The next few minutes were chaos. Caroline insisting that she pay for the damages. Bob insisting that it was fine and that this was a better outcome than he'd ever expected. Marvin awkwardly standing by the wall, wondering if he should leave the team room.
"I'm gonna talk to George Jang," Bob said as he twisted and turned, trying to avoid Caroline's tablet which was primed with a transaction of 1,000 dollars.
"We'll give you new motors at least," Caroline said.
"It's fine, we have extras," Bob said. "Look, just pay me back with a rematch, okay? Saturday, two weeks from now."
"Okay, sure, but take some motors," Caroline insisted.
"No, really, it's fine." With that, Bob twisted one last time and scurried out of the room.
Crickets seemed to manifest in the metal box that now only Marvin and Caroline occupied. Caroline stood there motionless, arms sagging, one hand hopelessly holding her tablet by its corner. Marvin didn't know her well enough to guess if she would yell at him or if she was just disappointed. He wanted to space-warp himself out of the room.
No more kill conditions, Marvin thought. That, by all means, had been an unfair fight. Marvin would never come close to reaching his full potential if he kept using training wheels.
At length, Caroline spoke.
"We should talk to George Jang, too."
Marvin nodded. "Sorry—" he began.
"It's not your fault," Caroline said.
"We can't do kill conditions," Marvin said.
Caroline nodded. "We'll give you an auto-forfeit switch."
Marvin nodded in return, and the two of them headed out of the room.
-----
The duel with Meridian V was set for next week. In the meantime, they would try to install the 360 waist axis, fix the dual sabers, swap a few parts (Sangeet had apparently acquired a Maevis Converter), and visit Ishaan again on Friday.
However, one task was paramount to the others: they needed a name for their mech.
Ben had a long list that he shared during dinner, but only two of the names caught the others' attention: the first was MRVN, which was creative but too on the nose, and the other one was Cablecar.
"It's a callback to Saberstar," Ben had explained.
Caroline and Renee shared some ideas, too, but there were none that they were all excited about. The closest they got to a consensus was a "I'm good if you guys are," which would not do.
Marvin felt bad for not contributing, but he was terrible at being creative. Plus, he had other things to think about. Like how badly he'd messed up against Rustica. And yet, strangely enough, that mistake had opened a door to let the others in. They were willing to give him sympathy, and he was more than happy to accept it. It was perhaps a little selfish, but Marvin found himself talking a bit more with his new teammates. And they seemed to like that, so it was a win-win, right?
By the time they went to visit Ishaan, they had successfully installed the 360 waist axis, but the drawing speed of the sabers was still an issue. They'd probably have to replace the swords altogether.
Like last time, Caroline and Marvin entered the prayer grounds while Ben and Renee scouted from the surrounding houses. They arrived a little later this time so that Ishaan would be able to finish whatever business he had. When Marvin climbed over the wall, he found Gammagrade's pilot seated on the stone bench, rubbing his thumb over a blank wooden tag.
"Hey Marvin, hey Caroline," Ishaan said, standing up and holding the tag out. "Put one up."
Caroline took the tag and tilted her head. "Why?"
"Shows goodwill," Ishaan replied.
That was fair, but it didn't change the fact that they'd come to these prayer grounds to talk about a murder.
"Any updates?" Marvin asked as Caroline scribbled some sentences on the tag.
"No leads on your death," Ishaan said. "But the Manhunters have been getting more jumpy lately. Someone's been stealing their weapons."
Caroline looked up for a split second, then went back to writing.
Sangeet. Marvin and the others knew. It had made them a lot more cautious around the scavenger, but they had yet to confront him about it.
"How bad is it for you?" Marvin asked.
Ishaan squinted at him, making him feel like he'd just done the most embarrassing thing in the world. "What do you mean?"
"Are they… strict?"
"Strict?"
Oh no. Marvin got the sense that he had said something wrong, but he had no idea what. He glanced at Caroline, who was still writing on the tag. He really needed her to step in right now.
"I mean, you're not allowed to leave the garage, right?" Marvin said.
"Yes I am."
"Oh." Marvin cringed. "Why don't you leave then?"
Ishaan gave him a look, as if the answer was going to be the most obvious thing ever. "I'm practicing."
Marvin's eyes would have popped out of his head. "For that long?!"
Anyone else might have laughed at how silly Marvin's shocked robot voice sounded, but Ishaan only nodded.
"I figure I'm gonna be busier later on," he said. "Might as well train now while I'm motivated."
But there was a difference between training and strapping into a Bessmer chair for hours at a time.
"Is that… healthy?" Marvin asked.
"I'll be fine," Ishaan said. He pointed at Marvin and grinned. "You better get on it, too. I'm still waiting for that rematch."
This was the kind of training regiment Marvin had dreamed of having. He'd imagined he could train so hard his first year that he'd be able to win Mecha Realm. Of course, he came nowhere close. Now that a season had passed, he understood how unachievable that goal was.
Except Ishaan was doing it. Marvin wasn't sure if he should feel sympathy or jealousy.
At that moment, Caroline finished writing her prayer. She hung the tag on the tree and walked over to the other two.
"What's your theory on the killer?" she asked Ishaan. "This hacker."
