Grow Up

by Craig Anderson

  “I don’t get it. Why are we fighting? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just concede?”

  “Not at all. Every case has associated damages, if we concede then those damages will be automatically awarded to the Galactic Corp. Besides, they are fielding higher-level mechs than us, which costs them more money in higher CORPS. A good outcome is if we can make their running costs be more than the damages awarded. That way the case is a new loss for them. Our hope is that this will discourage them from filing so many frivolous lawsuits, but it has not yet proven to be the case.”

  “So basically, I have to go be part of a battle where I am not expected to fight, we aren’t expected to win, and I will be judged on my performance.”

  “Precisely. It is the perfect practice for being a Blurgon lawyer.”

  They exited the tunnel into blinding sunlight from all directions, and a huge imposing arena that dominated most of the horizon. The sound was already deafening and they were still a considerable distance away. Josh could feel the tingle of nerves, even though he didn’t have to do anything except follow instructions. How hard could that be?

  As they approached a side tunnel, a security guard blocked their path. It wasn’t clear if it had a gender, only that it was large and imposing. Shift waited for it to move aside, but it did not. “Lawyers only. Let’s see your credentials.”

  “I am an envoy of the Blurgon High Command and this is the Second Chair for today’s lawsuit,” Shift said, her voice dripping with frustration.

  “Seconds are down there,” the Security Guard said, gesturing to a considerably less fancy door further down the wall.

  As they set off Shift said, “I was not aware that you would not be seated with the primary lawyer. This is my first time attending a trial.”

  “You haven’t been as a spectator before?” Josh asked.

  “I have not. I do not have a sub-class of Spectator, so I have not had cause to attend.”

  “Wait, you have to have a special class to be a spectator?”

  “Of course. Spectating requires a very specific set of skills if it is to provide the required motivation for our lawyers. To allow anyone to spectate would be counter-productive.”

  Josh shook his head. “You guys really need to learn to let your hair down.”

  “I do not understand what the orientation of my cranial filaments has to do with this?”

  Thankfully there wasn’t time to explain as a much less intimidating security guard waved them through the Second Chair entrance with barely a glance.

  Josh was not prepared for the spectacle that he walked straight into. There were thousands of spectators around the outside of the arena, all waving flags in perfect synchrony. It reminded Josh of old-school retro games, where the crowds only had one or two animations and repeated them ad nauseam. The crowd surrounded a huge circular arena with a dusty floor, with three towering mechs standing ready to do battle. Josh recognized a Sentence Slasher, with its twin energy swords, and right next to it was his Ticket Buster. Something was missing though. “Hey, where are my weapons?”

  “Second Chair is a support role. You don’t need weapons.”

  “You gave me that whole spiel about fighting and I couldn’t even if I wanted to!”

  “I suspect that is for the best,” she said, giving him a look. He was impressed with how quickly she had learned the right expressions.

  He wanted to keep arguing about his disarmed status, but his attention was drawn to the other side of the arena, which was occupied by a huge mech he hadn’t seen before. It resembled a mushroom, with small stumpy legs and a bulbous upper body. It only had two limbs, one a chainsaw, and the other a huge harpoon gun. Whatever it was, it looked like trouble. He held up his bracelet to check out its stats:

  Level 4 Objector

  This mech is armed with two default weapons, a chainsaw to cause massive damage and a harpoon to reel in distant targets. It can also keep enemy mechs at bay with its repulser shield. This makes it hard to get close to, unless it wants you to.

  Stats:

  Attack: 6

  Defence: 3

  Armour: 3,000

  Movement Speed: 4

  Weapon Slots: Fixed. Chainsaw, harpoon and repulser shield.

  Booster Fuel Capacity: 4

  CORPS: 10,000,000 credits

  “That thing sounds like a perfect counter for a Sentence Slasher.”

  “Yes it is most unfortunate. Teacher was hoping they would choose a higher-level mech that moved slower and would be easier to hit.”

