Recruiting

Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Marvin and Ella had four more duels each, and they followed Aria to Hoxing University twice more. Now it was time to move on to the second phase of the plan: wait Aria out at Hoxing and intercept her.

Marvin would accompany Ella to her college next Tuesday. They'd camp there the whole day, while Renee would stay on the outskirts, scanning for when Aria entered the campus.

In those three weeks, Marvin and Ella had telepathically made a pact to never speak with each other unless necessary. Luyan was growing on Marvin, though. The man had a lot of stories to share, and the ones about the previous generation of Mecha Realm greats were particularly fascinating. He talked about legacy a lot, too, but not in a self-absorbed way. He truly cared about the team and Ella, and he went out of his way to accommodate Marvin and Renee.

Renee and Marvin became somewhat of a dynamic duo. Renee conversed with Ella a lot, and a fair amount with Luyan, but she still mostly talked to Marvin. They talked about mech-related things most of the time, AKA work, but one night Renee had randomly grilled Marvin about his past. He'd been taken aback at first, but it had ended up being cathartic in a way. He spent a lot of time thinking about his uncle, his team, and his friends from when he was a human. It felt nice to share that with someone.

In turn, Renee had shared a bit of her own lore. She'd been a spy for Centium until Ben had found out that her "parents" were alive. They'd left Centium with an insurmountable debt, and Renee had been reunited with her aunt and uncle. Her real parents were still dead.

She did not mention Diana at all.

Before their foray into Hoxing University, Caroline hosted an extended-family dinner at the farm workshop. Along with the team, she invited Ella, Luyan, Ishaan, and Sangeet. Ella and Luyan could not make it, but Sangeet showed up on the dot and happily joined them at the table. Ishaan texted saying he'd join, but he was not here yet.

If Caroline had wanted to maximize awkwardness, this was the way to go. Sangeet may have earned the team's forgiveness, but their last meal hadn't made them that much closer.

"What's the occasion?" Sangeet asked, scooping a spoonful of stew.

"I just wanted to expand our horizons," Caroline said. She frowned at her admittedly cheesy response. "I mean, we owe you a meal."

Sangeet smiled. He seemed almost too comfortable, as if he was putting on his best act.

They ate quietly for the first couple minutes. Then Ben went scrolling on his tablet, and Marvin thought all hope was lost. Sangeet slowly lost composure until he became hunched over, arms retracted like a turtle. People tried to start conversations, but they all withered away within several sentences.

After a bit, Ben showed the table a silly video, and Sangeet pointed out how it was on the new social media platform Wow2. It was a startup that had exploded in popularity recently. Then, something absurd happened: the table began to discuss something outside of mechs; namely, the future of social-media in Megacity 14. Newcast had been the only relevant video-sharing platform for a decade. Would it crush Wow2 before it had a chance to make its mark, or would the two apps co-exist? Wow2 was gaining popularity due to its lack of censorship, and it was hard to imagine Newcast adopting those same principles.

The others had a lot to say, but Marvin felt the conversation was a little off. He didn't realize until now how much mech-fighting eclipsed the other workings of the megacity. Who cared which social media app came out on top? Who would win between Ninth Gen and Sparrow was what people really wanted to know.

Another thing stilted the conversation as the time ticked by: Ishaan was still not here, and he hadn't texted any updates. Thirty minutes in, and Ben suggested, "Does anyone want to check on him?"

So Caroline sent him a message, saying it was completely okay if something had come up and he couldn't make it.

Ishaan didn't seem like the kind of person to be late without a warning, though. He must have been dealing with something urgent.

They kept eating, and the others explained the intricacies of gang relations to Sangeet. They told him about how the Hosaka Roundtable had a specific division of Inspectors to watch over the gangs, but the gangs were allowed to do whatever they pleased as long as they did not harm civilians.

As the minutes passed, a chill began to creep up on Marvin. This was awfully similar to another moment when he'd been waiting for someone to show up. A moment where that someone had turned out to have gone missing.

Ishaan had many enemies, being a figurehead of the Sawblades and their mech's pilot. The Manhunters had a grudge against him for taking their territory.

Did they assassinate him? Marvin wondered with a shiver. Had the initial reply even been from him?

"I'm gonna call him," Caroline said at length. But no one picked up. Instead, a loud buzz sounded from her tablet.

Caroline stared at the screen for a second. "His contact just disappeared."

