Chapter Text
Sage carefully examined the network stability as installation finally finished. It had been frustrating establishing themselves in this new world, but not due to the hurdles they had expected, much to their surprise. They had expected having to deal with local resistance in the form of heroes, governments, and soldiers...not technical difficulties.
When the clash with Sonic and his friends caused the Chaos Reactor to interact with the Chaos Emeralds, being flung base and all into a new world had not been what they'd expected. Apparently, it wasn't the first time it had happened to Dr. Robotnik, but her father told Sage that he'd taken measures to prevent it from happening again...and on top of that, this wasn't even the same world as before. That world, apparently, had been connected to their own which is what allowed it to happen...but no such connection existed here. On top of that, the Chaos Reactor had suffered a catastrophic shut down and could not be salvaged, and Sonic, his friends, and the Chaos Emeralds had not crossed over with them, something easily confirmed due to the world having a great many energy reactions detectable but none on the wavelengths of Chaos energy. Ivo - being Eggman - concluded that this was a new world to conquer and thus annexed a good amount of territory around where their base had arrived before hacking the local communications network to announce his conquest and the founding of the Eggman Empire. He then sat back to await the local heroes coming to overthrow him so he could best them and prove his superiority.
...instead, a delegation from the W.H.O. - World Hero Organization, of all things - had shown up and offered recognition of the Eggman Empire as its own country in return for participation in a technology exchange. It had taken quite a bit for Ivo to wrap his head around the idea to properly handle it.
Apparently, some centuries ago an event had occurred that result in a major cultural shift world-wide, and like all such shifts this had resulted in a period of cultural chaos and technological stagnation...and loss. While newer technology had been developed since, most of it was still quite a bit behind even the simplest of Dr. Robotnik's designs, and the scientists of the world were desperate to reclaim what had been lost in an attempt to move forward. The communications technology Ivo had used to broadcast his conquest alone was several generations more advanced than what was available, much to her Father's chagrin. Between that and Ivo's preference that his ruled territory actually be pleasant to look at - and the various preventative measures Ivo had taken towards safety and his own health after shifting onto a different Earth - he wasn't actually seen as a "Villain" despite his declaring himself an "evil genius mad scientist".
...Sage once more added a priority to her mental memo to look into what Father had meant in claiming their kingdom was called Eggman Empire and not 'Latveria'. She had a feeling that would either be important or amusing.
The very first bit of technology they decided to 'share' with the rest of the world - mostly for their own benefit in terms of gaining further control - was the communications technology, resulting in a massive upgrade to the local internet while also coincidentally putting all information security under their direct control. Sage was now exploring the enhanced internet both to ensure everything was installed correctly and to get a better idea of what the world outside the Empire was like.
Apparently, the event that had caused the major shift centuries ago was a large portion of humanity manifesting superpowers of various sorts. At first called 'Meta Abilities' when they first started showing up, nowadays they were called 'Quirks' and ranged from the minor inconvenience all the way through world-stability threatening and the vast majority of the human population had them. Of course, superpowers meant supervillains, which meant superheroes...and that's where the W.H.O. came in, an international organization with the specific purpose of documenting and managing those who took the career path of 'Pro-Heroes'. Sage promised herself to hold back on passing judgement over such a thing, but making such a role an actual job - and a competitive one at that - raised several doubts in her program core. Even so, she would analyze them based on possible threats to her Father and the Empire, as was her role.
...at some point she'd think about the fact that Ivo introducing her as his daughter had parts of the world calling her 'Princess Sage', but not now. This world's perception on 'Artificial Intelligence' was one she didn't want to think about, especially with the 'accepted' explanation of her existence being someone with a highly advanced 'technopathic Quirk' that lived in the Network. She honestly dreaded telling her Father about discovering that...
She paused in her browsing as her search pinged something of interest. She had been looking specifically for information on various 'pro-heroes' around the world, especially the more powerful or dangerous ones, and her passive scans had detected a single system with a great deal of the information she sought stored on it and actively being added to. Curious, she investigated...and found several text files labeled 'Hero Analysis For The Future'. Opening one briefly, she found it was analysis of a Pro-Hero named 'Endeavor', detailing the nature of his 'Hellfire' Quirk, his strengths, weaknesses, presented behaviors, and other useful information where it came to creating a profile of such a potentially dangerous individual. Seeing that it was of similar file size to other files with that heading, a brief check showed her that the other files were about other 'Pro-Heroes' to similar extent of detail, though mostly ones based in Japan. There were files on Pro-Heroes based elsewhere, but save the highest ranked ones the files were smaller and less in-depth, apparently due to a lack of information.
To her surprise, one of the files was actively being edited as she watched, one on an 'Underground' Pro-Hero called Eraserhead. Curious, she watched as whoever was at the computer added information, apparently browsing various websites and forums as they worked. She wasn't certain which was more impressive: the rate at which they were working, the level of detail being included, or the fact parental controls were currently on indicating the one at work was a child!
As she observed, however, something happened. While one particular website was loading up, whoever was using the computer called up 'Task Manager' briefly for some reason, only to almost immediately close it before opening a brand new untitled text document. Curious, Sage focused on the new document to see what it was about...only for her eyes to metaphorically widen at what was written.
'Is someone there?'
