Ten months ago, Marvin Yao dueled Ishaan Khatri in Sector 33 in a public stadium owned by Hosaka. Saberstar versus Gammagrade. The final duel that would decide if either mech would qualify for Mecha Realm. Marvin had won. Then, during his one-on-one virtual meeting with Ishaan, someone had snuck into his piloting room and killed him.
Now he was back. Marvin stood in the familiar team room and could almost see Lindon, Theo, and Sina sitting next to the rows of computers instead of Caroline and Renee. Could see them chatting about dinner plans and apartment rent and the occasional fantasy about Mecha Realm.
In this reality, Renee ran preliminary code on two monitors while Caroline screwed a new gadget onto Marvin's left arm: a pop-out dagger that could fall into his hand. Through extensive networking and negotiating, Ben and Caroline had managed to set up a duel at this arena against Xintian, the fourth-highest ranked mech in the megacity. Part of it was for the points they could gain from winning. The other part was so they could find a lead on Marvin's murder.
Previously, they had let up on the investigation because of Hosaka's censorship, but now, rumors were spreading like wildfire, and the government could not contain them all. Caroline and the others had agreed they were safe enough to resume. Besides, it was long overdue for Marvin to have his justice.
Except now Marvin wasn't sure how he felt about justice. He wasn't the same boy that had been murdered. The chip inside his head that gave him consciousness hadn't actually experienced death, it simply remembered it because it had all of the human Marvin's memories. Of course he wanted the ones who killed him to be caught, but that desire didn't come from a personal place.
"All set to go," Caroline said, patting his dagger dispenser.
Marvin didn't give any acknowledgement—he was supposed to be a soulless mech—and walked to the entrance to the arena. It was a simple metal sliding door about twice the size of ones meant for humans.
Caroline spoke to her tablet, "Ben, everything good over there?"
Marvin heard Ben's reply in his internal speakers. "Yes ma'am."
Ben was piloting this duel, acting as Caroline's apprentice. Along with an overall change to Marvin's combat style, it was an attempt to convince Sienna Lee that he was no longer piloting as an illegal consciousness implant. Xintian would also be piloted by an apprentice today: Lilac Hollister, the official pilot's goddaughter.
"Renee?" Caroline asked.
Renee gave a thumbs up and spun around in her chair.
"Great." And Caroline headed to the exit.
Off to solve Marvin's murder, Marvin thought. Off to do some actual good for society. It was more than he could ever hope to do. He was just a machine who trained and fought and trained and fought and trained—
Stop. He silenced that part of his Core. He might not be solving murders, but he was helping Caroline fulfill her dream of winning Mecha Realm. He was helping Ben and Renee get the money they needed to escape Centium for good. What he was doing was meaningful.
-----
Caroline found Ishaan outside in the ivory hallway, arms crossed, leaning against the wall like he was brooding about something. He straightened when he saw her and beckoned for her to follow him. He would show her his path immediately after Marvin's death.
They walked around the arena to the opposite piloting room, where Isa Lorraine, Xintian's main pilot, was standing with her apprentice, quietly imparting some last-minute advice. Isa was a tall woman with dark skin and sharp scavenger eyes who wore her hair tied in a sand-colored bandana. Lilac, her apprentice, had a perfectly smooth face and shiny, black hair.
As Ishaan and Caroline approached, Lilac cast a wary glare at Ishaan.
"The gall to come back here," she whispered to Isa, a little too loudly. Isa hissed something reprimanding at her.
Ishaan didn't react, though Caroline pitied him. This was the stadium where the fraud accusations had begun. While people debated whether Ishaan had sabotaged Marvin, most agreed he had not deserved to go to Mecha Realm last year. He'd been trying to prove them wrong ever since.
"That's where Hanson was," Ishaan said, pointing to the piloting room door, which was currently flanked by two Hosaka guards. "He came in a few seconds after I saw Marvin die, then we ran this way." He led Caroline further down the hall until they reached a staircase and a door that led outside the stadium. "We stopped here. Hanson wanted us to leave, but I wanted to check on Marvin's teammates."
