The flight back to Sector 58 was tense to say the least. Marvin wasn't sure if Caroline hated him for bringing this upon them, or if she felt equally guilty. He just stared out the window like a statue, trying to banish all thoughts from his Core.
They decided to take a pit stop at the farm first to recruit Ben. Renee was out working, but she had been informed through text. When they landed on the slab of rock outside the workshop, Ben was already waiting in the golden clearing. The stalks of shalewheat around them bowed down as if ashamed to be bearing the bad news.
"Is it safe to see Sangeet?" Ben asked after Caroline had given him the rundown.
"He's trustworthy," Caroline said. "After Amir and I talked to him—"
"What if he turns against us because of Amir?"
Caroline pursed her lips. "What else can we do?"
Marvin realized those words had never been more valid. If they blew their one chance of finding Bob due to paranoia, Sienna, Ji, and so many others would never forgive them.
"You've always been the careful one," Ben said, lowering his gaze.
"I've only been careful when it was good for me," Caroline said. She sighed and turned to Marvin. "Let's stock up on safety measures."
The three of them headed into the workshop. They couldn't transfer Marvin to his mech body, as free-roaming mechs were illegal in Megacity 14, so they did the next best thing. First, they installed two smoke grenades, one in each of Marvin's arms. Then a drill-morphing-hand on the right and a rudimentary arm shield on the left.
It took roughly twenty minutes. Marvin was powered on the whole time, and he conversed with Caroline and Ben to the best of his ability as they dissected him. With every passing minute, he grew more impatient. Bob was slipping away.
Finally, Caroline unplugged all external wires and slapped a metal cover shut. Marvin quickly stood up, and the three of them made a beeline to the door.
None of them were expecting it to open before they were within six feet.
Three shadowy figures stood in the doorway, eerily similar to when the Manhunters had stopped Marvin and Ben in the alleyway. Marvin nearly fired his smoke grenade, until he noticed that these newcomers did not have the red cybernetic goggles or sleek suits of Nagatown's biggest gang. Instead, they wore heavy, bright-colored robes and wielded swords that extended from their prosthetic right hands. The figure in the middle wore a black conical hat.
Marvin felt simultaneous waves of terror and confusion wash through him. This was Centium, arguably the most powerful gang in the megacity and definitely the most recognizable. But what were they doing in Nagatown? The Manhunters had chased them out years ago.
Caroline and Ben stepped aside, almost in reverence, as the three figures strode in. The one with the hat entered the light first—she was a black haired woman who couldn't have been older than Caroline. She had a gaunt face and narrow, calculating eyes that teetered on the edge of insanity.
What is the meaning of this? Marvin thought. Do they know something about Bob? Were they the ones who made him go missing?
"Sorry about that," the woman said, jabbing a thumb at the door. "I'm Diana, Darren's sister."
"Darren Kane?" Ben asked meekly.
"Yeah." Diana swept her eyes across the workshop. "He died a couple of weeks ago."
Ben and Caroline's eyes went wide. Marvin had much less of a reaction. Darren Kane dying was a big deal, but Bob was the objective. That either meant getting past Centium as quickly as possible, or getting them to spill important information.
"You're in charge now?" Caroline asked.
"Yes, I am." Diana smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "And I wanted to introduce myself to our former friends."
Ben winced at the last word. Marvin eyed him warily. This has to do with Renee, doesn't it? It's whatever you haven't been telling me.
"Can we set up a time to talk later?" Caroline said. "We're in a hurry."
"No," Diana said. She pointed to the dining table. "Have a seat."
Marvin fidgeted with the gears in his right arm, tempted to unfold his drill hand or do something, anything. If Diana Kane was here about Bob, then she'd probably kill them within the next ten minutes. If she was here about Renee for some other business, they would probably still die, along with Renee.
"It's about the debt, right?" Caroline asked. "I… I don't see why we can't wait."
