Back at the farm, when Marvin, Caroline, Ben, and Renee gathered around the table to eat dinner, Caroline explained everything.
She had taken the weapons from Sangeet's storage and distributed them to the Sawblades, allowing them to wrest control of their garage from the Manhunters during the coup. However, the journey was long, and she had arrived right as Gerard was about to kill Ben. She'd shot Gerard in the knick of time, eliminating the last loose end.
Veronica, the Manhunter whose faction had been in open conflict with Jacques, was recovering the rest of the Manhunters. She wouldn't turn her eye to the Sawblades for a while. The Sawblades would keep the weapons, and Amir would keep the fact hidden from the Hosaka Roundtable.
The team dinner was surprisingly lively. Everyone wanted to forget what had happened, and Marvin couldn't blame them. There were quite a few times he found himself laughing out loud or even raising his voice.
After dinner, the four of them tidied up the workshop, still talking about everything except what they had just gone through. Plans for the mech-fighting season. Opponents to watch out for. Marvin even began the draft of a fight schedule.
Thirty minutes or so into the clean-up, Ben stepped outside. Ten minutes later, Marvin decided to check on him.
He was standing in the clearing, turning over a fallen piece of shalewheat in his hand. The sunlight was fading in the distance, and the field glowed amber and red.
"Are you okay?" Marvin asked, walking up beside him.
Ben nodded. A meaningless, all purpose response. Of course he wasn't okay. Marvin didn't know what he and Renee had to go through to escape the Manhunters, but they'd probably seen way more bloodshed than him.
Did he overcome his fears? Marvin wondered. Or did he simply forget them for a short while?
"I thought I'd feel something more," Ben said. "Gerard is dead. Jacques is dead. A ton of Manhunters are dead."
"You saved me," Marvin said. If he didn't get closure from the dead, then Ben could at least know Marvin was forever grateful.
"You think we made a difference?" Ben asked. "Do you think we saved more people down the line?"
"I don't know," Marvin said. He wanted to say yes, but he knew that the Manhunters would not let the Sawblades off that easily. As long as there was conflict, more people would die.
"If we keep on mech-fighting," Ben said, "can we never get involved with the gangs again?"
Marvin nodded. It all started from buying stolen mech parts, and before he knew it, he had become part of a cycle of violence. These things had consequences in Megacity 14.
They stood there for some time, then Ben turned to leave and Marvin followed.
At 8 PM, Ishaan visited the workshop. He handed them a few parts to repair Sienna's prototype. Caroline insisted on paying him, but he refused profusely until she finally gave up. Marvin noticed that Ishaan acted more awkward than usual. Before he left, he looked each of them in the eye, thanked them, and said goodbye. He didn't apologize, but it was hard to hate him for that.
When Ishaan got to Marvin, he paused. "Let's have a real rematch sometime, yeah?"
Marvin nodded. Despite his tumultuous emotions during their last fight, he was looking forward to it.
After Ishaan left, Marvin and his team turned to the final matter: Bob. After talking with Veronica, they'd confirmed that the Manhunters hadn't kidnapped Rustica's pilot. Sienna had gone silent again; she explained that working with Inspector Kobayashi required utmost secrecy. She would give updates whenever she could.
Meanwhile, Marvin and the others had one last lead: Bob's NID trace in the badlands. Although it was most likely a deflection, there was no harm in checking it out.
"You sure Sienna can't come with us?" Ben asked.
Caroline tried calling Sparrow's pilot for the tenth time, but to no avail. Ben sighed.
However, at that moment, a message popped up on Caroline's tablet. The others leaned in curiously and widened their eyes upon seeing the sender's name.
Eleanor Hall. She was asking how they were doing and if they'd found Bob yet.
How selfish do you have to be, Marvin thought. Now she asks about Bob?
Still, they told her the truth—they were going to go to the badlands to investigate Bob's last NID trace.
Ella texted back, Need a navigator? I've been to the badlands a couple times with my team.
Marvin and the others exchanged glances. What were the odds she was trying to sabotage them? What was up with this strange timing?
However, after a bit of deliberation, they decided that she was genuinely trying to help. Caroline was the first to say it—Ella might actually have felt bad for not doing anything sooner.
"I'll ask her to come alone and I won't let her pilot," Caroline said.
K, be there in 30, was Ella's reply.
To everyone's shock, it only took 25 minutes for Ella's shuttle to land in the clearing beside the workshop. Marvin winced when it flattened the golden grass, but what could he expect?
Ella was wearing a loose gray hoodie and pants and looked like she had just gotten out of bed. She gave the four of them a once-over, then said, "We heading out?"
