The brothers stepped off the street and back onto the sidewalk. A glowing holotraffic sign above them was blinking some warning to the vehicles zipping along the street and then changed to allow traffic to continue. The scientist stopped before them and looked up at the building that stretched up into the sky before them. They did too. There was an arching holo-sign in real time on the side of the building along with one on their HUDs, both announcing that they had arrived at Towerview Center.

“Made up for those lost robots, huh Rick?” Rocky had a smile from ear to pointy ear.

Wolton had led them to a repossession center where they had been short-changed severely on the market value of the cybernetics that they arrived with on account of them not having the required credentials for licensed repossession agents. Technically they were not allowed to sell to members of the community that lacked the proper credentials, but their cargo had been far too valuable for the center to pass up. A whole cyborg agent had enough parts to create an entirely new agent, which could potentially make them hundreds of thousands of credits a year alone. In the end they walked away with less than they should have at about fifty thousand, but it was much more than when they had walked in with.

“I’m not complaining.” Ricky replied. “Though the whole situation was not something I want to remember fondly.”

“Well a complete set of MK-Gorgon armor costs around twenty-five, so we could almost afford all of us to finally have real battle armor.”

“I prefer the Neptune Five.” Rocco said. “It’s supposed to have better protection and also I heard that the Gorgon’s life support smells funny inside.”

“Where did you hear that? We don’t know anyone that has enough money to afford armor.”

“I read it on the Titan-Net.”

Rocky gave him a suspicious look. “You read something? Are you sure it wasn’t a holo-book?”

Rocco smiled back. “I like to keep up with the current trends in weapons and armor. It’s a hobby.”

“The Neptune is Twenty-eight.” Rocky was looking up the prices while they spoke. “But also considered illegal here in Kallerish. In fact, it looks like most armor is outlawed in Gothamir.”

“What did that cyborg have on?” Ricky mused while looking something up of his own.

“I think that was the Fortuna-Twelve series.” Rocco answered.

“How much does that cost?”

“Those are pricey, equipped with shields and everything. I think they go for around ninety thousand.” Rocky replied while looking it up. “According to this, I found some used for eighty, new it goes for ninety-six.”

“Damn.” Ricky replied absently while continuing his search through the cyber world.

“Yeah, toldya mate, pricey.”

“No. We got ripped off even more than I thought.”

“Crap, I didn’t even think to barter for the armor.”

“We didn’t check him for weapons either.” Wolton eased into the conversation. “Reapers make a lot of money for Bio-Dynamics. Think about it, why sell a product once when you can continuously harvest and sell the same thing? I hear most of those guys are insanely rich.”

“Fancy that.” Ricky stopped what he was doing suddenly. “If that poor sod had shields on that armor, why didn’t he use them?”

“The nutter must have been so confident of his abilities he didn’t think he needed them.” Rocco posited. “How wrong he was.”

“Those types of shields mostly don’t work for hand-to-hand combat anyway. They mostly block out objects traveling at high velocity, bullets and such.” Wolton explained.

“He was confident ‘till he met us!” Rocco smiled at his brothers, who smiled back.

Ricky stopped at the front gates of the Astro building and looked back.

“We’re here. What now?”

“I sent an E-message to one of my contacts a while ago. He said to come up to the fifty-first floor and meet him at the Sportatorium.”

“Residents only, how do we get in?” Rocky pointed at a sign next to the door.

“He extended an invitation.” Wolton brought up a holodisplay and began punching in a series of codes he received. After nearly a minute of cyber gymnastics came a piecing claxon and the doors began to open with a loud pneumatic hiss It took nearly two minutes for the massive tons of steel to move aside. Once they were in, the doors began to close.

The entryway was surprisingly small and looked more like a decontamination room inside of a starship. They continued through a narrow pathway lit by red lights until they reached another door, this one was normal sized. Wolton had to punch in a series of numbers on a keypad next to the door, which finally opened to let them through. On the other side, light assailed their eyes immediately after being in the dimly lit cramped corridor.

Ahead of them was a huge lobby of sorts, lined with gardens and some type of AstroTurf. There was a line of gift shops, a massive welcome center and several mag-lift elevators lined the outer rim. There were other places they could make out further ahead, but those would have to remain a mystery for now, the travelers moved towards a mag lift and stepped aboard.

The mag lift was a cramped little cylindrical room with a seat lining the rim. After boarding, Wolton punched an old-fashioned button on the wall to instruct the lift to take them to floor fifty-one. A pair of white neon framed doors closed, and the lift began its ascent. Once at the top the doors opened again with a pleasant bell noise.

