Morten’s second scream of the day echoed across the city like a siren. Scrap glanced at Paige and Gnat and realized in horror that neither of them was wearing their disguise.
“H-h-humans!” Morten said, interrupting his own scream.
“OK, yeah. Yes, they’re -zk- humans,” admitted Scrap. “But they’re not goin’ to give you any -zk- trouble. I mean, they are trouble, but they’re not as -zk- bad as everybody makes out. I mean, they are kind of a pain, but—”
“Morten has waited a lifetime to meet you!” cried Morten, hopping from giant foot to foot in excitement. “That is, to see one of you … an actual, real human. A you.” Paige tensed up as he leaned closer, inspecting her with light-headed fascination. In a breathy gasp he added, “You are not nearly as slimy as Morten expected.”
“Uh, thanks?” Paige muttered, leaning away.
“They said you had to leave because you would not have shared the planet with us, because humans do not share,” Morten added, turning his gaze to Gnat. “Morten did not think this day could ever come because you escaped to the stars … but here you are.”
“We didn’t escape ’cause we were borned here,” Gnat explained. “We lived in the Foxhole like moles but now we’re going off-world.”
“The Foxholes? Morten helped to shovel them,” said Morten happily. “Morten is most proud of the Foxholes, and happy you made one of them your home.”
Morten extended a vast hand to Gnat, who tucked Morten’s toy bear under her arm and shook the robot’s hand (or rather one of his huge fingers).
“Pleased to meet you too, Morten Pro-pee-pee-ups,” Gnat replied. “I’m actually Gnat and that’s still Paige. Does my bear have a name? I think he’s called Mr Steven Kirby.”
“But that is one of the things,” said Morten. He glanced around the room again, and realized the bear was one of his few possessions to remain un-blasted. “That is Morten’s thing.”
“Swap you,” suggested Gnat.
“For what?” asked Morten.
“For another thing,” Gnat confirmed.
“Another thing…” Morten mused, deep in thought. “Morten likes this idea. What do you have?”
“Nothing,” Gnat replied plainly. “All my most best drawings are back in the Foxhole.”
“You drive a hard bargain,” Morten reflected, “but ‘nothing’ is not enough for one of the things. Morten will keep the bear, all the same.”
Gnat turned to Paige, her eyes pleading.
“Paige…?” she whispered.
“What?” Paige blurted. “You don’t need it.”
Gnat sighed, and nodded. After a long moment, she held out the bear to Morten in both hands. “Bye, Mr Steven Kirby,” she said with a sniff. “I will never forget you.”
Morten hesitated, before reaching out to take back his thing.
“…For goodness’ sake,” Paige tutted. She pulled off her armguard and held it out. “Here. Take it. It’s a core tracer.”
“What does it do?” asked Morten.
“It finds robots,” Paige said.
“But Morten can do that already,” said Morten. “Morten just has to look out of the window.”
Paige held his gaze.
“It found the King of the Robots.”
“Morten knows where he is too,” Morten noted, pointing at Scrap.
Paige huffed. “Actually, you know what? Forget it.”
“Wait, what?” Morten and Gnat said together.
“I’ve changed my mind,” Paige said. “It’s – this thing is actually too special a thing to swap. I want to keep it.”
“Wait – wait! Deal!” Morten said. “Morten wants the special human thing. Deal. Deal, please.”
Paige tried not to smile.
“…Fine,” she said, and offered up the core tracer. It was when Morten reached out to take it that he realized that his arm – in fact, his entire case – was covered in blast marks. Another scream resounded through the flat.
“Morten’s case!”
“Yeah, we had to use you as -zk- cover,” grunted Scrap matter-of-factly. “That hunter just won’t -zk- leave us alone.”
“Did you tread on him too?” Morten asked, inspecting his limbs in dismay.
“Scrap blew up his sister,” Gnat explained, hugging her bear. “But he did want to turn us into toffees.”
“Trophies,” Paige corrected her, and placed the core tracer on what was left of Morten’s coffee table.
“But you punched him right out of the window,” Gnat said, swinging her fist. “Blammo.”
Paige made her way to the window and peered cautiously out. “It’s too dark down there, I can’t see him. Do you think he’s junked?”
“Between the punch an’ the fall, I don’t think he’s gettin’ -zk- up,” said Scrap. “But all that blastin’ an’ then a ’bot fallin’ out of the sky – that’s goin’ to draw attention. We should get movin’ – Morten, is there a back -zk- way out of here?”
Morten shrugged. “Sometimes Morten wishes there was. Robots are always mobbing Morten and showering Morten with gifts and shouting ‘We love you, Morten Prometheus’. It is actually quite frustrating…”
“We don’t need another way out – we have that,” Paige said. She pointed her thumb back at the flight-cycle, which lay upturned in the corner of the room. “Next stop, the Elsewhere.”
“It looks broked,” noted Gnat.
“Then I’ll fix it,” said Paige, clambering over the debris towards the cycle.
“Wait, did you say the Elsewhere?” repeated Morten, following behind. “Why are you going there? No one goes there, and if they do, they do not come out alive.”
