, The Wisps have been- YIPES!!!"

Then, cut off from his ramble, Gadget suddenly tripped and fell flat on his face. Now instead of spitting out words, he was spitting out dirt.

Maria gasped and knelt down to her friend. "Gadget!!! Are you okay?!?!"

Gadget just gave a thumbs up, his voice muffled.

Maria then pulled her friend back up, brushing the dirt off him. "Guess we share some clumsiness in common too!"

Gadget spat out some more dirt and took off his glasses, cleaning them off. "Looks like it...what the heck did I trip over?"

Maria turned around and then saw...something buried in the dirt. Curious, she went over and began to brush away at the dirt.

But then, once the dirt was brushed away...she saw a pair of dark gray quills with yellow stripes. Maria hummed and then began digging a bit more before she finally pulled out the strange device...and then immediately screamed, dropping her discovery.

The dark quills were attached to a completely metallic version of...Shadow. Or rather, just the head with wires coming out where the neck would've been. It was some kind of robot, which explained the smooth metallic skin instead of fur and the black visor instead of eyes.

Gadget's eyes widened and he knelt down, observing the head. "...an Android Shadow head?"

"A...an Android Shadow...?" Maria asked, slowly kneeling down as well...even if it was clearly a little unnerving to see a disembodied headed that was almost an exact copy of her brother's.

Gadget nodded. "Yeah! These things were created by-"

"Ivo...?" Maria asked, her eyes soft.

Gadget blinked. "Ummm. Yeah, how'd you guess?"

"My cousin really likes robotic copies from what I've been told." Maria sighed, looking back at the head.

Gadget's eyes softened. "I...I'm sorry if that was a sensitive subject...I kind of forget that Eggman's your cousin..."

Maria just shook her head. "It's alright. But...why is a disembodied Android here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Beats me...but my guess is that someone had a battle with one and blew it to pieces. Even though they're based off your brother, the Android Shadows are not that hard to beat. They're a lot more fragile than you'd think and their main strength is that they come in hordes and can mimic some of Shadow's basic moves."

Maria hummed as she gently picked up the head, looking at it with...sympathy. "Did...they have an A.I. that allowed them to feel emotions? Like Sage or Metal Sonic?"

"No, not really. Your cousin doesn't like to add that to his lesser robots." Gadget sighed.

"...the poor thing." Maria said suddenly. "Built as a simple Foot Soldier, likely meant as cannon fodder and nothing more. But I can already think of so much that even one of them could do to help the world instead of hurt it...but they weren't even given the ability to think about that, let alone at all."

Gadget's eyes softened as well...before a lightbulb went off in his head. He then smiled. "Are...you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Maria's eyes widened as she slowly turned to Gadget. "We rebuild this Android to not only have the capacity for independent thought, but to rewrite their programming into a force for good?"

"Yup!!!" Gadget smiled before he gently took the head. "I can take this to my workshop and we can start first thing tomorrow!"

"No, that's okay! We can start today!" Maria grinned.

"But...what about your brother? Won't he get worried?"

Maria then held out her phone. "I'll just tell him where I'll be! After all, I think he trusts you!"

"...y-you're sure? Pretty sure he was mentally adding me to a list of some kind because I accidentally punched him."

"Positive!" Maria smiled as she dialed Shadow's number. "Shadow's just a little grumpy is all!"

'More like terrifying...' Gadget thought. 'But also just the definition of awesome. No offense, Sonic...oh wait, he can't hear my thoughts. Wait, can he? No, no, he can't...but in case he can? Sonic, you are just as awesome and definitely a lot more approachable! Man, mind reading is actually kind of creepy when you think about it.'

While both Maria and Gadget were rather experienced in their craft, building robots wasn't exactly something they did often.

Maria preferred more peaceful forms of science such as botany or biology, maybe even medicine like her sister. Even if she knew her way around technology and didn't believe that robots were directly meant for bad purposes, she just wasn't the most experienced with actually build them.

Gadget was probably more experienced than she was in terms of robots, since most of his weapons and gear were all purely technological. But even then, he hadn't yet built an entire robot until now.

"And here's my workshop!" Gadget introduced, opening the door with a smile.

Maria looked around, her eyes wide in awe as she looked around the cozy workshop with various technological gadgets and weapons on display and seemingly organized. That's when she noticed a small shelf of what looked to be...toys?

"Oh! These are adorable!" Maria smiled as she looked at the shelf. "I used to collect all kinds doll figurines when I was little!"