Ishaan resumed walking. They passed by a door that led under the arena, then one to the electrical room, then stopped in front of Sabersong's team room. "We were about to go in, but Hanson said he heard an extra person in the room. Whoever it was, they somehow…" Ishaan swallowed. "Hacked into his ear implant and killed him."
Caroline shuddered. She knew this already, but standing in the spot where it had happened brought a new round of terror.
"I ran," Ishaan said. "When I went outside, the Manhunters were there and took us captive."
"Do you know what happened to Marvin's teammates?" Caroline asked.
Ishaan shook his head. "Hosaka must've saved them if they were able to appear on TV."
Where they were forced to lie. Tell everyone Marvin had a stroke and was recovering. Caroline felt a spike of anger towards the government. How could they make Lindon Yao cover up his own nephew's death?
"What if we're overthinking this?" Caroline said. "What if Hosaka actually did it?"
"So Saeyung could experiment on him?"
Caroline shrugged. That seemed to be the simplest explanation, but also the most hopeless.
"That doesn't line up," Ishaan said. "Why would they do it in public? They're be asking for conspiracy theories."
He had a point. If Hosaka was able to make the Manhunters and four other gangs disappear without a trace, they could certainly abduct Marvin without anyone noticing.
"What I don't get is how they got inside Marvin's room," Ishaan continued. "There's no vents or ceiling tiles."
Caroline replayed how each pilots' debrief went. First, the ref would shoo everyone out of the room. Then the ref would step out and close the door behind them. They would stand outside with the two bodyguards until the debrief was over, then go back inside to usher the pilot out.
"I believe there are three possibilities," Caroline said, then frowned at herself for sounding so formal. "First, the ref somehow thought the debrief was over and opened the door, and the killer slipped inside."
"That's impossible. There's at least two witnesses."
I would've realized that soon enough. Caroline continued, "Second, the ref never left the room and killed Marvin."
"A bought-out ref? Feel like Hosaka would've found out by now."
"Third, the killer was in the room before the duel even started. Before the ref came in for inspection."
"In the room? Where?"
"Camoflague or something. I don't know."
"That's absurd," Ishaan said. "Refs check the room before every duel. No camouflage is that good."
Caroline crossed her arms. "Do you have any other theories?"
Ishaan paused. "No."
"Then pick one of mine."
Ishaan sighed and rubbed his temples for a moment. "Bought-out ref. I know gangs who could get away with it."
Caroline nodded; she believed that was the most likely option, too.
"Let's go upstairs," she said. "I'm sure they keep a record around."
"You're not gonna watch the fight?"
"No time, I fear." She hated to miss Marvin versus Xintian, but she always learned more about how to improve the mech from watching the recordings. Right now, she wanted to get this over with so she could start searching the web for mech parts. The Battlegrounds event had been announced, and everyone was scrambling for stealth tech.
Ishaan flashed a grin, seemingly a sign of respect. He would understand. He worked harder than anyone Caroline knew, for the same reason: to win Mecha Realm.
-----
The door to the stadium slid open and revealed a tall, circular pit with several pillars jutting out from its floor and a flood of lights hanging above. Beyond the metal walls was a sea of spectators, chattering incoherently and pulsing with energy.
The announcer summoned each mech from their team room.
"At the north gate, give it up for Xintian!"
An explosion of cheers. One-hundred feet away from Marvin, Xintian stepped into the lights. It was painted white and pink and its helmet was designed to look like a dragon's head, horns curling viciously, faint steam drifting out between sharp teeth. Its left arm was decked out in thick, scale-like armor while its thinner right arm held a giant spear.
"And at the south gate: Sabersong!"
Marvin walked into the arena and adjusted his cameras. The glare was filtered out within milliseconds. The cheers were loud, even louder than the ones for Xintian; Marvin, or Caroline as the public believed, had skyrocketed in popularity over the past few weeks. A video had gone viral of him defeating The Everlancer on top of that Inspection shuttle, then teaming up with Sparrow to defeat Legionnaire. Not only was Caroline definitively better than the former third-best pilot in the megacity, but she was also a national hero for thwarting Saeyung's plans.