  Josh noticed something else about the enemy’s side of the arena. “Where’s their Second?”

  “Jax rarely has a Second Chair. He says they get in his way. He trains other lawyers, but he does not let them fight with him.”

  That name sounded familiar. Josh was trying to place it when the huge viewer above the arena displayed the smug Galactic Corp lawyer he had previously defeated on the station. Jax would lose his mind if he knew that Josh was fighting, but that was unlikely with him being squirrelled away in the Second Chair dungeon.

  Josh had no sooner thought he was in the clear when the giant display changed to show a picture of his Teacher, and a very distorted, terribly unflattering picture of Josh.

  “What am I doing on that screen?” he asked.

  “You are Second Chair. We have to declare it, but there wasn’t time for a proper headshot. We made do with security camera footage.”

  A noise blared out of the roof, coming from hidden speakers. The Ship’s Computer said, “You have an incoming transmission from the opposing counsel’s booth. Do you wish to accept this transmission? Do remember that anything you say will be recorded and entered into the logs for this trial.”

  “Put it through,” Josh sighed, hoping he could maybe reason with Jax before the fight got underway.

  “You! I am going to crush you! Consider yourself lucky you are Second Chair today. I will just have to settle for humiliating you instead. I am going to make sure that…”

  “Yeah, kill the transmission,” Josh said. Jax was instantly cut off. “I’m pretty sure I can guess what the rest of that call is going to sound like, I don’t need to waste my time listening to it.”

  Shift looked puzzled. “Do you know Jax?”

  “What? No, of course not. I am assuming he makes threatening phone calls to all first-time seconds.”

  “Odd, that seemed rather personal.”

  Josh tried to change the subject. “Why is the Teacher up there with me?”

  “Because he is the primary lawyer in this case. He is Blurgon’s highest-ranked lawyer and likes to occasionally remind the rest of his class that he still has the edge. He is particularly adept with the Sentence Slasher.”

  “Yes, I’m aware,” Josh said, remembering their previous encounter. At least this time they were on the same side, in theory.

  Shift gestured to a desk that looked like it had been stomped on by a mech. It was tattered and worn, nothing like the glistening furniture in the law school. This was the real world now. The only thing in worse shape was the Mech Controller precariously balanced on top of it, which had several missing buttons and stains that were, best-case scenario, the tears of defeated trainees.

  There was no sign of Frag anywhere. If he didn’t show up, this would be Josh’s only choice for controlling his Ticket Buster.

  A speaker in the corner of the room made a terrible sound and his earpiece translated it to, “Is anyone there?” It was unmistakably the Teacher’s voice.

  Shift said, “I shall leave you to it, I do not wish to distract you. I will be waiting outside.”

  The door slammed, and Josh answered, “I’m here.”

  “About time. I hope you are ready, your future depends on this trial.”

  Before Josh could answer a loud buzzer sounded, and the fight began.

  Level 14: Trial and Error

  The Objector didn’t waste any time. It immediately fired the harpoon gun at the Teacher’s Sentence S
lasher, which narrowly avoided it with a last-minute boost to the side. Josh was surprised. It was the most agile he had seen anyone else move their mech, even if it was a single action from a standing start. He was surprised the Teacher could react that quickly.

  The Teacher wasted no time. While the harpoon gun was reeling back in, he charged the Objector, twin energy swords raised, ready to strike. Just as he got close enough, a blue wall emanated from the Objector, pushing the Sentence Slasher back like a tidal wave. It was a perfect ring, leaving no gap to exploit. As the Teacher prepared to repeat his charge, the harpoon snapped back into place and immediately fired again, requiring yet another boost.

  “Why are you standing there? I need booster fuel!” came the Teacher’s voice over the speaker, and Josh remembered he wasn’t just a spectator, he was also the pit crew.

