The lights seemed dimmer every time Caroline stepped into a mech-fighting arena. Or maybe Sector 8's iconic stadium was just designed to be easy on the eyes, much like the rest of the Sector. Every object seemed to be at a lower resolution. The audience's seats were seamless silver lines, the doors and stairs were monotone blocks, and the arena itself had a matrix of cubes for a floor that pulsed up and down like a pixelated pond.
Caroline walked down the aisle between a sea of fans, soaking in their cheers and Sabersong chants. Walked towards the arena, where history was waiting to happen. Behind her, Marvin Yao's thunderous footsteps eclipsed the noise, and as they passed under the rows of lights, his shadow periodically eclipsed hers.
Marvin. Sabersong. They were one and the same—a human consciousness hidden within the mech. Caroline was the public pilot of Sabersong, since consciousness implants were illegal, but Marvin did the real piloting.
Beside Caroline walked Ben and Renee, the team's outsourcer and programmer, respectively. Former members of Centium, the most powerful gang in the megacity, they had turned to mech-fighting to pay off their debts. Together, the four of them had become the highest ranked team in Sector 58 within a matter of months.
As they walked, Caroline observed the audience to see if she could spot any familiar faces. The sheer size of the crowds still made her nervous, but as the cheers had gotten louder, she had grown more comfortable. It was nice to be known.
There. A streak of red hair stemming from a black ponytail. That was Sienna Lee, second-best pilot in Megacity 14. And next to her was a man in a black trench coat—probably Inspector James Kobayashi. They were part of an anti-corruption team that regulated mech-fighting.
Caroline saw Carlos Esparza as well, sitting in a wheelchair. There were some men and women in colorful robes, marking them as members of Centium. In the far reaches of the stands, Caroline made out the holographic logo of Ainsel AI, one of the megacity's biggest corporations. Next to it was a smaller logo: Hallowshard, an AI startup that was pretty much Ainsel's only competition. It seemed they were joint-sponsoring this batch of duels.
"Caroline!" a pair of voices called. Caroline turned right. Not more than six feet away, separated by a thin railing, were Ishaan and Ella. They were fellow pilots and friends of the team.
Caroline broke into a big smile. "Good to see you guys!" she shouted, but she wasn't sure if they heard. Ishaan and Ella said hello to Ben and Renee, though they had to ignore Marvin since he was technically a soulless mech. Still, Caroline noticed Marvin and Ella hold each other's gaze for a second.
The four teammates stepped onto a platform which hissed and generated a force field around them. Then the platform began to descend, taking them to the circular hall where the pilots and mech teams set up for the duel. As they stepped off the lift, Caroline noticed two figures walking their way. The man on the right was Sunwoo Park, pilot of Legionnaire. That was who Marvin would be fighting. The woman next to him, though… Caroline widened her eyes; it was Saeyung Park, the CEO of Ainsel AI.
Caroline quickly motioned for Renee to take Marvin to the team room, leaving her and Ben in the hall to confront the siblings. Best not leave Marvin too long in the vicinity of Ainsel.
"You must be Caroline," Saeyung said, reaching out a hand that Caroline shook gingerly. The woman wore a blue and silver jacket and black slacks, and her eyes were shielded by a pair of gray-tinted glasses.
"And you are Ben?" Saeyung said, moving on to shake Ben's hand.
Ben grinned and nodded. "We've heard so much about you guys. It's an honor to finally meet you."
Just leave the talking to him, Caroline thought.
"Likewise," Saeyung said. "I'm glad we could find a time."
Two months ago, Saeyung had reached out to ask for a duel. Caroline had been wary, as Ainsel AI was a prime suspect in Marvin's murder. They were one of the only groups with the tech to transfer a human brain into a mech.
"What brings you down here?" Ben asked.
"He's testing out my new software." Saeyung nudged her younger brother's shoulder. Sunwoo nodded, face expressionless.
"You replace Legionnaire's programmer?" Ben joked.
"Sunwoo and I are Legionnaire's programmers," Saeyung said with a smile.
Ben widened his eyes. "Oh."
Caroline was in similar shock. How did Saeyung have time to run a company and a mech team?
"We missed your programmer just now, right?" Sunwoo said. Those were the first words Caroline had heard him say since Mecha Realm four months ago.
"Yeah, that was her," Ben said, pointing at their team room.
Sunwoo peered over Ben's shoulder, then looked around a bit. "You had a fourth, didn't you?" He looked at Caroline. "An apprentice?"
Caroline felt a spike of alarm. "Yeah, Steve," she said.
Steve, Marvin's alias, had been out of the public eye for a while now, but he'd been at the first few mech-team conventions.
"Couldn't make it?" Sunwoo asked.
"He kinda quit," Ben said. "Too busy."
"Ah." Sunwoo's eyes darted to his sister. "Well, we won't hold you up. Good luck."
Caroline forced a smile. "You too."
-----
Marvin saw Legionnaire's katana embed into his shoulder, but he couldn't register what that meant. There was no pain to be felt, not even an alarm to be triggered in his brain.
It only occurred to him after he'd pulled out the katana and delivered a haymaker to the opponent. His left shoulder's motor was significantly damaged. That arm was weak now. This was bad.