"What's the rush?" Marvin asked.
Ella glared at him. "I am sorry. You happy?"
"Sorry about what?" Marvin made it sound like a taunt, but in reality he was curious.
"Look, I didn't realize the Bob thing was that serious," Ella said. "I had a lot to do for Immortal Ignition and I just… anyways, I should've checked in sooner. Is Sienna okay? I can't reach her."
Marvin was taken aback. Sure, Ella was genuine, but that speech and the amount of ego she had to sacrifice? She must've rehearsed it on the flight.
"Sienna's working with Inspector Kobayashi," Caroline said. "They'll get back to us."
"Oh, alright." Ella pointed to the other shuttle. "Are we going or what?"
Caroline nodded, and the others followed her on board.
-----
The badlands were not so bad. They consisted of lime-green rolling hills and distant mountains, with sparsely placed trees and boulders. The remains of Federation spaceships and old civilizations were scattered around, but they were so overgrown that you had to be looking for them to see them. Large rock formations hung in the air, much like the floating islands in between the two sides of Megacity 14. In the dark of night, toxic, luminescent streams of water marked wounds in the land.
Ella directed Caroline, the shuttle's pilot, towards the NID trace's source, while making Marvin explain what had gone down with the Manhunters. He detailed the operation to incapacitate Mantis and his fight with Ishaan and how Ben and Caroline had saved him and killed Gerard, though he made sure not to give his real identity away.
"You lost to Gammagrade?" Ella asked.
"Yeah."
"I could beat that mech in my sleep!"
"Congrats?"
Ella kept going. "Hell, even Marvin Yao beat Gammagrade. The thing uses chainsaws."
Keep your cool, Marvin told himself. You can ask her to duel later. Embarrass her and end her career right then and there.
"Gammagrade's gotten a lot better since last year," Marvin said. "I heard the pilot practices 24-7."
"So you have a month to beat him before he dies of brain damage," Ella said, grinning.
Marvin rolled his eyes, but couldn't help feeling a little concerned. Ishaan was exaggerating his training regiment, right?
Now that the story was over, everyone grew quiet and focused on following Bob's signal. They were getting close. Ella pointed to a range of mountains and said the trace's source was just beyond.
Caroline brought the shuttle a little higher to clear the mountains. There were no clouds in the badlands—the gravity-infected atmosphere didn't allow them to form—but the air grew slightly thinner. Above, in the unfiltered night sky, Marvin could even see a couple of stars.
Past the mountains, the land dipped into a crater, and inside the crater were hundreds of tiny orange lights. Manmade, these. Most of them came from a giant hunk of metal that was folded like a grasshopper. Dozens of tents and metal bunkers were set up around it, each one with a small lantern. As their shuttle descended, Marvin began making out people walking between the tents.
This was a scavenger camp, he realized. He'd seen pictures but never one in person. The giant metal thing was called a Hopper—the scavengers used it to traverse the badlands. It could house at least a hundred scavengers and could expand to become a campsite like this one.
"Did Bob get kidnapped by scavs?" Ben murmured.
As they flew closer to the camp, a scavenger within the Hopper hijacked their shuttle's speaker.
"Name and business!" he ordered.
"Caroline Sand," Caroline said. "We're looking for Bob, pilot of a mech called Rustica."
The scav didn't reply for a moment. Then he said, "Can't promise we have him, but you can look around. But you'll need to trade something for entry. What've you got?"
Pilot of one of the greatest mechs of all time, Marvin thought, looking at Ella. Would you guys be willing to take her?
Caroline cut off her mic and turned to the rest of them. They had all gathered in the cockpit.
"We have some spare shuttle parts. Do you think they'll take an extra rocket booster or something?" she asked.
"Worth a try," Ella said. "Although…" She pointed to Marvin. "A part from him might be more enticing."
Caroline made a face, but before she could reply, the scavenger's voice came over the speaker again.
"Scratch that, welcome in. Bob says he wants to talk to you."
-----
Marvin couldn't believe it. Even when he stepped off the shuttle onto the roof of the Hopper and saw Bob standing not more than twenty feet away, he didn't believe it was the same man. Bob wore a black trench coat that billowed in the wind, and his figure was hunched over, head bowed as if supporting a great weight. He seemed so much older.
They were alone on this vast field of metal. Bob, Marvin, Caroline, Ben, Renee, and Ella. Bob had asked for no witnesses to their conversation.
So many questions raced through Marvin's head as Bob walked towards them. Why was he with scavengers? Why didn't he tell anyone before leaving the city? What was up with him working for Centium?
"I was going to hide," Bob began, "but I decided it's better to clear up things now. I don't want you going back and spreading rumors."