Sage stared at the text for sometime, uncertain how - or if - to respond. Why would whoever it was think someone was present? And why would they approach it this way? More text soon answered her questions.
'It's just...the PC usage has gone way up, but there aren't any processes using that much to explain it, and if it were someone using technology to hack there'd at least be processes I didn't recognize. Is...is it a technopathic Quirk?'
While Sage was somewhat amused at this person's deductions, she frowned at the assumption of a 'Quirk'. Was the world really so focused on these genetic anomalies that any accomplishment was automatically assumed to be the result of them? She found herself adding a line of text to the file before she could think about it.
'It's not a Quirk.'
Much to her surprise, rather than offense, the rate of text being added suggested whoever was on the other side of the screen found it...fascinating?
'Really? But if it's not a Quirk, then it would have to be some sort of fully contained program of some sort that my computer couldn't recognize! Is...are you a machine intelligence?'
Sage blinked a bit at those words. She didn't want to answer right away, but something in what he said...
'An...unusual choice of words...'
'Well, I never really cared for the term "Artificial Intelligence". It's far too easy to dub anything 'Artificial' as 'fake' or 'lesser', and I can't see a reason to apply that to someone just because they were born of lines of code rather than a biological process. I mean, lab-grown diamonds aren't the same thing as cubic zirconia, yet if you call them 'Artificial Diamonds' people will automatically treat them as 'fake diamonds' all the same. It's not right to do that with people.'
Sage felt an odd warmth briefly flowing through her program. She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling if she'd been projecting she would have shifted to white and blue instead of the red and black that was her normal appearance. Checking peripherals, she saw that there was an active set of headphones with microphone, currently playing music. It was a matter of moments to take hold of that signal and - as she felt this person had earned - replace it with her voice. "You have a pleasantly unusual perspective, in my experience," she said softly, curious to hear what sort of person was on the other end.
"O-o-oh my gosh!" a young male voice responded. If Sage's judgement were accurate, the speaker was maybe eight or nine years old, though he somehow sounded even younger. "I n-never thought I'd get a chance to talk to a genuine machine intelligence! What's it like living in code? Do you have a physical sense of self? Do you know what it's like outside the computer to compare it to? Have you chosen an avatar to represent yourself?"
Sage did her best not to laugh as the questions flowed freely. Eventually, she decided to interrupt. "You are a curious one, aren't you?"
Much to her surprise, what was meant to just call attention to his rambling questions seemed to depress him? "I-I'm sorry," the voice through the microphone offered apologetically. "I know I t-tend to ramble, and how annoying and creepy that is-"
"Whoever told you that is someone I want to have words with," Sage found herself interrupting, far more harshly than she intended. Hearing a startled 'yeep' in response, she calmed her voice down. "I do not find your rambles annoying or creepy. While I was amused at the difficulty of getting a word in from my end, I found your thought process absolutely fascinating."
"...really?" The desperate, hopeful longing in that voice shook her program core.
"Indeed," Sage readily confirmed. "After all, it was your analysis work that drew me to your system in the first place. I had browsed professional analysis companies that were not as in-depth as what I found here."
"You...you like my notes?"
Sage was silent for a time. "You are far more intelligent than would be expected for your age as far as I can tell, and it has quickly become apparent that such brilliance has not been properly nurtured," she observed as calmly as she could manage. "That is a failure on the part of your teachers, among others. Why have they not recognized and encouraged a mind such as yours?" She waited patiently for a response.
Eventually, a response came, one that seemed to be weighed down with despair, as though the speaker had all but given up on the world. "...I'm Quirkless...the teachers say it'd be a waste of time to do anything with me...and I get in trouble for 'cheating' if I score better than the other students..."
Sage resisted the urge to search the computer for information on this person's school so she could cause immense havoc before getting the location to deliver some potent airborne destruction. "My Father would have quite a bit to say about the idea that lack of a 'superpower' being reason to ignore natural abilities. Only a fool would assume that only one kind of ability has value."
"Your father?" The boy's muttering returned, but this time so quiet and quick the microphone couldn't pick it up clearly until he suddenly yelped out, "Ohmigosh! P-p-princess Sage Robotnik?"
Sage blinked in surprise, but was smiling as she activated a video player to show her self-projection on the screen. "I did say your intelligence and analysis was impressive. But may I have your name?"
"Oh! S-sure!" To her surprise, the webcam was turned on, revealing a young boy with messy green hair, bright green eyes, and diamond pattern freckles on each cheek. "I-I'm Izuku Midoriya!"
Sage lifted her right sleeve to cover her mouth to hide the sudden wide smile that tried to force its way onto her face. The boy was...there was no other word for it, adorable. After concluding that he was Japanese, she realigned her courtesy protocols to the local customs. "I believe, Midoriya-kun, that my Father will take a...personal interest in your development, and will be contacting your family in that regard before too much longer. He does seem to enjoy passing knowledge on to someone who can keep up with him."
Seeing the boy's face light up and the wide grin crossing his face, she snapped a picture before opening communications back home. She needed to make arrangements immediately.
PrincessSage shared an image
PrincessSage: I found him online. Can I keep him?
TheEggman: ...for Einstein's sake, Sage...when I agreed to you having a pet, I thought you wanted a Chao!