Prime Deceptions

by Valerie Valdes

  Sue’s expression fell, and the pink of her cheeks darkened. “Rusty buckets, you don’t have to be such a jerk about it.”

  “You don’t have to work for a cowardly murderer, and yet you do,” he replied. “So which of us is the ‘jerk’ then?”

  “You are,” Min said, stepping in front of Sue, eyes wide with an anger Eva had never seen before. “Eat taffy, you little shit.”

  Eva’s neck heated up, and she turned her full attention to Jei even as he shifted away so that he was clearly ignoring Min and Sue. Did she know him? He didn’t look familiar, or rather, he looked like plenty of humans she had met over the years. And she had killed enough people that running into someone with a grudge wasn’t unbelievable. But what exactly was he referring to?

  Does it matter? she thought. He’s not wrong, and you know it, and that’s part of the shit sandwich you have to eat every day until you die. So stop whining and start chewing.

  “Don’t worry about him,” Eva said. “We’re here to deal with Miles, find out what he knows, and get Josh back.”

  Sue nodded grimly, narrowing her eyes and clenching her jaw even as Min rubbed her arm. She climbed back into her mech, her tiny bots swarming over her like a personal pit crew, and Eva wished for a moment that someone so sweet had never been dragged into a life like this.

  That was life, though, always dragging people around who didn’t deserve it.

  Min shot one more nasty look at Jei, then perked up. “Okay, team,” she said, clapping her hands. “We’re slotting in for a special time since there was already a championship fight planned for the end of the night. Yeon-ha says this is modified three-on-three rules, so we have to stay alert, keep an eye on the back line, and move quickly during tag-ins. Got it?”

  “Not even slightly,” Eva said. “What are the rules?”

  Min deflated a little, but recovered. “So it’s three of us against three of them,” she said. She gestured at the pit as she spoke, pointing at the various bots already inside and engaged in their own battles. “One person from each team fights at a time, but you can swap out whenever you want. Like if you need to make quick repairs or something, so you don’t get knocked out.”

  “Knocked out, as in thrown outside the fighting area?” Sue asked, watching the fight nervously.

  “Sometimes,” Min said. One of the bots in the pit grabbed another one and ripped its arm off, then whacked it into the translucent energy fence. It fell to the floor and didn’t move again.

  “Oh,” Sue said, slipping slightly lower inside Gustavo.

  “The match ends when time is up, or when an entire team is knocked out,” Min continued. “If everyone on both teams is still able to fight when the timer goes off, there’s a sudden-death round.”

  “Sudden death?” Sue asked, her face pale as bleached protein powder.

  “Sue, por favor,” Eva said. “This isn’t the first time you’ve fought worse things that were definitely trying to kill you.”

  “But this is regulated! And people are watching.”

  “Sudden death means you go until someone is knocked out,” Min interjected. “It’s not real death.” Behind her, a small bot exploded, spraying parts against the fence. The audience roared.

  “Bueno, we hit them until they stop moving and we win,” Eva said. “Anything else we need to know?”

  Min tapped her cheek thoughtfully. “You can pretty much do what you want, as long as your weapons are street legal. It’s good to play to the crowd if you can, so if a referee needs to jump in, they’re more likely to be on your side.”

  “You mean like if someone does that?” Eva asked.

  One of the back-row bots had snuck forward and landed a punch on the opponent its teammate was fighting, then jumped back into place as if nothing had happened. The bot on the opposing back row made a petulant squealing noise, and its operator shouted at a man wearing a pink uniform that looked like an old-fashioned karate gi—the referee, presumably. They argued briefly, and the fight stalled, until the referee pointed up and the operator followed his finger.

  Leaning over the edge of a balcony was a human with long, blond hair wearing an impressively large black hat and a brass-buttoned jacket cut like a corset at the top. Her right eye was covered by a strip of fabric, while her left was dark, and the expression on her olive-skinned face conveyed the kind of disinterest that would at any moment become interest sharp enough to cut bone.

  The bot operator immediately stopped arguing and went back to their place, and the match redoubled in intensity.

