Machine Story

Trust

David, Niall and Roop were running at full speed towards the palace. They weren’t too far away as they could see the large building within sight. As they turned the corner on the street, something popped out of the floor, causing Niall to trip over and fall on his stomach. Roop and David quickly assisted Niall up from his fall.

When they turned around to see what Niall tripped on, they saw the sewer lid on the ground pop up. Out of the sewers appeared Shaan, Mya and Anaya who had just escaped the palace. Roop, Shaan and David were glad to see each other again. Mya introduced Anaya to everyone, letting everyone know that she was a super quiet person.

With everyone reunited, David wondered what their next plan of action would be. Mya let them know that the Queen was in danger and rescuing her was top priority. When asked for the whereabouts of the queen, Mya wasn’t sure but she suspected that Councilor Shen had her locked up in one of the dungeons in the city.

After Shen's name was brought up, Niall found it the most opportune time to ask, “So who is this Councilor Shen person exactly?” Mya explained that he was one of the council members that was brought to help the queen make decisions that would be best for the city. However, Councilor Shen had proven to be a traitor. Not receiving the answer he was looking for, Niall rephrased the question, “That’s not what I meant, what I’m asking is what is your relationship to the man named Shen?”

The question caught Mya by surprise as she wasn’t sure how to respond. Before anything else was said, Shaan stepped in, “Whoa Niall, what is the meaning of this?” Niall explained what happened to him, David and Roop back at the inn. How each of them fought off assassination attempts on their life and how David managed to recovered the smoke bombs used by their attackers. David held out the smoke bombs for Shaan to see and he didn’t want to believe it, but the symbol on it was the exact same as the ones Mya had used.

All eyes were now on Mya; Shaan refused to believe that she was their enemy, David and Roop weren’t sure, but Niall was convinced. It was clear they weren’t going to progress any further until this issue was solved, so Mya decided to speak.

She revealed how she didn’t always grow up in the palace. In fact, she actually grew up in the slums of Corrinth. The conditions in the area were filthy as they were never kept clean. It was the poorest and most unsanitary place in the entire city. People did whatever they could to survive, even if it meant stealing or brute force.

One day, Mya grew extremely weak and was unable to obtain food on her own. There was no one that would help her, as everyone in such a place was out to fend for themselves. However, there was a man who passed by that acknowledged the girl, Shen. He saw potential in her because of her ability to survive in such a harsh environment. He took her in and had her trained by a high league of assassins.

Overtime, Mya became one of the top students in her class and Shen rose through the rankings to become a council member. With his new position in the palace, Shen knew he would have new enemies and entrusted Mya as his personal body guard to eliminate anyone who threatened to oppose him. He even warned her that the Queen could be a potential enemy in the future.

Initially Mya saw everyone in the palace except Shen as her enemy but overtime she was won over by Queen Samiya’s kindness. Growing up she was raised to believe that all rich people were terrible people who cared nothing except for money and power. But Mya never felt that around Queen Samiya who was always very kind and welcoming to her even though she was just a bodyguard.

Overtime, they built a friendship and Mya saw how the queen really cared for people, not just the rich. When the Metadross threatened to invade, the queen stood in the frontlines negotiating terms with Sibleon. She didn’t want to forfeit any more lives in another invasion but she was also wise enough to know surrendering was not the solution.

Seeing her valor, Mya changed her values and no longer wanted any part of the assassin lifestyle. She swore to help the queen battle against the Metadross or any threat against Corrinth.

After finishing what she had to say, Roop and David were content with her answer but Niall wasn’t ready to concede just yet. He drew out his blade and challenged Mya to a battle. Shaan was completely against the idea but Mya accepted, realizing that Niall would not be satisfied with any more words. She stepped forward and for the first time, she revealed her weapons, two switch blades.

The two faced off in a quiet alley way while everyone else stood on the rooftops to watch the fight. Before the battle began, Roop quietly made his way towards David and tapped him on the shoulder, “Pst, David!” David turned his head away from the fighters. “How about a wager, loser buys dinner, are you in?”

David was in disbelief, he couldn’t believe Roop was thinking about wagering at a time like this. “Come on, be a good sport, I know Shaan isn’t going to take this bet and Anaya can’t even speak, it would be no fun. You get the first pick...” Feeling somewhat bad for Roop, David decided to partake in his game. Thinking Roop would vouch for his teammate, David selected Niall and immediately apologized to Roop.

