“Sounds good, come back and pick it up before you go.” Liior said as she called a number of her own frames over.

“Will do, thanks again Liior.” Deag responded.

“Think nothing of it, any friend of Ged’s is a friend of mine.”

Penelope and Lazarus made their way back to the group and Laz started directing the frames.

“I suppose that means we’ve got some time Captain.” Gareth looked at his friend.

“Indeed, I think I’ll peruse to shops here if either of you wish to join?”

“I think a nice Weilan spa is in order for me.” Gareth was incessantly grooming his frills.

“Pen?”

“Think I’m just gonna wander. I’ll see you back at the ship.”

Without waiting for an answer Penelope turned and left the shop, ducking through the door.

“Oh… well, okay.”

Deag looked to Gareth who only held out his arms.

“I guess I’ll see you back here Gareth. Enjoy the spa.”

“Of course, Captain. Enjoy your perusing.”

The two split up as they left the shop.

---

Penelope followed Lazarus’s directions and quickly found her way to one of the lowest levels of the station. The polished looks of the more travelled floors was gone as most of these levels were dedicated to maintenance and systems. They were manned mostly by frames as well. Soon though Penelope came across a door with a single station guard standing by it.

“Who sent…” She stopped as she looked up at the Terran.

Without another word the door slid open.

“Thanks.”

“Have fun and needless to say just don’t spread it around yea?”

Penelope had already ducked through the door, but she stopped and turned.

“I actually wanted to ask about that, is this illegal here?”

“Not illegal per se but taboo. It would definitely get shutdown if certain individuals were to learn about it.”

“Hm.” Penelope turned away but chuckled slightly imagining what Gareth’s reaction to a boxing match would be.

The room was circular with an arena laid into the floor. A comparatively tall wall came up from the sandy pit and turned into graduating seats that looked down onto the fights. About half of the seats were filled as the room watched two frames going at it. They were both of similar make to the ones Pen dealt with aboard the ship. Neither of them, however, had weapons. In their stead, each had a small arm that reached out and attempted to find a weak point in the other.

Penelope’s entrance didn’t go unnoticed. A number of weary sensory organs noted her as she took a seat. She had to take two seats, actually, as her size wasn’t accommodated for down here. Nevertheless, eventually their attention went back to the arena as one of the frames had managed to gain the upper hand over the other and damage one of its legs. With the injury the bot couldn’t overcome its disadvantage and eventually was broken enough for the arena runner to declare it the loser.

A couple more bouts came and went but Penelope barely registered them. It’s not that they weren’t entertaining. Now that she was alone, though, she found it hard to focus on the fights. She couldn’t help but turn inward.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Pathetic.

She started to crack her knuckles. A larger fight was playing out below as two bots grappled with each other.

You?

One of the bots brought its arm down onto what passed for its opponent’s head.

Ashara glared at her with disdain. Pen could build her face crease by crease. She had one of those faces that looked older than she was. Her eyes could make steel sweat. Penelope moved on to the second digits of her fingers. Each gave a satisfying pop.

The second bot had managed to get an arm up underneath the first and was trying to topple it.

Alvares’s eyes bored into her.

Not me? You?

Milk chocolate eyes. He was older than Ashara by a number of years, but he’d held onto his youth despite their profession. Short cut hair and a coarse beard that he kept diligently. And of course, he was sipping just a bit of his Mama’s homemade Raicilla. Strictly speaking alcohol wasn’t allowed aboard any active military ship and receiving any via care package would get the whole thing thrown out. That said, Mama Alvarez’s care packages always made it through and always had a bottle. Higherups never mentioned it.

The first bot couldn’t get away and fell backwards. Its head smacked into the ground with enough force to crack the casing. Though it was still moving, the arena runner called it and those in the crowd who’d bet on the second bot gave a cheer.

At this point she was just worrying her joints. She’d cracked them all and they refused to pop again.

“Fuck it.”

She stood up and strode towards the Tinsne who seemed to be in charge of things. He was seated in a small alcove next to the arena and was announcing the next fight. A number of now curious eyes followed her.

“Next up is a returning bot, Zalis! Up against the victor of the previous fight! Place your bets!”

He turned to the human unintentionally towering over him and tapped a screen inlaid into the desk. His voice no longer carried through the room.

“Uh what can I do for you?”

“I’d like to fight.”

“You have a bot? Terran made? That would be a spectacle-“

“Not a bot, me. I’m fighting.”

“Oh… erm this is just bots on bots. I don’t think… I mean, people fighting? We don’t have anyone who would fight you.”

“You don’t understand, I’ll fight the frames.”

He almost laughed.

“Fight a frame? Look… your people have a reputation, but these are machines we’re talking about. You can’t fight a machine. If you get hurt, I… I can’t…”

The winning frame of the first fight was sitting near his desk. Penelope picked it up as she spoke.

“That’s not my experience.” She said as she crushed its cranium and let it fall to the ground with a thud.

Tinsne eyes aren’t capable of going wide but the shock on his face was clear.

“Not but two days ago I crushed seven of these things and besides, look at your audience. It would be quite a show.”

He hissed as he looked past her. In the lull of the fighting the audience’s attention had shifted to the human in front of him.

“You are crazy, and I don’t want you to get hurt, so, a single fight. Against the bot that just won. It’s worn down and if you still get hurt its on you, I don’t think there’s anyone in this station that knows how to fix humans, you understand?”

“Understood.”

“Okay… if you need to stop the fight just get my attention I guess. Wave your arms or something, make it obvious.”

She nodded.

"I'll assume that's a yes..."

He hissed and wobbled his head but tapped the screen in his desk and began to speak to the entire room.

“I see all of you looking and yes, it is happening. This human has requested to hop in the ring against a bot. They have assured me that they won’t come to serious harm. As such, we seem to have quite a spectacle for you all tonight. Zalis will be replaced by the human. What do you all think? Can a flesh and blood creature really compete in melee combat with a machine? Place your bets!”

He got up and began walking her to the entrance down into the arena only stopping when he noticed she wasn’t following.

“What are…”

She looked at him and then to the crowd.

“You said spectacle, right?” she said.

Without waiting for a response, she placed a hand on the short wall and vaulted over and down into the pit. The crowd was filled with various expressions of excitement or concern as she landed in the blue sand.

The show runner slithered back to his desk as Penelope walked up to the frame already in the pit. Even though the fights had graduated to larger bots she still stood a few feet taller than her mechanical opponent. It was an odd construction by human standards, not that human standards counted for much here. It had three legs. Two came forward while the last went back like a kangaroo using its tail for support. It wasn’t tall like a kangaroo, however, quite the opposite. The legs were attached to a sideways teardrop shaped body with two arms coming out from either side. The round side of the teardrop body faced forward and seemed to also pass for a head that sported various sensors.

“We’ve all heard stories folks but now we’ll get to see firsthand. This fight is a human versus a modified Bek-22! Begin!”

Penelope rolled her shoulders to loosen up and assumed a relaxed fighting stance.

“Let’s see what you’ve got Bek.” She said.

Just as she said it the frame let out a buzzing noise and lunged forward.

---