Echo's safe house was lit by the cold, blue lights of an old server room. The space, in the heart of an abandoned data center, where fans hummed incessantly and cables snaked like ivy up the walls, was a claustrophobic sanctuary. Dust motes in the air danced slowly in the beams of light emanating from the monitors.
Kaelen Vance rubbed his temples as he gazed at the holographic map spread across a metal table. The dark circles under his eyes were like a map of the exhaustion brought on by the last few days. The "Judge" rested like a heavy burden in the holster at his hip.
"Our target is Baron Vex," Echo's digital voice crackled, echoing from the speakers in the room. On the screen, a rotating profile appeared of a corpulent and sinister man, much of whose body had been replaced with gold-plated prosthetics. "Minister of Industry and Energy. But his real business is banking for the underworld. He's the Consortium's vault."
Jester sat cross-legged atop a server cabinet in the corner of the room. In his hand, he toyed with a metal spring, its origin unknown, listening to the *twang* it made as he stretched and released it.
"Half the man is like a jeweler's display," Jester said, stretching the spring once more. "A walking treasure chest. And I bet he keeps the key hidden among those shiny metal fingers."
"His left hand," Kaelen corrected, without looking up from the map. "Biometric data is encoded in the neural network of his left hand. Without that hand, we can't even approach the Consortium's main vault, that damned door in the 'Zero Zone'."
Echo's voice interjected. "Vex is paranoid. He normally doesn't leave his armored tower. But he has one weak point: gambling. Tonight, there's a grand finale at the 'Rust Pit,' the illegal robot fighting arena beneath the Industrial District. Vex will be there."
Kaelen let out a deep breath. "We can't just walk in there and ask for his hand. Guards, scanners, heavily armed droids... It'll be like a fortress inside."
Jester descended from his perch, landing feather-light on the floor. The permanent, painted expression of sorrow on his face contrasted sharply with the cheerfulness in his voice. "Detective, if you're not invited to a party, you have to be the surprise that pops out of the cake. What does Vex love? Brutality. Mechanization. We'll give him exactly what he wants."
Kaelen frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Have you forgotten I'm a Glitch?" Jester grinned. "I'm an error code. And tonight, I'll infiltrate the system like a virus. But not in human guise."
***
The preparation phase transformed into a gamble played with the fabric of reality, beyond mere visual illusion. Jester stood before a mirror. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The air in the room shimmered as if a magnet had been brought close to an old television screen.
Jester's porcelain-white skin suddenly began to tingle. It was as if the pixels beneath his skin were shifting. Colors faded, textures hardened. Within seconds, the delicate clown was gone, replaced by an "entity" covered in a matte black, industrial carbon fiber texture, with yellow warning stripes at its joints. The sorrowful expression on his face was still there, but now it was not paint, but like an engraving etched into metal.
He tested his voice. The sound that emerged from his throat was far from human, carrying a mechanical hiss and a metallic echo. *"Test... One, two... System online."*
Kaelen felt a knot tighten in his stomach as he watched this transformation. Jester's abilities always reminded him how fragile the world was. He fastened the heavy, rusty chain in his hand to the metal ring around Jester's neck.
"This is too risky," Kaelen said, wrapping the chain around his hand. "What if the scanners detect biological tissue? What if someone looks into his eyes and sees a soul there?"
Jester tilted his head with a mechanical movement. His eyes had lost their familiar hazel color, now glowing like dull LED lights. *"People see what they want to see, Detective. They want blood, oil, and metal. And we'll give them a savage toy. Just keep the leash tight. Stick to your role."*
***
The Industrial District was the bowels of Nova-Veridia. Concrete blocks eroded by acid rain, smokestacks spewing toxic fumes into the sky, and flickering broken neon signs on every corner... The entrance to the 'Rust Pit' was the massive cargo door of an old foundry. In front of the door, the city's lowest dwellers; scrap collectors, gamblers, and cybernetic addicts formed a long queue.
