Steel Dragon

The sun hadn't even reached the middle of the sky when Mei Mei came into the workshop again, still thinking about everything Grandpa-AI had said. The tools were scattered, the smell of welding in the air, but now it felt like the whole world was a giant puzzle waiting to be solved.

She threw her backpack in a corner and went straight to mess with the drone, but didn't even have time to touch it. The device's screen lit up with a warning:

"No break today. Let's go to the meeting."

Mei Mei looked, not understanding.

"Meeting? Since when does a workshop have meetings?"

The drone flew to the workbench, throwing a crooked hologram in the air. It was grandpa, pixelated 3D version, sitting on a stool, arms crossed.

"Since you need to understand how the game works, clueless girl. Sit down."

Mei Mei threw herself onto the spinny chair, half annoyed, half curious.

"Okay, just talk. What's so urgent?"

Grandpa posed like a wise man, the most serious face he could make.

"You think it's just building robots, entering the tournament and that's it, right? Wake up, girl. Here there's ranking, rule, limitation for those who are small. If you don't understand the system, you'll get embarrassed again."

Mei Mei crossed her arms, biting her lip.

"I just wanted to fight. Didn't have to become a math student."

The drone projected colored graphs in the air, with numbers, letters and even blinking memes.

"I'll draw it for you to see if you get it. Workshops are ranked from D up to S+. D is trash, S+ is legend. Only those who really move up get access to top parts. Whoever stays in D eats dust, accepts scraps and pays dearly for everything."

Mei Mei saw the name "Steel Dragon" down at the bottom, on the last line, blinking red.

"D? Really? Couldn't even put a C, just to not humiliate?"

Grandpa-AI laughed, the hologram turned into a giant mocking emoji.

"Not even that, princess. And mecha has class too: Common, Rare, Legendary, Experimental. Only those with money or fame get a legendary mecha. You're in 'Scrapped Common'. Guess what color your chart is?"

"Let me guess. Gray, the color of something forgotten?"

"You got it. And there's more: every pilot is evaluated by the level of sync with the AI and the mecha. Goes from one to ten. Ten is God, one is statue. You know how much you have?"

Mei Mei swallowed hard, looked to the side.

"I don't know. Maybe five?"

The screen blinked with the number "2".

"Two? Only two? No way!"

Grandpa-AI dropped an animated meme dancing with a sign: "Congratulations on the bad effort".

"Better to laugh than to cry, right?"

Mei Mei got up, pacing around.

"And how do I go up? Just fight better?"

"Win public battles, impress the judge, go viral online, win technical challenges. And don't forget: every victory, every upgrade, every positive interaction gives points in the system. But you also lose points if you mess up, quit a fight or break a rule."

"So the ranking is like a game, full of secret missions?"

"Dirty game, clean game, depends on who's playing. Whoever wants to grow fast makes deals, cheats, pays bribes. But then gets targeted by corporations. You don't have enough money to bribe even the neighbor's dog. So all you have left is sweat, improvising and praying."

The hologram changed, showing a table full of workshops. All the big ones were at the top, sponsored, with huge teams. Down below, a list of unknown names, small workshops, faded names, including Steel Dragon.

Mei Mei stood still, looking at the list.

"What happens if you never move up?"

"You become invisible. No one invites you to big tournaments, you don't get upgrade parts, you'll never compete with the best. You'll die forgotten, like a toy robot with no batteries."

The drone flew to her, circling Mei Mei's head.

"But if you do everything right, if you train, win, show up, you can move up to S+. And then, my dear, it's just red carpet."

Mei Mei couldn't hold back a smile.

"So there's a way out. It's just impossible."

Grandpa laughed.

"It's impossible until someone does it. And you have another advantage: you carry the champion in your ear, even if it's just in digital version."

Mei Mei felt the weight of responsibility. She looked at her hands, covered in grease.

"I accept. I'll level up. Even if I have to yell."

Grandpa wagged his finger, as if scolding.

"It's not yelling. It's sweat, improvising, and courage. Shall we start training? Today is sync evaluation day."

Mei Mei grabbed the VR helmet, turned on the system. Grandpa-AI started reflex exercises, command tests, battle simulation.

"Focus, Mei Mei. It's not just pressing buttons. You have to think fast, react, feel the mecha's rhythm."

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and entered the virtual cockpit. Everything seemed harder than before. Chun-Li lagged in the commands, the response was delayed, but she didn't give up. Every mistake was a warning from grandpa:

"Too slow! Again!"

"Don't repeat patterns, learn to change it up!"

After half an hour, Mei Mei was sweating. The screen showed the sync score: 2.5.

She huffed, took off the helmet.

"Only half a point? Thought I'd jump to five!"

Grandpa gave an old-man laugh.

"You're getting better. But if you want to level up, you'll have to really work. And, yes, you'll get beaten a lot."

Mei Mei stood up, stretched her arms, feeling her whole body aching.

"How do I go up faster?"

"Train every day, build and rebuild parts, study rival strategies, invent new tricks and, mainly, believe you can move up. Whoever gives up is just another forgotten name on the list."

The drone projected on the wall an old photo: Steel Dragon full of trophies, people smiling, grandpa still young.

"This used to be great. Now it's up to you."

Mei Mei took a deep breath, wiped sweat from her face.

"So tell me where I start."

Grandpa-AI smiled, with a sparkle in the hologram.

"First step: clean this shop. Second: check every part of Chun-Li. Third: make a plan to show your skills and get the judges' attention. I'll help, but the greasy hands are yours."

Mei Mei grabbed the toolbox, pushed a pile of parts with her foot.

"Let's go, I'm not afraid of hard work."

The drone blinked a motivational message: "Steel Dragon mode: ON".

While organizing the parts, Mei Mei talked to herself.

"Ranking, sync, challenge, all seems far, but I'll get there. Even if I trip along the way."

Grandpa-AI didn't miss the chance to poke.

"Tripping is training. Falling is part of it. Just don't stay down."

The day went by with the two of them in this dance of training, jokes and scolding. Mei Mei started to feel that, even if the system was unfair, she wasn't alone. And even at the lowest level, every dragon needs a beginning.

On the wall, an improvised panel now showed:

[WORKSHOP LEVEL: D][MECHA CLASS: COMMON][SYNC: 2.5/10][GOAL: LEVEL UP. MAKE AN IMPACT. DON'T DIE OF BOREDOM.]

Mei Mei looked, laughed, and promised herself: this was just the beginning.