  Two huge canisters were perched on platforms behind him, one green, and one purple. With some concentration he managed to walk the Ticket Buster over to the green canister, before realizing that he didn’t know the right buttons and switches to pick it up. “Computer, I could use an assist here! What am I supposed to press?”

  “I am not able to assist in combat, it is part of my protocols. A.I.s cannot fight in real trials.”

  “Well then can you at least get in touch with Frag and let him know this trial is going to be over if he doesn’t get his arse here pronto.”

  “Affirmative.”

  Josh tried an assortment of buttons and switches, and finally the left arm shot out straight, clanging into the fuel canister. That was progress.

  “What are you doing?” screamed the Teacher over the speaker. “I am going to run out of booster fuel any moment.”

  The Sentence Slasher was indeed using up a lot of fuel as it zig-zagged across the arena. It wasn’t graceful, but it achieved the main objective of keeping the Teacher’s mech away from the dreaded harpoon spike. Every time it dodged there was a loud thud followed by the twang of the metal cable as the harpoon dug into the floor of the arena.

  There was a thumping at the door and Josh abandoned the Mech Controller in the hopes that it was Frag. Thankfully it was. He tossed Josh the green backpack with a scowl and said, “You’re not supposed to use that thing in a real trial.”

  “I don’t see anyone here,” Josh said, holding down the sync button. The moment it connected, the Ticket Buster sprang to life. It moved quicker than he was used to, because it wasn’t weighed down with weaponry. He dashed over to pick up the fuel canister, which required some creative button combos to do, but at least now he could make the arms work.

  The Ticket Buster hiked the huge green canister up onto its shoulder and tried to sheathe it like a sword, before precariously balancing it in place. Josh boosted straight at the Sentence Slasher. He noticed as he did so that the booster fuel from the canister was depleting, as shown by a thick green line on the side of the canister slowly dropping, but his own boost meter was staying full. “Wait, I can use up this fuel too?”

  “Of course. The canister doesn’t know, it just senses that a nearby mech requires booster fuel and discharges some of its supply. Typically Second Chairs don’t use up the supply before they get to the primary mech, but then you would know that if…”

  “Don’t start with that right now, I am in the middle of a battle!” Josh said, pulling up alongside the Teacher’s mech. There wasn’t a chance to stop and recharge, he had to stay in step with the Sentence Slasher, which wasn’t hard now that he had his trusty game controller. They both dodged the first harpoon shot before the Sentence Slasher charged in. Josh wasn’t sure if he should be following or not, so he did, and was promptly shoved back by the same repulser shield, sending both of them skittering away and blasting them far enough apart that the fuel cell stopped charging the Sentence Slasher. The Teacher moved to close the distance between them, but unfortunately that made his trajectory predictable. The harpoon caught the Sentence Slasher square in the side and the winch started to drag it towards the Objector’s chainsaw, which revved in anticipation.

  Josh didn’t wait for the Teacher to tell him; he dropped the booster cell where he was standing and went back for the Nano cell. He had no idea how long the Sentence Slasher could hold up against the chainsaw, but he was willing to bet it wouldn’t be very long.

  The yelling from the Teacher started over the speaker, but Josh ignored it. He grabbed the purple canister and ran straight back for the Objector, only to find the Sentence Slasher boosting against the winch. It wasn’t exactly winning, but it was slowing down the steady pull toward the whirring metal teeth.

  The Teacher continued boosting while twisting the top half of the Sentence Slasher’s torso around. The mech crossed its twin swords beneath the taut cable and twisted them together like scissors. The energy blades sheared through the harpoon cable and it twanged back towards the Objector with a sudden jolt. It reminded Josh of catching something when out finishing with his dad, and the line going slack at the very last moment. The Objector seemed equally disappointed; it stomped its feet and the revving of the chainsaw briefly died down. A new harpoon appeared out of a slot on the Objector’s arm and clicked into place in the harpoon gun.

  Josh dashed over to the Teacher to assist.

