"Haven't seen you two in a long time!" A deep and shaky voice said in the darkness. The other person in the room snapped his fingers and instantly light filled the entire space. Standing in front of one of the chain walls was an older, stout man with olive skin and a thick beard. The dark hair on his head was hidden away by a striped bandana that he was tied around his scalp. He gave Itzel a cocked smile as he buried his hands inside of his hoodie's front pocket. The sleeves to jacket were torn at the shoulders, showing off his lean and muscular arms. He approached the others, still smiling before giving Gurk a friendly jab in the gut. "What brings you back to this gym after all this time?"

"Gurk's got a big Challenge coming up," Itzel replied. "We're hoping to get some training in with your BRUTE."

"You sure about that?" the man said with a chortle. "I still remember what happened when you tried to take that thing on."

"Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Horace," Itzel said coldly.

"Do you still remember? That last hit you took before you went out looked painful."

"Of course I do. You sent me the replay."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Horace let out a hearty laugh before turning his attention to Janus. "And who is this guy? No offense buddy, but you don't seem like the guy to be lifting weights, let alone fighting."

"No, no. I'm just here to watch. And provide emotional support."

"A lot of good that'll do for Gurk when he's going up against the most adaptive and powerful commercial grade automated training entity money can buy! Who is the opponent that the big fella is going up against that you've gotta get him warmed up by training against BRUTE?"

"Siergi," Gurk replied.

"That guy?" Horace said with a perplex look. "I know he's famous, but is really all that good of a fighter?"

"No," Itzel said, "but Gurk really needs to win this match and we don't have much time to do more traditional training."

"If you say so. You two got the Tokens to get this thing up and running?"

Itzel activated her projection. With a few taps she was on the gym's page, ready to pay the fee. "You know that there's a no-refund policy, right?" Horace said as her finger was on the cusp of finalizing payment. "Not too many people seem to understand that. If I had a Token for each time someone asked for their money back after calling off a session with BRUTE after two hits... let's just say I wouldn't need BRUTE anymore!"

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Don't worry, we're familiar with the terms."

"As long as you do, you can use BRUTE all you want!" Horace made his way to one of the walls of the room and grabbed a folding chair that had been perched up against it. With a swift tug and a loud clang, he plopped the chair down, facing the inside of the metal cage. "Don't mind me. I always love watching a good, one-sided brawl!" The man let out another laugh before crossing his legs and staring in the arena. Itzel finished had finished paying the fee to utilize the robot and begun making her way to the arena's entrance. Horace tossed her a small metal key on a chain once she was in front of the door.

"Thanks," she said as she took off the lock that kept the entrance shut.

"I should be the one thanking you! With that money I'll be able to go home early."

Itzel entered inside the cage, waving for Gurk to follow her. Reluctantly, the crocodile stepped inside leaving Janus by himself. "You can come too if you want. I still have to set up BRUTE. While I'm doing that, you can get a closer look at the greatest advancement in training technology."

"That does sound intriguing," Janus replied. He darted towards the ring. He could feel his feet sink a bit into the soft mat as he took his first step. It looked to originally have been white, but countless bouts and skirmishes had taken its toll and turned it smudgy gray and covered it in scratches, tears and scuff marks. But he paid little attention to the surface of the floor when he laid his eyes on the deactivated machine on the far side of the arena.

It took a shape akin to a human save for its blocky metal build. It remained standing and motionless with what looked like its head angled down as the upper portion of the body leaned forward. Both the arms and legs were covered in angular plates of metal, leaving the joints exposed. Its torso was narrow compared to the black, blocky panes that had protected the sections above and below it. The head was human-like, resembling a boxer with a helmet with the way a shiny steel band protruded just above the dim LED screens that mimicked eyes. Sections of the machine's materials glistened as Janus got closer to it, contrasting with the duller sections that had been scratched from previous battles.

"There it is, Janus. BRUTE!" She gave him a slap on his back. "Why don't you go mess around with it?"

"It's not going to come alive and attack me, is it?"

"Did you drop the Tokens to turn it on?"

"No."

"Then you'll be fine."

"Odd how people will pay good money to be physically harmed."

Itzel gave a shrug of her shoulders as she advanced towards the machine. "People will do whatever it takes to make it big." She then went behind the machine. As Janus followed her, he could hear clicks and beeps as if she were going through a menu.

"Setting it up?" Janus asked as he leaned over to see what Itzel was focused on. His assumptions were correct; a floating screen with a wide assortment of settings was the subject of Itzel's attention. She adjusted numerous sliders and buttons, before tapping her foot as she contemplated what to choose for one of the settings.

"Yeah. You wouldn't say Siergi has a keep away fighting style, would you?"

"No," Janus replied. "He's all about getting up close and trying to use his flashier maneuvers."

"That's what I thought. I guess I'll just set it to 'Risk Taker" here then. Just a few more tweaks than I think it should be good to go." While Itzel fine-tuned the combat preferences, Janus looked back towards Gurk. He paced around the area, keeping himself moving by bouncing up and down with his knees and performing practice slashes with his claws.

"You think you can handle this, Gurk?" Janus asked. Gurk stopped his practice routine to look at him.

"Uh-huh."