“Perfect! I was going to pick Mya!” Roop said ecstatically. Once again David was flabbergasted, he asked why he would choose Mya over Niall. “Probability! My systems ran multiple simulations and according to what my program says Mya has a 70% chance to come out on top. You just can’t argue against those numbers!”

After hearing Roop’s excitement, Shaan walked over to ask them what they were talking about. Roop was startled before slowly turning to Shaan and nervously telling him that David and him weren’t discussing anything important. With the fight starting soon, Shaan decided not to interrogate Roop further while David put his hand over his forehand to cover his face in shame.

With both their weapons drawn, Niall and Mya waited at opposite ends of the battlefield to see who would make the first move. As the tension built up, they both grew impatient and charged towards each other simultaneously. When Niall swung his weapon, it parried against the two that Mya held. Stuck in a deadlock, they both pushed each other back to gain some distance.

Immediately after backing up, Mya threw one of her blades directly at Niall. With more than enough time to react, Niall deflected the throwing object with his sword. Knowing full well Niall would easily block the initial attack, Mya dashed at her target while he was still distracted. But Niall was quick, shortly after deflecting the attack, he saw Mya incoming and was prepared to swing his blade from his right to left.

When Mya was within striking distance, Niall swung his sword but missed. Mya slipped through under Niall’s legs and appeared behind him. Niall’s back was completely vulnerable and Mya could end the fight right here. She landed a kick against Niall’s hip before striking his back with her switchblade.

However, the kick allowed enough time to Niall to reorient his sword to block Mya’s weapon. He then let out a yell and forcefully pushed her away. Mya was sent a fair distance away but she managed to hold her ground and stay on her feet. Unfortunately, the other half of her weapon was on the opposite side of the battlefield.

Knowing she couldn’t win the fight without her other weapon, she dashed her way to the other side. Niall noticed her plan, but instead of intercepting, he waited for the most opportunistic time to strike. He held his sword tightly in his left hand, closed his eyes and began to control his breathing.

Mya was a couple feet away from her weapon and she reached with her left arm to retrieve it. Suddenly, Niall was spinning around like a whirlwind at an alarming speed. He was like a human tornado and he was headed straight for Mya. Seeing the oncoming attack, Mya held up both her weapons, hoping to block it.

Her weapons were in perfect blocking formation but Niall’s attack was too fierce. Mya lost her two weapons from the gale force of the attack. Then the handle of Niall’s sword struck Mya in her ribs. She fell to her knees and as she tried to gather her strength back up, she was met with Niall’s blade staring a few inches from her face. Both of them stood still for a moment, as did Shaan, Roop, and David. They weren’t sure what to do but someone jumped in between Niall’s sword and Mya.

Anaya stood with her arms out acting as a shield to protect Mya. Niall commanded her to step aside, but she stood her ground and would not move an inch. David, Roop and Shaan, looked intently to see how it would all play out. Niall lifted up his sword high in the air and swung it downward causing Anaya to close her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw that she was unharmed as was Mya. Niall had sheathed his sword and walked away.

Anaya was able to relax as Mya gave her a massive hug for what she did. Shaan quickly slid down to make sure both of them were unharmed. They both assured him that Niall didn’t harm them at all. Shaan felt embarrassed and apologized for what Niall had done but Mya interjected. “It's okay, he never meant to injure anyone during our battle.”

Shaan was extremely confused as he clearly saw Niall use his strongest attack. “Right before he struck me with his weapon, he reoriented his weapon and hit me with the hilt of his sword.” Upon hearing that, Shaan let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

As Roop and David were sliding down the rooftops, they were arguing over who was the victor of the fight. “Clearly Niall won, he had his blade ready to strike! That’s a win for me!” David pointed out. “He never landed the finishing blow, and Mya never officially surrendered.” Roop argued.

When they both caught up to Niall, they asked him for clarification of the result of the fight. Niall looked at them both and told them that Mya probably should have won the battle. David’s jaw dropped and Roop suddenly cracked a smile. “Wait, wait, wait,what do you mean?” David asked nervously.

“When I had my back completely exposed, she had an opportunity to strike me immediately with both her blades. That would have severely injured me and put the battle in her favour entirely. But instead she kicked me and gave me a chance to recover. If it weren’t for that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to use my attack.” Niall explained with honesty. Upon hearing what Niall said, they decided that the deal was a draw.