“A Novai? Are you crazy? Am I the only sane one here?!” Himchan yelled, kicking over a chair by the table. Hyosung flinched and motioned one of the guards to wait outside. She knew the commander wouldn’t be too happy upon hearing his General’s plan.

“It’s the only way we can isolate Bi and force him to back down. Even better if he’s not around anymore to pose further threat to us.”

“You don’t understand. He could die. He will die!”

“I find your lack of faith disturbing, Himchan. Don’t you think he at least stands a pretty good chance?”

“No, he doesn’t have a chance. He’s wounded. He’s wounded and he’s going to be in a k’thraaing Novai!”

“On the contrary, I think holding a Novai gives both General Bang and the rest of your squad a better chance of survival.”

“Have you ever been in one?”

“No.”

“Have you ever seen one?”

“…No.”

“Then you don’t know!” He tugged on his hair, once again pacing around the room in restless circles. “It’s just you and your enemy in a Novai. Just you, your enemy, and three weapons of your choosing. Any weapon knocked out of the arena stays out and any form taken before entering is kept. There is no shifting, no lifelines, nothing. Just you and death. And he’s wounded, no less! You know what happens when you get three hits? You get a freebie. Which means your opponent could decapitate you at your consent if he wanted!”

“He’s got Youngjae and Daehyun if anything goes wrong. Even Zelo-“

“He doesn’t get outside help! No one is allowed to help him! If anyone other than Bang Yongguk steps even a toe inside the arena, the opponent wins and the terms are nullified.”

Hyosung seemed shocked, but quickly regained her composure and crossed her arms. She gave Himchan an even look. “He can shift out of his skin suit before he enters. The military has given him all the necessary enhancements to make his victory more possible.”

Himchan’s growl turned into a feral yell. A vase went crashing to the floor and a table overturned at an angry swipe of his hand. All three rows of teeth bared, he the new governor. “You don’t know Yongguk.”

“Then enlighten me, please.” Even though she wanted nothing more than to have the Commander sedated, she felt the least she could do was humour him a little.

“He hates his Matokian form. He hates everything the military has done to it. He feels artificial, it’s why he never changes. Surely you noticed something.”

Hyosung seemed a little stunned. “Well, I-“

“Besides, he’s too much of a traditionalist to change. He’d rather look like an Earthling on Earth. It doesn’t mean he’ll fight like one, but if he dies on Earth, it’ll be looking like a human. Always fitting in with his environment! Bi obviously has no problem with shifting. Yongguk’s dead meat. And I know you were the one to suggest meeting Bi one on one. Congratulations, Miss Governor – you’ve killed my General.” Himchan spat. He knocked over another breakable object and stormed into his apartment bedroom, leaving an exasperated Hyosung by the door.

She tugged at her hair. She just needed a little more time. The council was so close to accepting her proposal, but the familiar guilty feeling was tugging at both her hearts now. Still, if Yongguk was the necessary sacrifice to save her planet, it had to be done. As much as she didn’t want it, it was her duty to think of her people first.

Yongguk ignored the blank stares Jae and Dae were giving him. He focused instead on reactivating Zelo, a task proving more difficult than it should be. It took him nearly a day to piece the attack robot back together. He’d only just told the other two of his plans to draw out Bi.

Daehyun sighed and shook his head in disbelief. “You’re serious about this? It’s practically a suicide mission, sir.”

“It has to be done, Daehyun.”

“Then let one of us do it.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“He won’t come for you,” Yongguk looked at them for the first time in a few hours. He felt like he was being punched in the gut when he saw their faces – disbelief, rage, sorrow – all of it was on them like a mask. “I’m serious.”

“If we can’t dissuade you,” Youngjae stood up from his chair at the controls. “What can we do to help?”

“Find Bi. Get a message to him. Tell him I’m challenging him to a Novai tomorrow. The prize is the planet.”

“Yes sir.” Youngjae exchanged a look with Daehyun and sat back at the mainframe, tapping away at screens in search of a signal.

“Daehyun, get me the three best weapons you can think of. Something that won’t fly out of my hand on contact with something solid, yeah?”

The boy looked conflicted. He locked gazes with his General, warring him while fighting himself. The look in his leader’s eyes made him cave. “Yes sir. I think I have some here.”

“Great,” Yongguk went back to Zelo, tapping a few more keys before closing the panel shut. It welded in place with a soft noise. “Zelo?”

