Steel Dragon

Mei Mei left the arena with her head down, the VR helmet tight on her arm. The sound of the laughter was still echoing inside, as if it hadn't ended. She walked without hurry, feeling each step like an extra weight.

In the parking lot, the pickup waited like a quiet dog. Mei Mei opened the door, threw the helmet on the passenger seat and stayed for a while, looking at the old dashboard of the car. The glass was all foggy. She wiped it with her hand, just to be able to see her own face reflected — red eyes, hair stuck to her forehead from so much sweat.

On the phone, the messages started to come nonstop. First, just group notifications. Then, memes. Photos of Chun-Li fallen, montages of it slipping, short videos with funny music. All shared, everyone laughing. She pressed the button to turn off the sound, but it was impossible to ignore.

Kazuo sent a video message, holding the phone to his face, showing his friends laughing behind.

"You're viral, huh, Steel Girl! Congratulations for the show. The whole world is watching!"

Mei Mei closed the app, erased the video without watching till the end. Didn't want to see, didn't want to hear anything. She took a deep breath, looked out the car window, saw the rain start to fall slowly, those thick drops that stuck to the glass and left a trail. The car system beeped with a yellow warning: "Acid rain detected. Attention: high risk."

She didn't even move, just closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think about something else. But it was impossible. She could only remember the laughs, the judge shaking his head, Chun-Li's arm locking in the middle of the track. Every detail stuck to her memory.

After a few minutes, Mei Mei started the car, which made a bad noise before starting. The engine coughed, but worked. She put on the seat belt, adjusted the seat, turned on the windshield wiper. The sound of the rain was loud, like a drum beating. The smell that came in was of burnt metal mixed with smoke.

The way home seemed longer than before. The street was empty, just a few neon lights passing fast in the window. A patrol drone passed flying, throwing white light on top of the pickup. The car panel warned not to stop in the rain, risk to paint and health.

Mei Mei didn't care. Went ahead, passing through wet streets, not paying attention to anything except the sound of the car and her own breathing. At every corner, there was a tournament advertising sign. The faces of the other pilots, all smiling, appeared giant on the screens. Her name wasn't anywhere.

The car radio turned on by itself, playing a sports bulletin. The presenter's voice was excited, talking about the champions of the day, the best robots, the pilots the crowd liked most. No word about her. No word about Chun-Li.

The GPS was blinking, asking to recalculate the route, but Mei Mei ignored. She knew the way home with her eyes closed. The car went through a deep puddle, the water hit hard on the side, splashed up to the roof. For a moment, she thought the car was going to stop, but it kept going.

More messages came to the phone. People she didn't even know tagging her in posts, memes, videos. She turned off the device and threw it on the back seat.

After almost half an hour, Mei Mei saw from afar the gate of the workshop. Red lights blinking. The acid rain was falling harder, just for a change.

Mei Mei stopped the car in front of the gate. Got out fast, raised the hood of the jacket to protect herself from the rain. The ground was slippery, the rain hit hard. When she looked at the gate, her stomach hurt: they had spray-painted "FAILURE" in big letters, bright red.

She stood still, feeling the world spin slowly. Hugged the VR helmet tight, squeezing so much that she almost broke the already cracked visor. Looked at the houses around, all with the lights off. It looked like she was there alone in the world.

Entered the workshop in silence. Inside, everything was dark, only a weak light coming from a lantern on the table. Grandpa was sleeping sitting in a chair, covered by a thin blanket. Mei Mei closed the door, took off the wet coat, hung it on a hook. Walked slowly to the table, put down the helmet carefully. The sound echoed in the empty space.

Sat by the table, arms resting on her lap, head down. Her hand trembled a little. Didn't know if it was anger, sadness or just tiredness. Just wanted to disappear from there.

Grandpa woke up slowly, opening his eyes slowly. Looked at Mei Mei, tried to smile, but coughed. The voice came out low, but full of affection.

"You're back, my girl. Did you get here safe?"

She nodded, unable to speak. Grandpa got up from the chair, went to her, put his warm hand on her shoulder.

"Today was hard, right? But life is like that. Tomorrow you try again."

Mei Mei squeezed her eyes so she wouldn't cry. Picked up the helmet, turned to Grandpa, showed the cracked visor.

"Sorry, grandpa. I tried. But everything broke."

Grandpa sat next to her, pulled the blanket, hugged Mei Mei from the side. His hand trembled, but it was firm.

"No one wins all, Mei. The important thing is not to stop. You were brave. That's worth more than winning."

She took a deep breath. The silence between them was long, but not bad. The sound of the acid rain hitting the roof stayed strong.

Mei Mei looked at Grandpa, trying to smile.

"I wanted to disappear, grandpa. Everybody laughed. Everybody saw me falling."

Grandpa passed his hand on her head, messing up her hair.

"Who laughs today forgets tomorrow. What matters is what you do after."

She laughed, without wanting, but it was sincere. Stayed like that for a while, just listening to the noise of the world outside. Then got up, went to the window. Outside, the word "FAILURE" was still shining red on the door. The whole ground wet, the rain never stopped.

Mei Mei kept looking at the gate. "I won't give up, grandpa. I swear."

Grandpa smiled, his eyes shining. "I know. Tomorrow we start again."

Mei Mei closed her eyes, felt a tear fall, but didn't wipe it. Just stood still, listening to the world outside, knowing everything could get worse or better. But she wasn't going to back down. Wasn't going to disappear.

Later, before sleeping, picked up a pen and drew something that looked like a dragon on the broken helmet. Just a symbol to remember it was still possible to dream.

And so she stayed, hugging the helmet, listening to Grandpa breathing, feeling she still had strength. Even with the world against, she was still there.