Caroline didn't know how long she'd been sitting on the couch, her hands cupped around her head, gaze locked on her feet. She'd spent at least fifteen minutes replaying that conversation with Gerard, imagining what she could've done better. Then another thirty of thinking of how to salvage this. She'd decided that Gerard would not let them live after he dealt with Jacques. He knew they had blackmail regarding the weapons, and he knew he had the upper hand.
"Caroline," Sienna called. She and Ji had walked into the room. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Caroline said.
Sienna pursed her lips. "The Inspector just got back to us—he's got a bone to pick with the Manhunters, so he's willing to help us save Steve and Ben. He's asking to meet in person."
And you're gonna go meet him, Caroline thought. Great.
"Will you be alright on your own for a few hours?" Sienna asked.
"We'll be fine," Caroline said.
Sienna and Ji said their farewells and strode out of the living room. Caroline watched them disappear into the shuttle bridge, and an odd mix of liberation and fear swelled in her. The Inspector would help a lot, but for now, she was on her own.
Someone tapped Caroline's shoulder. She looked up to see Renee, holding a message that read, What if we just let Hosaka deal with this? We already have an Inspector on board.
"That's risky," Caroline said. "Gerard's holding Marvin and Ben really close. If we rat him out to Hosaka, he'll kill them."
Renee winced as she wrote her next sentence. So we break in, then? What help is an Inspector going to be with that?
"I don't know." Caroline shook her head. "It might help to stick with this deal. Marvin and Gerard can at least take care of Jacques. After that—"
A buzz of her tablet cut her off. She looked at the message. It was from an unknown NID, but the words gave it dead away: I need that mech in thirty. Don't be late.
Caroline immediately flipped her tablet over and tried to hide her agitation. Thirty minutes?! That's how long it takes to get to the garage!
Renee began writing again. Caroline made sure to keep a poker face, not wanting to stress her friend out.
Thirty minutes. There was no time to come up with a concrete plan. From now on, anything would fly.
Renee asked, Don't we need to transfer Marvin's head to the mech?
"Yeah," Caroline said. She glanced at the time, then at the skyline beyond the windows.
One of us will have to do that in person, then. Renee wrote. I'll go.
That was about the dumbest thing they could do. Why risk another one of them being taken hostage? Instead, they could simply autopilot a shuttle, drop off the mech body, and tell the Manhunters how to attach Marvin's head.
However, when she was about to shut down the idea, something made her hesitate. In the back of her mind, a light turned on. Renee had a knack for being slippery. It wasn't just a talent she employed for Centium—it was something she found joy in. If anyone could get in and out of the Manhunters clutches, it was her.
They also had an EMP at their disposal. Renee could turn herself in and conceal the EMP within her voice box. If the rest of the box was off, the pulse blast wouldn't harm Renee, and there were cures for radiation damage. She could then find Ben, free him, and escape.
Caroline looked at Renee's expectant eyes and her stomach twisted with shame. How easy it was to lose your morals when pushed to the brink.
"Are you really willing to go?"
Renee nodded.
"I might have a plan, then," she said. "But before I tell you, you have to promise that if anything goes wrong, you run. Got it?"
Renee tilted her head.
"You have to save yourself before any of them," Caroline said. Please don't let things get to that point.
Renee frowned, but nodded regardless.
-----
The Manhunters had blindfolded Marvin when they led him to the rendezvous point, so he had nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. Incapacitate Mantis. Help Gerard kill Jacques. Was this actually happening? How had Caroline even struck this bargain?
Marvin reassured himself that Caroline knew what she was doing. This was the best way to be free of the Manhunters. Plus, if Gerard took over the gang like planned, they might even be on good terms.
Still, it felt off to have agreed to this operation. Mantis was a mech, but defeating it would all but seal Jacques' fate. Would Marvin effectively be committing murder?
What else are you supposed to do? If you go against Gerard he'll kill Ben. Just think of it as a good old duel.
Of course, that was a lot easier said than done.
After twenty minutes and thirty-four seconds, the Manhunters lifted the blindfold. Marvin's camera's instantly adjusted and registered gray columns, a gray floor, and a gray ceiling that comprised the shuttle parking garage. They were on a lower floor of the building, which was completely empty save for one shuttle. And in front of that shuttle stood a black-haired girl wearing a blue jacket and holding a tablet in her left hand.
