It’s 11:55 now. Marvin looked at the digital clock above the boba shop’s counter, and indeed, the 4 flickered to become a 5.

Since the boba shop was fully automated, it was allowed to remain open 24/7. Even now, a group of college students sat in the back, laughing. Their presence made Marvin feel less awkward sitting there and doing nothing.

“How long till midnight?” Ben asked. They sat in their usual hemispherical seats by the window.

“Five minutes,” Marvin said.

“Are you able to get it down to the second?” Ben asked in awe.

“I think so.”

“How long do I usually spend in the bathroom?”

Marvin frowned. “I don’t know.” He could only time things when he focused on them beforehand, like his watch shifts at the noodle shop.

“How does it feel never going to the bathroom?” Ben asked. “Do you still get the feeling you wanna piss?”

“Uh…” Marvin had never experienced that, thankfully, but he also had never given it much thought. Perhaps it would’ve been better if Ben hadn’t brought that up.

“Speak of the devil,” Ben exclaimed, leaning towards the window. Marvin followed his gaze and saw a figure step out onto the sidewalk from the alley beside the Sawblades’ garage.

We weren’t talking about Ishaan, Marvin thought, imagining himself as a nerd with buck teeth.

He and Ben left the store and walked parallel to Ishaan—or whoever that Sawblade was—on the opposite sidewalk. As they closed the distance, Marvin could faintly make out some features illuminated in the neon lights. Ishaan’s hair had grown out a bit, but there was no mistaking him. Head hung, hands stuck in pockets, but still seeming to possess that intense energy.

“Gate A2,” Ben said, pointing to their left. Ishaan was approaching the metal doors.

Marvin and Ben hastily crossed the street as Gammagrade’s pilot slid into the darkness. Some cyclists gave them looks for jaywalking.

Marvin stopped at the gate and looked around. No sign of any Manhunters.

Why would they let Ishaan go free? He supposed that some deals had to have been made, considering how important the pilot was.

They followed the outline of Ishaan’s figure through the shadows, passing by similar scenes as when they’d followed Sangeet to his storage. However, this time, they stuck a little closer to the Sawblade. They couldn’t risk losing him.

As they kept walking, Ben’s pace gradually slowed. When Ishaan turned right and stepped onto a lift, Ben stopped completely.

Marvin looked at him in confusion. “You good?”

Ben didn’t reply, and Ishaan’s lift descended. Marvin doubted there were many floors below ground, and they could just trial and error till they found Ishaan. He hurried to the lift and tilted his head, but Ben just meandered over.

Are you seriously having second thoughts now? What about when we stalked Sangeet to his storage?

When Ben finally reached the lift, he did not press the button and instead dusted off the control panel. Above it was a symbol etched onto the concrete wall. Ben widened his eyes.

“Who do we have here?” a voice boomed.

Marvin spun around. Three tall figures stood a dozen feet away, between him and the gate. They wore dark clothes that almost camouflaged them with the walls, but their eyes glowed red. Large, red eyes with too many pupils.

Marvin’s blood ran cold. Behind him, Ben sucked in a breath and held it.

Of course the Manhunters wouldn’t let Ishaan out of their sight. How could they have been so stupid?

Marvin had gotten his dose of anxiety yesterday with Sangeet; now there was nothing but dread. Unlike the scavenger, there was no fighting the Manhunters.

Marvin glanced behind him, past the petrified Ben. The corridor snaked right a few dozen feet ahead. They could run for it…

“You friends of Ishaan?” the lead Manhunter said.

Marvin took a step back, preparing to bolt, but then a thought crossed his mind. The Manhunters didn’t seem to know who they were. If they could spin a lie, they could get out of this completely unscathed.

Ben seemed to catch on as well, as he replied, “No, we’re just walking home.”

The lead Manhunter stalked forward, and a stray beam of light from a window landed on his face. He couldn’t have been more than two years older than Marvin. He had dark brown hair and a short beard that didn’t look completely grown out. He was a bit shorter than the other two Manhunters behind him, but stood as if he were the tallest in the corridor.

“So you’re liars, too,” he said, smirking. “What’d you hope would happen? That we’d just believe that?”

Ok, time to run, Marvin thought. He and Ben turned on their heels and got about two steps in before a fourth Manhunter stepped into view. He was larger than the other three, nearly taking up the width of the alley.

“Oh, you’re asking for it at this point,” the lead Manhunter said.

Marvin’s head swiveled between the two ends of the alley. It was three and one, but that one Manhunter looked quite difficult to get past. If he could cause some chaos among the three…

“You don’t need to worry about Ishaan,” the leader continued. “He’s well cared for.”

