"Please come in." Blond urged the server humanoid, suppressing his laughter. He ushered him to enter their base since he was confident that the server humanoid is completely harmless during his 'refueling' session.
"W... why do I need to... enter your lair. Is this... an... ambush!" The server humanoid quickly jumped backward and showed the blades on his hands. "Fight... fight me."
"Relax. We are in the middle of refueling so we can't attack you. Besides, you personally asked to fight me so I'll fight you alone. Listen here, server humanoid. When a person tells you something, they won't go back on their words. Only bad people go back on their words. It's called Promise. Okay?" Blond exclaimed.
"Blond?! What's that?! Why are you bringing in a hu... " Gadge panicked as he went to the edge of the room.
"Quiet," Red interrupted him. "No one speaks a word to the server humanoid. Just watch until Blond finishes what he's doing. Trust me."
Gadge, Scar, Curl, and Cat nodded in response.
"See? Even that guy is telling you that he doesn't want to interrupt our fight." Scar pointed at Gadge who panicked for a split second.
"If humans... tell... it is true. It is... promise." The humanoid repeated. "But humans... enemies. Don't trust the... enemy."
"Come on! You basically asked me to fight you again. Does that sound like an enemy to you? It's called rival! R-I-V-A-L." Blond scratched his head. His acting was top-notch that it almost convinced the group. If they had no past knowledge about Blond, they would've believed that the server humanoid was his rival of some sort.
"I see... rival. Rival is... friends?" The humanoid asked as it hesitantly entered the room.
"Rival is almost a friend. After our second fight... we are friends." Blond stated. "Humans are not enemies... they are rivals. Okay?"
"Real-time learning... I am... learning a few codes... please wait." The humanoid responded.
So far so good.
Gadge came up to Blond and whispered at his ear. "Don't tell me, you're programming that server humanoid, aren't you?"
Blond nodded in delight. "I didn't know if it would work at first since they were probably pre-programmed. Who would have thought that these server humanoids were only programmed to fight. For its real-time learning skills, that's such a waste. They should've programmed it to solve math problems or memorize an entire encyclopedia. Instead, they only taught those humanoids how to fight and that's it." Blond whispered back. "In any case, leave this to me. This might turn the tides of this mock battle."
Red observed the behavior of the humanoids and he reached the conclusion that there was an easier way of dealing with the humanoids. "Why didn't I think of this back then at the block? Well, it would probably just work on server humanoids since they're the only ones who have real-time learning abilities. Also, who in their right mind would talk to a humanoid when he's in a near-death situation? If it was that easy, then I would've done it." Red contemplated.
It was an obvious loophole. Humanoids were trained to fight and the workers were trained to test them. If humans did a different method, of course, that would cause a huge change in the artificial intelligence of the humanoids.
"Our fuel is very complicated to manufacture. That's why it takes time to get hold of a fuel. If we run out of fuel before we could manufacture one, then we die." Blond explained to the humanoid, adding more to its 'knowledge'. "Now that our fuel is ready, we will begin refueling, and then we can proceed on our fight."
"Very w-well... I will... wait for your... refueling. I will... learn more if I... defeat you at your... m-maximum potential." The humanoid said.
"Let's eat!" Blond announced as Freckles and Red set the pre-heated corn beef and sardines in a can. They also cooked the meat that Cat brought from her reconnaissance so it was more than enough 'fuel' for them.
"The food is great and all... but this is so weird," Gadge muttered in between bites. He kept on glancing at the humanoid for fear that it might lash out at Blond behind its back.
"Asimov's three laws of robotics." Blond mouthed as he looked at the humanoid, "Even though it's overridden by Nexus Corporation. We can re-program it again. That's why, all of you are not permitted to speak, not until we successfully program this humanoid."
"What a nice goal." Red mouthed. All of them were careful not to speak loud enough for the humanoid to hear. They knew that one small mistake would have the humanoid hunting their heads.
From killing humanoids to making peace with them. This turned out to be a rather amusing mock battle. Red spoke in his mind as he continued chomping on the premium cut of meat.
The group enjoyed an excess of canned foods and meat that they immediately forgot about the humanoid behind them. Still, they were mindful of their words so Blond could work on re-programming the humanoid. If this turns out to be successful, then they would have one less thing to worry about in the future when fighting humanoids. Of course, the corporation might catch wind of the situation and then reprogram the server humanoids again but for now, they had no idea what was happening.
After eating a whole can of corned beef, Blond stood up and stretched his legs and arms. He was extremely careful not to overeat since it might dull his movements. After all, he was the kind of person who relies on dodging more than attacking. "I'm done. We can take our fight outside." Blond said. "Fighting here will attract unnecessary attention since there are other people in this building. You don't want our fight being interrupted by third-parties, do you?"
Blond is getting really good at this convincement. Red said. All this time, he wanted to ridicule the humanoid due to its stupidity but he reminded himself that he should hold off the mockery. "Sure you don't need any help?"
"Trust me on this one."
Blond and the humanoid stepped outside of their base, brimming with confidence. "Is he going to be alright? Sure he took on a humanoid while Red was temporarily debilitated... but this is a real fight we're talking about. No time limits." Freckles nudged Red as she asked the question. In her hands, she was already preparing a first-aid kit bag she got from the grocery on the first floor.
"Relax, knowing him, he's probably a hundred steps ahead of us. He's the brains of the group, after all." Scar reassured everyone. Although he was still not yet persuaded of Blond's combat prowess, he believed that Blond won't die that easily, especially while fighting a humanoid on a game of wits.
"Let's wait a few minutes, and then, we can follow them and see what Blond was up to."
.....
The streets were dimly lighted by the Lexor-450 drones that flitted all over the place, providing it with a creepy feeling. A steady breeze blew through the gaps of the dilapidated building, providing a ghost-like whistle on the premises. In the middle of the street, amidst the whistling winds and random drone lights, two figures stood up, face-to-face with each other.
"Let me cut to the chase. Who are you? And why are you controlling a server humanoid from the Nexus Corporation?" Blond spoke up as his eyes narrowed. "Stop with the act. There's a person controlling this humanoid, right?"
The server humanoid just stood there. "Let's... let's fight." The humanoid then charged at Blond and lunged his arm blades into Blond's throat.
Blond side-stepped and parried the blade with the back of his hand. "Judging from the shortness of your temper... you're a woman, aren't you?" Blond snickered. His words riled the server humanoid up all the more, making it rush its attacks.
"W... why aren't y-you... attacking. Stop d-dodging." The humanoid spoke like a broken disc. He continuously struck Blond with an array of punches and kicks but none seem to hit him.
"You know what, woman," Blond wore a sinister grin on his face. "I hate to break it to you but... "
"... I can do this all day."
During Blond's provocation, Red and the others quietly slinked their way to the 'battlefield. He glanced rearwards as he placed his index finger on his lips. indicating that everyone should stay quiet.
The others nodded.
Red hastened his pace, curious as to what the fight would look like; they were expecting a clash of blades and metal but what they saw was a stark contrast to their expectations. As they peered into an open window on the sides of the crumbling building, the band of teenagers resembled a parliament of owls as their eyes widened. They quickly covered their mouths in shock for fear that they might gasp loudly.
"What's happening?" Red exclaimed in a whisper, looking at everyone.