[center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjk2LjFjNjMzZC5TRzl5YVhwdmJpQlNhV1JsY2cuNA/pirulen.rg-regular.webp[/img][/center]
[b]Interactions:[/b] Two Strangers
[right][code]World Fighting Carnival - Maintenance Room[/code][/right]

Right now all the other fighters were celebrating and cooling off from the first batch of intense matches, back in the reception room. A few sulked off to parts unknown, too cool for sharing the same hall with their fellow round one winners.

Horizon Rider, on the other hand, sat in a small maintenance garage. One among dozens that had been bought out by Horizon for the event and placed under heavy security, if for any reason it stood out from any of the other identical storage sheds in the halls beneath the stadium. A small group of scientists made busy work in the garage-turned lab, focusing all their efforts on the restrained and sedated SYM-24. 

Despite their best effort to make an effortless show in the first round, their debut match wasn't [i]as[/i] effortless as the false Rider had made it seem. While any actual damage was superficial, their shoddy robot opponent still managed to deal some damage to the unit's armor and outer carapace. Damage that, unlike with most Nomads, couldn't heal with a short breather and a quick meal. Several plates of armor-like shell had been replaced and set aside. Replacement shells had been set into place, and were currently being drilled back in with metal bolts. The creature made no response. Despite being biological in nature, the unit was essentially offline. They also output [i]way[/i] too much energy in the killing blow, and their reserve Ki was now well below three-fourths. A metal tube attached to their back, channeling raw extracted energy into them.

Secondly, SYM-24's back head was now wide open. The mechanical integration was fully exposed, and being manipulated and repaired by a scientist very gingerly pressing metal shock rods and relocating various parts. While the first match was a resounding success, it definitely overstepped boundaries, both damaging the arena and coming within a hairs width of killing a bystander. Now the engineers were busy on reworking his 'inhibitor unit', limiting how much he would do without proper activity. 

In the middle of the wretched miracle of science, sat the two spectators from earlier. They hadn't done any actual work on the model, the hulkingly tall one simply sitting and whetting a massive blade in his hand, while the other fidgeted with the sleeve of her strange jacket. 

"That was way too close of a call, even for the Fighting Carnival", the shorter woman said, "If butchering people in the crowd was an option we could've just sent you," 

"Aww, don't make me blush. How goes the half-time show?" the man responded.

The woman had a direct feed of the Reception Room a few floors above them. Again, it was a colorful storm as all the various Nomads -- The ones that hadn't been weeded out of course -- Intermingled and recovering. Her little birdie showed her quite the scene; There was a commotion at the bar, and a tall figure in a trenchcoat manhandling a small woman by the staff she held. The tall one, she had a bad feeling of... Something about them was definitely off. Mechanical, yet trying to conceal themselves in some way. Never let down by a hunch before, she started quietly through Horizon's reports and access. It might take a bit, but she had the feeling she had seen something like that somewhere before...