3
Chapter Seven
Powder slowly woke, lying on something soft, but firm; warm, but not hot; someone having turned a lamp on nearby, and a strong one at that.
Tightening her arms, she felt a weirdly shaped pillow, one that smelled of flowers, and felt like...
Her eyes flew open, and then shut again, the bright light hurting as she turned around, still holding onto the... rabbit?
Then all at once, she remembered, and clutched it, the last thing that Vi had given her before, before, before she'd abandoned her.
Powder wanted to throw it away, to tear it apart, but all she could do was hug it tight, and cry.
Eventually, she stopped, no more tears left, and, sniffling, looked around.
The room was... bright.
Clean.
Weird.
Sitting up, the sheets dropping away, she shivered a little, the air a cool, in a way it'd never been back home, and slowly got out of the bed, one bigger than she'd ever had, and nicer.
Looking around the room, she spotted her carrying case, a piece of paper folded on top of it, covered in neat handwriting.
She hesitantly picked it up, reading it, though she stumbled over a few of the words.
Powder,
I'm sorry I can't be there when you wake up, but I have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. This room is yours, as is everything in it. You are my guest, and as such under my protection, per the Rite of Hospitality. Please use the bathroom (blue door) to clean yourself off, change into clean clothes from the dresser (below this note), and come down to the kitchen (turn right, down the stairs, turn left, the area with the sinks and tables). I'll make breakfast if I'm still here, and, if I had to leave, I'll leave you another note with more information. Take your time, as, while I need to hurry, you are safe here.
-Your friend, Jayce Talis
"Jayce Talis," she repeated, not quite believing this was real.
She wanted to believe this was a lie.
A trick.
A trap.
Things like this didn't happen outside of stories.
And they didn't happen to people like her.
Especially after she, after she...
She could remember Claggor's cracked, bloody goggles.
The look in Vi's eyes.
Vander's...
Vander's...
I don't blame you, Powder.
The man's, Jayce's, words came back to her.
She didn't want to believe them.
Of course he blamed her!
Violet had blamed her!
But...
But she couldn't ignore it.
Just as she remembered him saying that this was somewhere safe, even though she didn't know where this even was.
And people lied!
People could be wrong!
But... was he?
She moved to the window, which looked outside, at trees, and birds, and an ocean that wasn't cloudy, and murky, and a dozen colors swirling together, but was a clear blue-green she'd never seen before, with patterns of white that danced along... was that the bottom?
Moving to the window, Powder pressed up against it, only for it to give way.
Oh no! she panicked. I broke it!
Only the glass, so clean you couldn't see it, just swung out, opening, letting a warm breeze blow in, the air so crisp it almost hurt to breathe, and she just stood there, watching.
Eventually, she moved to the blue door, opening it into the fanciest bathroom she'd ever seen, experimentally turning the knobs and levers, getting both hot and cold water, and it was just as clear, as clean, as the air, as the room, as the waters outside.
Even the soaps were nice, not stinging her skin, or her eyes.
Hesitantly, she dried herself off, even the towel soft, and going to the dresser, she just opened it, and stared.
That was a lot of clothes.
In colors, and styles, and all in her size and...
This was hers?
Had, had Jayce planned this?
How could he?
Why would he?
None of this made any sense!
Powder shook a little, the room starting to spin, her head hurting, but grit her teeth, closing her hands into fists.
She wasn't going to get answers just staying in her room!
Even if she wanted to.
... So, right, clothes.
Those pants, and those socks, and she had a new pairs of shoes?
More than one pair of shoes?
Okay, those, and that shirt had clouds on it, which looked nice, and... and these clothes were really nice, and...
She was ready.
Powder didn't move.
She grabbed the rabbit.
Okay, now she was ready.
Carefully, she opened the door, into a clean hallway, with more doorways.
Were they all bedrooms?
Moving to another one, across from hers, she tried to turn the knob, which turned, opening into an even bigger bedroom, the sheets messy.
Was this his room?
Slowly closing the door, she went down the hall, then down the stairs, the space... wide.
Where are the walls? Powder wondered, walking the way the note had said.
There were outside walls, but the rooms weren't really rooms, just... spaces.
Seeing the kitchen, she vaguely remembered it, remembering crying, and warm, strong arms, and the best thing she'd ever tasted.
Hurrying over to the table, she looked around, but there was no note.
No Jayce.
Nothing.
"Good," a man's voice called, tired, but happy, and her head snapped around. "You're looking better."
Jayce came walking in, wearing a simple shirt, damp with sweat, fingers black with grime, and he smiled to her. "I'm sure you have questions, and I'll do my best to answer them, but I have to leave in half an hour for work. I'd call in sick, but," he winked, "first day, and first impressions, you know?"
Powder didn't, but she nodded anyways, trying to think of what questions to ask, as Jayce moved to a sink, washing off his hands with water, then grabbing a cup and drinking it, which just made her stare.
"Uh, is that okay?" she questioned, worried for him, because only really drunk people did that, and he paused, looking confused, as she hesitantly pointed to the cup.
He looked at her, then the cup, then back to her, before he laughed, but not at her, or it didn't seem like he was.
"Yeah, the filtration system works for the whole house. Here," he told her, grabbing another clear glass cup, filling it, and sliding it over to her. "Have some."
She looked at it skeptically, but he was drinking it, so she took a sip and it tasted like... nothing?
Another sip, and nothing, so she licked the glass, which tasted like glass, so it wasn't her, it was just... tasteless?
How could water be tasteless?
"Honestly, I expected you to be bursting with questions," Jayce smiled which was, he was teasing her, right?
He glanced at her, frowning slightly, and she started to worry she'd done something wrong. "Hey, you okay?" he asked.
Powder nodded, relieved.
He was just teasing her.
Trying to think of a question, because that's what he wanted, she finally asked, "Where are we?"
"Another world," he answered easily, and she stared, as he took a few pans out, starting to cook. Holding up an egg, he directed her to, "Imagine that this is the world," and she nodded, trying to do that, as he grabbed a grain of salt, holding it up next to the egg.
"This is where we are right now," he said, tapping the grain, "But we can go back to Runeterra." He pressed the piece of salt to the egg, "and then leave," he pulled the salt away.
"But the planet is a lot bigger than the egg, and this a lot smaller, so, to make sure we don't get lost," he dropped the grain of salt, catching it, "We need to go back to the exact same place we left." Pressing the salt on the egg, he dragged it across the shell, "But if we move on Runeterra, and then leave, we go back to that place instead."
And once more, he pulled the salt away from the egg. "Get it?"
She thought she did, but... "How?"
Cracking the world, he dropped the insides into the sizzling pan, tossing their own little world into the clear fluid with it. "No idea," he shrugged. "Magic, but not. When I understand it, I'll explain it to you."
"Are, are you a Mage?" Powder asked.