Kaelen pulled up the collar of his trench coat and lowered his hat over his eyes. He tugged sharply on the chain in his hand, dragging Jester – or as he was now, the "X-7 Prototype" – behind him. Jester walked with a heavy, metallic sound accompanying each step. His movements were deliberately jerky, robotic, yet menacing.
The guard at the door was a dehumanized cyborg, half of his body transformed into tank treads. He aimed the handheld terminal in his hand at Kaelen.
"Invitation?" the guard growled. His voice was like gravel grinding together.
Kaelen adopted the weary, ruthless merchant persona his role required. "Invitation? Look at the thing behind me. It's an invitation itself." He yanked the chain hard. Jester lunged forward like a machine, emitting a mechanical snarl towards the guard's face.
The guard didn't flinch but held the scanner in his hand up to Jester with suspicion. The red laser light scanned Jester's "metal" body from top to bottom.
In that moment, seconds stretched into hours. Kaelen moved his hand closer to the hilt of the 'Judge' beneath his trench coat. If the alarm sounded, this place would turn into a bloodbath.
In Jester's mind, the frequencies from the scanner were invisible streams of data. He caught this wave of zeros and ones, bent it, and injected his own fabricated code into the device.
The device in the guard's hand emitted a high-pitched "DIT-DIT" sound, and its screen began to flash bright red.
**[WARNING: MODEL X-7 PROTOTYPE]**
**[STATUS: UNSTABLE]**
**[DANGER LEVEL: EXTREME]**
The guard's single mechanical eye widened. With an expression mixing fear and awe, he looked at the device, then at Jester. "This... This is military-grade merchandise," he whispered. "Vex will love it."
He lifted the barrier. "Pass. But keep its leash short. If it eats one of the customers, I'll skin you alive."
Kaelen muttered through gritted teeth, "Don't worry." "It only eats champions."
***
The arena was a mechanical depiction of hell. The stands were packed with hundreds of people cheering, cursing, and placing bets. The air was so thick with the smell of sweat, motor oil, and ozone that it burned the lungs. In the center was a colossal cage, surrounded by high-voltage electric wires, stained with blood and hydraulic fluid.
As Kaelen led Jester to the preparation area, he whispered into his micro-receiver. "Remember. You can't use your powers. If they realize you're a Glitch, that you bend reality, Vex will escape and the whole plan will collapse. You must fight only like a machine. Obey the laws of physics."
Jester nodded with mechanical assent. *"Laws of physics? Ah, my boring old friends. I love to play with them."*
The announcer in the center of the arena brought the microphone to his mouth. "And now! The main event of the night! In this corner, the undefeated champion of the last three years... GOLIATH!"
The opposite gate opened, and the ground shook. What entered resembled a walking building more than a robot. A four-meter-tall monster, made of rusty steel plates, with massive hydraulic hammers/pistons instead of arms. With every step, the arena floor trembled.
"And facing him..." The announcer paused, looking at the paper in his hand with surprise. "...An unknown model. X-7!"
When Jester entered the cage, he looked like a doll next to Goliath. The spectators began to laugh and jeer.
"Tear him apart, Goliath!"
"Scrap him!"
Instead of a match bell, a high-pitched siren sounded.
Goliath didn't wait. He raised his massive piston arm into the air and brought down a blow of tons of weight where Jester stood. *CRASH!*
The blow was so violent that the cage wires vibrated. When the dust cloud rose, everyone thought Jester had been crushed. But when the dust cleared, Jester wasn't there. He had slid sideways with the wind created by the impact, circling Goliath's massive body like a satellite.
Kaelen watched from behind the iron bars, holding his breath. Jester was fast, yes. But a single hit would be the end of the game.
Jester's mind saw the battlefield as a mathematical equation. Every movement of Goliath was a data set.
*Right arm lift speed: 1.2 seconds.*
*Rotation angle: 45 degrees.*
*Hydraulic pump sound: Hiss-Hiss-VROOM.*
Goliath attacked again in a rage. This time, he made a horizontal sweeping motion. Jester bent backward with seemingly impossible flexibility, the metal claws passing millimeters from his face. The spectators held their breath.