There was also the possibility of the lift. It would take a while to come up, which meant Marvin would have to hold four gang members off for a while. He wasn’t sure he could do that.

“But we can’t have you following him,” the leader said. “Can’t have you lying or trying to run from us, either.” He gestured to the other Manhunters to advance. “Knock some sense into these two.”

“Wait!” Ben interjected. He seemed surprised, and… happy? “You’re just gonna beat us up?”

“You want us to kill you instead?”

“No,” Ben replied hastily. Then he turned to Marvin and whispered, “We’re home free!”

Are you insane?! You’re the one who’s gonna feel all the pain!

Marvin was not going to let Ben get hospitalized if he could help it.

The Manhunters were almost six feet away now. Could he fight them? If he summoned the lift now, he’d have to first push the big one away, then try to incapacitate the other two. And of course, the leader would join the action. Marvin had to take at least one out before then.

That would be difficult. The easier option was to run for the gate.

“Marvin, just let it happen,” Ben whispered. “You don’t know how lucky we are.”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Marvin didn’t know if Ben had gone through unimaginable trauma as a kid or was just plain stupid, but he was not going to sit idly and be beaten by a bunch of criminals.

The Manhunters were within arms length. One of the smaller ones raised his fist.

Marvin’s own fist connected with his face first. The man stumbled back, dazed, and Marvin barreled into the second Manhunter.

“Run!” he shouted.

“What are you doing?!” Ben screamed, standing still. “Marvin, stop!”

What are you doing?! Marvin turned back, grabbed Ben’s arm, and tugged him forwards. Or tried to at least; to his horror, he felt far more resistance than he expected. Ben wanted to stay.

Marvin tugged harder, finally getting his friend off his feet, and began dragging him towards the gate. They were nearly to the lead Manhunter when Marvin felt something tug him backwards. His vision flipped and he crashed to the ground.

Up ahead, Ben kept running but was handily caught by the leader, who put him in a chokehold.

“Watch,” the leader snarled.

As Marvin lay on his back, a flurry of punches and kicks bombarded his face. The steel frame held firm. Marvin put his weight onto his elbows and swept his legs in a semicircle, knocking the two smaller Manhunters to the ground. He sprung to his feet.

Two in front. One behind.

One mistake after another. But his fight or flight responses had kicked in, and it seemed like he had no choice but to fight. Everything else around him, even Ben, faded into obscurity.

The large Manhunter swung. Marvin weaved to the side and delivered two heavy punches to his stomach. He didn’t budge, and swatted Marvin away towards another Manhunter. That one tried to grab a hold of him, but Marvin elbowed his face, cracking one of his cybernetic eyes. The second of the smaller Manhunters grabbed Marvin’s arm and threw him into the wall. Marvin pushed off, spun, and chopped a hand at the man’s shoulder. Then he kicked him backwards.

Marvin tried to run for Ben, but the big guy pulled him back and delivered a haymaker to his head. Marvin twisted his body, supporting himself against the wall, and rebounded to punch the man in the face.

Except his hand didn’t find a face. The Manhunter caught it and began squeezing. Marvin felt his metal joints crack and collapse. He kicked the large man in the groin once, twice, and finally the Manhunter let go.

A pair of shuffles behind Marvin indicated that the other two enemies were preparing to join the fray.

Those are the ones I should focus on. Get past them, get to Ben, and run.

What to do next was a problem for another time

All three engaged Marvin at once. Two high fists—duck under, right hook. One enemy out of the circle. Several hits to the stomach—sweep leg, jab once. Another man was out, but the previous one came back in.

An enormous force slammed into Marvin’s head, nearly cracking his neck. Marvin stayed low and landed a series of quick punches, ending that big Manhunter’s bloodline for good. He stood up, sidestepped an attack, and flung his arm to the side, catching someone’s neck. Unfortunately, that someone had been in the process of dodging, as Marvin’s hit barely fazed him. He stomped on Marvin’s lower leg, bringing him to one knee. Marvin delivered an uppercut before he could follow up. With his other hand, Marvin caught an incoming punch, snapped that arm downward, and pulled so that the Manhunter’s face flew directly into his fist.

And that was when Marvin heard it. A singular thump. A heartbeat.

Like a long lost lover, that feeling returned: the rhythm of battle—

A giant fist crashed into his head, sending him flying into the wall. Back against the concrete, he raised his arms to block the second attack.

Too slow. A foot to his abdomen released a shower of sparks.

All circuits seemed to shut down. Marvin felt himself slide to the ground. One, two, three red-eyed faces came into view. All of them looked annoyingly unharmed.

One of the smaller Manhunters planted a shoe on Marvin’s chest.