She'd heard Mages were strong, and Jayce seemed strong, and he'd just said this place was Magic, so-
He laughed, shaking his head. "No, no I'm not. I just have a few... let's call them artifacts. No, I can't use Magic directly, but what I can do is make devices that let other people use Magic. Or I will, soon. Most of my work right now has been theoretical, you saw the diagrams and calculations in my workshop," he smiled, though Powder felt something inside her wilt.
His workshop, which she'd destroyed.
Just like she destroyed everything.
She sniffed, holding her rabbit, stammering, "I-I'm sorry. I-"
And he was there, leaning down, next to her, reassuring her, "Hey, it's okay, Powder. I don't blame you for that. You didn't know, and you're still a child."
He put an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into it, feeling kind of like Violet did.
Violet.
She pushed the thought of her sister out of her head.
Vi had abandoned her, and she wasn't Powder's sister any longer.
She didn't need her!
She, she had Jayce!
Jayce cared!
But it still hurt so much.
She smelled smoke, and her body tightened up, as she looked up, in panic.
The world was on fire!
Because of her!
She ruined everything!
But Jayce just gave her a comforting squeeze and stood up, walking over to the pan, and tossed the blackened, smoking egg, what was left of the world, into the trash, and pulled out another one. "We've got more," he smiled, cracking it and starting anew. "Don't worry."
Powder nodded, sniffling, and resolved not to ask any more questions.
...
One more question.
"Why me?"
He glanced at her, hands seemingly moving on their own as he quickly added strips of meat and pieces of bread to more pans. "Because you were only trying to help," he answered her, simply, not like he was throwing the words in her face, but, but like he agreed with her.
"Because Vander was a good man, and such goodness should be rewarded," he kept going, and all she could think of was her father's body.
His corpse.
Twisted.
Ugly.
Because of her.
"And," Jayce said, a note of hardness entering his voice, capturing her attention, "When people do what is easy over what is right, and what is comfortable over what helps, everything will only get worse." He sighed, looking over to her. "I think you're a good person, Powder. You made mistakes, but you did your best, and it wasn't enough, but sometimes even your best isn't enough. That's where people like me can come in, to offer that extra help you need, to become even better, so that, next time, it is."
She didn't say anything else, thinking about that, blinking in surprise when a plate was put down in front of her, another one to her side, where Jayce sat, with a mug full of a dark, earthy smelling drink, steam rising from its top.
Following his lead, she took a bite of the egg, and had to close her eyes at the taste, better than anything she'd had before, except maybe the soup last night.
"Is the food Magic?" she asked, and he laughed, shaking his head.
"No, I'm just a good cook, and I have access to good ingredients," he told her, taking a sip of the drink, and sighing.
They were both silent as they ate, Powder feeling more hungry then she ever had, until they were both done, and she leaned back, full, warm, and feeling a little sleepy.
Then, she heard a ringing noise, which came from a glowing stone, that Jayce pulled from his pocket, colors shifting as he quickly tapped it, revealing the glowing numbers of... a clock? It was kind of big, but flat, so where did the gears go?
And how did it make the colors?
Jayce tapped it again, the glowing shapes changing, into first a list, then a map, then another list, then, oh, she saw her name on it!
Leaning over, she tried to read it, but it was gone as his thumb danced along the flat surface, the entire thing going dark a moment later, and she looked up, to see Jayce staring back at her, amused.
"How does that work?" she asked, tiredness gone. "Is it Chemtech?"
"No, it's..." he trailed off. "Actually, I'm not sure. I'd say it's electronics, but... it's probably more than that." He laughed, "Truth be told, I don't even know how Chemtech works. Something about chemicals that react in certain substances to make light, and heat, and kinetic energy, and maybe also electricity and..." he shrugged. "Nope! No clue."
"Really?" she questioned. "But, but..." she waved all around them. "And you had charts and stuff!"
Jayce laughed again, something Powder was coming to realize he did a lot.
But not like Mylo.
Jayce just sounded happy.
Mylo...
She felt a hand on her head, messing up her hair, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"Just because I know some things doesn't mean I know everything," he told her. "Actually, you grew up in Zaun, so you know a bit about Chemtech, right?"
"Zaun?" she asked, confused. "I'm, I'm from the Undercity."
Did he think she was from somewhere else?
Would he abandon her, because he was wrong?
No, she thought. No, he wouldn't... would he?
"Same place, different name," he smiled. "But do you know anything about Chemtech? It's okay if you don't," he quickly added.
"I... I do. A little," she admitted with a small shrug.
Jayce nodded, declaring, "Then you can teach me. And, when you've taught me all you know, we can learn together."
What?
He paused, thinking, then flicked his fingers, mist and shadows coming out of the air to form a thin black-leather booklet.
"Actually," Jayce said, opening it, and revealing a single piece of parchment within. "What does this say?"
Powder stared at it, blinking, and she saw words, slowly reading, "Certified Unicorn Tamer. Unicorns are real?" she asked, amazed.
"Everything is real, somewhere," he told her, but he seemed... disappointed?
Had she missed something?
She looked at it again, reaching out to grab it when he started to close it, and he stopped, as she looked it over.
The card was colorful, but... there was something else.
Looking at it harder, she concentrated, and the colors... flickered?
Trying to look through it, focusing on the details, Powder blinked, and suddenly it read something else.
"Provisional Hero License?" she questioned, and Jayce froze, staring at her, but he didn't seem angry, only, only interested, so she looked harder.
The card flickered again, "Noxian Officer Commission," she read, asking, "You're from Noxus?"
Jayce smirked, shaking his head no.
But then... why did he have something that said he was?
It had his name on it and everything!
Powder looked back down, focusing, as it kept changing.
"Interdimensional Travel Passport."
"Vale Huntsman License."
They started coming faster.
"Jedi Knight Accreditation."
"Death's Apprentice."
"Big Damn Hero Permit."
"Class-D Agent Jaycifer."
And then, it went blank.
And stayed blank.
"I," she froze, terrified. "I, I think I broke it. I'm sor-"
But Jayce just laughed, sweeping her up into a hug, pulling her out of the chair.
Confused, Powder hesitantly held on to him, as he whispered to her, "Want to know a secret? It's blank for me too."
Putting her back down, she just stared at him, as he flipped the booklet into the air, and it came apart into mist and shadows, just like it had appeared.
"For most people, it says what they think it'll say, or what I want it to say, to the point that no one notices anything off about it," he explained. "But for the really smart people, the geniuses, like us? We see it for what it really is."
She... she was smart?
Other people had said she was, Violet had said she was, but Vi also said she'd never leave her.
Powder had never had anyone prove it to her.
He might be lying, some dark, ugly part of her whispered, but she told it to Shut. Up.
Jayce had come for her, wanted her.
He might've had another reason, but...
If he did, she didn't care.
