By dawn, the pictures were all over Newcast and Wow2: a shattered mech lying in the Sector 8 street, seemingly having fallen out of the sky. A mech beyond repair and recognition.
Marvin refused to look at the pictures at first, but once he began forming his own image, he realized he had no choice. The truth didn't help, but it didn't make his thoughts get any worse. Instead, they were redirected to what-ifs.
What if I didn't tell him "I don't know?" What if I didn't talk to him at all at Grace's lab? What if I never interrupted his transference?
He thought about the fall, too. He imagined himself hurtling towards the city streets, not even able to feel that vertigo in his stomach. He imagined his thrusters unfolding and igniting, yet still unable to save him.
None of his friends seemed to know how to react to what had happened. Even Ben remained silent save for the occasional curse under his breath. There was a change in how they looked at Marvin: a mix of pity and fear, frustratingly ironic given that Caroline had been the one to see Sunwoo fall. Yet even Caroline's first reaction had been to hold him back from the roof's edge.
She was in her room, now, with Ben and Renee. Marvin wanted to say something—he couldn't imagine what it was like to see Sunwoo jump—but he was too shaken. Besides, it was better to leave the consoling to the people who knew her the best.
Still, he couldn't say he was happy with how his friends distanced themselves from him the longer the night dragged on. Not just Ben and Renee, but Ella and Ishaan, too. It was like they were scared that saying the wrong thing would set him off.
Do they really think I'll end my own life?
But that implied he already accepted that his thrusters wouldn't activate. And what did that entail? That he wasn't human?
It's not a good measure, he reminded himself like a broken record.
When the horizon borders first began simulating daylight, Marvin and Amir were the only ones awake. Amir had turned his back on Marvin, having sat down in the dining room, so Marvin walked onto the balcony and stared blankly at the skyline, trying to make sense of how far up he was. He felt no desire to jump. Maybe there was an intrusive thought somewhere deep down, but didn't understand how someone could actually do it. That was good, right?
He wondered if Sunwoo had been contemplating it beforehand, if there needed to be other factors other than the question of humanity. Always being in his sister's shadow, pressures of being a pilot, being under constant scrutiny due to his ties with Ainsel… Perhaps Saeyung's betrayal had been the final push, not the sole cause.
"Marvin!"
A concerned Amir hurried to his side, peered over the railing, then looked at him sympathetically.
"Sorry."
"It's okay," Marvin said, taking a step back. The police chief's eyes were sunken and his cheeks were hollow, as if three nights had passed instead of one. He had looked nowhere near this a few hours ago.
"You alright?" Amir asked.
"Yeah." It was an automatic response. "Are you?"
"I'm holding up."
They went quiet. Mavin wanted to ask about Sunwoo. He knew the two men had worked on the Sector 8 murder cases, but he couldn't gauge how close they'd been.
But he didn't know Amir well, and this wasn't the time to be—
No. Just ask. It's what anyone else would do.
"Were you and Sunwoo close?"
Amir leaned towards the balcony railing. "Not really. But he was very involved during the investigation. Helped me a ton. After I dropped the case we got lunch a few times." He sighed. "I don't know if he knew what his sister was doing. Even if he did, he didn't deserve this."
Marvin nodded. The horizon lights slowly enveloped the skyscrapers and refracted into his cameras. It didn't sting his eyes like it used to. Did he even remember what pain felt like?
I'm sorry, Sunwoo, he thought. Sorry for letting Saeyung upload him, sorry for rescuing him, sorry for not getting to the roof in time, sorry for registering pity in his mind but being unable to feel that twist in his stomach.
"Do you think he's in a better place?" Marvin asked, to his own surprise. He suddenly felt like a child.
"Yes," Amir said.
Marvin nodded again, though an unease seeped into his circuits. Maybe he already got there when his human body died.
-----
They still met with James Kobayashi that morning. They congregated in a warehouse on the edge of the river, the vast, dark room lit only by the neon plasma rifles held by three Inspectors. James sat at a small metal table, and Amir sat across from him while Marvin and his teammates remained standing. Kobayashi was unreadable, but the respect he had for Amir was clear. He barely interrupted as the chief told their story and showed him Marvin's recording. However, his brow furrowed when they brought up Sunwoo.
"I'm sorry, but it's rather convenient that he's no longer with us, isn't it?"
"He killed himself as a direct result of what Saeyung did," Amir said.
"Under your watch. Don't tell me he had contradicting info."
"He was losing his memories. Saeyung was killing him," Amir snapped. "Don't act like he's just another piece of evidence."