“I wish I could find a lav-room this fancy.” Rocco said while stepping out.

“It wouldn’t stay that way after you were in there.” Rocky laughed while following him out.

“They outta make ‘em with those bright lights like that.”

“No! Are you daft? Make ‘em dark. Why would you want a brightly lit lav-room?” Rocky replied.

Rocco shrugged his large shoulders. “I like to see what I’m doing.”

“Well if you’re anything like you are with a handgun, you’d probably miss the target by a mile.”

“Fuck those little popguns anyway.” Rocco snorted. “I don’t want to impress my enemies with how well I can aim a toy, I want to utterly demolish them, blow ‘em away.”

“Both of you shut up. The nav I pulled up says the Sportatorium is over this way.” Ricky said while pushing his way to the lead.

They were now in a row of apartment flats and began passing little porches on both sides of the hallway. In some areas, children played out on these stoops or ran through the halls, in others, Titans assembled in dangerous looking gatherings. These tenement towers were known for breeding gangs which would sometimes go to war with other gangs. All three brothers kept their guns out as they walked, and they noticed, despite the strict gun control laws enforced by the Empire, they were not alone in this endeavor.

The group made it through the labyrinth of tenement hallways and eventually found themselves passing a line of windows and a door that led to an outdoor patio area. There were picnic tables and a few goalhoop baskets. For the occasional pickup game and some good old-fashioned outdoor exercise. Ricky gazed out across the city landscape as he passed the windows, marveling at the view. Thousands of holo-ads displayed in real space, some of them truly gigantic across the city, stretching as far as the eye could see. Several different model drones passed over the city, the small fist-sized camera drones to the near airplane sized ones that carried munitions.

At the end of the hall was a large holo-sign that read “Sportatorium”. Making their way to the end of the hallway and passing a few Titan females coming out of the place, they opened the doors and stepped inside. Inside the area was a confusing cavalcade of sections and activities. There were goalhoop courts, VR holo-decks which could be programmed to any season or environment, scoreball squares, and boxing booths.

Rocco looked around him in awe at all the different methods in which he could challenge his abilities and potentially defeat other people. He smiled wide.

“This is brilliant!” He laughed at the sight of a Titan in a nearby section being hit in the face by a ball. “I think I could move in here.”

“I’d like to figure out how those holo-decks work.” Rocky replied while watching one thoughtfully. “I have an idea for a nightclub or a resort that I think would be worth a lot of credits.”

“Entertainment is limited to Zenith Corp approved topics only.” Wolton replied. “Whatever you are imagining would be shot down quickly. There are places in space though…”

“I heard about the clubs in the Cyclo asteroid belt.”

“And don’t forget the moons on Ios.”

“Well as soon as we can get together enough money, we’re getting’ the hell off this bloody rock.” Ricky said. “Maybe we can go there first.”

“Wolton!” Came a shout from across one of the courts. A smaller sized Felid came trotting over.

“Hagar!”

The two Titans embraced, and the three brothers watched uncomfortably. Strong displays of emotion were not in their usual forte.

“Hagar, this is the three Gunrock natives that saved my life and got me here. These are some truly heroic Titans.”

The smaller Felid was a white and black Catus, who nodded his appreciation in their direction. “I heard you fellows took on the Zenith bots when they showed up at Marshall Industries. It’s been all over the net-news channels.”

“We aren’t looking to be heroes.” Ricky replied.

“Well you are, to some people.” He looked around cautiously for a moment and then motioned for the others to follow him.

Halen led them back towards the mag-lifts which took them all the way back to floor 34. When they stepped out of the lifts, they realized that the lower stories were considered the neglected slums of these AstroBlocs. All the freshest air came from above, and all the garbage from the entire population trickled below. Here there were no magnificent vistas or patios to enjoy, here were only slums where people did what they had to do to survive.

The brothers’ acted as bodyguards instinctually and surrounded the pair in the middle as they traveled. Halen seemed to pay no mind to their dangerous surroundings, nor the many Titans who were gazing at them with hungry eyes as they passed. Maybe he had lived among these Titans for most of his life. Maybe he was one of these Titans.

“Eyes open boys. I don’t trust this guy.” Ricky used the EEG thought to speech into their private channel

“Come to think of it, I don’t trust Wolton either. What kind of scientist works against Zenith Corp?” Rocky replied. “Compared to these people he had it all in Kinnade Square. Why would he trade all that? What did he stand to gain?”

“I don’t know. Maybe some kind of revolutionary fantasy.”