Jayce kept talking, "Even if you couldn't see through it, that wouldn't've made you any less to me, Powder. But if you needed a solid reason, there you go."
He stood, and she got off her stool, following him. "Now, I need to go do one of my other jobs, so I'll be gone for about ten hours. There's leftover soup in the fridge," he said, pointing at the box he'd pulled the eggs and meat from. "You can go exploring if you want, but if a door doesn't open, don't force it. There's some dangerous things around here, but nothing that will bother you if you leave it alone. In the meantime..." he trailed off, "Actually, wait right here!"
And suddenly he dashed away, so quickly she yelped a little, down a hall.
She wanted to follow, but waited, like he told her to.
A moment later he was back with a book, and a few pens.
"Here, for you to take notes in," he directed, showing her how the mechanical pens worked. "Putting your thoughts down like this helps, and..." he looked towards the rabbit, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "What's the bunny's name?"
She blinked.
What?
She looked at stuffed rabbit.
Vi's rabbit.
That didn't matter; it was hers now.
She hadn't given it a name.
Hadn't even thought of it.
"Flopsy," she decided.
Only, topsiders had fancy names, didn't they?
Like Jayce was Jayce Talis.
And... this place was way better than topside.
"Flopsy Hoppingsworth," she declared, adding, "the Third."
Jayce laughed, "Well, I'm sure... boy or girl bunny?"
"...Girl."
"Well, Ms. Hoppingsworth doesn't know how Chemtech works either, so how about you explain it to her while I'm gone, and take notes. Sound like a plan?" he asked, and she nodded, seriously.
She had something to do!
Something Jayce trusted her to do.
"Now, want to see something really cool?" he grinned, and she couldn't help but grin right back.
Chapter Eight
Entering the Academy grounds, the only reason I didn't have a spring in my step was the fact that, despite my short rest, I was still somewhat tired. The espresso had helped, though drinking an entire mug-full might have been a bit much, and it'd had to be manually 'let in', so to speak, through Body Defense, as it was technically a poison, but there was just so much more to do.
The rudimentary sea-scooter had been harder to make than I would've liked, but it'd do the job, hardy enough that the river toxins, which were an actual threat to a lot of things, wouldn't burn through the wiring. After that, well, Silco's people hadn't been armored, but, if things went wrong, the Enforcers at Stillwater Prison would be.
Between my Psychic Paper and my Siren's Song, I should be able to waltz in, grab Violet, and waltz out. But in case they didn't let me, in case Plan M wasn't enough, then armor-piercing rounds would be required, as I wasn't a good enough shot to just aim for the leather bits of their uniforms.
And if that wasn't enough?
The plastique was even now curing, a dimension away.
And Powder was... okay.
No, the girl wasn't okay, but she was better, and would be okay, in time. I still felt a little bad about my singing to her, but I didn't have the time to handle things the way I wanted to, and kept my uses of it sparse-ish, and fairly carefully worded. I hadn't even thought of having her teach me until I'd stumbled right into it, but, in my desire to not just be canon Jayce 2.0, it was, I believed, a good first step.
Chemtech was dangerous, but so was Hextech, if for different reasons, and, unlike Jayce, I didn't have his childhood conditioning to look down on it, as something dirty, lesser, and of the Undercity instead of a proper Piltovan practice. The toxicity was an issue, but I'd just need to treat it with the care I was planning on using for Hextech, akin to nuclear energy, though raw hexite was closer to nitroglycerin than uranium.
Regardless, if I could somehow mix the two, while I wasn't sure it would be exactly what Death wanted, it would certainly be a step in the right direction, and I was now keenly aware of how much favors and such were worth in the Company. Also, while Jinx used it almost nigh-exclusively for explosives and weaponry, I'd taken enough of a look at Ekko's hoverboard this morning to see that Chemtech could be used for far, far more than that, bastardizing the board's motor to turn the sea-scooter's turbine.
So I'd left, feeling pretty good about things on that front.
And Powder's expression at seeing the Portal opening?
Priceless.
Back in the present, it wasn't escaping my notice that I was attracting stares, gossip moving so fast it was practically a magic of its own, but, to be honest, I couldn't give less of a shit.
Oh, running it past the mental model, Jayce would've been preening like a prized popinjay, but these were small people, with small ideas, that would almost certainly never, ever, think of using them to better the lives of anyone but themselves. There might be a few, like Viktor, in amongst the crowd, but Heimerdinger, for all of his pure intentions, was a distant father figure, while a toxin of its own bubbled away in this bastion of academia.
Jayce had been so focused, to the point of obsession, that it hadn't stuck to him, the politicking, the positioning, the pressure to conform, but the people here cared far more about the opinions of their peers than they did for getting results, and it showed. After all, despite what an older Jayce might boast about, a 'three-percent success rate' was not a good thing, well past the point of 'not being afraid of failure' and fully into 'someone's been poisoning the fucking crops' territory.
So I noted the stares of interest, of jealousy, and of disgust that I'd somehow 'cheated' my way to success, but I cared not a whit for them, instead making my way to my new lab, getting directions from a young woman, turning down her offer of walking me there herself.
Entering, I smiled, seeing my gear and notes spread out on the tables, and Viktor, looking up from one of my journals, the man's gaze intense, and searching. "Hello, partner," I greeted, walking up to a somewhat empty table, unslinging the large duffel bag from my back as I started to pull out the extra books of notes, devices, and needed tools.
He slowly, yet purposefully, walked over, leaning on his cane, and lifted an eyebrow. "You had more?"
"Of course," I tossed over my shoulder. "And I didn't sleep much last night, so I did a bit of work." Not on this, mind you, but the more I could do to explain any fatigue away, the less anyone would assume it was me that had struck deep into The Lanes last night, and would be at Stillwater Prison today, after the sun set and I could move unseen.
"Why me?" the eastern-European-accented man questioned, after a moment, getting right to the point, and I paused my unpacking to glance his way. "You chose me. By name. Why?"
Instead of answering him directly, I questioned him in turn, "What did you think of my attempts to stabilize the hexite mana-field?"
Viktor stared, but I ignored him, continuing to unpack my gear, and my notes, thankfully having had enough time in prison that I could formally compose the thoughts needed for this gambit, allowing for the continuation of Plans M, O-S, and U, those past it requiring me to burn my bridges at the Academy, or those plans would be needed because someone else had set them ablaze.
When it became apparent I wasn't going to say more, the scientist considered the question, leaning back. "The issue is harmonics," he finally stated. "With what you have been attempting, it grounds itself, or starts to spike, buffeting the 'mana' as you call it, though that is not the word you use here," he lifted the book of notes he'd been reading, where I'd outright called it Magic, "about. Perhaps, at a higher energy state, the harmonics would balance. At least in theory."
Grabbing my prison notebook, I flipped it open to the right page and tapped the wave-form diagrams, before sliding it over to him.