"Prime your mechs!" the announcer shouted.
All systems are a go! read Renee's text across Marvin's periphery.
"Pilots, enter your mechs!"
Ben huffed loudly into the microphone. "Oh boy oh boy," he said, and crushed the neurobrick. There was a crackle of static as he synced with Marvin's Core. They'd found a way to do that without giving Ben control of any of Marvin's functions, but there was an override switch in case Ben needed to take over as pilot.
"On your mark!" the announcer said. "Get set!"
The crowd quieted in anticipation. Marvin felt nothing. The odds were heavily in his favor, and it was hard to think of this fight and the next few as anything more than warmups for the real event at the end of the month: Sabersong versus Gammagrade. Him versus Ishaan.
"Fight!"
Marvin chose to defend as Xintian attacked. It thrust its spear at his head, which he easily avoided and countered with a jab at the chest. Xintian boosted backwards and thrust its spear again. Marvin caught it between his arm-shields, pulled Xintian towards him, and flicked his leg upwards, kicking the opponent in the chin. Xintian shot into the air and landed behind Marvin. He spun around and sliced a thin gash on its spear-arm before it retreated. It thrust its spear yet again, and Marvin found it almost funny how easy it was to dodge. Had Lilac been trained on only that move?
However, he noticed something was wrong when the spear didn't retract. Somehow, it kept extending until he saw individual joints detach from the shaft, loosening to become a whip. It wrapped around Marvin's abdomen and tightened. He suddenly found himself flying towards Xintian's armored fist.
He ducked as it flew above his head and slashed at the whip. Xintian loosened and let go before he could cut it, and it slithered back into a rigid spear.
The pace of the battle slowed as both opponents began to analyze each other. Marvin figured the best strategy was to stay close to make it awkward for Xintian to use the spear. However, that would risk getting snagged by the whip. If he could bait out the whip and slice it off, Xintian would lose two weapons at once. Still, he wasn't sure what all that armor on its left arm was for. Simply a shield, or something more?
The mechs exchanged sporadic blows. Marvin began to notice habits and adapted to take advantage. Lilac was talented for a rookie, but not on the level as Marvin, Ishaan, or Ella. Unfortunately, Marvin couldn't pilot up to his usual standards today, as he had to convince the public that Ben was piloting. He acted clumsier than usual, letting Xintian land a few minor hits. He managed to repay those in kind, though.
After some whittling down, Marvin found an opening. He lunged at Xintian from the right. Xintian raised its armored arm to block the first stab, but Marvin sent his second saber underneath, right at the mech's hip. Right when he thought he would pierce the waist rotator, Xintian's scales suddenly unfolded and bloomed into a circular shield, knocking his sword downwards. A hole appeared in the shield and Xintian's spear shot through, nearly taking out Marvin's eyes. He leapt back, caught the spear's shaft, and then boosted forwards, slamming into the shield. Xintian stabilized using a program, folded its shield back into armor, and flung Marvin off. He skidded along the floor on his feet, kicking up sparks. The next thing he knew, Xintian had leapt into the air, left arm glowing magenta. Marvin dove to the side right as the fist came down where he'd been standing, digging at least a foot into the stadium floor. The shockwave blasted Marvin's microphones.
Marvin wasn't too fazed. He charged, pretending like he was going in for another pair of jabs, but at the last minute he sheathed his swords and got closer than Xintian anticipated. His fist met its chest and he prepared to unsheath. Xintian grabbed his arm and jerked it away, but his outstretching sword still caught its elbow and sliced through half of the socket. Xintian frantically retreated, clutching its limp arm. It applied a film over the wound, which seeped into the cracks and hardened. The limb would remain functional but would lose some of its fluidity.