Legionnaire backed up and swiped its katana twice, throwing blue projections Marvin's way. They disappeared before travelling far—long-ranged projectiles were banned—and Marvin dodged both. He charged and slid under Legionnaire, cutting off its right leg. The opponent fell over and Marvin reversed his thrusters, spinning and lifting off the ground. He jammed one of his sabers into Legionnaire's back, then the other through its head.
Except, what Marvin saw didn't actually happen. Somehow, Legionnaire moved faster than he could process, avoiding both strikes and slashing its katana backwards, splitting Marvin's chest open. He stumbled back.
The wonders of having a stealth frame. Legionnaire was one of two mechs in the entire megacity with such an accessory. Paired with Ainsel AI's top-notch software, it elevated the robot to a whole nother dimension of speed.
Legionnaire extended a thin pipe out of its leg stump for balance, then fired two more blue projections at Marvin. He avoided those and parried the physical katana with his shield. Suddenly, the opponent's fist was in his face. Marvin brought one foot back, steadying himself, then returned the punch. He caught Legionnaire in a trivial spot in its torso, a blow that it shrugged off immediately. It ran its katana through Marvin's stomach, then slid it out sideways.
Marvin boosted backwards. He hated to admit it, but it was highly unlikely he would win. If he kept this up, Legionnaire might deal a blow to his head, damaging his consciousness implant and killing him for real.
This would have to be his first loss of the season.
Before Legionnaire could pursue, Marvin took a knee and cut off his right forearm, signaling that he wanted to forfeit. Legionnaire froze in mid-air as its pilot, Sunwoo Park, was immediately desynced by a referee. Marvin heard static in his head as Caroline was also disconnected from her Bessmer chair.
Marvin sighed. He needed to work much harder if he wanted to match up against a stealth frame. Besides, how Legionnaire had kept fighting with a severed leg was beyond him.
Still, he'd put up a good fight. The point of the duel wasn't to win—Team Sabersong still had the most points in their Sector—but to acquaint themselves with Ainsel AI. By now, Caroline and Ben would have gotten first impressions of Saeyung and Sunwoo Park in the flesh.
Some part of Marvin wanted to discover Ainsel AI hadn't killed him. How would he avenge himself against such a powerful corporation? It had taken enough courage to agree to this duel.
But he'd also been led astray twice now and didn't want this to be another dead end. Ainsel AI famously experimented with human brains. If anyone would have transferred Marvin's consciousness to his old mech, it would have been them.
Four months. It had been four months since Marvin had woken up in Caroline's workshop, since he'd seen himself in the mirror looking like a disfigured bowling ball. Since Caroline had offered her deal: she'd help him find his human body, and he'd help her win Mecha Realm.
These days, Marvin was beginning to wonder whether Caroline was purposely drawing out the search for his body. She was right to be cautious, but sometimes it was to a fault. Maybe she had been the one—
No. That was absurd.
In any case, he was getting quite concerned and homesick. Living with Caroline, Ben, and Renee was great for the most part, but Marvin's uncle and teammates were out there, their fates unknown. That was another thing Caroline had warned him against—best not to reach out and drag them into this mess.
Marvin stood up, picked up his right forearm, and headed back to the team room where Ben and Renee were waiting.
-----
Caroline leaned against the side of the Bessmer chair and crossed her arms. With her white lab coat, she figured she must have looked pretty cool. As she waited for the holoplayer in front of her to activate, she went through a list of what she would say in the pilots' debrief.
Congratulate him. Ask about the stealth frame. Ask for a rematch or a future meeting to trade advice.
The holoplayer beeped and a blue outline of Sunwoo Park materialized in the dark room. Caroline immediately stood up straight and stuffed her hands in her pockets.
"Congratulations," she said.
"Thanks," Sunwoo said. "Close match."
Caroline chuckled nervously. "I dunno. That stealth frame is something else."
"It's just another attachment," Sunwoo said. "It's not how fast I move, but how slow you adjust. You could use your waist axis a lot more."
Caroline stopped herself from showing dumb surprise; Marvin would know this already. She needed to make a reasonable excuse for her inexperience.
"Yeah, it's a work in progress," Caroline said. "It's really weird to get used to."
Sunwoo nodded and smiled. "You've got time. You're still a rookie."
Well played, me.
They talked for a few more minutes about the design of their mechs and what their dueling schedules were like. Despite being reserved and intimidating at first glance, Sunwoo was one of the nicest pilots Caroline had spoken to. Their debrief felt more like a conversation than any other Caroline had experienced.
At the end of it, the holoplayer shut down and a referee gave Caroline her tablet. The first thing she did was check her messages. Some from her teammates, some from other mech teams reaching out, and some from Ella and Ishaan. And then one more, one that caught her eye: one from Amir Kaleid, police chief of Sector 58 and a close family friend.
Her interest piqued; she rarely got texts from the man these days. He'd been caught up in an investigation in Sector 8, hunting down some serial killer.
She opened the message. It read, About that Marvin Yao murder you were talking about—I believe you.
Caroline raised an eyebrow. She'd thought Amir believed her a long time ago, ever since he helped cover up their involvement in the Manhunters' coup.
A second message from him popped up, and Caroline's breath caught in her throat.
I may have found a lead on where Marvin's body is.