I was technically stealing Viktor's own idea, from a timeline that would never now happen, but the points I was trying to make were still sound, and while I'd 'take credit' for this one, I would endeavor to be a better partner than Jayce was. I didn't know the hows of what'd happened during the timeskip, but what was now my face had been plastered on everything for Progress Day, with no mention of the other man was to be found. Jayce might not've even meant for that to happen, but, again, while the boy had a certain degree of empathy, mind you it wasn't a great degree, his loyalty was nearly non-existent.
So, not a high bar, but one I'd clear, and gladly.
"You, you had the same idea," Viktor frowned. "But your notes... No, your old notes."
"To be fair, I didn't have the idea until it blew up in my face," I smiled, taking out the last few items. "I was trying to keep things safe, not having a proper lab and all. Speaking of which, is that the containment area?" I asked, pointing towards a corner, the walls covered in thick iron plates, and the other man nodded. I grabbed a couple of metal strips from a bin, wanting to try an idea I'd had. It was basic, in the extreme, but it'd be a nice proof of concept, in line with a great deal of my plans, though M and below were the only ones still possible.
"You didn't answer my question," Viktor pressed, as I grabbed an engraving tool, a ruler, and a marker, quickly measuring distances out on the four long metal rectangles.
"Didn't I?" I pressed back, starting to carve the first glyph. They'd need to be in sequence, but tilted, the spin theoretically causing a gyroscopic effect on the energy which should help stabilize the flow, if I was right.
Which was a big if, but this was a simple application that Jayce, with his practically puerile principles, would intrinsically shy away from, but, ironically, would've come to Jinx as easy as breathing.
... I'm not sure what that said about me, but I didn't think too hard about it,
The other man frowned, watching what I was doing, before putting forward, "So, what? Just because I understood your notes, you wanted to work with me?"
I paused, finishing up the fourth offset force-blast-direction-impetus rune to look the shorter man straight in the eye.
"Yes."
It was quite amusing to watch him sputter, as I finished up one rail, grabbing the next one, marking it, and starting to carve. "It's not just that you understood it," I added, before he could respond. "It's that I saw you understanding it from the ruins of my workshop, and a few of my scattered notes, and then you came up with the solution to one of the problems that'd been bugging me for months, which was one that I needed to almost literally have a few screws knocked loose to pull my head out of my ass about."
"Most would consider loose screws to be a bad thing," the other man noted neutrally.
"Not if it's holding something in place that was blocking off a previously unknown route," I countered, which caused Viktor to frown as I finished rail two, getting the hang of this.
"I think you are mixing metaphors," he countered in turn, though there was a mote of amusement in his eyes.
"Ah, but if not for mixing, what is the meta for?" I inquired, getting a chuckle from the genius, before he shook his head, refocusing.
Moving around the table, my co-worker looked over what I was making, but was clearly having trouble making heads or tails of it, which was understandable, as it was eighty percent a project I'd made in Basic, twenty percent knowledge I'd pulled from Jayce's memories. "There surely could be others you could have chosen to help you," the other man argued, and I wondered why he was fighting me on this.
"Viktor," I sighed, grabbing rail four and glancing up, "Do you mind if I call you Viktor?"
"Go ahead," he shrugged. "It is my name. Which you knew. Somehow."
"VIktor," I repeated. "The main reason I chose you was the fact that you actually understood what you were looking at when what you were looking at was an entirely new branch of physics. That's damn impressive, and, quite frankly, I'm not sure why you keep on glossing over that."
"Professor Heimerdinger could do the same, and better," the crippled man shrugged.
"Heimerdinger is hundreds of years old," I reminded him, with a bit of annoyance, almost making a mistake, but cleaning up the rune. "'Oh no! Woe is me! I'm not some ancient Ionian smithing spirit. I better never forge a tool in my life! And, more than that, I better never try and figure out a new sword-steel mix, just because someone else could do it faster and better, but refuses to!'" I mock-opined. "Can we agree you're talented? Just this once?"
"I'll allow it," Viktor nodded imperiously. "You do not seem to hold Professor Heimerdinger in high regard."
"The man tried to have me expelled, without due cause, when I was the one who almost got blown up by a bunch of kids the Enforcers never saw breaking into my apartment," I replied dryly, finishing the last rune, four sets of five enough for what I wanted, and grabbed a correctly sized square of metal, and a drill, punching a hole through the center of it. "If you'd asked me a week ago, I'd have a different opinion," Because you'd be talking to Jayce, "but then he told me that Science is never dangerous." I glanced up, seeing the other man's confused expression. "Exactly."
"I'm sure he had his reasons," Viktor tried to argue, defending the Yordle, and, well, I could understand the desire, if not the logic, mostly because there wasn't any.
Rather than point that out, though, I nodded. "I'm sure he meant well," I lied, "But, also, not someone I'm going to follow blindly." With the hole drilled, I grabbed the engraving tool again, adding a rejection-repulsion-negation-push rune, then another, four in a circle around the hole I'd made, focal points all towards the center, finishing the last one, and looking everything over, nodding to myself as I grabbed some solder and a tool to use it.
Aligning the rails, I started to attach them to each other, the other man watching me for a long moment, finally inquiring, "What are the others?"
I attached the last rail, looking up and asking, "Others?"
"You said the main reason was that I understood your work. What are the others?" he clarified.
Grabbing the base, I told him, "Well, the first, and most obvious one after your intelligence is your connection to Heimerdinger. Having you here adds legitimacy to what I'm doing in a way I couldn't get alone. Having it be two of us instead of one also makes others think I'm less likely to go rogue and do something stupid, which isn't true, but appearances do matter. I also wasn't lying, I do believe you will have insights that I won't, and be able to see problems I might miss, not just because of your intelligence, but just because of your different life experiences. An extra pair of hands also wouldn't go amiss, but I could've just gotten an assistant if that's all I wanted."
I paused, for effect, as if I was just having an idea, despite it being part of Plan M all along, "Might still do that, actually. Next reason is that when the Councilors approach you, the known entity, for reports on me, the unknown, I can make sure you know enough to give accurate ones, which will get me more funding, and by supporting you, Mrs. Kiramman can support me without looking like she's just favoring her apprenta to the other Councilors."
I looked at blast-shield, which was. . . not enough, and this way I could accomplish a needed step of the plan a little early, but still in line with the requirements, so I strode over to the window, opening it wide, and looking out. We were facing away from the city, which was good, though I wasn't sure if that was Heimerdinger being properly cautious, or just happenstance. Striding back, I moved to a table and shifting it slightly, so it was pointed, lengthwise, towards the open window.
Nodding, I started grabbing iron panels, and clamps, setting them up standing on edge, one after another, like sturdy dominoes.
"Why tell me this?" Viktor asked as he followed after me, confused. "Why tell me any of this? Telling me, it just makes it easier to stop you."
Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but smile, just... impressed with the man's character.
