At the end of the week, when the artificial sky was on the cusp of dawn, Caroline, Marvin, Ben, and Renee boarded their shuttle and took off to the megacity's border. Bound for the badlands, they would join Ishaan and Sienna at the scavenger's camp. Diana Kane and her team would be waiting, too. They still didn't know who she'd recruited, but they were ready for the worst.
The plan had changed for the better with the team's input. Since Sangeet was basically their supplier, they'd asked him to bring them a spare cart of parts for the three-round duel. There, they would confront him about Ella's attempted murder. He couldn't call upon his fellow scavs, since the whole camp was under Hosaka's watch.
Of course, the main question was if he would show up. There was no reason to believe he wouldn't; he had confirmed over text, and he didn't seem suspicious of them at all.
Their shuttle carried two surprise passengers: Ella and Immortal Ignition. They'd decided that the safest place for Ella was beside Marvin, Ishaan, and Sienna. She'd stay hidden and activate her mech in case the scavengers somehow broke Hosaka's protocol and attacked.
To enter the badlands, you had to go through two checks. The first was a general scanner at the edge of the megacity. No physical barrier, no guards hovering nearby. The city just tapered off and ended, giving way to a stretch of barren metal and concrete.
The second check was the wall. It stretched up and sideways as far as the eye could see, and it was riddled with millions of holes that let individual shuttles through. The mechanical pores glared bright every time they opened, giving the city a glimpse of real sunlight.
Caroline flew the shuttle into one of the holes and stopped in a cylindrical chamber. The gate shut behind them, and everything went dark. Two red lines materialized and swept through their cabin. Thirty seconds later, an automated voice said, "State your names."
"Caroline Sand," Caroline said. She went around and announced the rest of their names, including Ella. The Hosaka wall guard could know.
"What business do you have?" the voice asked.
"Three-round duel. The Sawblades, represented by Ishaan Khatri, versus Centium, represented by Diana Kane."
The gate in front of their shuttle opened and they flew through. Rolling hills, overgrown warships, and floating rock formations greeted them.
Welcome back, Caroline thought. Nowhere in the megacity could one see so much green. It made her a little nauseous, honestly.
Of course, there were two compounding factors to that feeling: first of all, she'd have to be extra careful not to get caught cheating. Second of all, this was the same scavenger camp Bob had taken refuge in. If he was still around, and Sienna didn't know he was alive, they were due for an extremely awkward reunion.
Should I have said something? It would've been against Bob's wishes, but not telling Sienna her fiance was alive had weighed heavy on Caroline's soul.
Now they were seeing Sienna after over a month of silence. Were they still on good terms?
The scavenger camp looked more imposing in the daytime. The Hopper—the giant metal transport vehicle—sat on the ground like a watchful guardian, towering over the tents and bunkers around it, rivaling the nearby mountains in size.
The flat top of the Hopper had been transformed into an outdoor dueling arena. There was a podium for the judge, two open Bessmer chairs, and a dozen Hosaka Inspectors surrounding the enclosed ring.
They didn't land there, though. In the campsite below the Hopper, two sections had been color-coded to house the two teams: white for Centium, and black for the Sawblades. Caroline landed in a parking spot outlined with neon-yellow tape. Two Hosaka agents scanned and patted down Caroline, Renee, and Ben as they stepped off the hovercraft. Marvin was already in his mech body—they had not dared bring his cyborg husk—and he was escorted into the camp to be inspected. Renee went with him, leaving Caroline and Ben by themselves. Ella would stay in the shuttle.
"Wanna prep for interviews?" Ben asked as they headed to a particularly large tent.
Hosaka would let in a few Newcast freelancers to showcase the three-round duel. They'd mostly go after Sienna, but they probably wanted a few minutes with Caroline, too, after her win streak following The Everlancer. It was a little nerve wracking. Every sentence she said came with a stab of shame, since she was just reflecting another person's success.
