Mecha Realm

“How does it feel?” Caroline asked.

Marvin swung his arm in a circle. Took two steps forward, then two steps back. Rotated the other arm. He inspected his hand—which lacked fingers and was just a magnetic clamp—grabbed a screwdriver on the worktable, and practiced a few stabs and swipes. His limbs were armorless skeletons, but they felt far more visceral than the factory bot’s.

He had to admit, Caroline had done a superb job. It was like he was synced with Saberstar again.

“It’s great,” Marvin replied.

Caroline beamed. “Is everything smooth? Any delays?”

Marvin shook his head. The springs in his neck made the motion as smooth as a human’s.

“Awesome!”

They decided to celebrate this milestone by cleaning up the worktables. Marvin offered to do most of the work as he couldn’t get tired, but Caroline insisted that they would each take care of two tables.

Cleaning was a tedious task. All the scattered parts and equipment needed to be put in their respective shelves and drawers, and while those shelves were labeled, Marvin didn’t know half the terms. There were also pieces that had been bent or laser-cut beyond recognition. Then the tables needed to be disinfected, wiped down, polished, and covered with a cloth for a few hours. Because she’d done this countless times before, Caroline ended up finishing earlier than Marvin.

Afterwards, Marvin switched his head onto the factory bot, donned his cloak that made him look like the grim reaper, and the two of them made their daily five-hour pit stop at Jori’s Noodle Shop. Jori’s was good for two reasons: it had an antique, homey vibe, and it provided a prime view of the Sawblades’ garage. Not directly across the street, but angled just enough so that the entire building was visible from the window-side tables.

Caroline and Marvin had been coming here for the last few days. They stayed from 10 AM to 3 PM, which they figured were the hours Ishaan was most likely to leave. Obviously they couldn’t spend the whole day here, as people would get suspicious. Their main lead was still Bob, who had not messaged them about Theo yet.

Marvin and Caroline sat in the corner. The tables and chairs were made of wood and there was a central station where a chef cooked the noodles and handed them to robot waiters. Artificial paper lanterns hung from the ceiling. Behind Marvin, a TV played the news.

“I wonder if they’ll give us a discount soon,” Caroline said, staring at the steam wisping from her bowl. “We’re gonna go broke if we keep coming here.”

“You could bring food from home,” Marvin suggested.

“That feels illegal,” Caroline said. “Speaking of money, Ben and Renee are coming back today. We should eat out somewhere.”

The ever elusive Renee. With how much Caroline talked about her, Marvin felt like he’d already met her.

“Does she know about me?” Marvin asked.

Caroline shook her head. “I’ll tell her at the door. I think it’ll be fine; she’s really good at keeping a secret, and we’ve got Bob doing most of our work for us.”

Indeed they did. That might have been the luckiest encounter of their lives.

Caroline picked up a noodle with her chopsticks and inspected it. “I can’t believe he’s dating Sienna Lee. How’d they even meet?”

Marvin shrugged.

“Well, Sienna’s a good connection to have. We might be able to alliance with her for Mecha Realm.”

Marvin couldn’t comprehend how she was already thinking of that when the season hadn’t even started. Even the preseason—the scrimmage month—was still two weeks away.

“Maybe we should focus on the street fights,” Marvin said.

“And pay Sienna to lose and get half her points,” Caroline said with a grin. She was about to keep going, but suddenly frowned. “Sorry. That was not appropriate.”

“It’s fine,” Marvin said. It wasn’t like Caroline had suggested to assassinate Sienna.

They were quiet for a while as Caroline ate and Marvin watched the Sawblades’ garage. Sometimes Marvin wondered if he should talk more with Caroline considering they were going to be living with each other for the whole year, but their relationship seemed more transactional than anything. They were here because they had made a deal. A deal to share their kindness, perhaps, but a deal nonetheless.

The next few hours were quite boring. Marvin and Caroline took turns watching the garage. When Marvin was off duty, he observed the regulars of the restaurant, the people who usually stayed for longer than a meal. There was an old man with his dog who talked with the chef, a lady with prosthetic legs who sat by a row of potted plants, two college students who came here to study, and a girl who occasionally helped the chef. She was probably his daughter.

Marvin and Caroline did talk from time to time. They shared some stories about themselves, but nothing deep enough to get a good understanding of one another. Caroline had come from an average middle-class family, went to an average school, and got into one of the top colleges. Then, two weeks into college, she had dropped out.

She didn’t seem keen on explaining why.

At length, 3 PM rolled around and Caroline and Marvin headed back to the workshop.

“Let’s do 3 to 8 next week,” Caroline said.

Their plan was to switch five-hour windows every week if they didn’t see Ishaan.

As they walked out the door, they passed by a boy wearing dirty goggles and a worn out jacket. Marvin’s curiosity suddenly piqued, and he glanced behind him to observe the strange boy a little longer. The boy didn’t notice as he put hand on the doorframe and took a few raspy breaths before walking in.

“Scavenger,” Caroline murmured.

Marvin had heard of scavengers coming in from the badlands to sell their inventory, but they always went straight to the black markets or the trading ports, and they always traveled in groups. What was one doing in a noodle shop, all by himself?

“Are they dangerous?” Marvin asked.

“Normally, no. But I don’t know about this one.” Caroline squinted past the door, then sighed and turned around. “It should be fine. It’s not like we can report him to the police for existing.”

And so they returned to the farm.