The new duet

The way up was a slow and silent one. But not awkwardly silent, as no small-talk could compare with the sights they were privy to at the moment. For most of them, this was the cleanest, emptiest, and shiniest lift they had ever taken in their life, and they savored it while it lasted. 

Both Angie and Marc stared at different parts of the County's middle layer as if to snap a final image of it in their mind. The girl looked at a dilapidated living block, where thousands of people spent whatever free time they had in the only spot they called home. 

Marc's point of reference was harder to place down, hidden among the factories and offices, but there was one shining spot among them, from the top of a tower surrounded by empty parts of the land, untouched by the overbuilding of the megacity. 

Savan seemed content to just shift their gaze from one to another, with a warm smile for the two.

With each new layer they passed through, everything shrank in size but became more lavish than the preceding one. Buildings kept getting tinier and tinier, with Angie confused by how "could a group could live in such a cramped space?" The number of symmetrical cybernetic enhanced people also increased, but there were a few oddities among them.

Some spandex-wearing cases had no mechanical parts on the outside, but it was clear that their bodies were heavily modified. They changed their aspect on the fly, with many transitioning from muscular physic into a slim or obese ones at the drop of a hat.

-“Huh”, remarked Marc. “I read that it might be possible to do that with special drugs or enhancements, but I never figured that it was available on the market”.

-” What isn’t?”, asked Savan. “The body morphing thing? Never saw it on the products list, so I’m guessing that it’s available only here. But does the spandex costume come as a package deal, or do you have to get it separately?”, Savan asked, scratching their bald head, but the problem intrigued only them. 

In another tens of minutes, the elevator finally arrived at the tipping point of the journey, and so were Marc's and Angie’s nerves. At the exit bip, both seemed prepared to say some words to the man in charge, but, unfortunately, the man considered a short temper highly likely, so he left a middle man to wait for the three. 

Standing at a height of two and a half meters, a metallic humanoid was staring them down, as if it waited for them to come out. The figure was bulky, with massive robotic pauldrons on each side, and the rest of the body covered in Carolina blue armor. To go along with the motif, his left arm had a hefty, but rusty shield attached to it. 

The robot was knight-like in appearance, but an old one, who had a rusty plate that had seen wars, and battles. Its colors were also washed up in multiple places, and the shield had visible signs of scratches, dents, and discoloration all over it.

Once again, Savan was the first one to step out of the elevator, straight towards the massive golem. “Hi”, they said, apparently without fear and with their usual fern smile. “My name is Savan Forg and I was invited here. Are youu, areee....our chaperone?” they asked with a small pause at the end.

The figure shifts its almost featureless face and stares with two yellowed circles through a visor at the clopy. The circles blink in rapid succession to do a body scan Savan. After that, they did the same for the other two, who were still waiting in the elevator. “Confirmed”, it added quickly, while switching to a friendlier manner of interacting with the guests.

-” Hello patient 8 Savan Forg, patient 6 Angie the miner and Marchou…Marhos”

-” Ok, got it. Action- Open library and use Replace function- Subject: M-A-R-C-H-O-S - Spelling- M-A-R-C-O-S”, huffed the young boy. “Ugh…the h...the h is silent''.

-” Confirmed…and shared”, replied the robot.

-” Thank you”, yelled back Marc.

-” I am C.T.D 8 for this year's race, designation Vivar, and I will serve with Savan Forg in the challenges. A pleasure to meet you all, partner and mortal rivals", he said in a monotone, but gravel cadence. The C.E was downright giddy and over-excited at his answer, while Angie was swearing a lot under her breath, and Marc tried to keep a normal, non-shaking pose. 

The C.T.D tried afterward to act as a friendly tour guide, presenting them the labs, what purpose each room had, etc, on so forth for the next ten or so spaces.

-” So, Vivar”, asked Angie in a wobbly tone, “how come only you waited for us, and mine and Marc C.T.D partner did not?”

-” This is actually not standard procedure. I was asked by the director of this facility to do it since no one else was available to greet you and show you around. You will meet your partners soon, after a meeting with the director. In the meantime, how would you rate my touring routine so far?”

-” Satisfactory”, answered with gusto in their voice Savan, giving him two thumbs up. “For your first time doing it, you are simply knocking it out of the park buddy.”

-” Thank you. Noted. Could you give it in the form of a number, though?”