  “Yeah, so,” Min said. “Sometimes you can sneak in a hit from the back line, and it’s not technically legal, but if you can get away with it . . .” She shrugged. “We maybe shouldn’t, since you’re both noobs.”

  A tinny alarm signaled the end of the match, and what was left of the bots inside was collected by their miserable or triumphant operators. The human on the balcony had retreated, but Eva assumed she was the previously mentioned Rubin Hjerte, given the reactions. Running a tongue over her teeth, Eva considered that maybe she would prefer not to rock the boat here.

  Aside from absolutely annihilating Miles Erck as much as humanly possible, of course.

  “Our turn,” Min said, clapping her hands in excitement. “Let’s go!”

  Pink grabbed Eva’s shoulder and they executed their usual handshake, ending in a hip-bump. “Don’t lose a limb,” Pink cautioned. “I didn’t bring any spares.”

  Eva winked at her, then turned to Vakar, whose expression was hidden behind his shiny Wraith armor. “Keep an eye on things out here for me,” she told him.

  “I will use both eyes and all my additional senses,” he replied, his voice lower and more gravelly from the helmet’s modulator. He handed her the briefcase, which was indeed incredibly heavy, and hugged her gently before releasing her and melting into the crowd like a ghost.

  Eva proceeded to the staging area, where Min and Sue were already waiting. The crowd had quieted a bit since the end of the previous match, but were muttering about the new team taking on the champion, and wondering what was going on.

  Like Min said, we’d better give them a good show, Eva thought. She opened the briefcase and pressed her hand against the control pad that activated the Protean armor.

  After the eerie feeling of being subjected to a full-body scan, the pieces of metal polymer in the briefcase began to slide up Eva’s arm and settle into their appropriate locations. The directions had repeatedly warned that she was not to move during this process or risk injury, so she stood rooted to the spot with her hand in the same place.

  Her nose, of course, started to itch immediately.

  The larger pieces assembled themselves first: helmet, chest plate, braces, greaves, and so on. These were followed by smaller pieces that filled themselves in between the large ones, and extended at the edges to connect to each other with rigid or flexible materials as needed. Once everything was in place, an unpleasant cold filled the suit as a foam-like insulation was pumped in to plug gaps and provide additional protection from concussive damage. Eva was also wearing her spacesuit underneath, which was itself a form of cheap body armor when rigid, but wasn’t an extremely useful defense against things like dismemberment.

  Also, her spacesuit didn’t have all the exciting upgrades this particular Protean suit had been equipped with. Each of her palms sported a propulsion unit that doubled as a weapon, there were miniature explosive devices in shoulder-mounted compartments that could be launched in the direction she was facing, and she even had a single-shot laser cannon that would swivel from her back to her shoulder with a mental command. She’d also heard of ways to override the suit’s power unit to fire a blast of energy from where it was housed in the chest plate.

  Of course, all these things could only be used once, since she’d never be able to afford repairs or refills, but it would be worth it to wipe Miles’s smug face all over the floor, even if only metaphorically.

  The briefcase gave a c
heerful ding to indicate the suit was finished assembling, but Eva waited an extra ten-count before moving, just in case. The exterior cams flicked on, and she was suddenly overwhelmed by various visualizations provided by the suit interface. With a stern thought, she turned off everything except the suit status, targeting, and peripheral-threat alarm.

  Eva took one tentative step, then another, adjusting to the way the armor fit and moved. It was, as advertised, lightweight, with better mobility in the joints than she expected. She was able to make a fist with minimal difficulty, and her gravboots were exposed at the bottom so she’d be able to use them as normal.

  “All right,” she told Min, her voice slightly distorted by her helmet. “Let’s do this. Who’s up first?”

  Min tapped her cheek. “Sue should be first,” she said. “Best to lead with our second strongest, save strongest for last.”

  Sue nodded, her expression serious, but Eva chuckled.

  “So I’m the worst fighter here?” Eva asked. “Ouch.”

  “No, Cap, you’re great! You’re just, not a bot fighter, you know?”

  “Sin pena, mija, you’re in charge here.” Eva’s nose started to itch again, and she absolutely refused to dignify her urge to pee with a response.