"If you were the type to be my enemy, you wouldn't've just said that," I pointed out. "If I walked in, and you weren't here, that would tell me something, Viktor, and we'd be having a very different conversation whenever you deigned to show up. If you only now wandered in, it would say another, and thus lead down a different path. If you hadn't read my notes, a third. If Heimerdinger had instructed you to stop me, or delay me, you might've read up, and been early to make a good impression, but you wouldn't've told me how to fix my problem. No," I said, affixing the tenth plate, turning back to the scientist, and pointing to him, then to under my own eyes, indicating the dark circles present. "No, you almost certainly spent half the night up, just like I have, reading, learning, understanding, when we have months, because you were interested, because you wanted to help, because you believed that there was something more here than Heimerdinger seems to think warrants his attention."
I was being a bit dramatic, but dramatic worked on Viktor. Grabbing a small steel rod, a bit of twine, and a small pot of adhesive, I attached the thread to one end, and pushing it through the hole in the back of my creation, tilted the entire thing down until it fell out the other side. Then, carefully, I moved to the chest and pulled out a hexite core, applied a large glob of adhesive on the opposite end of the rod, securing the slightly sparking crystal to it, which I blew on to dry.
"What, what are you doing?" the scientist asked, now a little concerned, as I carefully pulled the crystal-topped rod back through the barrel, until the rod was sticking out of the back end and the hexite was planted against the back square plate, a faint blue glow coming out of the end of my creation as I clamped the entire thing into place, at the far end of the table.
"Quite a few things," I answered, without really answering, even as I felt the rod start to push forward, keeping tension on the string, grinning as the underlying universal laws were just close enough to what I'd learned that they'd let this work, the 'C-A-T spells Fireball!' lecture worth the sleep in Basic I'd lost.
Wrapping the string around a clamp's lever, I tied it off and cut it, tying a new knot around the center of the rod, a dab of adhesive holding it in place, and fanning it dry. Grabbing a mirror, I angled it to peer down the inside of what I'd made, the runes along the interior slowly lighting up as bolts of mana lightning started to play down its length, the entire thing conceptually a single object, and thus empowered in its entirety.
Perfect.
"I meant what are you doing here," the other man clarified, hobbling over to look at what I'd made, as I took the second bit of twine, wrapping it over and over the rod, layering a pattern down that'd self-correct its own instabilities when I needed it. "What is this? There was nothing like this in any of your notes."
"You're gonna want to stand over there, and wear these," I told him, handing him a pair of welding goggles, slipping my own on, and pointing off to the side, the confused man following my Suggestions. Once he was in position, I turned to face him, heart almost racing with excitement, and this time without the threat of imminent death!
"Piltover is the city of Unity, of Discovery, of Progress." I declared. "With science, we keep moving forward, until we are able to do that which was thought impossible, help those thought lost, turn fate on its head, and keep going when the powers that be say we must accept things as they are, with no thought of what they could be. But each day, little by little, we advance a bit further, with each turn. That's how a drill works!" I announced, hamming it up to the nines, never thinking I'd ever be able to make this speech.
Gripping the twine tight, I pulled, the rod, and the hexite core it was attached to was sent spinning, the rapid rotational energies activating the crystal, building up a mana cascade that, if I wasn't careful, could cause it to explode.
Which was exactly what I wanted.
The glow intensified, long arcs of mana-lightning playing down the length of my creation, and a high-pitched whirring noise started to pierce the air.
"You and me, Viktor," I smiled, as he watched, fascinated, and I took a firm grip on the steel hammer, hefting it. "We'll keep going, push past the limits of what's possible, and change the world. Hextech will be our drill, and with this drill, we will Pierce the Heavens!"
With a yell I swung the hammer, hitting the spinning end of the rod, and, through it, the hexite core, which detonated.
The blast, repelled by the base runes, was channeled forward, down the length of the Hextech Cannon, forced faster, tighter, blunt energy formed into a Drill in truth, as, eye-searingly bright, the energy shot out the end, through iron plate after iron plate, not stopping, until it continued onwards, far off into the distant sky, before, slowly, and over a mile away, the surging river of Mana petered out of existence.
It only lasted a couple seconds, but that was more than enough, and, looking to Viktor, I smiled as I took off my goggles. "And that was me sending a message. Or seven. We'll definitely have our six months now."
Shaking, Viktor staggered forwards, looking at the ten iron panels, each one with a foot-sized hole punched through them, the edges of each circle red-hot and shimmering, faint spiral striations visible. "Incredible. But, you, you made a weapon?"
Taking the hammer, I slammed it down on the top of the cannon's barrel, the mana having weakened the rushed-solder job, something I'd accounted for, so the destabilized, shimmering metal collapsed with an ear-splitting clang, then a sizzling groan, as the runes, still active, warped the metal until they broke themselves, rendering it all so much scrap.
"Nope! I made a proof-of-concept. One that could hull a Noxian warship from half a league away, assuming you could aim it," I smiled. "But, as the concept worked, I don't see a need to make another, nor explain its capabilities, nor would anyone that read my notes," I nodded to the man, "be able to create one either. There's a reason I didn't write that part down."
Which was because Jayce had no idea how to make one, but Viktor didn't need to know that.
"So," I said, holding a hand out to the other man. "Partners?"
Viktor, child of Zaun, having lived his whole life in the shadows, hesitated, then stood straight, and clasped the offered limb firmly with a declaration of, "Partners," letting me pull him into the light.
Chapter Nine
Over the top declarations were all well and good, but life didn't cut away to the next exciting event, so, after our, admittedly, meaning laden and manly handshake, we weren't done. As such, with a smile, I asked Viktor to wheel over a blackboard while I took down the holed iron panels, stacking them and putting them off to the side, thankful of my level of 'peak' fitness because those suckers were heavy.
They, along the Mana Cannon, were tossed into the scrap bin, while I started quizzing my partner on his understanding of my discoveries, and how they functioned, as we had to be on the same page if we were going to walk forward together. Given that I was going to be teaching Powder how Hextech all worked later, this would also make for good practice, though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to getting a handle on Chemtech myself as well.
For just looking over my observations, the man had understood them to a surprising degree, though I couldn't feel the vague tingle that was supposed to indicate that Science Talent was working, furthering my abilities by being around others of greater capability. It was only when Viktor pointed out a parallel between the mana-conductivity of substances that I'd discovered, and how it compared to the heat and electrical conductivity of those same substances, those two not always the same, while a substances conductivity to mana seemed to be a third 'dimension' in some ways, one I hadn't considered, that I felt the faintest of tingles. I instantly got what he meant, and only then did I remember that it wasn't mere presence of talented individuals that mattered, but one of two very specific relationships that were required, causing a kind of 'Conceptual Link' that Science Talent used to tie me, and the person I was copying scientific ability from, together with.
