Scrap, Paige and Gnat raced through the city streets.
They sought out every shadow they could, and avoided the revealing glow of every floating neon sign. In the end, they found their way to a narrow river, glowing an iridescent turquoise and filled with drone-fish. The three of them huddled under a bridge, tucking into the darkest shadow they could find, hidden even from the glow of the neon billboards.
Gnat pulled off her helmet, breathless and tearful. “I want to go home. I want to see Mum.”
“I know,” said Paige. She removed her own helmet cautiously, her eyes darting and wild. “Do you think they killed him? The hunter?”
“Robots don’t junk robots,” Scrap said. “But … I don’t know. It was two against -zk- one. Maybe they beat him. Maybe they—”
Paige interrupted Scrap without looking at him.
“He’ll keep coming, won’t he?”
“Probably,” Scrap replied. “He’s -zk- got your scent.”
And now the mayor was after them too, Scrap thought. Could she have learned who he was – who he used to be? If so, he was putting Paige and Gnat in danger just by being near them. And yet even if they went their separate ways, the hunter would surely still find them. Everything was going from bad to worse.
“We have to find the ship,” Paige insisted. “We have to get off-world.”
“I want Mum…” Gnat sobbed. “I’m hungry.”
Paige rootled in her poncho and pulled out another green ball. “That’s the last one,” she said, taking the smallest of bites before handing it to her sister. She rubbed her eyes … ground her teeth. “We need to find food.”
“There’s food at home,” Gnat said. “Mum will make us soup.”
“Gnat—”
“Well, she will,” Gnat insisted, chomping away. “I hate plant balls. They taste like old granny feet.”
“We can’t go home. We need to find the ship first, you know that,” Paige said, her voice shaking a little. She sounded less convinced than ever that their mission to find the Pink-Footed Goose was possible.
Gnat put her hand on Paige’s arm. “We’ll be OK. We’ve got Scrap.”
Paige let out an exasperated grunt.
“If it wasn’t for Scrap, we wouldn’t even be in the city,” she said, not looking at him. “We’d be on our way to the Elsewhere.”
Scrap shook his head. “You still don’t get it, do you? Your mission is -zk- idiotic. Gnat’s right – you need to go home.”
“And I told you, we can’t!” Paige snapped.
Scrap flung up his arms. “For cog’s sake, why?”
“Because we can’t!” growled Paige. “You want to go back to your precious Pile, fine! But we are going to the Elsewhere.”
“Fine, maybe I will!” shouted Scrap. “Maybe I’ll try to -zk- rebuild the home you blew to -zk- bits!”
“Maybe you should!”
With that, Scrap and Paige seethed in angry silence.
“I hate when you two argue,” said Gnat at last. “It’s un-helping us and un-helping the mission and un-helping helping Mum.”
A chided Scrap grunted, then he and Paige crossed their arms in huffy unison.
“You should say ‘friends forever’ and hug,” suggested Gnat.
“Shut up, Gnat,” tutted Paige.
“Shut up shutting me up,” replied Gnat, happy with her comeback.
“Then stop saying stupid—”
Scrap shot out his arm, enough to stop Paige in her tracks. The trio lurched back into the shadows as the clanking footsteps and crackling voices echoed under the bridge.
Robots. Broad cube-haulers at least twice their size.
“…Cutter says he could’ve sold every seat in the Strongbox three times over,” remarked one, striding obliviously towards the huddled trio. “You betting on tonight’s bout?”
“Ten chunks of charge,” another replied. “Victor Da Spoils is unstoppable this season.”
As the robots passed by, Paige pushed her sister further back into the shadows, while Scrap craned to listen.
“You’re betting ten chunks on the challenger?” the other cube-hauler said. “You could buy a new arm with that.”
“When Da Spoils beats the champ, I’ll pocket enough charge to upgrade my whole case,” the robot said, “while you’ll still be creaking around in that month-old rust bucket.”
“Yeah, well – Morten Prometheus has been in the same case since the Difference of Opinion, and so far he’s wiped the floor with every ’bot this side of the Elsewhere.”
“Well, tonight’s goin’ to be different,” concluded the first cube-hauler as they disappeared into the distance. “Mark my words, this is goin’ to be a bout like no other…”
Scrap shook his head in the darkness. These “’Bot Bouts” sounded like nothing more than pointless punching, he thought. When he junked the cases of Somewhere 513’s rebellious robots, he did so in the name of loyalty and liberty, boldly defending the humans against their cruel captors. His battles meant something. At least, he thought so at the time.
Now, he wished he’d never thrown the first punch.
A few dozen robots passed under the bridge, each theorizing about the outcome of the upcoming clash. When the coast finally appeared clear, Scrap turned to Paige and Gnat.
“Y’know, this could be our chance,” he whispered. “With so many ’bots goin’ to the -zk- fight, we might be able to get out of the city unnoticed.”
“I thought you weren’t leaving till you got an upgrade,” huffed Paige.
“I never said – look, do you want to get out of here alive or -zk- not?” Scrap hissed, setting out in the opposite direction to the other robots. “Just stay in the shadows and stay out of sight, got that? Whatever happens, keep quiet and stay hid—”
A glancing blow to Scrap’s shoulder sent him stumbling backwards. He turned to see a bright floating billboard pass almost overhead. It emitted an eerie neon glow, projecting a flickering image of two burly robots squaring off in hand-to-hand combat.
Scrap’s jaw fell open, sending a loose screw clinking to the ground. He immediately leaped to his feet and pursued the billboard as it moved slowly under the bridge.
“Stay in the shadows and stay out of sight, got that!” whispered Gnat loudly.
Scrap didn’t hear a word. He just gazed in horror at the robots on the billboard. “Morten Prometheus…?” he muttered. He didn’t know the name, but he recognized the robot immediately.
In fact, it was like looking in a mirror.