"Ummm...action figures actually." Gadget corrected, rubbing his arm. "And yeah! I collect-"

"Why are they still in the box?" Maria asked as she reached over.

Gadget's eyes widened. "Actually, that's a collectible-!"

But it was already too late, as the mint condition of the figure was torn away in mere seconds the moment Maria took it out of the box and then carefully posed it on the shelf. She then smiled, proud of herself. "There we go!"

Gadget, feeling like he had just been stabbed, just slowly gave a thumbs up. "C...cool..."

Maria then walked back over and gently took the Android Shadow head, placing it on the worktable. "Hmm...well, we're going to need to construct a body first!"

Gadget brushed aside the mourning process of his once priceless collectible and walked over. "Which shouldn't be too hard to construct! I think we can craft up a blueprint...we're also gonna have to make him less fragile. Make his exoskeleton harder to break! Maybe...a super durable metallic alloy that could allow some partial shapeshifting for extra weapons? I've always wanted to try my hand at that!"

Maria tapped her chin. "Do you think we'd be able to do that...?"

Gadget grinned and grabbed a pencil. "Only one way to find out!"

Maria then grabbed a toolbox, grinning back at her friend. "Let's get to work!"

Drawing up a blueprint didn't take long and they quickly realized that this android could potentially replicate Chaos Powers with a few samples from Maria herself AKA her own quills. Building the body also didn't take long either, with one of Gadget's other machines developing the alloy while they worked on the actual body.

Hours passed by with afternoon quickly turning to dawn, and by that point, the body was already finished...the tricky part was the A.I itself.

Maria and Gadget were careful with every single detail, looking over it again and again to make sure that he wouldn't go haywire and that Eggman couldn't just activate a secret program he might have had hidden away so he could take control of it again.

He would be capable of independent thought so he could choose his own path and essentially live as his own being, but would also have ethical subroutines so he would understand morality. What was right and what was wrong.

And for combat purposes, he would be capable of mimicking fight patterns after about 2 minutes of exposure and his A.I would be intelligent enough to try and calculate a countermeasure. Not to mention, his previous abilities such as spin-dashing, homing attacks, and super speed were enhanced thanks to Maria's quills.

Although...they definitely needed more than one...

"Ow!" Maria yelped as she pulled out another quill and then carefully placed it in a small canister with the others. She then gently inserted it into the android's chest to act as his central power core. "Okay, that should be enough!"

Gadget hummed as he typed at his computer. "And after quadruple checking, his A.I should be about complete! And if his body is ever destroyed, it will instantaneously transfer right into my computer's database!"

"Phew." Maria giggled. "It's always good to have a backup...although, unfortunately, your shapeshifting alloy idea will only work on his arms. He won't be able to completely change and or even regenerate his form."

"Honestly? Probably for the best." Gadget said. "I think we've had enough mind tricks with Infinite and I'd hate to see the kind of pranks a shapeshifter could pull."

Maria nodded before stepping back. "Okay! His air shoes are calibrated like mine! I think we're done!!!"

Gadget then grabbed a power cord and plugged it into the back of the android's head before attaching it to his computer. "Now the final step...ya ready, Ria?"

Maria smiled. "Let's do it!!!"

"Initiating A.I transfer in 3...2...1!" Gadget cried as he pressed a key.

...but then nothing happened.

Maria blinked, looking from side to side and even awkwardly patting her sides.

Gadget sat down. "It, uhh, needs a second."

"Of course, of course! A transfer wouldn't be instantaneous." Maria said, nodding.

The waiting continued as the progress bar went up in percentage...slowly.

Maria eventually took a seat as well. "...what time is it?"

Gadget checked his watch...and his eyes widened. "OH! It's...10:00 PM."

"Goodness, time passed by so fast!" Maria giggled. "I better let Shadow know-"

But then, Gadget's computer suddenly beeped...and the android suddenly sat up, the power cord automatically disconnecting from his head. The black visor that served as his eyes was empty...before digital yellow eyes flickered on, slowly looking around.

Maria gasped, standing up in surprise. But she didn't utter a word, just staring at the rebuilt android.

The android then looked directly at her...and then at Gadget...and then at his own hands before he suddenly began to speak in a tone that didn't even sound robotic unlike Omega or Gemerl. "I...am...alive...?"

Maria squealed and leapt high into the air. "YES!!!"

"WOOHOO!!!" Gadget cheered.

Maria then suddenly pulled the android into a hug, smiling wide. "Welcome to the world!!! Or...welcome back in this case!!! How are you feeling?"

The android's eyes were wide at the sudden display of affection before looking down in confusion. "What...exactly are you doing to me...?"

