I could feel as my body was crudely jostled around. My head swam, and I struggled to move my limbs or even open my eyes. I felt a rough hand moving my clothes around in search of something. Suddenly the groping stopped.

"Oh, ho! What's this?" a vaguely familiar voice said. "First Union Bank of the Capital. Score!"

I heard the rustling of movement and the shifting of debris on the ground. It was then that I managed to open my eyes. My vision was blurry, but I thought I made out a figure rummaging through a bag just a few paces away.

I just stared at the person for a moment when a message started scrolling along my visual interface.

Jimmy John (Given Name)

Race: Human

Class: Laborer

Subclass: Unknown

Compatibility: 8%

Attack: Natural Realm 8 – Estimate (Racial Average x Comp %)

Defense: Natural Realm 8 – Estimate (Racial Average x Comp %)

My first thought was surprise at the fact that this was the first time my robot supplied that information while I was in the city. I thought it may have been due to the low De in the area that also affected my compatibility growth. Then I thought about the city, the bank, the letter, the capital, and the train depot, which finally brought me to where I was.

I was stupid to trust this random stranger. He probably saw me coming out of the depot and targeted me. I suddenly remembered him groping around my clothing, and what he said dawned on me. He had found the key card to the bank in the capital.

I jerked and patted my body to double-check that it was gone and confirmed that he had taken it. My movement hadn't gone unnoticed, but it didn't seem that Jimmy cared all that much.

"Where's the rest of your stuff, kid? You don't got crap in this bag," he sneered. "I know you gotta have money coming out of the train station. Where is it?" he yelled the final part.

I got up into a crouched position. "Jokes on you, I didn't arrive on the train, and I don't have anything of value except that keycard you stole. It won't be worth anything to you, though. So, give it back, and we won't have any more problems." I held out my hand so he could give it back, but I didn't expect him to.

"You want to keep lying and do it the hard way? Fine. Symbiotic Mode." Jimmy's small robot scurried from his shoulder and down his arm. Once it reached his hand, it started to transform.

The robot's front two arms extended out and latched onto his first and third fingers. Then in one fluid motion, it seemed to jump up slightly while its body splayed out as if it was being dissected. When it fell, it wrapped around Jimmy's hand, with the back legs connecting to look like a bracelet. Small overlapping panels started to extend out while he made a fist. The transformation finished as small spikes along his knuckles protruded from the gauntlet.

"Symbiotic Mode," I also said right after him.

My transformation was less flashy and took less time, so even though his change started first, I was done before his and I was almost to him when he was done.

"Too slow," he yelled.

Jimmy executed a devastating uppercut, but I managed to pivot to the side before it connected. I lost my footing and tumbled into a wooden box resting against the wall. The box was riddled with rot and crumbled under my impact in a shower of splinters.

I was unhurt since it was so rotten. I quickly scrambled to my feet as Jimmy came down from his swing and turned to face me.

"There's no way you can win, kid," Jimmy said. "My compatibility is at eight percent. If you give up now, I'll make your beating quick."

At that moment, I really wished I had my spear or even my staff. Unfortunately, all I was left with after my dungeon escapade was a bent piece of metal. I made a few spears out of wood while traveling through the mountains, but I didn't think it would look good to bring a sharpened stick into the city, even though personal weapons were authorized. I didn't want to look more backward than I already was.

My DTA program locked onto him, and he was outlined with the red glow of a combatant. I raised my arms and moved forward slowly. The slight advantage I had during my first attack was gone. I needed to be clever and use my DTA properly.

Jimmy seemed to understand that I wasn't going to give up. "Fine," he yelled and stepped forward. Regardless of his advanced compatibility, he seemed slower than I expected. My computer's DTA picked up his movement and alerted me on the projected path of his attack.

However, it didn't seem like I needed to use the program. His attack was so telegraphed I could see where it was going. Clearly, he didn't have any fighting experience, but I thought his stats would give me trouble.

As he stepped into the punch, his arm reared back for a wild haymaker, and I also stepped forward. He moved his right leg, and I moved my left. I stepped outside his and ducked well below his fist's trajectory.

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I could see his face contort in panic as he realized he was going to miss. I just continued forward and drove my fist into his gut. A loud grunt expelled from his mouth, and he crumpled over.

Before I could turn around, my robot started blaring a warning at me, but I was too slow to react. I fell to the ground from the immense pressure on the back of my legs as they buckled from Jimmy's weight. My strike to his stomach must not have done as much damage as I thought. The thief wasn't hurting for breath as I felt him climb onto my back.

My robot warned me as I felt him rear up to hit me. Not getting hit by his metal-clad hand was my top priority. I drew my legs up and bucked to the side to knock him off. Just in case my maneuver didn't work, I covered the back of my head. Thankfully, he fell over, and I rolled to the right to get out of his attack range.

I raced to my feet and saw Jimmy do the same. While getting up, my hand wrapped around a cylinder of wood. I didn't know where it came from but looking at it, I could only smile.