The others crowded around Caroline to confirm for themselves. Marvin's heart pounded in his steel head.

"What does that mean?" Sangeet asked.

"I don't know," Caroline said. She stood up and began to pace. "Did we just compromise ourselves?"

"Compromise?" Ben asked, standing up as well.

"Can the Manhunters track us here?"

Marvin swallowed. They'd escaped from the Manhunters once, killing their leader in the process, but they would not be so lucky a second time.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Sangeet said quietly.

"How can we reach Ishaan?" Ben asked.

"The Sawblades' garage," Marvin suggested.

"Hold on, I'm gonna check the cameras," Caroline said.

As she took a step away from the table, Ben cut in, "Wait, Sangeet's right. We don't know what's going on. What if your tablet's just glitching?"

"What if it's been hacked?" Caroline said. She rubbed her temples. "We shouldn't have invited him."

Marvin winced; he'd been wanting to get on better terms with Ishaan ever since their battle during the Manhunters' coup. Still, he had to admit this situation had become rather precarious.

"Do you know his friends or relatives?" Sangeet asked.

The others shook their heads. Renee opened Newcast on her tablet and searched up any news regarding the Sawblades. The only updates were about how they were handling their new territory. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"I'm checking the cameras," Caroline declared again.

But before she could take two steps forward, the door banged open.

Five heads spun around to the entrance. A figure was silhouetted against the dying light, leaning against the doorframe, panting.

"Sorry I'm late," Ishaan panted, striding forwards.

"What happened?" Ben asked. "Are you okay?"

"Negotiation went south," Ishaan explained. He waved aside the seat that Caroline hastily pulled out for him. "I'm sorry. I really appreciate the invitation, but… things have changed."

"Meaning?" Caroline said.

"Do you know what a three-round duel is?"

Marvin nodded, suddenly feeling a jolt of excitement. Three-round duels were ways for gangs to settle disputes without any bloodshed. Each gang nominated two mechs along with their own and participated in three one-v-ones. Whoever won two out of the three duels won the dispute.

Is he recruiting me?

But what Ishaan said next shoved that excitement away.

"Centium has declared one against us. Hosaka's asking some scavs to host it in the badlands. We have one week. Would you be willing to help?"

Centium Prime, Diana Kane's mech, was already a top-fifty contender, but the real problem was Centium's connections. They had at least one top-twenty mech in their pocket.

"You're my best shot, Marvin," Ishaan said. "We've both improved a lot, and I bet we could beat a top-twenty if we put our minds to it."

High praise. But Marvin knew this was more persuasive than anything.

"I'm not forcing you to help me," Ishaan continued. "But your teammates…" His eyes passed over Ben and Renee. "Centium said you two will have to join back again if they win the deal."

Ben cursed under his breath. Renee stared ahead, unfazed.

"Can they do that?" Marvin asked.

"It's the terms they set with Hosaka," Ishaan said.

Caroline sucked in a breath. "We could get Sienna. She's a guaranteed win. Then only one of us has to win."

Ishaan's eyes lit up. "How certain are you?"

"I mean…" Caroline looked down. "We haven't talked to her in a while, but we didn't have a falling out or anything."

Me, Gammagrade, and Sparrow, Marvin mused. A solid trio. 

However, there was one substitution that would make it truly unbeatable: Immortal Ignition.

Marvin primed his voice box to put forth the idea of recruiting Ella, but something held him back. Would Ella really agree to help them? She owed Ishaan nothing and had no idea what the stakes of this duel were. Besides, without Marvin, there was no one to represent Renee and Ben.

But Ella could win so easily with her melt-tech.

That was only assuming she would be in, and why would she? She hadn't even bothered to show up to this dinner; she felt no loyalty to Renee or the others. Contacting her just for her to refuse would waste too much time.

"I'm in," Marvin said.

Ishaan exhaled in relief. "Thank you, Marvin." He looked around for a moment, then chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry. This must've been awkward for you guys."

The others laughed.

"Still want dinner?" Ben asked.

"Why not," Ishaan said. He hesitated before sitting down. "You did say you're in, right?" he asked Marvin.

"Yeah," Marvin said.

Ishaan nodded twice and plopped into the chair, seeming a hundred pounds lighter than when he'd come in.

Marvin's vision unfocused as the others attempted to wind down the tension with food and laughter. It wasn't pride that made him not bring up Immortal Ignition. It was common sense that Ella wouldn't want to help them.