“Yes sir?” Zelo’s blue eyes blinked open. He shot up into a sitting position and looked over his shoulder at a smiling Bang.

“Good, you’re alive. Youngjae, mind downloading our plans into Zell’s database? I need to go find something.”

“Of course, sir.”

Satisfied, Yongguk gave Zelo a single pat on his back. He strode out of the room, letting the door close with a final hiss. Youngjae opened another screen and began typing their plans and outcome statistics. His jaw was set as he read over the data before sending them to Zelo’s internal computer. “These numbers don’t look good, Dae.”

“Since when have the numbers ever worked in our favour?” He scoffed, polishing a long hunting knife with his shirt.

Zelo’s arm twitched, his fingers curling and uncurling. He blinked furiously a few times, his eyes stinging. He hissed lowly as every artificial muscle in his muscle contracted painfully and released. Youngjae glanced back at the robot.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Probably just an activation procedure?”

Zelo’s head shot up to meet Youngjae’s gaze before he shut them in a spasm. Youngjae gave Daehyun an uneasy look. “His eyes were blue before.”

“So?”

“They look black now.”

Daehyun’s brows furrowed in confusion. He whistled to draw Zelo’s attention, eyes widening when he confirmed Jae’s observation. “I’ll go get Bang. Maybe a circuit’s loose or something…” He cautiously sidestepped the now calm robot and headed for the door. He almost made it, too.

His hand had barely brushed the metal of the control panel when Zelo grabbed his shirt and slammed him into the wall. Daehyun gripped furiously at the hand suspending him off the ground. Zelo simply smirked and raised the hunting knife to the boy’s neck, pressing it into the skin.

Youngjae was on his feet in an instant, chords swinging dangerously from the back of is neck.

“Zelo! Put him down!”

“No. This is too much fun.” Zelo smiled, pressing the steel closer.

Daehyun tried not to swallow. “What’s wrong with you? Put me down.”

The door slid open. Bang’s eyes widened and darted from the three in the room, absolute bewilderment evident in his expression. “What’s going on?”

“General!” Youngjae yelled, moving with the intention of crossing the room. The chords ripped out of their plugs with a sickening sound and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Zelo snorted. “Well that makes things easier. Hello, General. Come to order me around some more?”

“Zelo, release him… please.” Yongguk tried to bite back the sarcasm in his voice.

“Why should I?”

“I’ll give you several reasons – he is your squad mate, and I am your General. As your ranking officer I command you to drop him.”

Zelo’s hand was shaking. He grit his teeth, trying to fight against every circuit screaming at him to obey. Eventually, they won out. He dropped Daehyun and whirled on Bang. “Happy now?”

“What’s your problem?”

“You’re my problem!” He screamed, advancing until Yongguk was backed into the conference table. He wasn’t afraid to get in his General’s face, sneering. “You’re all my problem. You treat me like a lesser being. Like I’m some kind of tool. It makes me sick!”

“Zelo, we don’t-“

“Shut up!” The boy snarled. He gripped the lapels of Yongguk’s shirt, all but hoisting him off the ground. “Shut up! I may have organs and muscles and two hearts like you but they’re all artificial. To you, I’m just a fake,” He dropped Yongguk roughly, backing away towards the door. “I want to actually be treated like a Matokian. I don’t want to be some thing you can just put on standby or shut down on a whim! It’s not right! Do me a favour as my creator – treat me like I actually exist.”

Bang watched as Zelo picked up Daehyun’s hunting knife and headed for the ship’s ramp. He shook himself out of his stupor and meant to chase him, but Zelo was already facing him, knife pointed at his throat.

“Don’t even think about trying to ‘fix’ me. There’s nothing to fix.”

“Where are you going?”

“Out.” He snarled. He made sure to kick over a box of supplies on his way off the ship. Yongguk was frozen in place, only able to watch as he lost sight of Zelo. Daehyun cautiously approached him, straightening out his shirt.

“He said ‘it’s not right.’ That was moral judgment talking, Bang. I thought you said you never equipped him with a morality function.”

“I didn’t.”

“Then what the hell was that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe some Visi poison reacted with his circuitry or I put something back together wrong… I don’t know. I’m not sure I want to find out, either.”

“So you’re just going to let him leave? He’s dangerous on his own.”

Yongguk set his jaw grimly and turned his back on the exit ramp. “Wake up Youngjae. We’ve got a job to do.”