Album 1: Shadow of a Rose

Killing Loneliness

Rude and invasive. Rouge called him that earlier that day, after leaving Vanilla's Café. He felt he had a right to know but the argument led to where he was now, sitting in the kitchen with Omega being lectured. And all because he didn't want to miss out seeing a certain someone.

Shadow sighed letting out all of the frustration he had been building up the past hour and 24 minutes. "ROUGE'S RULES TO PROPER SOCIAL BEHAVIOR: RULE 5 DASH 7. EYE CONTACT." Omega had been going through the 'Manners Protocol' and the hedgehog was forced to complete the task otherwise the robot would never give him a peaceful moment. "EYE CONTACT SHOWS YOU ARE LISTENING AND INCREASES YOUR LIKABILITY. SHADOW YOU AND I WILL ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION. YOU WILL MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT IN ORDER TO PROCEED."

"Fine." Shadow grumbled no longer having the fight in him to stand against the ridiculous tests. He straightened up then put on a fake pleasant voice, "Hey there Omega what have you been up to today?" The last words were strained through gritted teeth and the smile he'd put on completely contrasted the annoyed and furious look in his eyes as he looked into the shining red bulbs that were his friend's eyes.

"HELLO SHADOW. AT 6:32 A.M. I AWOKE FROM SLEEP MODE AND WENT THROUGH MY DAILY UPDATE, IT IS A NECESSARY PART OF THE DAY SO THAT I-"

"EYE CONTACT HAS BROKEN!" The hedgehog jerked back to look at Omega, his vision had barely shifted but the robot would never let this be easy, "AT 7:15 I TRAVELED TO G.U.N. HEADQUARTERS FROM OUR HOUSE AND REPORTED THE SUCCESS OF OUR LATEST ANNIALATION OF THE ABANDONED EGGMAN BASE NORTH OF THE MYSTIC RUINS. AT 8:30 I HAD RETURNED HOME WHERE I OILED-"

"EYE CONTACT HAS BEEN BROKEN!" Shadow jerked again, Omega usually kept speaking to a minimum, it was the hedgehog's favorite thing about the robot it meant he wouldn't have to speak either, but when going through any type of lists, rules, regulations or guidelines he'd give every detail possible. "AT 8:45 I JOINED ROUGE IN WATCHING MORNING NEWS, ALTHOUGH IT WAS UNNECESSARY, DUE TO MY CONNECTION TO THE INTERNET I HAVE ACCESS TO ANYTHING ONLINE AS IT HAPPENS. BUT ROUGE ENJOYS COMPANY AND I ALSO ENJOY THE PRESENSE OF MY FRIENDS SO I OBLIGED-"

"This is the part where I come in?"

"AFFIRMATIVE. YOU ARRIVED AT APPROXIMATELY 9, YOU AND ROUGE LEFT SHORTLY AFTER TO QUESTION ROUGE'S DESIGNATED FRIEND: AMY ROSE," the hedgehog's ear twitched and then closed his eyes embarrassed from the way Rouge had dragged him out.

"EYE CONTACT HAS BEEN BROKEN!" This time Shadow had expected the robot's interjection this time, instead of reacting he buried his face in his hands. Omega was silent "SHADOW, YOU CONCERN ME." This caught the hedgehog's attention, he looked at the robot through his fingers, "YOUR VITALS SUGGEST YOU ARE HEALTHY, BUT I CAN SEE YOU ARE NOT WELL."

"It's not important." He said after rubbing his eyes, lack of sleep had been affecting him. But he could go another few days without it, anything over facing the nightmare again.

"IF IT IS NOTHING WHY DO YOU KEEP IT TO YOURSELF?" Shadow had no idea how to respond, he looked away to search for an answer, "ISOLATION WILL NOT LEAD TO ANSWERS. SOLITUDE MAY BE A COMFORT, BUT SUCCESS AMONG THOSE YOU CARE WILL ALWAYS BE THE MOST GRATIFYING."

"Omega..." After a moment of silence the hedgehog was able to let himself be honest, "I still feel the hold Maria's death had on me. It's all my fault," he sighed heavily then added, "I can't just replace her, not when I let her die."

A moment of silence fell between the two, "I SEE NO CORRELATION. BASED ON MY KNOWLEDGE OF ALL INFORMATION DURING PROJECT SHADOW, YOU ARE TO BLAME FOR THE DEATH OF NO ONE." Shadow looked down into his hands, not wanting the robot to see how his words affected him, "IT SEEMS TO ME YOU ARE MORE AFRAID TO LOSE THAN YOU ARE TO CONNECT. SO I MUST ASK WHY DO YOU AVOID COMPANIONSHIP?"