-----

A few hours later, the group is called in through the speakers by a tired, gravelly old man.

-“ That's the director, so I guess that concludes half of the tour. We can finish the rest later”, to which only Savan enthusiastically bobbled their head up and down. Vivar then pressed a button on the side of the wall, which spawned a floating platform from underneath the floor. 

-“ Please, hop on board. This will get us to our destination faster”. Angie and Marc's wanted to huff in fury but were too tired to do it. And they knew that it would fall on deaf ears most likely.

 On the way, Savan tried to make small talk with the robot, asking him multiple questions about his origins, functionalities, and connections, to which he responded in brief answers:

 “1. Unknown, the first point of the registry is in a redacted building. 2. Unknown while other competitors are present. 3. Unknown, all personnel data is expunged after some period.”

-” I see. Regarding my first question, does that mean that it’s possible that you have another point of origin?”, to which all three of them slowly turned towards the C.E. Both Angie and Marc never wondered much about the C.T.Ds. They thought of the robots only as “ Custom Transmogrified Drone- machines with limited A.I, that follow most of their partners' orders and act as guardian protectors”- as mentioned in all of their online descriptions.

Vivar tilted his head a bit while keeping visual contact with Savan's wide-eyed face, and waited a few seconds before answering: “Unknown”, after which he kept radio silence for any other questions.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------

Two metallic, hangar-sized doors open for the floating platform, with surprisingly no noise or drag, they just slide by with swiftness and gentleness. You would expect a giant room in a working facility to be noisy, and filled with people, but it had only robotic arms coming out of walls, roof, and floor. 

They would move around, transporting different pieces and parts, tapping away on cushioned buttons and silent keyboards. The only stationary devices were pods filled with people in a frozen state.  Each one had a screen above, which showed their actions from a first-person perspective in a virtual laboratory. 

-“VR White-hats?”, blurted Marc as they passed by them. 

At the end of their ride waitet for them the only active person in the whole place, a lanky old man, who at first glance you could tell was overworked. While his hair was colorful and long, it was unkempt and greasy, and his clothes were stained from all the drinks he probably had.

-” Welcome”, he tried to say under a big sigh. “Thank you for bringing them here, Nr 8. You can leave us for now.”

Vivar acknowledged his demand and called for another platform to take him. Savan tried to say goodbye, to which the robot only briefly responded back and left.

-” Huh, someone is in a foul mood today”, noticed the old man. “Whatever. So, Marc, Angie and clone. As you can see, busy is my middle name and I don’t want to spend any more time with any of you. This facility will be your home and test center for the next 3 weeks. We have to keep you here, and I’m getting to it mask-girl, in top shape. Why? Because the Brands are investing in all of you, so no buts or anything. We will feed you, test your vitals and keep you safe”. 

The director was unwilling to give them any leeway for questions and sounded prepared for any they might have, as wiggled his finger anytime they opened their mouths.

-“ You will also share your rooms with your C.T.D’s, so ask them anything you want, learn all you can about them because sometimes survival will depend on how you will use each other. And yes, C.E, while it isn’t advertised as a deadly contest, we all have seen the games, don’t waste my time. Just download this file with the basic rules.”

-” Oh, yes, I already sensed that about the R.O.C. I actually wanted to ask you something else, director”.

-” My time should be more important than that of a  C.E", he blurted under his breath -"but you are also a participant, so go ahead, ask”.

-” Since I am a clo…C.E, would any enhancements or prosthetics work for me? I mean, would they harmonize with my…organism?”

The director was either bit surprised, or just didn’t have the energy to hide it, and it took him a few moments to form a truthful answer.

-“Huh. Didn’t expect an actual question from a clone, to be honest. Well, why not? To be frank, you are limited in your choices. Most of the cybernetics that would...harmonize with your body, would also do it with a human. So unless you get the first two places in each round, you won’t have the option to choose. Which in turn means that it would be a Russian roulette if the remaining ‘prizes’ won’t…uhh…take a liking to you.”

-” It shouldn’t be that much of an issue, right?”, asked Marc in return. “ I mean, Savan could just refuse if they want to do the operation then”, at which the director had his first smile and laugh since they met.

-“Boy, you can’t say no. Read the rules, once you are in a clinic, you can’t leave it without a part on your body, even if it has to be grafted onto you.”