The first type of relationship was antagonistic, learning and adapting to opponents, so an Agent couldn't be completely 'Moriartied', but the other, more common one, was when working with a trainer, usually a 'Waifu', but it didn't have to be. While I was being the 'trainer', even if I was teaching Sherlock Holmes himself, nothing would happen, but when the relationship flipped?
That's when the magic happened.
Metaphorically, of course.
Oh well, this needs to get done anyways, I thought, continuing my explanation, sketching out glyphs, my Basic training allowing me to categorize them in a way that Jayce hadn't, though he'd actually been really, really close for a couple. Unfortunately, the training I'd received had been really big on identifying runes, through the metaphysical sense of meaning they gave off, and incredibly light on learning individual runes, as they were often setting-specific. Thankfully, if, or when, I left Runeterra, the way such things worked meant a rune-powered device could be used in most places, but combining effects from different rune systems was... touchy, at best, and the kind of thing the people in R&D specialized in.
If I, for whatever reason, were to try and take apart my Company phone, I'd probably see micro-rune work, from several different disciplines, but trying to do anything with them would, at best, do absolutely nothing, and, at worst, tear a hole in reality itself.
So... working with local systems it was!
I'd diagrammed them, making sure not to make any connecting designs as I wasn't completely sure that doing so wouldn't make a magic ritual circle that'd self-activate, and went over them one after another. Those kinds of ritual circles could be used to make things like the shotgun I'd created as my final project in my runecrafting Seminar back in Basic, one I'd traded to Steven for his Safehouse Seed, not because I needed it, but, going to Westeros as he was, because he might.
While I'd gone to so many Seminars I'd barely been coherent by the end, he, like most of my graduating class, had only taken the ones he thought he'd need. Because of that, and our differing agreements, I had access to a workshop that let me make more guns, while he was going somewhere that gunpowder didn't even exist, so an infinite ammo shotgun, though not an infinite amount all at once, would be a lot more useful to him than to me.
However, that kind of artificer-level crafting required magical materials to stand in for the user's inability to directly manipulate energies through force of will, and I hadn't been good enough to merit one of those workshops, despite making something that utilized those concepts.
... eventually.
I was really glad that I'd gotten a subjective month solid to make that shotgun, and had enough budget left over that my first twelve prototypes could be written off without issue.
But that had also meant that I'd gotten a little bit of instruction in a lot of magic systems, and while a great deal of it wasn't instantly transferrable, the underlying mechanics kind of were.
Regardless, the fact that none of Jayce's notebooks, full of complex runic designs, had started to warp reality on their own meant I was probably okay, but, just like my Fay-negotiation training, and my firearms instruction, certain habits, especially those whose violation prompted 'Do You Want To Fucking DIE!?!' responses from our instructors, stuck.
Then again, while naturally forming patterns of runes were a thing here, from Jayce's studies they were always part of the effects of an active use of Magic by a Mage, not something that was magical on its own. Without the initial infusion of mana, it was like an engine without any fuel, only Mages could just vomit up the fuel, and make a car out of nothing, and... okay, it wasn't the best metaphor, but it worked, and meant chances were we'd not get anomalous effects unless we were actively fucking with the fabric of reality, the difference between an abstract art piece and my Mana Cannon entirely the presence of the hexite crystal.
We'd been at it for half an hour when the doors suddenly slammed open, Heimerdinger rushing in with a few Enforcers, the Yordle's eyes wide with panic, and I paused my explanation of the location-stability-space-center rune to look at the small spirit, an eyebrow raised.
"Can I help you?" I asked dryly.
The Dean looked around the perfectly normal workshop, eyes focusing on the undamaged, but still open, window I'd fired a warship-downing attack through, and then to us. "I, you, there was an explosion!" he gave by means of explanation.
"Ah," I nodded. "No, I was explaining to your assistant why safety was of paramount importance, and, as a demonstration, set off a controlled cascade failure, making sure to do so in a safe manner. As you can see," I waved around the room, "It was perfectly safe. It destroyed the containment device, but it was meant to, and couldn't have harmed anything else."
Beside me, Viktor froze, but said nothing.
Heimerdinger visibly calmed himself, a tiny hand unconsciously smoothing his ruffled mustache. "Oh, you, you had me worried, young man!"
"Don't worry, your assistant's fine," I smiled.
The Yordle nodded, then seemed to catch himself, replying, "You can understand my concern, surely, given what happened two days ago."
Your concern for me is touching, I noted internally, opening my arms encompassingly, "It's like I told the Council, throwing hexite crystals about is like smoking next to fuel storage. When handled correctly, though, it's an entirely different matter altogether."
The head of the Academy nodded in understanding, but he peered at me with suspicion. "Is this what you are planning on showing the Council?"
That got a laugh out of me, "That harmless light show? No, that was just a safety demonstration," I lied. "Trust me, what we'll build will be far more impressive."
"Impressive does not always mean beneficial, my boy," the spirit warned, talking down to me, and I nodded in agreement, with his literal words, not his implied meaning, which was as baseless as the rest of the small being's objections. "Well, I'll spread word that it was nothing to worry about. Please do give us a bit more warning next time!"
"I'll try," I smiled genially, promising nothing, but the old man nodded, satisfied, and turned on his heel, leaving, the three Enforcers he'd brought following after, one of them giving us a reassuring smile before he closed the door behind them.
There was a long moment of silence.
"You," Viktor noted, "are a very dangerous man."
I smirked conspiratorially, "Everyone worth knowing is. I'm sure, in a few years, you will be as well. If you aren't already, partner."
Viktor would, originally, one day be a champion, able to fight on par with canon Jayce, Jinx, Vi, and the other heroes of this world, but, just like the others were now, just like Jayce had been, he was young. Unlike the others, I didn't know how he'd make the jump from cripple to combatant, only that he had the capability, just as much as Powder had. But from fertile ground a variety of crops could grow, and I wondered how, with my support, he would cultivate his strength.
The genius shook his head, "You know, I do not think Professor Heimerdinger would appreciate it, to find out you'd lied to him."
"And how is he going to find out?" I questioned, lifting an eyebrow.
Viktor met my gaze, and for a moment I wondered if I'd misjudged him. I could tell him not to pass this onto Heimerdinger but... using the Song for emphasis was one thing, but like that, as a bludgeon against someone who was my ally, it would be crossing a line.
He finally looked away, shaking his head. "I am glad to see you were not pulling my leg about this partnership. I still think you are foolish for trusting me this much, however."
"Call it a feeling," I smiled. Turning back to the blackboard, I commented idly, "I think you're someone worth believing in." From the corner of my eye, I could see Viktor give me a sharp look, as I was addressing the man's own thoughts, his fears, verbatim, ones he hadn't shared with this version of Jayce, and thus the effect would be all the stronger for it. "So, as I was saying," I mused, tapping the topic of our previous discussion with a chalk-covered finger, "this rune shows up a lot in transport-based uses, and is one of the key components for what will actually get the Council's attention." I paused, giving the open window, and the pile of scrap in the corner, significant glances. "Officially, at least."