“No flesh at all,” he said, amused. “He’s just a robot.”

“Figures why he fights so well,” another said.

Marvin tried desperately to get up, but his motors seemed to have overheated, or his connection to them had been severed. None of his limbs would obey.

He heard footsteps approaching. The lead Manhunter appeared above him, Ben in tow.

“Where’d you get this system?” he asked Ben.

“System?” Ben asked, a little delirious.

“Are you telling me all factory bots can fight like that?”

“Oh! System. Um, we found it in a deadzone,” Ben stammered.

“Which one?”

“S-sector 12.”

The leader nodded slowly. His prosthetic right hand morphed into a three pronged claw and he knelt down.

“You know, you could’ve just given us your bot. Would’ve saved you all this hassle.”

Ben gulped.

Marvin braced as the claw grew closer to his chest. He thinks the system is in the factory bot’s Core. This was going to be a little gruesome, but ultimately it was a massive stroke of luck.

The leader’s claw began to whirl. Bits of metal flew onto the walls and ground. After a few seconds, he withdrew his arm, now holding a small sphere.

Marvin didn’t dare move a muscle. He was officially “dead” now.

“Consider your debt paid,” the leader said. He stood up and patted Ben on the shoulder, causing the younger boy to wince. “But don’t go after Ishaan again, you understand?”

Ben nodded.

The leader tilted his head. “You sure?”

Ben frowned. “Yeah—”

“I don’t know, that wasn’t very convincing.” The leader smirked. He pulled back his arm, formed his claw into a fist, and threw an uppercut to Ben’s stomach. Ben doubled over, gasping.

The leader turned and walked away, and the other Manhunters trailed after him. As each of them passed Ben, they hit him in the same spot. The last Manhunter’s punch brought Ben to his knees, and he collapsed with a thud.

Marvin wanted to run after them and beat the lights out of every single one, but he couldn’t even clench his fists. His anger boiled only in his head, his Core that had no control over anything.

The gate slammed shut. All was silent for a moment, save for Ben’s sharp breaths. Then came the sound of cloth scraping against concrete. Marvin tried to turn his head to see where that was coming from, but he remained staring at the night sky. That black canvas was a good depiction of his emotions, he thought. Completely empty. Hopeless.

And then, a second later, Ben’s face had replaced that sky. He looked worn out, but he was smiling.

“Dude, that was insane!” he remarked. “I feel like we just used up all our luck for the year!”

“I’m sorry,” Marvin muttered.

“What?” Ben laughed, but it quickly turned into a fit of coughs. “You have no idea what the gangs are like, do you? That was the lightest punishment ever. And that was even after you beat the shit outta them!”

Marvin didn’t have the capacity to feel any relief. All that mattered was that he had lost, and it had resulted in Ben getting hurt. What Marvin would’ve done to the Manhunters had he been synced with his mech…

No, not even. If Ben had just ran instantly instead of resisting, they would’ve gotten out.

“You should call a medvac,” Marvin said.

Ben scoffed. “I’m fine,” he said. And then, with a grin, “Thanks to you.”

In any other case Marvin would’ve felt annoyed, but now he could only muster dreary resignation as he asked, “Why did you freeze?”

Ben’s grin faded and he drew back. “I…”

Silence prevailed. Marvin didn’t care if he ruined the mood; it wasn’t like there was a good one to begin with. An apology couldn’t hurt, he thought.

But it was in the past now. Both of them were still alive and not completely debilitated. “It’s whatever.”

“If it helps at all,” Ben said, lowering his voice, “I know where Ishaan’s going.”

Marvin widened his eyes. Ben must have recognized the lift after seeing the symbol above the control panel.

“We can’t follow him,” Marvin said quietly. The Manhunters were still watching, for all he knew.

“We’re not gonna take the lift,” Ben said. “There’s another path right through the sakura neighborhood. We’ll go early next Tuesday and wait for Ishaan there.”

Marvin couldn’t decide if he was excited or if he wanted to yell at Ben for being so reckless. They’d just escaped a trip to the hospital because of sheer coincidence, and Ben was now suggesting they run it back. Marvin’s factory bot Core wouldn’t save them a second time.

But he couldn’t deny that he felt restless. The longer he stayed in a robot body, the more often he’d see himself get torn apart. Pieces of him being ripped out. If he could dream, he’d likely have nightmares of what the Manhunters did to him.

He needed Ishaan’s help. He needed to be a human again.

“Let’s talk about this later,” he said. Caroline and Renee would probably like to get a word in before the two of them went charging off again.

“Fair enough,” Ben said. He knelt down and began detaching Marvin’s head. “Let’s go home.”