You work for Eggman in his robot factory. In fact you were his ONLY worker. Despite everyone seeing him as some grumpy old man who wants to take over the world, he can actually be pretty sweet/nice when he wants.

Today was like any other day, you were in the factory fixing up some badniks, you had just finished fixing a motobug and it let out a happy buzzing noise before rolling away. You then heard an "ahem" from behind you and turned to see Eggman. Before you could even say anything he tossed you something, and it landed in your palm. You looked down to see what looked like a chaos emerald, except it was black and dull almost as if any power it once had was gone.

Eggman: I was testing out some new machines and made a copy, although it seems I already wasted all its energy. Keep it or just toss it, it's up to you. he says before walking away, writing something down on a clipboard.