Rinse and repeat, Marvin thought numbly. What's the point in all this? Why do I even need to win—
He poured an imaginary bucket of cold water over that part of his brain. Focus. If you keep this up, Xintian won't last much longer. He brought his sabers in front of his face and prepared to keep fighting.
-----
Caroline and Ishaan went up to the stadium's foyer, a large semi-circular room where people milled about, buying food from stands and networking with each other. They approached the front desk and asked if they could see a record of the previous referees. The clerk was about to say no, but Caroline presented him with a fake clearance card that Amir had made with great effort. The clerk asked who they wanted to see in particular, and Caroline said, "Iono versus Fortigen." That duel had happened in the same batch as Saberstar versus Gammagrade, when Marvin had been murdered.
The clerk gave them both referees' names and pictures. Ishaan pointed out the face who had been Gammagrade's ref, which meant the other one, Hank Brees, was the suspect.
Caroline sent the name to Amir, knowing her father would find out all he could about the man. Then she turned and scouted out the foyer, looking for part suppliers to buy stealth tech from. She swept her gaze across pilots and engineers she knew, others she'd never seen before. She glossed over men and women in business dress, company representatives who sought to partner with or sponsor certain teams. She spotted a few freelance sellers, but they advertised code and she didn't pay them much attention.
Eventually, her eyes landed on a woman with a red streak in her black hair. Stayed on her, but for all the wrong reasons. Sienna Lee caught her gaze, smiled cordially, and walked away.
Caroline's heart sank to her stomach. What did that look mean? Does she know? Of course she knows. She's not stupid.
Although Sienna had promised not to tell Hosaka about Marvin, what was stopping her from taking things into her own hands? What if she decided to kidnap Marvin or shut him down forever to stop him from competing?
Caroline took off after the woman. Ishaan hurried after her, confused.
"What are you doing?" he hissed.
"Just wanna be sure," Caroline replied. Sienna headed for the door leading to the stadium. However, at its entrance, she turned and went down a flight of stairs instead. Down to the piloting rooms.
Caroline's heart beat faster as she scuttled down the stairs, pausing at the turn to hear Sienna's footsteps dissipate, then going down the rest of the way. As she exited the stairwell, she turned left in the direction she thought she'd heard Sienna walking.
And ran straight into her.
-----
Marvin ducked under a punch and jammed his left saber into Xintian's armpit. It went out the shoulder. Marvin detached his saber and overloaded its energy output, hoping to melt off Xintian's left arm. Unfortunately, before it could get hot enough, Xintian wrapped its whip around it, pulled it out, and dropped it on the floor where it became a puddle of molten metal. Marvin drew his backup saber. He stared at it for a second, and suddenly Xintian had stabbed his leg. He sharpened his cameras and retreated.
Something was off. As the fight went on, he had begun to feel a fog form in his mind, as if he were growing distant from the stadium. He couldn't analyze each move as clearly as before, nor could he plan out what he would do as far in advance. He felt sleepy, in a way.
What do you gain by winning? What do you lose by losing? You'll never be human. You were born in a lab, a copy of another boy who deserved better.
Marvin felt a gate shut in his Core. One pathway gone. Then another. Why was he here again?
-----
Through Sabersong's eyes, Ben saw Xintian charge at him. Draw its fist back. Charge it with energy.
Sabersong didn't move.
Ben fingered the switch that would let him override as pilot. What are you doing, Marvin?
Xintian was almost upon him, and still Marvin did nothing. He had to have some plan, right? He was baiting out an attack.
Then Sabersong's autonomous program kicked in. It lunged to the right as Xintian's fist came up in an uppercut, grazing off a piece of Marvin's chin. The program fired again as Xintian stabbed and slashed with its whip.
Still, Marvin did nothing.
What are you doing, man?! The autonomous code was meant to only avoid a couple of attacks, not manage a whole fight. But as Sabersong lunged out of the way of a third attack, Ben knew with a sinking feeling what was going on. His friend's Core wasn't responding. He suppressed his horror, knowing that right now, he needed to keep Marvin alive until he came back. He sucked in a breath and pressed the override switch.