After a fairly lengthy set of lessons, Viktor had pretty much caught up to me, or at least to where Jayce was before I'd dropped in. It helped that I knew that Jayce was correct on certain things, so could cut down on the hedging and the incorrect theories, as well as the fact that, unlike the original Mr. Talis, I was a teacher, skilled in the art of tracking back down the line of discovery I'd walked so I could retread the path of knowledge, leading others down it instead of leaving them to try and stumble forward with vague signposts and faint trails.
On one hand, it took a full nine hours of explanation to get Viktor there.
On the other, it only took nine hours of explanation to get Viktor there.
If it wouldn't've been way too much, way too fast I would've been tempted to pull my Psychic Paper just to see what the man would perceive, but, as much as I would've liked to be completely honest with my partner, the relationship was new, and would need to be handled carefully.
And, despite how it might look from the outside, I was handling it carefully.
I slowly faked fatigue as the hours rolled on, waving off Viktor's offer of stopping early, finally calling it quits in the late afternoon, promising the other man I'd get some rest and making my way out of the Academy, heading in the direction of mother's house, but peeling off to start heading south, towards the bridge, cutting through a couple alleys, and waiting in one to see if I was being followed.
When it became clear I wasn't, I opened up a portal and strode through what others would see as a solid wall, heading back Home. Taking a deep breath, I could feel the Mana in the air, the environmental changes I'd programmed in slowly taking effect. The pocket dimension normally kept itself at the multiversal standard, but I could apply templates from places I had access to, but only those I had access to, so I couldn't bullshit things into existence through pure will unless I personally went to Gurren Lagann, which... no.
Every Agent was given a list of places to avoid like the plague, for a number of reasons, only risking it if we were really sure and, while not number one, that dimensional line was near the top. Turns out Mind Control didn't go well with a place whose underlying constant was 'Fuck Your Limits, I Got Determination!'
Who would've thought?
Walking up into the house proper, I opened my mouth to call for Powder, but she was already there, charging me with a gleeful shout of "You're Back!"
Dipping slightly to catch her, I spun about, holding her up with one arm as she grinned at me excitedly, journal in one hand, Flopsy Hoppingsworth (The Third!) in the other. "How was your day?" I asked, carrying her towards the kitchen, ravenously hungry. We'd had sandwiches delivered up from the school's cafeteria, but they were incredibly bland.
"Great!" she chirped, shifting the bunny so it was between us, freeing up a hand, and using it to hold onto me with a surprisingly amount of force.
She seemed happy, but there was an edge to her expression that worried me, prompting me to ask, "Powder, is everything okay?"
Her smile fell a little, and I stopped, looking at her directly. "It's nothing," she tried to defer, but I just waited. "You, you were gone for a while," she admitted, wincing, as if expecting some kind of blow up from me.
Frowning, I summoned my phone, and, if anything, I was five minutes early. I started to walk towards the kitchen again, calmly reminding her, "I said I was going to be gone for ten hours, Powder. I might not always be able to keep my word, but I'll try my best to do so, and have a very good reason for having to break it."
"I, I know," she replied, which didn't make a lot of sense, as she'd only met me today, but I didn't interrupt, giving her time to work through things. "I, I was worried you wouldn't come back," she finally admitted, voice small.
Ah. That didn't make a lot of sense either, but, but this wasn't about sense, was it? This was about emotions, fear almost exclusively. And that meant my response couldn't be purely logical, either.
Sighing, I dismissed the phone, and hugged the small girl tight, who sniffled, promising her, "I'm not going to leave you, Powder. As long as you want me, you'll have me. I might have things I need to do, places I need to go, places you can't go, but I will always have a place for you in my life, if you want it."
That started the waterworks, but not necessarily in a bad way, as she held on tightly to me, pressing her head into my chest, and I took a seat, catching her journal as she dropped it, and letting her get it out of her system.
Half an hour later, she finally stopped, but I still held her, waiting until she was ready, and it wasn't until several minutes after that did she pull back slightly, eyes red and shiny.
"How about I make some dinner?" I asked her gently, and she hesitated, before nodding in agreement. Putting her down on a stool, I placed her journal next to her, and she held onto her bunny as I checked the fridge, only to find that she hadn't touched the soup I'd left behind, which was. . . odd, but felt like it was important, even if I didn't know why.
Regardless, I had time, and the use of both hands, so I could make something a little more complicated, though not a dish that required a ton of time, so something like chili, or a brisket, was off the table. Maybe this weekend? I wondered, deciding to go for enchiladas as a good happy medium, the recipe shifting in my head when I focused on making something Powder would enjoy in addition to myself, the girl apparently not having my fairly moderate tolerance for spice.
The blue-haired pre-teen in question was quiet, but no longer distressed, at least visibly, and I was in no hurry, not when it came to this, smiling encouragingly whenever I caught her looking at me, at which point she'd turn away, and stare at her bunny, which she still held on to. Plating dinner, I sat it down in front of her, with a glass of milk to compliment it, and help cut the spice if it got to be too much, another glass for me, to show her it was fine, Jayce not remembering seeing the drink in Zaun, but the boy hadn't eaten down there unless he was really hungry.
Knowing the hygiene standards of The Lanes, or lack thereof, I didn't blame him.
Taking a bite, I had to admit that, even turned down, Faerie Feast was fucking worth every point, Powder following suite, 'mmm'ing in appreciation, as we quietly ate our fill. She looked better, so I decided to explain to her how the kitchen worked, from fridge to fryer, though I asked her not to use the latter without me there, given the problems inherent with boiling oil.
She followed my instruction with rapt attention, eyes intent, as I gave her something to focus on, the two of us making chocolate chip cookies as a kind of 'hands-on demonstration'. Internally I could feel Faerie Feast freaking out a little every time she did something sub-optimal, to the point it started to sound annoyed, kind of like how the fifteenth time a GPS would say 'recalculating' it seemed a little miffed, but I ignored it, using it to help improve her efforts in small ways as I moved around the girl, fishing out a bit of egg-shell here, making sure to mix the dough a little more to break up a few remaining bits of dry ingredients she'd missed there, and so on, but I let her do the lion's share of the work.
I was there to catch the tray of baked cookies when she almost dropped it, the girl not having expected it to be as heavy as it was, and kept her from eating them the second they were done, since they were still burning hot, sending her to go wash up in her room instead of the kitchen sink to buy myself a little more time, fanning a few and setting three up on a small plate for her, doing the same for me, resisting the temptation to try them until she came running back.
Powder had a single bite, smiled, and burst into tears again.
This... this is gonna be a thing, isn't it? I wondered, taking a seat next to her, putting an arm around her small shoulders as she leaned into me, nibbling on her cookie. A small part of me was annoyed at the fact that it was looking like it'd be a long process to un-fuck this girl's emotions, but most of me was just sad she was like this in the first place.