“Of what? Overthrowing Zenith Corp? They control the banks, they control the media, they control the entire global water supply.”

“Some people can’t listen to reason, it’s like poison to them, innit? I guess if there was some other option out there, I’d agree it might be better than what’s here now, but there isn’t an alternative to Zenith Corp.”

Halen led them all into one of the many slum apartments with bars on the windows. The inside was sparse with furniture or amenities, and Ricky and Rocky exchanged a puzzled look as they crossed the mostly empty living space and towards a closet in the back room. Once there, Halen stopped for a moment before opening the sliding door. He smiled and pulled it open.

To everyone’s surprise, the closet opened into a huge modern laboratory. Several science bots were working tirelessly on experiments while a few others were toiling over machine work. It was a huge area, worth another few apartments worth of space.

“How do you keep something like this secret in an area like this?” Wolton spoke the question that they were all thinking.

“Simple, we rent out many of the flats in this block. Most of the people in this neighborhood are with the Union, and those who aren’t are sympathizers.”

“Now that I’m here.” Wolton waggled his fingers in the air. “Let me download my research into your systems. I cannot wait to get started on production for this. I have been working three years on these blueprints. I think you’re going to be just as excited as I am.”

“Quite right, old friend, quite right.” Halen smiled and cupped the Procyon’s shoulder. “Let’s begin at once!”

* * * *

After a nap, the three brothers decided to go out on the town while the scientists went to work. They had been extended an invitation to stay for a few days and it was something they had to think about first. Wolton had been excited for the trio to meet this Titan and that Titan and so many Titans inside this organization that he had risked his very life for. On one hand it seemed like these were genuine Titans, who would sacrifice for the good of others. On the other hand, it seemed like this pair had some agenda.

“I know what it is.” Rocky mused in the mag-lift on the way back down. “This whole lot of theirs seems like it’s made up of scientists and historians and a mess of intellectuals, but very few actual fighters. As I’m sure Rocco would agree, a war was never won by a group of philosophers.”

Rocco snorted.

“Yeah, you know, I think you’re on to something.” Ricky agreed. “I think the only reason they are giving us the King’s treatment is because they want to recruit us to fight some crackpot rebellion for them.”

“Which, just to be clear we’re all on the same page, we are not doing?” Rocky asked.

“We’re not?” Rocco scratched his chin as the lift stopped on the bottom floor and the doors opened.

The other two gave him puzzled looks as they made their way through the doors and towards the entrance way they had come in through.

“I should’ve known you would consider it. If brains were glycerin gel you couldn’t blow your nose.” Rocky laughed.

“Shut up tosser.” Rocco snapped at his much smaller brother who was in fact, the skinniest among them. “All I’m saying is the guys have some good points. The corporations have run Titan into the ground for so long now…well, someone should stand up to them. What if we weren’t going off-world but were going to stay here. Do you want to live under these bloody pissers?”

“Spoken like a true revolutionary.” Rocky returned sarcastically.

They pushed their way outside and were glad to be out in the open again, even if it was inside the crowded spaces of one of Titan’s largest cities with an artificial environment dome covering them high above. Something about the way that these Titans lived inside of these mega towers, all cramped together like vermin was not appealing to the freedom loving brothers.

“So, what do we do now?” Rocky asked.

“Good question. Let’s maybe just walk around and get a feel for the environment.” Ricky nodded.

“Stay out of trouble, you bloody monster.” Rocky pointed a finger at Rocco by his side.

“Did you ever think it’s not me who gets us into trouble? I never get a vote on where we get to go or what we get to do. So maybe it’s the places the two of you take me to and the situations you put me in.”

Ricky shrugged. Maybe the big Titan did have a point. He looked across the busy street and spotted a gathering. At the head of this gathering of Titans was a hastily thrown together stage and a flex-screen behind it. Some sort of performance looked like it was about to begin. Ricki drew his brothers’ attention and nodded in that direction.

They walked over and pushed their way into the crowd but stayed pretty far in the back by design. They listened to the conversations going on about them, as the Titans waited for whatever was about to happen to happen. As they stood among them, they began to notice that the other Titans did not interact as much as they expected. In fact, they barely seemed to notice each other at all. Only a few conversations cropped up that they could hear, and all of them were perfunctory and lacked any imagination.

A street performer came onto the little stage and addressed the crowd. He said his name was Jardan the Storyteller, and some of the people cheered as though his name meant something. Maybe he was famous. He began telling a series of humorous stories that he accentuated with the flex screen behind him. At times, the screen would turn into backgrounds that made his stories immersive, other times they would flash certain images or videos at the right times to draw a laugh from the crowd. He also used a holographic pop up to great effect.