"Can we wait till Diana announces her team?" Caroline said.
"Alright," Ben said.
Teams would be announced in thirty minutes. Then, each team would have three hours to prepare and decide the three matchups. Once settled, each duel was given thirty minutes, with an hour break in between.
"By the way," Ben continued, "Legionnaire asked us to duel. You think we can beat them?"
"How'd you get Legionnaire?" Caroline asked. Legionnaire was one of the most sought after teams; they had a lot of points, but more importantly, Ainsel AI, its sponsor company, was a crucial connection to have.
"Ainsel's CEO—not their pilot, their CEO—just messaged me out of the blue," Ben said. "I guess we're that famous."
Caroline felt a bit of suspicion set in. It was impressive that Ben had gotten this duel set up, but he'd initiated all the conversations until now.
It should be fine. Marvin beat Legionnaire last year. He can do it again.
"Okay, let's do it," Caroline said. "Good work, Ben."
Ben gave a silly salute.
They opened the flaps of the tent and ducked inside. It was lit with a ring of lights around the ceiling, and a lone table with a holo display stood in the center. Two figures—a man and a woman—stood around the table, talking quietly.
The woman was Sienna. She leaned on the table, back hunched, her streak of red hair dangling in front of her face.
The man was not Ishaan. He was clad in a black trench coat, standing tall with a slight lean to the right. A mask with a red visor hung at his waist, exposing his face to the dim light. Caroline realized with a start that it was James Kobayashi, one of Hosaka's Lead Inspectors and the ceremonial pilot of their mech, Draconis.
He and Sienna looked up as Caroline and Ben entered. A surprised look crossed James' face.
"Caroline?" he said, voice barely audible.
Pins fell through Caroline's mind. Tiny pricks. A memory not found.
They stared at each other for a moment. Then James shook his head and made to leave.
"I'm sorry," he said as he walked past them. "Best of luck, you two." Then he was gone.
Ben looked at Caroline with furrowed eyebrows, and Caroline felt a chill go down her spine. She was sure she'd never met James in her life.
She pushed the thought out of her mind and joined Sienna at the table. Sienna gave them a tired smile.
"Hey Caroline, hey Ben," she said. "How is… how is everything?"
"Good," Caroline said automatically.
"Good," Ben echoed. "Um, how have you been?"
"Getting better," Sienna said with a sigh. She pointed at the open tent flaps where James had left. "Did you know him?"
"I don't think so." Caroline got that prickly feeling once again. "Is he overseeing the duels?"
"Kind of," Sienna said. "He's made an anti-corruption branch of Inspectors for mech-fighting. We're keeping a close eye on all the gangs."
Caroline raised her eyebrows. "We?"
"I'm working with him."
Pilot informants. Smart. It made gathering information much less of a hassle when Sienna could simply tell Hosaka what she heard from other pilots.
"Don't think I've sold my soul," Sienna said with a laugh. "It's just, after what the Manhunters did to Robert…" She shifted on her feet as her gaze fell. "I don't want that to happen to anyone else."
Caroline felt her breath catch in her throat. This was wrong. Hosaka had been the one to drive Bob out of the megacity; the Manhunters, as twisted as they were, had nothing to do with it.
But before Caroline could say something, Sienna continued, "And you, Ben. I just left you with the Manhunters. I said all that about rescuing you guys, but I wasn't there when you needed me."
"You owed us nothing," Ben protested. "And we're all okay now."
Sienna shook her head. "There's no world where the Manhunters should've been able to kidnap you."
"Look, if anything, I'm in debt to you for paying for hotpot," Ben said.
The joke didn't land. Sienna let out a quiet, "Oh," and lowered her gaze. That time they'd had hotpot, Bob had still been with them.
"Sorry," Ben murmured.
For some reason, that got a smile out of Sienna. She gave him a That's alright wave and pointed to the tent's entrance.
"Wanna explore the camp?" she offered. "Ishaan went to call his grandmother, and we can't really do anything until he's back."