Looking outside, the time and day-length synced up to Piltover, the setting sun told me it was time to move onto the next step. "Powder," I prompted, causing the girl to look up at me. "I need to step out for about two hours, to go reposition the portal. I can be back for a bit after, but then I'll need to head out, because I have something else I need to do."
The girl blinked, a flash of fear running over her features, before she hid it and asked, "C-Could I come with you?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm heading into Zaun, and that's somewhere you need to stay out of for a while, since I didn't manage to kill Silco."
"Silco?" she echoed, confused.
"The one who captured Vander, who tried to kill Violet and the others, and who was going after you when I got there," I revealed, realizing that she'd been kept in the dark about what'd happened, which would've made it much easier for the man to get his hooks in. "The one who threw a knife at me, and who I kept shooting at. He doesn't know that I'm the 'Spirit' that stopped him, but if he sees you with me, he might."
"Then, then maybe I could help with whatever you're doing?" she tried instead.
I wanted to say no to that too, but... "Okay," I nodded, and her expression brightened. "You can be my person on this side of the portal. I'll be heading into Stillwater Prison to save your sister, so you can't walk in there with me, but I'm not sure how things will go, and, depending on what I might need, you can grab it for me and toss it through while I'm busy."
Again, Powder stiffened, a number of emotions crossing her features in rapid succession, before she finally settled on an angry scowl. "Violet's not my sister!" she forcefully declared.
Sighing, I disagreed, "Yes, she is."
The look of betrayal on the girl's face was expected, as were the tears starting to well up, "No, she's not! She abandoned me!"
"Yes, she did," I agreed unreservedly, shocking the girl by my unexpected acquiescence, but I continued before she could respond, "But not as much as you think."
"W-What?" Powder asked, thoroughly confused and off-balance.
"You know how a lot of Enforcers are corrupt, not doing their jobs, but abusing their power?" I questioned, and she nodded, her expression the same as if I asked her if the sky was blue. "Well, Vander wouldn't work with them, not the corrupt ones, but Silco? He absolutely would, and an Enforcer on his payroll grabbed her before she could come back to you. That was why I was waiting, and talking, instead of just getting you and running. If she got away, she'd need me to cover her until she reached us. Has Violet ever gotten so angry she stomped off, but came back later, usually apologizing?"
To my surprise, Powder shook her head no. "Oh, huh," I replied, not having expected that. "Well, that's something people do sometimes, when they can't control themselves, and don't want to hurt the people around them. She left you, yes, but she was trying to come back, Powder."
"Is, is that something you do?" the girl asked, fearfully.
"No, my problem is that I try and hash out problems then and there, not giving people time to cool off," I answered honestly. "I've learned to give people time, but only if I have it, and I can physically stay there with them. I've been told I've ruined relationships by pushing too hard when I should've given them space, but I've had too many people walk away, and never come back."
Powder looked at me, surprised, "R-really? But you're, you're..."
She trailed off, and I wasn't really sure where she was going with that sentence, so I just shrugged and told her, "A lot of the time, people doing things like that has very little to do with you, and a lot more to do with them. Took me a while to learn that. Which isn't to say some of those times it wasn't my fault, it almost certainly was, but, well, everyone makes mistakes, and, while what she did was a mistake, don't you think your sister deserves a chance to make it right? Yes, she abandoned you which... oof, but with everything she's tried to do for you over the years, doesn't she get the chance to try and fix that mistake?"
The blue-haired girl looked down, holding her bunny. "Some things you can't fix," she said quietly.
I nodded, thinking of the world I'd left to die horribly, slowly harvested of life-force until all was lightless cold grey, a Dark Kingdom in truth, and how I'd been unable to help them, "Yes." Powder glanced up at me, as I sighed again, "But that doesn't mean you stop trying to make things better. If Violet is the kind of person that'd completely abandon you, that wouldn't help others unless it profited her in some way, and even then, only because she had to, then you'll be right, and I'll give her enough supplies to go set up a life somewhere else, like Damacia, and put her on a ship to get there, as thanks for taking care of you. But until then, she deserves a chance. Everyone does."
I waited for her to respond, but the girl almost seemed to be arguing with herself, head going back and forth, before she looked up at me, with an expression of naked vulnerability, and asked, "Even me?"
Leaning down, I collected the girl up in a hug, which she readily returned, clinging to me. "Especially you," I promised. "There's a reason I came to save you. Several actually, but now I need to go save Vi too, okay?"
She nodded, letting go when I put her down, and following me as I went up to my room, where I switched out my vest, tie, and shoes for things less ostentatious, and then to my workshop, the girl's eyes wide as she took in some of the machines lining the walls.
"Wow," she breathed, wonder writ large on her features, "there's so much!"
I nodded, grabbing a cart with three-component caster wheels, meant to go up and down stairs, and started loading it with everything I'd made, and, hopefully, wouldn't need, Powder following my directions and adding the things I directed her to, before we went down to the basement, and the portal room. Picking up a small stool and her journal on the way, I directed her to sit to the side, not directly in front of the portal in case I had to come in hot while I made my way through Zaun, though I'd reassured her if she wanted to go use the bathroom, or get something to drink, or anything like that, she could, as I'd come back and warn her before I might really need her, the girl having nodding seriously at my promise.
Stepping back into Piltover, there was someone in the alley, but they were looking the other way, and my steps were quiet enough that they didn't hear me as I made way out, to and across the bridge, and into Zaun proper.
Taking things slower, it did take me a full two hours to make it to the waterline, the burned wreck of Silco's hidden fortress in the distance, night having truly fallen. There had been a few people around the area, but with all the ships moored, and none of them doing so here, the docks were deserted.
Stepping back Home, Powder looked up from her journal, surprised, but with an excited, nervous energy. "I need to go change," I told her, "So if you want to take a break, do so, because I need to move. It's dark enough already, and I'd rather Violet not spend a minute longer there than she has to."
The other girl nodded, though still with visibly conflicted emotions, and I swapped out my clothing for the wetsuit, web-toed boots and gloves, and a facemask in my room. Because of Wild Defense I technically didn't need to breathe, which was just... a bit much, but made this entire thing a lot easier, as I hadn't had enough time to make a scuba system, and a rebreather wouldn't survive long in the toxic waters surrounding Zaun.
Powder was a little surprised at my appearance when I came back down, asking, "You're... not taking a boat?"
"Nope," I told her voice a bit muffled by the mask. "They'd see me coming that way. Same reason I'm not taking the hoverboard. Be back as soon as I'm at Stillwater, to change again!"
Nodding to her, and grabbing my cobbled together sea scooter, she nervously nodded back, and I stepped through the portal, took three steps to the end of the pier, and jumped into the murky, brackish depths.