Marvin focused on her and realized with a start that it was Renee. Was she stupid? If the Manhunters took her hostage as well…
Renee waved and beckoned them into the shuttle. Lying in the aisle between the main cabin seats was an unfamiliar mech body. One retractable sword on the right arm and a shield on the left. New gen parts, seeing how compact the design was. It was a lot higher quality than the mech Marvin was used to.
Where'd you guys get this? he wanted to ask Renee. She seemed quite excited about it. Despite the six Manhunters pointing guns at her, she bobbed her head up and down as she unscrewed Marvin's head and attached it to the new prototype.
"Renee," Marvin whispered.
"Shut up!" one of the Manhunters snapped.
Okay, terrible move.
Once he was synced with the new mech, Renee patted him on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. He supposed that was all the confirmation he was going to get.
One of the Manhunters cast a hologram of Gerard on the shuttle floor. The other five separated Renee from him and ordered her to sit down.
"The rules are simple, Steve," Gerard said, holographic form solidifying. "You do everything I tell you to do until I say we're done. Try anything else, and your friends die."
Marvin glanced worriedly at Renee. She sat near the back of the shuttle, eyes peeking out over the booth seats. She had to have a plan, right? There was no way she'd give herself up like this.
"You got it?" Gerard said.
"Y-yes," Marvin said.
"Check for trackers," Gerard ordered. The Manhunters scanned Renee, then scanned Marvin himself—both his mech and normal body. None. Marvin wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Caroline and Renee had taken precautions, yes, but that was one option off the table.
"Marvin, this is Caroline. Can you hear me?"
Marvin nearly jumped. The voice was inside of his head, filtering through his ears.
"I've turned off your voice box," Caroline said. "You can say anything and only I will hear it."
Marvin felt his hull prickle with excitement. So there was a plan.
"I hear you," Marvin said. As promised, he could not hear his own words.
There was a relieved laugh on Caroline's end. Then she said, "Where's Ben?"
"Sawblades' garage," Marvin replied. "Their secondary workshop."
"Alright. I can't do much right now, but once you defeat Mantis—"
"I appreciate your cooperation," Gerard said to Marvin. "This means a lot to me. Know that from now on, my Manhunters have got your back."
She can hear what I hear, Marvin thought, noting how Caroline had paused.
"Once you defeat Mantis, you need to tell me three things," Caroline said. "Where you are, where Gerard is, and—"
"Take her back to base," Gerard ordered two of the Manhunters. For a terrifying second, Marvin thought Gerard was talking about Caroline, but it was Renee who they directed off the shuttle.
Caroline continued, "And whether Jacques is dead. Got it?"
"Got it," Marvin said.
"Don't worry if you don't know. Renee's feeding me information, too."
Marvin caught one last glimpse of Renee before she walked out the shuttle door. No wonder she'd seemed so nonchalant.
"Thank you, Caroline," Marvin said.
"Hey, I haven't done anything yet," Caroline said.
Gerard walked over to Marvin. "We're gonna need to deactivate you till we get in position," he said. "Can't have you going haywire on us."
Marvin felt a jolt of panic. "Caroline?"
"That's fine," Caroline said. "Renee will talk to me for now."
They won't do anything to me, Marvin assured himself. I'm their most important asset. Besides, powered off or blindfolded, he'd be useless as reconnaissance. He would tell Caroline where he was when he woke up, and then he would get this over with.
-----
Caroline needed to know three things for her plan to succeed: when Mantis was beaten, when Jacques had died, and where Gerard was by that point.
Two things had not gone her way. She'd tried to contact Ishaan to get the Sawblades on her side, but the pilot hadn't picked up. Expected. Sienna had also gone radio silent. Her last message was a reassurance that Inspector Kobayashi would lend support as soon as possible.
Fortunately, if everything went according to plan, Caroline wouldn't need any of them.
Her tablet buzzed—Sangeet had replied to her question. No fluff, just an address line for the place he had stored his firearms.
"Thanks Sangeet," Caroline muttered to herself. She boarded the remaining shuttle at the apartment and cranked the thrusters to their max. She figured she had an hour or so before the hit on Jacques began. It would be a close call.
As she sped through the megacity, Renee occasionally gave her updates on what the Manhunters around her were saying. She was being taken to the Sawblades' garage, but it was unclear if she would be grouped with Ben.
Caroline planned to visit the Sawblades very soon, but Jacques had to be dead by then. If Gerard lost the coup, the plan could still work but would result in severe collateral damage. Best to deal with a secondary lackey rather than the figurehead.
"I hear workshop noises," Renee said. "Ben might be nearby."
Another piece in place. All was quiet on Renee's end until, after a few minutes, she said, "Yes, I'm with Ben. Gerard is right beside us."