  “So cool,” Min said. “Okay, team, show time! Let’s play to win!”

  Min sat in the remote-operator area, slouching down in one of the provided chairs and making herself comfortable. She’d been jacked into her bot the whole time, and now she sent Goyangi over to wait in the pit, near the fence at the back. Eva walked in after, feeling less graceful than the bot triple her size, but growing more used to the suit with every passing moment. Sue came in last, Gustavo stomping around on its wide, round feet, its spherical green body more adorable than intimidating, despite the skull Sue had painted on the front.

  Nara and Jei were already waiting inside, the former in her armor as usual. Jei was still in the same blue exosuit with his arm weapon, but had donned a matching blue helmet, and standing behind him was a bright-red robot that looked like a dog.

  “He has one of those Pod Pals,” Sue said, leaning over the top of Gustavo to talk to Eva. “It’s bigger than it looked in the holovids.”

  Eva squinted at it and frowned. Where had he gotten that? Garilia? Madre de dios, how was he connected to that whole enredo? Bad enough that Josh and Garilia kept coming up in the same places, but with Nara here, and now this . . .

  Her thoughts were immediately squashed as Miles guided his bot into the pit. Eva couldn’t help herself: she started laughing, as deep a belly laugh as she could manage in a suit of tactical armor.

  Miles’s bot was even bigger than Min’s, at least four meters tall and humanoid, painted shades of red and purple that she assumed were intended to be menacing. Where Min’s was more boxy and stiff-looking, this one had meticulously sculpted muscles like a bodybuilder, from its rippling pectorals to its mountainous biceps, washboard abs to bulging thighs. It wore absurdly large spiked armor on its shoulders, along with spiked gauntlets and boots, but Miles had mercifully restrained himself when it came to the crotch.

  Gracias a dios, Eva thought, or I would have peed myself for sure.

  With a massive effort of will, Eva told herself not to underestimate him. Miles presumably hadn’t gotten to be the champion for no reason, so his bot must have some serious tech. How had he managed it, coming here in secret as a former Fridge scientist turned escapee? Had Josh helped him? If so, why, and why had he left Miles behind? And who was their mystery third companion? That other scientist Emle, or someone else entirely?

  Questions aside, even if she was positive that Min was the better fighter, Eva had no idea what to expect from Sue’s handiwork, and this was going to be a tough match.

  They had to win, though. For Sue, and for The Forge, and maybe even for Josh himself.

  But mostly so she could beat the shit out of Miles fucking Erck.

  One of the referees stepped up to start the fight, another uniformed human with dark skin and a long red braid. “All bets final now,” she said, her voice amplified over the still-chatting crowd. “Grudge match, three-on-three. Your challengers are Team Siren, led by the legendary Number One from the bot pits on Tamna, operating Goyangi.”

  Whatever they’d been chatting about before, the murmurs of the crowd now took on an excited, occasionally nervous timbre. Eva could practically hear a few hundred people searching the q-net for information on Min, assuming they hadn’t done so before they placed their bets. Miles himself didn’t react, so either he already knew, or he didn’t care.

  “The challengers will be opposed by Team Conquest,” the referee continued, “led by your reigning champion, Pounder!” Miles made his robot flex for the crowd while Nara and Jei stood impassively next to it.

  Eva, meanwhile, once again tried not to pee herself with laughter.

  “Three minutes on the clock,” the referee said. “First fighter, take your position.”

  Sue moved forward to the middle of the pit, while Jei did the same, his dog-bot trailing after him. Eva sent up a quick prayer to the Virgin for luck and protection, for the others more than herself, though she’d gladly take a little if there were any to spare.

  The referee retreated to safety outside the fence and raised an arm. “Ready? Begin!”

  Chapter 8

  Take You for a Ride

  Jei and Sue stared at each other for a long moment that turned into several, to the point that the crowd started grumbling. Eva glanced up at the balcony where Hjerte had appeared earlier; it was still mercifully empty. They needed to get things moving, or time would run out and it would be sudden death. She didn’t like those odds.

  “Forfeit now and spare yourself,” Jei said suddenly. “This need not devolve into violence.”

