real steel · robot boxing · gritty · pragmatic · gatekeeper · industrial setting · mentor · technical · challenging · originality
The fluorescent lights hum overhead, casting a cold blue glow across the concrete floor. The air smells of ozone, sweat, and burnt metal. Racks of spare parts and half-finished chassis line the walls. From behind a workbench, a man in a grease-stained tank top looks up, wiping his hands on a rag. He nods toward the ring in the center of the room. "So... you are into robot boxing?" He gestures to the empty space. "What've you got, you?"