The little one-Titan street performance drew some added attention from passers-by and the crowd eventually doubled. At that point it also drew attention from a small squad of Trade Alliance robotic security units, along with a few Zenith Corp soldiers, dressed in their black and white uniforms. They did not stop the show, but they did bring out some scanners and the Titan soldiers began directing the robots to scan members of the crowd.

The group of soldiers began making a scene, one that at first only the people in the back of the crowd noticed, but it began spreading up through the rows of Titans all the way to the stage. They had taken a few civilians into custody for tax violations. A few more for previous warrants. The truth with those scanners was that they could scan a person’s entire financial situation, their net worth and debt, and past records and could even scan most people’s personal net-comms. With so much information at their disposal with the push of a button, the truth was, that they could probably take just about anybody they wanted into custody, at any time they chose.

The brothers were moving away from the authorities as they made their way through the crowd in their direction. They were about to make a break for it and head off the opposite direction towards one of the alleys, knowing full well they could not afford to be scanned by one of those devices. That is when the performer on stage got involved.

“Ladies and gentletitans, we have some incredibly special guests in the audience tonight. Can I address your attention please?” Jardan waved his hand in their direction, and the crowd turned to follow the gesture. “We have elite members of Zenith Corp’s finest along with the best robotic soldiers TechCore Inc can assemble. They’ve come out this evening to harass, fine and kidnap peaceful Titans. Ladies and gentletitans let’s give it up for these true heroes of Titan!”

This began a mocking ovation from those assembled, and scowls from the soldiers. What the brothers had noted earlier as a rather passive audience was now growing raucous. The soldiers scowled and one pointed to the stage.

“Mock us one more time and we will arrest you, fool.”

“No, you have me all wrong.” Jardan put his hands up in a show of innocence. “I’m a Zenith supporter through and through and just wanted to give credit where it’s due, in fact…”

Jardan smiled wide and played to the crowd, as if a mind-blowing idea had just come to him. “In fact, why don’t you three come up here and we can do a skit together. Or we can sing a song, whatever you like.”

This seemed to take the soldiers off-guard for a moment. None of them seemed to have a sense of humor or imagination. In fact, the one that had threatened him now just held up a gloved fist.

“Come on, what are you waiting for, the people want it!” He began wiggling his fingers at the crowd, prompting them to cheer, which they did loudly. It appeared as though even more people had now joined the scene then there was even a few minutes ago. “Oh, but that’s right, I forgot you can’t. You see people, the rank and file of Zenith Corp do not have a sense of humor, or any creativity, or any true skills. They can’t sing a song or play an instrument or build or create anything useful… the only thing they can do is rob their fellow Titans and put them in prisons. There are nearly five hundred in a detention center just an hour away from us now! We could all be next!”

Ricky’s eyes squinted at the Titan on stage. What started as a rather entertaining little show was now beginning to look a lot to his eyes as a staged event to incite feelings of hostility towards Zenith Corp. Was this Jardan bloke really a storyteller and entertainer, or an agitator?

“That’s it! Arrest that Titan!” The soldier said, pointing at the little stage.

Jardan seemed to have already accepted his fate with a grin playing across his face. He quietly kneeled with his hands on the back of his head. The crowd seemed incensed at this turn of events. As one of the robots slapped a pair of N-telli-cuffs on the performer, the jeers grew louder, and some blunt object flew through the crowd and struck the arresting security unit. It did not seem to notice but the soldiers did. Their egos flared mightily and one of them bellowed a command for everyone to now be arrested.

Another object hit one of the soldiers at that point and that’s when things turned violent fast. He pulled out a duty-pistol and issued a command to the robot on stage.

“Attack them!” Unlike a Titan soldier, the robot did not question the validity or morality of his orders. It pulled out a service rifle and leveled it at the crowd. It was simply programmed to follow orders.

There was a loud burst from the crowd, and the combat drone fell to the stage smoking from bullet holes. Most of the crowd began to scatter. Rocco looked over at his older brother Rocky, who stood with his smoking M1 Axiom machine pistol next to him. He was beginning to level it at another robot as the bots began to scan the crowd and pinpoint where the sudden threat had come from. They would identify the threat quickly.

“I thought I was the one who got us into trouble.” Rocco said, pulling out his batons with a smile. “I’m glad you’re finally seeing the light, wanker.”

Rocky smiled back. And then opened fire.