It was odd to think of Ishaan having relatives, not to mention maintaining relationships with them.
"Sure," Ben said.
"What's there to see?" Caroline said.
"I heard the scavengers have some killer street food," Sienna said.
Caroline smiled; although her nerves prevented her from feeling hungry, it was good to eat something beforehand. And how could she say no to spending more time with Sienna?
-----
After munching on some mystery meat kebabs—"perfectly safe," insisted Sienna—Caroline and Ben parted ways with Sparrow's pilot. They reunited with Marvin and Renee, then met up with Ella in their shuttle. She was still sequestered there with her mech, fidgeting with a wrench.
"Is Sangeet here?" she asked.
"Yeah," Caroline said. "We'll meet him at the tent."
Ella nodded and followed them. Most scavengers had distanced themselves from the black and white zones of their camp, so Ella was at little risk of being spotted.
Sangeet had gotten to the tent early and was pacing around the table. His cart of parts was in the far corner, stacked to the brim. He froze the moment Caroline and the others entered. He could tell from their faces that this was not just a casual meeting. Strangely enough, though, he did not tunnel-vision on Ella.
They gathered around the table, which Sangeet nervously placed his hands on. Caroline looked behind her to make sure Marvin—in his ten-feet-tall mech form—loomed as menacingly as possible, then placed her own hands on the table.
"I'll get straight to the point," Caroline said. "Sangeet, I know you mean well, but we're not here for parts."
Wait, that wasn't straight to the point.
Caroline cleared her throat and continued, "Did you try to kill Ella?"
Sangeet blinked, eyeing the redheaded pilot. "I don't think so."
That seemed halfway between an amazing lie and a terrible one.
"Did you break into her university?" Ben said.
"Are you talking about the mecha pod?" Sangeet said.
"It was you!" Ella exclaimed.
"Well, yes, but I wasn't trying to kill you!" Sangeet said, eyes wide. "I'm sorry if I made it seem that way."
"What were you doing then?" Ella asked.
"I, well…" Sangeet looked down. "I was doing something a bit amoral. I'm sorry. But I swear, I had no intention to harm you."
"Why the hell were you in my pilot's room, then?" Ella asked.
Sangeet gulped. "I was just checking."
Caroline had never seen a truth told so meekly. But she didn't think Sangeet was playing them—his confusion and fear were genuine enough.
"Checking what?" Ella demanded. "Can you explain everything in one go, please?"
"I was checking if you were synced," Sangeet explained. "I-I was trying to steal something from the mecha pod."
The room went silent. Caroline's mouth hung open, trying to make sense of this change of events. Had this whole murder investigation started because a scavenger was trying to make a profit?
"So what if I was synced?" Ella said at length. "It makes it easier to steal?"
"Yes, basically—"
"Wait, let me get this straight," Caroline said. "No one is trying to kill Ella?"
Sangeet cringed. "That's right."
Before anyone else could speak, a gust of wind slashed into the tent as its flaps opened. Two shadows walked in. Caroline was nearly about to dismiss them so she could wrap her head around what Sangeet had said, but she held her tongue upon seeing their faces.
Ishaan strode into the room, Sienna not far behind. He stopped short of Caroline and nodded to her and the others.
"Sorry if I interrupted something," Ishaan said. "Teams have been announced."
Caroline took a deep breath. We can talk to Sangeet later. "It's okay. Who are we facing?"
Ishaan winced and exchanged a look with Sienna. "Centium Prime, obviously."
Which Sienna can take care of, Caroline thought.
"Lightbreaker," Ishaan continued.
Caroline widened her eyes. Lightbreaker, piloted by Gianna Kang, was the eighth highest ranked mech in the megacity. Even Sienna would not be guaranteed to win against her.
"And?" Caroline urged. Third one must not be good, then.
"Ninth Gen," Ishaan said.
Caroline's heart stopped. There was no bargaining with herself. They were done for.