That was ironic, coming from the one who had disappeared. Bob was asking for rumors to be spread.
"Wait," Caroline said. She glanced at Marvin, silently waiting for his approval. He nodded; he also didn't want to jump straight into the deep end.
"Centium," Caroline continued. "You were working for them?"
"Not exactly—we had a deal. Two Mecha Realms ago, I piloted their mech in the battle royale. Diana Kane got injured 'cause of some skirmish, and I was looking to start my own team, so I volunteered." Bob chuckled. "I took down Sparrow that year. Sienna still hates me for it."
That was right—that was the Mecha Realm where Sienna's record kill streak had been ended after she'd been ambushed by Centium Prime.
"Centium appreciated what I did, so they offered me protection for three years," Bob said. "I asked them to watch my back when I began investigating the Manhunters. Can't say they believed the Manhunters sabotaged Marvin Yao, but they wanted their rival defamed."
"Does Sienna know you're out here?" Ella asked.
"No," Bob said. "She needs to think I'm dead."
No one spoke as they tried to process those words. He'd said them so casually, as if he'd come to terms long ago.
"If I see her again, she'll have a target on her back," Bob explained. "Then she'll have to leave the megacity for good."
Caroline blinked. "Do you think she wouldn't?"
"I've known her since we were kids. I saw her go from a pilot's apprentice to a rookie who got third-to-last place in her Sector to what she is now. And throughout it all I've never seen her more happy than during a mech-fight. I can't take that away from her."
The others were silent. The air suddenly felt unnaturally heavy. Marvin's vision sharpened, trying to make sense of the shift.
"What did you find?" Caroline asked quietly.
Bob pursed his lips. "Drop your investigation. Forget about Marvin Yao."
"Why? Who killed him?"
She was pressing now, but no one cared enough to warn her. Marvin needed to know as well.
"I don't know who it is, but it hardly matters," Bob said. "When I was retracing Marvin's footsteps, I began looking into the stadiums' databases. The public ones owned by Hosaka. But I went down a rabbit hole, entered a domain I wasn't supposed to. And I found… well, Hosaka's been wiping forums talking about Marvin Yao's murder. Any online rumor has been silenced within hours. There's been half a dozen, maybe more."
Bob's eyes seemed to tremble as they met Marvin's cameras, and Marvin realized he was far past the deep end.
"Hosaka found out I was snooping," Bob continued. "They began to hack my NID. If they breached it, they would've had my location on lock for the rest of my life. So I did the only thing I could do: I found a scavenger in Nagatown and paid him to take me out of the city."
Sangeet.
Marvin turned to Caroline, refusing to comprehend what he'd just heard. Caroline nervously clasped her hands together.
"What are you saying, Bob?" she asked. "Did the Hosaka Roundtable kill Marvin?"
"No." The reply was quick. "As far as I know, they've got an Inspector looking into the Manhunters for sabotage. No, I doubt they killed Marvin."
"But they know someone did," Caroline said.
"Yes," Bob said. "And you know how they are about maintaining the integrity of mech-fighting. Fifty years without corruption. They'll do anything to not let this get out. I should've expected this."
"It can't be that deep," Marvin murmured, his head spinning.
"Right," Ben seconded. "If you just tell Hosaka you were trying to help, they'll…"
The look Bob gave Ben sent a chill down Marvin's spine.
"You stop this investigation now, you understand? Leave it to Hosaka, give it a few years. They either solve the mystery or it blows over." Bob began to pace back and forth, eyeing each member of Marvin's team. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."
What's gotten into him? A few years? I can't wait that long!
Marvin exchanged a look with his teammates, who seemed just as bewildered. And yet, there was no denying that they were all frightened, too.
"You don't have to believe me," Bob continued. "But promise me two things when you go back: don't tell Sienna I'm alive, and don't go after Marvin."
More looks of confusion, frustration, and unnerve. It was like Marvin's whole purpose had been stripped away from him. What right did Bob have to do that?
"We won't promise you anything," Caroline told Bob, "but we believe you."
Bob gave a thin smile. "Fair enough. I'm sorry it had to end this way."
"We're just glad you're okay," Ben said. "Thank you for everything."
"I should have done more," Bob said.
Ben gestured around him. "I'd say you did too much."
It was a risky joke in a time like this, but fortunately, Bob let out a chuckle that was echoed by the rest of the group. A moment of solidarity that briefly dispelled the overbearing unknown.
Then, they said their farewells. A particular coldness set in deep within Marvin's circuits, the one that made him want to curl up and shiver, the one that reminded him that he and his friends were on their own. Again.