“We’re going to get the rocket ship,” said Gnat. “And then we’re going to get our mum and get off-world.”
Scrap rubbed his eyes, gritty with dust. There was no talking Paige and Gnat out of their mission, but even if they survived the dangers of the Elsewhere and found the ship, how could they get it space-worthy? Why had Dandelion sent them out into the big, wide Somewhere, knowing who he was – knowing he couldn’t protect them?
Scrap stared up at Morten Prometheus. He watched him pick up the flight-cycle in one hand and right it, placing it gently back on the floor.
“You,” he said. As Morten turned, he hobbled towards him, tripping over the remains of a sofa as he did so. “You could go with ’em. I’m no good to ’em like this. But you are, like that.”
“…Like what?” Morten asked.
“We don’t need any help – Gnat and I will be fine,” said Paige. She took an electric wrench out of her satchel and began prising an access panel off the side of the flight-cycle.
“But you’re coming with us, aren’t you, Scrap?” added Gnat. “Mum said you would.”
“Morten, whoever has that case is the greatest -zk- robot on Somewhere Five One Three,” Scrap said, doing his best to ignore Gnat. “If these two are goin’ to find that ship – if they’re going to make it back to their mother, the humans need someone with ’em who can give ’em a fightin’ chance.”
“But Morten does not fight,” Morten replied.
Scrap held out his arms with a shrug. “It’s literally all you do.”
“Morten told you, that is theatre – Morten honestly prefers to shovel,” Morten clarified. “The humans should not go to the Elsewhere. They should stay here. Morten has lots more things, and a few of them are not shot to bits and pieces. They should stay.”
“We’re going,” insisted Paige, reconnecting a handful of loose wires hanging out of the side of the flight-cycle.
“Morten, I’m not asking you to do anythin’ I wouldn’t do myself – if I had the case for it,” said Scrap. “But I can’t -zk- help ’em like this.”
“Is that not what you have been doing?” asked Morten. “Have you not helped them? Was it not you who risked his life to save them from the hunter? If that is not helping, I do not know what is.”
“That’s -zk- different,” he said. “I can’t be who they need me to be.”
“Can too, you’re King of the Robots,” Gnat interjected.
“Please, Morten,” Scrap whispered, hand and claw pressed together. “They won’t make it without—”
“It would not work anyway,” Morten interrupted. “Morten’s core is not strong enough to power this case for more than a few hours. Morten must recharge every single day at least. Morten is just M0-TN the shovel-bot at core. The humans should stay here, where it is—”
The roar of the flight-cycle’s engines drowned Morten out.
“Fixed,” said Paige, revving the engines again. “Let’s go, Gnat.”
“But – but wait,” said Morten, shifting nervously from foot to foot. “There are other things. Toys. More toys.”
Gnat looked at her bear, then imploringly at Paige.
“Paaaaiige, he has more toys – can we stay for a little bit longer?” she said, and held her bear to her ear. “Mr Steven Kirby thinks we should have one more cupcake.”
“No,” Paige replied. As the flight-cycle’s engines growled, she grabbed her satchel, threw it over her shoulder and mounted the flight-cycle. “No more playing and no more games. We have a ship to find.”
“B-but she said you all have to stay,” Morten muttered.
Scrap froze.
“What…?” he blurted. “What did you say?”
“Uh, Morten said, please stay…” Morten answered, though the rumble of the flight-cycle’s engines drowned out his answer.
“Paige, turn that -zk- off!” Scrap snapped. Paige reluctantly turned off the engines as Scrap rounded on Morten. “You said -zk- ‘she’,” he snarled. “She who? Morten, did someone tell you to -zk- keep me here?”
“She said it was important…” Morten said, shifting from foot to foot again.
Scrap felt his core run cold.
“Who -zk- told you?” he said. “Who?”
“…Morten’s friend,” he said, edging nervously in front of the smashed window. “Harmony.”
Scrap’s jaw dropped. Not quite off, but close.
“Wait, Harmony Highshine?” he barked. “You work for Harmony Highshine?”
“Morten used to work with her, but now…” Morten trailed off and then pointed to a two-way radio fixed to his wrist. “She called in the middle of the ’Bot Bouts … said she needed Morten’s help. She said it was more important than the bouts … even more important than shovelling.”
“For cog’s sake!” Scrap cried. “Did she tell you to -zk- kidnap me?”
“Her video-drones showed Morten where you were hiding,” Morten replied. “But she did not say you were … you.”
“Does she know we’re here?” Paige asked.
“She told Morten to pick you up and keep you safe,” Morten said. “So Morten picked you up, and brought you here.”
“Answer the question, Morten!” barked Scrap. “Does -zk- Highshine know we’re here?”
“Oh, she knows,” said a voice.
Scrap spun round to face the doorway. A figure loomed, tall, broad and gleaming. Scrap recognized her from the countless signs and billboards, and on the very entrance to the city itself.
“Highshine,” he snarled.
“This place could do with a good clean,” said the mayor, wiping a single silvery finger along the door frame and inspecting it. Then slowly she turned to Scrap. “Hello, King,” she said. “At last we meet.”