The item was an about two-foot-long baton. It was broken off at one end, so it clearly hadn't started as a baton, but that's what it was going to be from then on. It wasn't a staff or spear, but it was going to make sure I got my keycard back.

We both simultaneously whirled to face each other for another round. Jimmy eyeballed my baton, and I could see his armored fist clench tighter.

"Just give me the card," I hissed. "I won't let you go without it."

Jimmy looked behind me, his eyes going wide. I looked back to what it was but didn't see anything wrong. The worst thing I noticed was people walking that were purposefully not looking down the narrow street where we were fighting. Confused, I turned back around.

Jimmy was almost to the block's end and close to turning the corner. I wasted no time running after him. I didn't want to let him get too far away to be able to hide away from me. I was sure he knew the city like the back of his hand, so I couldn't let him get away.

I turned the corner into a much bigger street, making the previous one look like an alley. Even though the road was wider, only a few people were on it. It was occupied mainly by robot-driven carts and carriages. Jimmy was still running away, and I caught sight of his greasy hair. It seemed that he managed to gain a little extra distance; he really was amazingly fast.

I didn't let it deter me, though. I couldn't let it because he still had my keycard. He left the pack in the side street, and so had I. I didn't want to leave it, but the keycard was more important. I just had to hope that the bag would be there later. I decided to call for help while running as I figured it couldn't hurt.

"Stop! Thief!" I yelled. No one even glanced in our direction.

It didn't matter since I was gaining on him while we ran. It seemed like he could accelerate quickly, but he couldn't keep the pace up. He turned a corner into another small street, which I would classify as an alley, but I was right on him. Halfway down the alleyway was another even smaller passage.

I rounded the corner while ducking in case Jimmy was waiting on the other side to attack me, but no attack occurred. I picked up the pace, only to quickly stop short. The alley we were in was about two arm's lengths wide. The building covering the sides were similar to all others in the city as they appeared to be made of huge chunks of rough stone. They were also about three stories high.

To my delight, this alley had a third building attached, which made up the wall at the far end. Standing at that far end was Jimmy John himself. He had nowhere else to run and had turned around to face me since he couldn't do anything else.

"You could still get out of this if you just give me the keycard," I said while closing the distance.

I didn't want to fight. I was being honest that I would let him out of the situation. I just hadn't decided if I would knock him out or call whatever this city had as guards.

Jimmy was breathing hard, his stance wide and brow covered with sweat. Suddenly, a smirk crossed his face. "You just couldn't let it go, could you?" He shrugged, and I almost thought he was giving up. "Sucks to be you," he said with malice.

A shadow flitted across the wall that still had some sun shining on it. At the same time, my Robot's DTA program started screaming at me. Red triangles appeared on both sides of my vision, indicating danger from my rear.

I turned ninety degrees to ensure no one was at my back, but I had to evaluate the threat. Standing at the end of the alley was a large muscular man that was also wide enough to ensure that no one would be able to make it around him unscathed.

He was already clad in the Symbiotic Mode of his robot; armor covered his head and neck, and he had partial shoulder pauldrons. Instead of a broken mop handle like me, he was gripping a large wooden club. The club appeared well-used and maintained, with a leather-wrapped handle at the base. The plump top looked as if it had a polished shine.

My goggles outlined him in red, but as he stood there, no other information presented itself. My father once told me that if I was ever stuck between a boulder and a wild animal, fighting the boulder wouldn't do any good. From my perspective, the new assailant might as well have been a boulder.

I sprinted toward Jimmy with everything I had. My DTA locked on to him as I saw his countenance quickly change from surprise to acceptance. His fist clenched, and he started to reach back.

My momentum was too great, and I was closer to him in a shorter time than I had planned. I was going to attack him with my makeshift baton, but I hadn't even drawn it back to strike. I was also too close to effectively get out of the way of his attack.

I thought quickly and decided to just use my momentum. I jumped forward and led the attack with my knee. I was airborne as I rose toward him with more velocity and force than I initially thought.

Jimmy didn't have much choice but to continue his attack as I veritably flew forward. I felt his metal-encased fist slam into me, but the pain was negligible as it hit my thigh. My weight and momentum pushed me past his strike, sending my knee squarely into his face.

His face exploded under the force of my knee, causing blood to spray out in multiple directions. I think I saw a couple of teeth flying with the blood, but it was hard to be sure. His body crumpled to the ground while I came down on my feet a few paces away.

I turned around and saw Jimmy motionless on the ground. I hoped he wasn't dead, but with another person to worry about, I didn't give it much thought. I was surprised that he fell so easily and was slightly sick at all the blood I could already see in the area. However, I pushed my nausea down and tried to use the scene to my advantage.

"Come on! Let's go!" I screamed with all the force I could muster at the large man standing at the end of the alley.

I thought my ploy worked as I could see hesitation grip his nerves. He wasn't used to being intimidated. The threat ultimately fell off his shoulders like a light rock pinging off his pauldrons.

He raised his club toward me with a frown on his face. "You shouln'ta done that," he said. "Now yer gonna pay."