Caroline mentally pumped her fist.
"They're saying Gerard will stay here until the Mantis hit. They're gonna blow a hole in the ceiling as a distraction, then ambush Jacques. They haven't said where, though."
That was alright. Marvin would give most of that intel.
Jeez, you're really doing this, Caroline thought. Despite her father's training, despite her close involvement with the law, she never thought she'd be on her own so soon.
-----
Marvin woke to the sound of saws tearing through metal. He was already standing. Seven Manhunters, Gerard, and a metal door stood to his left. A railing was on his right, giving way to a pit full of machines and conveyor belts. It was far bigger than the one he'd been held captive in; this was the Sawblades' main workshop.
Marvin let out a low hum to test that his voice box was still muted. Then he said, "Caroline, can you hear me?"
The response was immediate. "Yes."
Before Marvin could say any more, Gerard stepped forward and stuck a small piece of metal on the side of Marvin's helmet. Marvin felt a slight shock, then heard a low buzz of feedback in his ear. Another comms link.
Would the muted voice box still work? This was an external microphone, after all.
"You hear me?" Gerard said.
"Yes."
Gerard didn't react, and Marvin submerged in a wave of relief. He tapped his voice box twice and raised the volume, then said "yes" again.
"Something wrong with your voice box?" Gerard asked.
"I-it's a little faulty," Marvin stammered.
"Of course it is," Gerard grumbled. "Well, you won't have to talk much. We'll be done in no time."
Marvin scanned his surroundings again. In the workshop below, Sawblades milled about while Manhunters stood guard. A few dozen Manhunters were on the balcony, spread out from Gerard's group. How many knew about the coup? Would it be quick and quiet, or would it overturn the entire garage?
"Your job is easy," Gerard said. He unfolded his tablet, held it under Marvin's nose, and sectioned out one edge of the screen with his hand. "This is where we are. The main workshop." He sectioned the opposite edge. "This is the secondary workshop." He gestured to the center of the tablet. "The two are separated by the training grounds. It's a big ass hole in the ground with a bridge connecting the workshops. Once you step through that door," he pointed to the door on Marvin's left, "you step onto the bridge."
Thanks for the demonstration, Marvin thought. He considered tapping his voice box again and asking if Caroline picked up on all that, but decided it would look too suspicious.
"Jacques is surveying the training grounds," Gerard explained. "He and Mantis are standing right on that bridge."
Marvin blinked. So they were talking about killing the person who was literally in the room next door. This was reaching levels of absurdity Marvin hadn't thought possible.
"Does Jacques not know about this?" Marvin asked.
Gerard grinned. "He doesn't suspect a thing. To him and his guys, you're just another prototype we brought in for parts. Get lots of those, as you can see."
Was Jacques really that stupid, or was Gerard so incompetent that he wasn't considered a threat? Would this coup be an utter disaster?
Maybe he doesn't have as much control as you think, Marvin thought, observing the younger Manhunter. You could take him out right now and rescue your friends.
But even if Gerard was a poor leader, he'd shown his mental instability more than enough for Marvin to reconsider. He was probably itching to kill Ben and Renee.
"Now," Gerard said, "as I said, your job is easy. You're gonna run out there and tackle Mantis off the bridge. Kill it as quick as you can."
Marvin tried to visualize the scene. He would fall with the enemy mech into the training grounds, which he knew was just a dueling arena times twenty the size. Then, he'd get up before Mantis could recover and incapacitate it.
He almost scoffed at how easy it sounded.
"Understand?" Gerard said.
Marvin nodded. He wanted to ask, So that's it? I do that, and you free Renee and Ben? But fear got the better of him. If things went south, he could always escape and rescue his friends on his own.
"Oh, and one more thing," Gerard said. "Jacques' guys outnumber us, so we're gonna have to create a diversion. Don't let it distract you."
He stepped away from Marvin and addressed the entire group of Manhunters. "Stay put. I'll say when we start."
And then he was walking away. He headed down the balcony, then down a flight of stairs.
Coward, Marvin thought. Not even fighting in your own rebellion.
He looked at the metal door ahead of him. Some part of him imagined himself stepping through and entering the farm workshop. Caroline would be tinkering with something at a worktable. Renee would be sitting nearby, clacking away on her laptop. Ben would be at the dining table, head buried in his tablet.
The other part of him sighed at his foolishness. Who was he kidding? He probably couldn't even dream.
"Marvin."