  “What are you doing with a healing cell? I don’t need that, I need more booster fuel!” was yelled in his general direction as a purple mist emanated from the canister and across the body of the Sentence Slasher. The hole in its side quickly vanished, but there was no time to stand around celebrating, unless they wanted a repeat performance.

  Josh dropped the healing cell and picked up the green one. He was moving toward the Teacher when the Objector aimed its new harpoon, but it wasn’t pointing at the Teacher. It was aimed straight at Josh. He instinctively boosted left just as the shot released, but the harpoon caught the fuel canister, ripping it from his hands and pinning it to the ground several feet away. Green smoke poured out of the damaged canister before it exploded in a huge green fireball.

  “I thought he couldn’t fire at me?” Josh said incredulously.

  “Jax was aiming at the Teacher,” Frag replied casually.

  “Bollocks. That shot was meant for me.”

  “Why? You are no threat to him. It makes no sense to waste a shot on you. Those harpoon rounds are expensive.”

  Josh laughed. “He’s mad because I’ve beaten him before.”

  “When?”

  The Ship’s Computer interrupted in his ear. “Stop talking. You have already said too much.”

  Someone else was shouting at him too. “What are you doing? Do you have any idea how much that fuel canister cost?” The tinny speaker could barely project the Teacher’s rage. Josh wasn’t listening though; he was already on his way back to the side of the arena to pick up a fresh fuel canister.

  The Teacher tried to take advantage of the Objector’s reload time by dashing in for a quick two-hit combo. As he got close enough the repulser shield pushed him back, but as soon as it stopped he boosted in again, and managed to land a single sword strike on the Objector’s leg. The crowd erupted as if he had just scored the winning goal in the World Cup. The Objector lunged with its chainsaw, but the Teacher quickly boosted away. Unfortunately he dashed in a straight line, and the Objector turned and fired its harpoon, hitting the Sentence Slasher squarely in the back. The reel started up, dragging him backwards towards the chainsaw once more. The Sentence Slasher spun around, sword raised, ready to cut the line again, but this time there was a bright flash from the Objector’s back and the harpoon line glowed orange. The Sentence Slasher shook and its arms fell limp, dropping the energy swords. Then it fell to the ground. The line continued to drag it slowly toward the chainsaw.

  “What just happened?” Josh said, still racing his Ticket Buster toward the Teacher.

  “Jax used the Objector’s energy core to charge the cable. Very expensive to do, he must be trying to finish up the fight. The move temporarily stuns the snared mech, allowing it t
o be reeled in. Also knocks out the Objector’s repulser shield for a short time, which in this case won’t matter.”

  Before Josh could reach it, the prone Sentence Slasher reached the Objector and the chainsaw bit into it. There was a terrible grinding sound and smoke billowed out of the Teacher’s mech. The crowd booed, and then fell silent.

  “Overall that went better than expected,” Frag said.

  “We got our arses kicked!” Josh said.

  “Yes, but it took a little while, and Jax used his special move, so it likely cost the G.C. quite a bit more than the damages they received.”

  The Objector tossed the top half of the Sentence Slasher aside before turning to face Josh’s mech.

  “The fight is over. Kneel,” said his Teacher over the speaker.

  The Objector slowly raised its harpoon and aimed it at the Ticket Buster.

  “You’d better be quick, or he’ll be justified in shooting you. Losing your mech would turn this into a financial loss for Blurgon,” Frag said in an attempt to be helpful.

  He felt his wrist buzz with a new task. Three guesses what it said.

  Josh went to kneel, his hand hovering over the left analogue. One click and he’d be fine, he had done his job, likely better than Teacher or anyone had expected. This was a win for him.

  He was about to press, when the screen over the arena cut to Jax, who was busy celebrating. He was keeping an eye on the arena, but as far as he was concerned, this battle was done. He certainly wasn’t expecting what happened next.

  “Computer, turn off the speaker. Frag, I’m going to need you to lock that door.”