The problem was, he barely knew how to fight. With considerable help from Renee's code, he stayed in the game by the skin of his teeth, deflecting hits and slashing randomly, praying to strike armor. No such luck. In contrast, Sabersong was broken down bit by bit. Ben's right saber was shattered by a kick. He drew the backup, but soon that was shattered too. He parried desperately with his left sword, but Xintian wrapped its whip around it and constricted, snapping it from his arm.
What if Marvin doesn't come back?
Ben's chest tightened as he tried to punch Xintian. He found his fist frozen halfway to where he'd intended it to go. Xintian had caught it in its left hand. The scales on its arm suddenly reversed, encasing Ben's arm, and began to glow a dangerously bright magenta. There was a pop as his entire right arm exploded within the shell.
Ben boosted back in shock. He had to forfeit. That was the only way to save Marvin. He prepared to take a knee and activate the command to detach his remaining arm, a definitive signal to the refs that the duel was over. But before his knee could hit the ground, Xintian's left hand wrapped around his head.
-----
Caroline stared up at the taller woman, heart pounding out of her chest. She'd apparently left Ishaan behind at the foyer, so no one was here to defend her.
Sienna was as calm as ever. She tilted her head, studying Caroline. Caroline's mind went racing for an excuse, but she had no idea what she was even trying to excuse herself of.
Act normal. You've done nothing wrong. You have nothing to hide.
"What brings you down here?" Caroline asked, voice impressively steady.
"I wanted to get to the other side," Sienna replied.
"Oh," Caroline said. Her eyes darted along the walls. She didn't know what else to say.
"Why aren't you with your team?" Sienna asked.
"I wanted to look for people selling stealth tech," Caroline replied. That was pretty much the truth.
"The Battlegrounds scramble," Sienna remarked. "How do you feel?"
"About Battlegrounds? Pretty nervous. This year is so different from the rest."
"Yeah." Sienna scratched the back of her neck. "I feel like they could've gone with a better name than Hide and Seek."
Caroline forced herself to chuckle as she struggled to maintain eye contact. "It's still scary. Seems so easy to get eliminated."
"True."
"How do you feel about it?"
Sienna grinned, her eyes glinting. "Well, like you said. It's gonna be a lot easier to eliminate people. I think I'm gonna love it."
Caroline felt a chill go down her spine. Was she implying something there? A hint that she might try to take out Marvin for good?
"You should get to your team," Sienna continued, giving a tiny nod. "Good luck with the duel."
She walked away. Caroline spun around and started towards her team room, but then she thought of Ishaan lost and confused in the foyer. She paused, let out a breath, and headed back upstairs.
-----
Marvin didn't understand why he was punching himself. He was being lifted in the air, about to have his head crushed, so why was he hitting himself and not the opponent?
Wait. He was about to have his head crushed.
The shell of metal around his eyes began to glow. Through Xintian's fingers, he saw the bared teeth of its dragon helmet sneering at him. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten here, but he sure as hell did not want this ugly sight to be his last.
Xintian was cocky and hadn't restrained his left arm, hence why Ben (he assumed) had been punching him in the face. He couldn't reach the opponent with that arm, but he didn't need to. He popped the dagger out from its compartment and let it fall, caught it on his foot, balanced it perfectly with his superior proprioception, and shot his leg upwards.
The dagger rammed into Xintian's jaw. Its armor dimmed, but its grip remained firm on Marvin's head. Marvin hyperextended his leg at the knee, folded his lower body, and pressed his heel against the dagger hilt.
And pushed.
The dagger ripped through Xintian's head, splitting it in two. The mech's fingers went limp and Marvin clattered to the ground. His opponent's corpse collapsed in front of him.
He remained there for a minute, half shocked, half relieved. Cheers erupted all around. People stood up and shook their friends in disbelief. What a comeback, they probably thought. When was the last time they'd seen such a kill?
Marvin tried to soak in the cheers and banish whatever thoughts had brought him to the brink of death. This could not happen again. Absolutely not.