"We're talking about lines of code—"
"If he was just lines of code, why did he do it?"
James leaned back in his small, metal chair and massaged his neck. "Whatever. Anyways, it's reasonable to conclude from those recordings that Saeyung experimented on Sunwoo without his consent. We'll make sure Ainsel faces consequences."
"There's more than that," Amir said. "The murder victims—they were actually suicides, and all of them were enrolled in Ainsel's first round trials. If—"
"I don't do speculations, Amir."
"You think Sunwoo was a one-time occurrence?"
"Until we have further evidence—"
"Even if it's not true, how do you think the public will react when they see that recording? Will anyone think Saeyung just had a slip into insanity?"
James crossed his arms. "You want us to investigate Ainsel. You, who went through all that effort to infiltrate their lab because you wouldn't get your own department to do it."
"No, I know investigating them is going to be legal hell. I'm proposing a clean sweep of their lab. In and out. With enough Inspectors we can do it before Ainsel figures out you don't have a warrant."
James' eyes sparked with excitement, not at all put off by the blatant violation of the law. Then again, his Inspection was the law. It was overseen by Hosaka Chairs, but it was still the government's only physical enforcement.
"This only works if we find something," he said.
"You know we will. You'll be saved years of trouble, James."
"This sets a dangerous precedent regardless."
"Letting Ainsel get away does, too," Amir said.
The Inspector let the offer linger between them. He chewed the inside of his cheek, then began flipping on and off the safety of his plasma rifle. Marvin wasn't sure if he was in deep thought or just wasting time.
At length James put his elbows on the table with a loud thud. "I need you to be able to take the fall. Not us." He gestured to Caroline. "You're going to pilot Sabersong. We'll bring Sparrow. If things go well, the mechs will clear the path and we'll get all the evidence we need. If things go south, we'll say Sabersong infiltrated the lab and we chased you out."
Amir frowned. "At least you're honest."
"Do we have a deal?"
Amir exchanged looks with Caroline, then Marvin. Marvin was more than willing to go back into the lab if it meant bringing Saeyung to justice. Caroline conveyed that sentiment with a small nod.
So Amir turned back to James and shook his hand.
-----
Within the next two days, Hosaka froze Ainsel AI as an entity, meaning they could not distribute any products and especially could not employ their own mercenaries. Inspectors had been deployed to watch Renee's apartment, but Marvin didn't feel much safer, especially with the impending mission ahead of him. The clean sweep, which had taken 48 hours to prepare, would happen in less than thirty minutes. It would involve Sabersong, Sparrow, Amir, James, and sixty other Inspectors.
"You could let Caroline pilot a prototype. You don't have to keep putting your life on the line," Amir told Marvin as he was equipping his exoskeleton. They stood by themselves in Renee's living room, Marvin towering over Amir in his mech body. The others were in an empty apartment, protected by Inspectors.
Marvin replied that he would feel much better beside Amir than if he were holed up in Renee's apartment. He didn't dare think he was indestructible, but he was by far the best suited for combat.
"Why are you doing this?" Marvin asked Amir.
"Ainsel can't think they're invincible. If they're behind the suicides in this Sector, someone has to bring them to justice."
Why must it be you? Are you that righteous, or is there another reason?
A more confident Marvin would've asked that, but this version of him remained silent.
"I've been meaning to ask, Marvin," Amir continued, clipping an armpiece in place. "What were you doing at the Memory Bank?"
Marvin turned to him in surprise. "When?"
"A few weeks ago. You and Ella."
Shit, there's no use pretending. Amir's tone didn't sound accusatory, and they still had a mission to do.
"I wanted to check Caroline's memories. We couldn't access them." Marvin shifted awkwardly. Obviously we couldn't.
"You think Caroline was involved in your death?"
Marvin made sure not to nod. "Or she knows something about Ainsel. I dunno."
"And what did you find?" Amir lowered his voice, but it didn't get any more threatening. "Be honest."
Marvin shook his head. "We didn't have access," he repeated.
Amir backed away. "I'm asking you now because, in the case that we find something in Ainsel related to Caroline…" He glanced at her bedroom door. "Don't let it change your perception of her. She probably doesn't remember whatever it is."
Marvin stared incredulously. "Do you expect to find something?"
"No. But just in case."
"I… Okay."
"Thank you." Amir turned around and headed for the front door. Marvin hesitated a moment, then took a couple of long strides to catch up.
"Did you know she moved her memories?" he asked.
Amir stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "She moved them?"
"They weren't there."
Amir pursed his lips and didn't quite meet Marvin's cameras. "I doubt she knows." Then he resumed walking.