The next morning, the arena announcer laughed when Kai walked onto the field alone. "Renton with no Fuzor? You forfeit?"

Then it moved. One strike. Clean, precise, and merciful. Both enemy Zoids powered down, pilots unharmed.

"Most say it's a myth," his mechanic, Lola, said, handing him a tool she knew he wouldn't use. "A normal link to a forbidden program? That’s like finding a honest politician in the Red Desert."

"No sketchy file size. No password," Kai muttered. "This is either the real thing, or a virus that'll brick my entire hangar."