Maria was a terminally-ill patient on the Space Colony ARK who had contracted the disease NIDS (Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome) which seems to be related to the disease AIDS. Her grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik created Shadow as a means to study immortality and to use the fruits of the project to attempt to cure Maria. After Shadow's creation, he became close friends with Maria. Sadly, Maria was killed by delusional soldiers after releasing Shadow from a cryogenic tube in the Japanese version. She was dead for 50 years and she sometime reappears in Shadow's mind.