#partially because he can't speak but partially because of people's preconceived notions of what robots are capable of
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What if I was insane again about the first thing Alpha Grim Sonic hearing when Nine creates him is his purpose—that he is Nine's friend?
Friendship as a concept in Prime is handled interestingly among its main characters. As Sonic (who thinks he knows a lot about friendship) comes to deepen his understanding of what it means to have a home/be home, I think it's safe to say his definition of friendship develops along with it. Compare this to Nine, who's learned everything he knows about "friendship" and personal relationships in general through his relationship with Sonic (at least, after his childhood of bullying).
So of course I think about Nine, who never wants to be hurt again, yet can no longer bear feeling alone (not after feeling that sense of companionship and belonging with someone else), which results in him creating a warped version of friendship for himself (one where he is surrounded by people, but people who only do whatever he wants, who have no opinions and thoughts of their own, who can't backstab him). And so I think about Alpha Grim Sonic, who is the very first robot Nine creates under this idea of frienship and companionship.
Nine is his master, and Alpha Grim Sonic is his protector, his bodyguard, his weapon
But he's also his friend.
Alpha Grim Sonic doesn’t talk back (can't even if he wanted to), but his purpose has always been clear to him: be Nine's friend. That's what he was created to be.
So I imagine Alpha Grim Sonic performing his purpose to the T at first under Nine's framework. He's Nine's friend, so he does whatever Nine commands, he never talks back or challenges authority, he protects Nine at all cost. And then, perhaps unbeknownst to Nine, he begins to shift ever so gradually. Sure, he's never insubordinate, he never offers up opinions, he still can't speak, but the lines of devotion begin to blur.
Is it in his code? Is out of a real sense of feeling?
Alpha Grim Sonic does not understand friendship, no matter whether it believes it does or not. But it's ironic to me if, despite being created under Nine's warped idea of it, the robot slowly grows their own soul, witnesses other displays of frienship and care, and drifts outside the bounds of that idea (a carefully crafted painting begins to leak out of its frame, expanding the masterpiece). They protect Nine, they do only what he commands, and yet they hate to see Nine in pain, they wish to bring Nine comfort (and so it feels good to him when Nine commands him to do such things that might bring his master comfort).
Does this make any sense? To believe that friendship means to hold one person on a pedestal, to protect them, to only listen to them, to never talk back, to never have opinions, and yet, despite believing what your creator tells you of friendship with them (your very purpose in this existence), to slowly fall further into those feelings that true care and love for another person brings, to wish to comfort someone the way one might describe a true friend would, despite not realizing any of this.
#sonic prime#alpha grim sonic#miles nine prower#nine the fox#crystalbond#crystalbondshipping#sonic the hedgehog#sonine if you squint#i just be ramblin#Why did I tag the ship tag?#Well if you've seen my earlier posts this introspection and journey of Alpha Grim Sonic's naturally leads him to struggle with what it mean#to feel emotion and be alive and to care for other people#Beyond grappling with whether any of this is even possible#they don't understand what it means to have friends or to love aside from what has been told to them#I don't think Alpha Grim will ever fully sus out the exact nature of his feelings for Nine‚ which would naturally grow over time in my eyes#But whether friendship or romance or in between or something else or all of it#The love Alpha Grim has is meant to become real#On the surface it's hard to see that he's changed#partially because he can't speak but partially because of people's preconceived notions of what robots are capable of#but below the surface‚ that original concept of devotion to one's master ingrained into their code and that idea of friendship etched into#its memory banks#these have grown outside the bounds of strict parameters#the robot is learning and yet growing naturally#And so devotion is both code and out of a genuine care for his very first friend‚ his master#he wants Nine to be happy because he feels this deep inside (the idea of Nine being happy makes them feel good)#He still would never dream of going against Nine's wishes#Nine created a robot to serve him#And the robot grows not only to serve‚ but to love#He takes his original purpose—being Nine's friend—to his logical conclusion despite being created under a warped idea of frienship#au ramblings
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