"Oh!" Maria smiled. "This is called a 'hug'! It's an act of affection between two or more people!"

"A...hug..." The android said, slowly nodding.

Gadget walked over. "You should have some info on these kinds of things stored in your database, buddy...but maybe give him a bit of space, Maria? Just so he can process?"

"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Maria said, standing back.

The android was quiet for a moment as he began searching through his own databases. He then slowly got off the worktable, landing on his feet. "My prime directive is...to aid the lifeforms of Earth...correct?"

"Correct!" Maria smiled. "But it should also be listed that you are able to choose however you may want to do that!"

"I...think I understand..." The android said before facing them again. "Maria Robotnik and...Gadget The Wolf...right? Those are your names?"

Gadget smiled wide. "That's right!"

"...then...what is my name?" The android asked.

Maria and Gadget blinked...and then awkwardly looked at each other, only now realizing that they had been so excited about rebuilding him for good...that they completely forgot to actually give him a name.

"I have no name or title listed in my databases...simply just my original serial number from the...am I reading this right? The Eggman Empire?" The android asked. "That's a silly name for an empire...unless it's a grocery store for means of organic consumption? Preferably eggs?"

"Well...no..." Gadget said. "But, uhh, that's an explanation for another time."

Maria nodded. "For now, we should give you a name! An actual name! We can't just call you by your number or 'Android Shadow'."

Gadget then scratched his chin. "Hmmm...you got anything you'd like to be called?"

"Ummm...no. I believe I was just made sentient a few minutes ago. I don't think I have any 'hobbies' or 'interests' that would allow me to come up with a name."

Maria then stepped closer to the android...before she gasped and held his hands. "How about we call you...Andy? Andy The Android!!!"

Gadget chuckled. "Awww! That's kinda cute! What do you think, bud?"

"I think it will work." The newly named 'Andy' said with a nod.

Maria smiled even bigger before suddenly, the door to the workshop opened and they all instinctively turned towards the sound.

And that's when The Ultimate Lifeform himself stepped in. "Maria, it's getting late. It's time I take you home-"

But then, Shadow's eyes widened at the sight of a Shadow Android and he immediately growled, his eyes glowing red. "MARIA, GET AWAY FROM THAT THING!!!"

"W-wait, Shadow-!"

"Engaging defensive measures." Andy said as he suddenly front-flipped over Maria to face Shadow...and then his arms began shifting and changing into a pair of giant blades.

Gadget's eyes widened...before he cheered again, clapping. "HAHA, YES!!! IT WORKS!!!"

Shadow didn't seem to hear him as he and Andy immediately charged at each other...but that's when Maria quickly dashed in between the two and held out her hands, catching both of them.

"WAIT!!!" Maria cried before looking at her brother. "Shadow, Andy isn't a threat!!! Gadget and I rebuilt him!!!"

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "You rebuilt an Eggman android...?"

"Yes! And now he's friendly!" Maria smiled.

Shadow looked at the blade arms of the android and then gave his sister an unamused look. "The blade arms don't exactly scream 'friendly', Maria."

"Neither does charging at people." Andy said as he shifted his arms back to normal. "According to my databases, that most often has harmful intentions."

"In other words, you scared him." Gadget said, walking over.

Shadow huffed, crossing his arms. "Did you put her up to this...? Messing with an Eggman robot that could potentially put her in danger?"

Maria sighed. "Shadow, he and I both wanted to do this. We are in a completely safe environment and we wanted to not only test our skills in robotics, but...we also wanted to give Andy a second chance. Like how I was given one!"

Andy looked at Maria, his digital eyes...soft. And if he had a visible mouth, he would be smiling. He already felt inclined to keep her safe and he had only been activated 5 minutes ago.

Shadow looked at his sister and then at Andy. He then sighed, rubbing the brink of his nose. "...fine...if you say that it-"

"He." Maria corrected.

"That he is not a danger to anyone, then...I apologize for attacking you. I overreacted." Shadow said.

Andy nodded. "I have a lot to learn, but...apology accepted."

"...a word of advice, you may want to stay away from a robot named E-123 Omega. He doesn't exactly get along well with robots built by Eggman...or any other robots for that matter..."

"I will...keep that in mind..."

Maria smiled and then hugged both of them. "I have three brothers now!!!"

Shadow sighed, but wrapped his arm around Maria in return. "I wouldn't go that far..."

"We didn't exactly have a good first impression." Andy muttered.

However, Maria didn't seem to care. Her smile was as big as ever...and that seemed to be enough for them.