"Gangs don't use hackers much," Gammagrade's pilot replied. "I think it was some corporation. Legionnaire, maybe."
"Ainsel AI," Caroline said, looking up. Far above, the lights of flipside Sector 8 flickered. That utopian city was where Ainsel AI was situated.
"But maybe not," Ishaan said. "Truth is, it could be anyone. Hell, it could've your own teammates, Marvin."
Marvin felt a chill go down his spine. Theo was a competent hacker, but what reason did he have to kill him?
"The answers are in that stadium," Ishaan continued. "We need to check the security footage and attendance logs."
"That stadium" was in the southwest corner of Sector 58. It was a public one, owned by the Hosaka Roundtable, meaning they couldn't just show up and ask for security files. Maybe they could infiltrate it, but the risk was too high for average citizens like Marvin and Caroline. And the fact that Ishaan hadn't done it yet with the Sawblades meant it was too high for him, too. If any of them got caught, their mech-fighting career would be over in a flash.
"What about Marvin's human body?" Caroline asked. "Do you have any idea where it could be?"
"Some freezer, probably," Ishaan replied.
"That narrows it down, doesn't it?" Caroline said. Only the most wealthy were able to afford cryo chambers, and by extension, only the most powerful corporations and gangs.
Unfortunately, Ishaan scoffed and replied, "You'd be surprised how many are on the black market."
Caroline frowned. "They've gotta be in our Sector at least, right?"
"What? Why?" Ishaan squinted at her and Marvin burned up with second-hand embarrassment.
"I just…" Caroline sighed. "Nevermind. So how do we get the stadium's security files?"
Ishaan stared at her incredulously. "How would I know?"
Caroline crossed her arms. "You've had three months to think about it."
"I didn't know he was alive till last week!" Ishaan pointed at Marvin. "I wasn't gonna be infiltrating a Hosaka stadium till I had some more leverage—"
"Uh huh," Caroline said. "Well come up with a plan by next week, okay?"
"Oh, you're funny," Ishaan grumbled.
Caroline stifled a smile and turned to Marvin. "Anything else you want to talk about?"
Before Marvin could answer, Ishaan's holowatch beeped and a message burst from the screen. The pilot stared at it for a moment, his face slowly morphing from indiscretion to worry.
"You guys gotta go," he whispered.
At the same time, a whistle cut through the air—Ben's warning signal. Marvin and Caroline raised their heads anxiously, but nothing had changed in their surroundings.
Marvin was about to rush to the wall when he saw it: two shadows in front of the window. The same window that Ishaan used to enter the prayer grounds.
It was too late to run. The window pane swung open and three Manhunters dropped onto the wall, then onto the stone path that encircled the barren tree. There was a man and woman Marvin didn't recognize, but the Manhunter in front…
Every joint in Marvin's body tightened. It was the same guy that had caught him and Ben in the alley. The leader with the brown hair and half-grown beard.
He doesn't recognize me, Marvin reassured himself shakily. I've got a new body and my face looks completely different.
Still, there were only so many cyborgs walking around Megacity 14.
And there was the problem of Caroline…
"What is this, Gerard?" Ishaan demanded, drawing the lead Manhunter's attention.
"Kai is dead," Gerard said. Based on how he said the name, Marvin figured Kai was important. "I told Jacques not to let it slide. I told him they'd get revenge. But no. Gotta be the pacifist like always. Now look at what's happened. Kai and seven others, incinerated."
Ishaan widened his eyes and didn't say anything.
"We're getting you out of here before things get out of hand," Gerard continued. His eyes darted over to Marvin and Caroline. "Who are they?"
"I just ran into them," Ishaan said. "They were hanging up their own tag."
"Oh yeah? And where is this tag?"
Caroline slowly walked around the tree and retrieved her prayer. Gerard watched her like a hawk, not even sparing a glance in Marvin's direction.
He doesn't recognize her, either.
Caroline showed Gerard the prayer, and Gerard ordered her to write the same words on a different tag to compare the handwriting. Ishaan protested that that was sacrilegious, but Gerard ignored him. When all was said and done, Gerard let Caroline keep both tags and turned his attention to Marvin.
"What's your deal?"
Marvin gulped and primed his voice box to speak. Fortunately, Caroline jumped in.
"He helps me get over the wall."
Gerard narrowed his eyes. Two seconds passed. Three. Five. He would not look away.
Right when Marvin was about to make a run for it, Ishaan cleared his throat.
"We leaving or not?"
Gerard rolled his eyes. "When did you start making demands?" He tossed a purple grav crystal to Ishaan, then extracted one of his own and crushed it in his hand. Before he jumped, he pointed to Ishaan. "Get Gammagrade ready. We're gonna have a talk with Jacques soon."
Gerard, the two Manhunters, and Ishaan leapt upwards, and, as if underwater, floated to and through the window.
And then it was over. Somehow, Marvin and Caroline had made it through completely unscathed.
Seven Manhunters are dead. Gerard blames Jacques. Is there infighting between the Manhunters?
If the gang devolved into civil war, it would completely change the landscape of Nagatown. An investigation into them would either become a walk in the park or effectively impossible.
Marvin met Caroline's eyes. What does that mean for us?