Jester focused on Goliath's left knee. At the joint of that massive metal leg, there was a small relief valve that hissed steam outwards with every step.
*Open duration: 0.2 seconds.*
*Pressure: 4000 PSI.*
Jester picked up one of the scrap pieces on the ground, a rusty but sturdy industrial bolt, in his palm. This was not magic. This was pure geometry and timing.
Goliath stepped forward with his left foot to deliver his final blow. The valve opened. *HISSS.*
Jester slid forward with machine precision and hurled the bolt in his hand into the open valve with the speed of a bullet.
The bolt prevented the valve from closing. It jammed.
When Goliath put all his weight on that leg, the hydraulic fluid inside found nowhere to escape. The pressure exceeded the system's limits.
First, a deep, metallic groan was heard. Then, that sound, resembling a cannon blast. *BAM!*
Goliath's left leg exploded outwards from within. Oil and metal fragments scattered like shrapnel. The colossal robot lost its balance. Its own immense weight, combined with the merciless law of gravity, sent Goliath toppling sideways as if in slow motion.
When the metallic body hit the ground, drinks spilled in the stands. The arena fell silent.
Jester leaped onto the fallen giant, which was still sparking and trembling. He turned to the spectators and, not with his mechanical voice, but with his own theatrical, mocking body language, made an exaggerated bow.
Kaelen watched the crowd's astonishment turn into admiration. "Gravity," he murmured to himself. "The harshest judge."
***
The elevator to the VIP box was silent and smooth. The sound of the chaos below was not heard here. When the elevator doors opened, Kaelen and Jester found themselves in a completely different world.
This was not an arena box, but a palace room. The floor was covered with rare, real wood. Old world artworks hung on the walls. In the center of the room, Baron Vex sat in a red velvet, gold-embroidered armchair.
Vex was even more repulsive than his on-screen image. The left side of his face was entirely covered with synthetic skin. His right eye was a constantly rotating, ruby-colored lens. In his hand, he held a wine glass likely worth ten years of a laborer's salary.
"A magnificent piece," Vex said, raising his glass towards Jester. His voice was oily and arrogant. "It took twelve seconds to scrap Goliath. I haven't seen a model like this on the market."
Kaelen slightly loosened Jester's chain. "It's not on the market. Custom-made. Priceless."
Vex smiled. His gold-plated teeth gleamed. "Everything has a price, merchant. What do you want? Credits? Weapons? Immunity?"
Kaelen looked into Vex's eyes. "We can make a trade."
"Name it."
Jester, who had been motionless until that moment, mimicking a machine, suddenly raised his head. The dull LED light in his eyes was gone, replaced by a lively, intelligent, and dangerous hazel gleam. The robotic stiffness in his shoulders vanished, replaced by an unsettling ease.
"Your left hand," Jester said. His voice was no longer mechanical. It was the melancholic and mocking voice of the Nameless Jester.
Vex's smile froze. But not with fear. In his eyes appeared the expression of a host who had seen an expected guest.
"Jester..." Vex said, taking a sip of his wine. "And Detective Vance. The ghosts of Unit 404."
Kaelen reached for his weapon, but Vex was faster. He pressed a button under the table. The room's doors sealed shut with heavy steel blocks. Panels in the walls slid open, and four automatic turrets turned their muzzles towards the duo. The red dots of laser sights danced on Kaelen's chest and Jester's forehead.
"I was expecting you," Vex said, raising his mechanical left hand and snapping his fingers. "The Consortium has placed a very generous bounty on you. Especially for you, Glitch."
Jester smiled despite the laser dot on his forehead. The black-and-yellow camouflage on his face began to peel away like a snake shedding its skin, revealing the white porcelain skin beneath.
"Ah, Baron," Jester said, spreading his hands wide. "They say the house always wins in gambling. But you forgot one thing. I didn't come to play. I came to overturn the table."