Booming Cyborg grinned, revealing diamond-pointed teeth. He leaned back on a leaf green leather couch as two robots rested on his lap. On the top floor of the Starlight Sanctuary, they resided in one of the exclusive VIP private hubs. A holographic display floated in the corner, showing all the juicy action on the main stage, but there was also a perfect view of it from a soundproof tinted window.

Remy stood and scowled, not bothering to hide his contempt. If there was one thing he was beginning to learn as he went on his adventure, it was that he despised putting on a facade. It reminded him of the king of deception himself, Endless, the one who had fooled humanity into thinking he was the righteous symbol of hope.

“It wasn’t our fault,” Jay said innocently.

Cyborg raised a sceptical eyebrow. “You say that and yet I was told you were mind-reading one of our remarkable dancers. That is prohibited.”

“You what?” Lyra said, throwing Jay a look of disgust. She groaned and sunk low in her chair. “We’re sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Cyborg replied. “And to be honest, it is our fault too. Unfortunately, we have a bit of a discriminatory problem here. Some robots have a very distorted perception of our species due to horrific experiences.”

“Can we leave now?” Remy said quickly.

“You look pretty ungrateful for someone who just saved you.”

“We had it handled.”

“We had it handled, you say.” Booming Cyborg erupted into rattling laughter that sounded like a broken washing machine. “Now that’s funny. You remind me too much of Amelia in her earlier days. It’s almost scary.”

“You knew my sister?” Remy asked, immediately hating the fact he had asked the question. Feeling like he was in enemy territory, he wanted to escape as soon as possible but curiosity had got the best of him. His sister had never mentioned the A-ranked superhero, not even in their private livestreams.

“Yes, we went to the same superhero school.” Cyborg smiled slightly, staring up at the glowing ceiling. “That woman had me entranced in the entrance exams. She walked with grace and every other girl would look disorderly in comparison. Her sense of humour was perfect. She was intelligent but not pretentious. My ride or die. My jigsaw puzzle piece. She brought me love and peace. Chest big, fit physique, sheesh! One of a kind.”

Remy and Jay exchanged a look of confusion.

“What’s your relationship with my sister?”

“She was an old flame.”

“That makes more sense,” Remy said. He still pulled a bewildered expression, but suddenly felt a lot safer. He respected the way the superhero had poetically spoken of Amelia. “She never mentioned you. Why did you break up?”

“There’s a few reasons but ultimately it came down to location. I wanted to bring about a place of peace, prosperity, and robots, and your sister wanted to base herself on Everforge. Do you want to hear some stories?”

Remy shrugged nonchalantly, though excitement flickered in his chest. “Sure.”

For almost two hours, Booming Cyborg gave a unique perspective on Amelia. Remy had always assumed he was the closest to his sister, but maybe he wasn’t.

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According to Cyborg, Amelia was the most competitive and driven individual he had ever known. Inspired by all the top-ranking superheroes, she worked hard relentlessly in every lesson, exam and task to prove to everyone that she was great. Her overwhelming presence in every room was impossible to ignore. She put her hand up for every question and in any combat scenario she was always multiple steps ahead.

Cyborg believed Wide Awake’s journey to the top was one of the best underdog stories ever known. She had been the first person with only a C-rank ability to enter the prestigious Titan Superhero Academy in New York. Though most of her peers had inherited some monstrous A-rank to S-rank abilities, she had managed to be granted the Most Promising Rookie Award at the end of her school year. Her ingeniousness was unprecedented.

On top of this, she was pretty popular and had the strange ability to uplift everyone through her charisma and way with words.

Booming Cyborg– who was mainly called Dan back then and looked far more human– did not hesitate to make his feelings known about Amelia. She had agreed cautiously to go on a date and they both fell in love quite quickly, bonding over their shared interest in superhero tech.

At some point in their conversation, Remy made the bold decision to trust Booming Cyborg. He believed the #110 superhero did not know about Amelia’s tragic demise because it was clear that he still loved her dearly and was heartbroken. Every time he spoke about her his voice softened which was equally sweet as it was depressing.

“So why are you here Wide Awake’s younger brother?” Cyborg asked.

“My cousin dragged me here but if you mean Star Tech, we came for some tech.”

Cyborg glanced at Jay’s dual batons. “May I hold them?” Jay tossed the weapons and Cyborg caught them with a metal hand. He inspected them and tossed them back. “Who made these?”

“Me,” Lyra said.

“These are immaculate. What else are you making?”

“Gauntlets. It’s a big, big, big project.”

“Need help? I can support you with anything you need.”

“Really?” Remy and Lyra asked at the same time.

“Yes. I have never seen a weapon so masterfully crafted since Gear Prime. I want to see these gauntlets in action.”

Lyra’s ecstatic expression dropped.

“She’s Gear Prime’s daughter,” Remy explained.

“I see,” Cyborg said, sympathy in his voice. “It’s okay to not be okay kid. Work on your next masterpiece and make your father proud. We’ve got your back. You said you’re a fan, huh? Let me show you something.”

Three robotic superheroes entered through the door, one blue, one red and one black. Unlike the majority of robots that possessed a frame almost identical to humans, the trio were much taller, each one almost hitting the ceiling at 8 feet.

The blue robot immediately dropped to its knees and repeatedly smashed its head on the floor. It wore a frown, indicated by two large dots and an upside-down U. “We’re sorry for disgracing you, Lyra,” it said in a distraught male voice. “We should have protected Gear Prime from abduction. He was my favourite human and we are a disgrace! Permission to self-destruct!”

“Permission denied,” Booming Cyborg said.

“I am ashamed of my race! We are not racist. I deeply apologise for their aggressive behaviour.” Again, the robot repeatedly smashed its head against the floor. “Permission to self-destruct!”

“Permission denied,” Booming Cyborg repeated.

The black robot waved. “Nice to meet you. I’m Slater. The guy with the emotional malfunction is Sky.”

“I don’t have a malfunction, jerk,” Sky snapped.

“Yes, you do, garbage can.”

Lyra laughed, disbelief in her eyes. “Nice to meet you! I’ve always wanted to meet you three in person.

The yellow robot crouched to Lyra’s height. A smiley face appeared on its head. “I’m Tulip,” it said in a cheerful woman’s voice. “Can we help with those gauntlets? We would love to assist you.”

Booming Cyborg sighed, arms folded. “I guess I can lend you my friends.”

Tulip turned to Cyborg, an angry emoji flashing on its face. “Section A5 paragraph four of the Robotic Agreement clearly states we have free will of our own and belong to no one. Know your place organic.”

“I made you, you little toaster,” Cyborg shot back. “Show some respect!”

The robots and Cyborg erupted into quick hard-to-follow arguments, and Remy chuckled. They reminded him of his family back home.