Marvin's heart stopped, and he nearly thought Gerard had said his name. But the voice belonged to Caroline.
"You good?" she asked.
Marvin turned his voice box off and replied, "I'm about to fight Mantis." He described the layout of the place, how the training grounds and bridge connected the two workshops.
"Has Renee said anything?" he asked.
"She's no longer in the workshop," Caroline said. "They got moved somewhere, but they're not sure where."
Marvin supposed that was a good thing. Kept them safe from whatever "diversion" Gerard had mentioned.
"Where's Gerard?" Caroline asked.
"He went down to the main workshop," Marvin said. He peered over the railing. The place was more akin to a factory with how large it was. Past the machines and mech skeletons and shelves, a ramp led to a garage door. Gerard stood by that ramp, talking with a Sawblade.
A sudden caveat occurred to him. Where was Ishaan? If he was still on his strict practice regiment, then wouldn't he—
"Steve, go!" Gerard ordered into the earpiece.
Marvin instinctively whipped around to face the door. Several thoughts flew through his head, some reassuring, some terrified, none able to take root. A Manhunter opened the door, and he immediately tunnel-visioned on the black mech with red compound eyes and backhand blades.
Just do this and you'll save Ben and Renee.
He sprinted onto the bridge.
Several figures turned to him in surprise, including one wearing a white suit. He ignored them all. Thirty feet to Mantis. Twenty feet. People began to shout. Footsteps thundered onto the bridge behind him. Ten feet to Mantis. Something began breaking his pace. Many things. To no avail. He barreled through all the Manhunters and reached their prized mech. With a swerve and flare of his thrusters, Marvin rammed into Mantis, sending them both flying past the bridge's railing.
For a brief moment, Marvin felt that fluttering in his chest, the one you felt when in free fall. Something lit up the room like a tiny supernova, followed by a boom. Parts of the ceiling began tumbling down and smoke filled the air.
Then Marvin and Mantis hit the floor of the training grounds. Pieces of concrete and metal beams rained down around them. Marvin absentmindedly noted that Gerard had blown up a portion of the room, and that the bridge some fifty meters above them was still intact. On it, Marvin could make out people swinging and stabbing each other. No guns were in use.
Marvin turned his attention to Mantis, who was getting up. It shook off debris and reared its blades.
It's just another duel. Nothing I do here impacts what happens up there. After this, I'm free.
Marvin drew his sword, unfolded his shield, and charged. Of course, he could never convince himself that this was just another duel. He'd never felt so much of an adrenaline rush before, and it sent him to a whole nother plane of focus. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Every twitch Mantis made registered as a unique movement in his brain.
He slid under the first swing. Caught the backhand blade with his shield, wrapped his arm around it, and pulled Mantis around. Before the mech could attack, Marvin jammed his sword through its chest.
That wasn't enough. Mantis pulled free and brought both blades down on him. Marvin sidestepped one and whacked the other away with his shield, then swung his sword arm in a wide arc. Mantis' head rolled off its neck.
Marvin looked at the decapitated enemy for a moment, a millisecond that felt like a thousand. Then he swung his sword again, diagonal this time, cutting the mech's torso in half.
There. The job was done.
Timeflow returned to its normal speed. Marvin's vision blurred and focussed several times as he stared at the remains of Mantis.
The dust churned up by the explosion was beginning to obscure the bridge. Marvin already could not see the opposite wall of the arena. If he had to, this was the perfect cover to escape, though ideally he'd wait till the coup was over.
"Caroline, I got Mantis." The words were surreal, made even more unbelievable when he activated his voice box and repeated them to Gerard.
Caroline responded first. "Already?" She didn't sound as happy as Marvin expected; in fact, she sounded even more worried than before. "Alright, hang tight. I'll be there as soon as possible."
Marvin frowned. How long would that be?
Before he could ask, Gerard's voice filtered through his microphone. "Steve, something came up."
Marvin couldn't pinpoint the Manhunter's tone, but it certainly wasn't one of relief.
"I need backup. You need to come back to the workshop. Now."
"What?"
"Remember the terms, Steve," Gerard snarled. "Get back here or your friends are dead."
A shiver snaked down Marvin's spine. "Is Jacques dead?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?!"
"I lost contact with my guys," Gerard said. "Now get back here!"
Marvin could almost see his hands—his steel and titanium hands—trembling. What's going on? We were supposed to be done after this.
And that was when he heard it: the low growl of chainsaws. In the smoke, a neon-yellow glow materialized and grew bigger and bigger until a figure stepped through the haze.
Gammagrade.