Diana crossed her arms. "Not just the debt. Something happened recently that made this visit a lot more urgent. One of our guys went missing."
Caroline inhaled sharply. Marvin's cameras swiveled between his friends.
"You were in contact with him," Diana said, pointing to the three of them. "And his fiance and his teammates."
Marvin's heart dropped. "Bob is clean" my ass! How long had the man been working for Centium? Had investigating Marvin's death been a ploy this whole time?
"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked. She pulled off the confusion surprisingly well, but Diana just stood there and stared at her. Caroline caught on and exhaled shakily.
"Okay, yes, Bob," she said. "I swear we have no idea what happened."
"I'll need to confirm that," Diana said. "Take a seat."
Marvin looked at Ben, silently begging him to say something. If anyone could talk their way out of this, it was him. But Ben looked completely petrified; his eyes were glazed over as if watching thousands of memories unfold.
"The Manhunters kidnapped Bob," Marvin blurted out. He felt several circuits in his face short as all eyes turned to him.
"You're sure?" Diana said.
"Well, we think so. We were gonna go find him," Marvin said. "We were just leaving to do that."
Diana squinted at him. "Seriously?"
Marvin nodded. His motors were positively twitching with anticipation now—it would only take a sneeze to unfold that arm shield.
"You three kids are gonna try to rescue Bob?" Diana said.
Marvin nodded again. You're not much older than us.
"How can you expect me to believe that?"
"It… it's the truth," Marvin said. Something loosened inside him. It was the truth. Whether the Manhunters or someone else kidnapped Bob didn't matter. It was exactly what was going on, and Centium would only benefit from it. A third party saving their spy and potentially dealing a blow to the Manhunters? Why wouldn't Diana believe him?
"We'll be in and out," Caroline jumped in. "An hour, max. Then we can talk."
"In and out?" Diana scoffed. "For the Manhunters?"
"Our cyborg has a modified killer-crane," Caroline replied.
Oh, Marvin wished he had that kind of combat software. With that plus his current skills, he could stroll right into the Manhunters' base and ask for Bob.
A nostalgic smile flashed across Diana's face. "Renee made it?"
Caroline nodded.
"Well that's perfect. You and your cyborg can do your rescue op. I'll talk to Ben about his debt."
Ben widened his eyes, and Marvin swore he saw the slightest shake of his head. Marvin in turn felt a spike of adrenaline. Did that mean Diana planned to kill him?
"Don't you want to find Bob, too?" Caroline said. "We could use your help."
"We can't risk war with the Manhunters," Diana said. "Darren's dead and Hosaka's on our asses about these weapons we didn't steal."
"Then at least—"
"You're lucky enough that I'm letting you go." Diana gestured at the dining table. "Ben, let's—"
"I'll stay behind," Caroline said quickly. "Ben's more important to our mission."
To Marvin's horror, Diana suddenly turned to him and asked, "Why is that?"
"Yes," Marvin said robotically. Yes?! "Um, he's good at sneaking around." That was kind of true—Ben had done a decent job of finding and approaching Bob at Mecha Realm.
Diana furrowed her eyebrows, contemplative for a second. Then she shrugged. "I guess." She turned back to Caroline. "You can get me in touch with Renee?"
Caroline nodded.
"Okay." Diana waved at Ben and Marvin. "See ya."
Marvin blinked. They were being let go, just like that? Maybe Diana was mainly after Renee; after all, it was Renee's apartment those people had broken into earlier this month.
Marvin looked at Caroline questioningly.
"I'll be fine," she said. Behind her eyes she seemed worried and frustrated, but not scared for her life. "See you guys tonight."
Before Marvin could say anything, Ben sped past him, past the Centium members, past the open door.
Marvin wasn't keen on leaving Caroline alone, but none of the others—not even Caroline herself—seemed to mind Ben's retreat. Marvin looked her in the eye one last time, then turned and went after Ben.
A lot of questions. There were a lot of questions that needed to be answered.