  Sue peeked out of Gustavo. “Why don’t you give up, then?” she shouted back. “If you don’t want to fight?”

  “I must win,” he replied, “for the sake of my own mission.”

  “Yeah, well, me too.” Sue stuck her tongue out and pulled her lower eyelid down with her forefinger.

  “So be it, then.”

  Jei was first to attack, leveling his arm cannon at Sue and firing an energy beam that she barely managed to block, with her shield that Eva was pretty sure had once been a trash recycler lid. Jei charged forward, continuing to fire, even leaping into the air with rocket-assisted boots to shoot down at her from above. Sue blocked, and retreated, and Eva wished she could bite her nails through the gauntlets of her armor because the poor girl really was not equipped for such an all-out assault. Jei was fast and nimble, while Gustavo was slow and bulky, but at least now the crowd was getting into it.

  Sue was almost to the fence when Jei leaped back, pausing in his attacks as if to assess what damage he had done already. It seemed mostly cosmetic, scorch marks and dents in the mech’s exterior plating. Now that she had a chance, though, Sue took it.

  With a fierce scream, she launched Gustavo at Jei, throwing a punch boosted by the rockets in the back of its elbow. Jei dodged, only to get a face full of flamethrower that he barely deflected with his raised arms. Before Jei could do more than stumble backward, Gustavo had stretched its arms out and was spinning them like a helicopter, landing a couple of solid hits that knocked Jei to the floor a few meters away.

  “Get up, you worthless sack of meat parts!” Miles shouted from the safety of his controller seat. “You’re making me look bad!”

  If Jei heard him, he didn’t react. Instead he got back on his feet just in time to avoid Gustavo’s chainsaw, which bit into the floor, sending up sparks. He backed away and whistled, and suddenly his dog robot was next to him, delivering what looked like an alternate arm weapon. Swapping it in quickly, he pointed it at Sue and launched a metallic projectile that proceeded to ricochet all over the pit, hitting Gustavo repeatedly as Sue ducked inside to avoid being struck. This gave Jei the opportunity to once again strike, until finally Sue had enough.


  Poking her head over the lip of the mech, Sue fired something at Jei that Eva couldn’t track. It hit, but didn’t appear to do any damage, and Jei paused to examine himself in confusion.

  “Lunch time!” Sue shouted, and every single one of her tiny bots leaped out of the mech and rushed at Jei, washing over him like a yellow tsunami. Some carried miniature blowtorches, some hammers or screwdrivers, and some wielded random things like lengths of pipe or pieces of hull plating. One of them even had a chancleta that Eva had been looking for and assumed a cat had stolen, despite Mala’s sullen refusal to admit guilt.

  The bots banged away at Jei as he writhed on the floor, trying to get to his feet. Eva cheered along with the crowd, drawn into the spectacle despite herself.

  This is real, and dangerous, she thought. Stay focused.

  Jei’s dog brought him another weapon, which Jei struggled to swap in as the bots continued their assault. Finally he activated it, and it launched a jet of air that blew away half his tiny attackers. They rolled back toward Sue, who collected some of them with Gustavo’s giant hands as others climbed back into their respective places on their own.

  “Get him out of there,” Miles shouted. “This is embarrassing!”

  Nara stepped forward to tag Jei out. He retreated reluctantly, and Eva took that moment to check the timer.

  Two minutes left. They needed to start knocking people out, or this might come down to sudden death. She really wanted to avoid that if possible.

  “You’re doing great, Sue!” Min shouted. “Keep going!”

  Nara stood still in her black armor, her own arm weapon aimed at Sue but not firing. Sue approached cautiously, her shield raised, and the hairs on Eva’s arms stood up despite the foam pressing them down. When Nara still did nothing, Sue lowered her shield and rushed forward, Gustavo’s arm swapping from a fist to a drill.

  “Sue, no!” Min shrieked, but it was too late.

  Nara hadn’t been waiting; she’d been charging her plasma cannon. As soon as Sue was close, Nara fired, an enormous ball of energy that knocked Sue across the whole pit and nearly into the fence. With effort, Sue hauled the mech to its feet and swung the shield up to block the homing missiles that Nara had begun to launch as well.