Hextech lights hung unused in the halls of the police department. A byte-a new hire-passed around older static phones to any units still in the makeshift ccommand center. Caitlyn took hers and twisted the tuner on the top, watching a cobweb break apart and spindle around the forked knob.
She lifted it up and spoke in: "Testing."
Vi, leaning against the window overlooking the City of Progress, gestured to the static phone rigged onto her harness.
"Spiderwebs," she said. The speaker's feedback joined the cacophony going on around them. "Haven't seen any since the Pits."
Caitlyn made her way over, moving across a boundary made of sunlight. "I was caught unaware. The longer the hextech generators stay off, the longer I believe I am living in a Demacian embassy."
"Or Zaun."
They both laughed. "It isn't so bad, cupcake."
Vi's smile turned into a grimace. "Well, wait until the grid-"
The hextech lights flickered. Fluorescent light filled the room, rather than the familiar blue of newer technology.
"Old grid's up!" An engineer shouted from behind a panel.
Caitlyn whipped around. "Spotter, now!"
A byte ran up to the central desk, threw off a box of old equipment. After a few inputs into its chrome chassis the desk whirred to life, slowly printing a long (far too long) list of crime reports in their precinct.
"Rich cat murdered in C3," the byte read. Beads of sweat rolled off his forehead. "Riot in D12. Units in need of assistance somewhere in E. A factory in D4 experienced meltdown... Yordle sightings across A to F..."
"Stop!" Caitlyn raised a hand to her chin. "Vi, remember that explosives duo months ago?"
"Me and everyone in the station, and half of the *damned station* itself remember them," Vi growled. "One was a Yordle. What are you thinking?"
"They use hextech machines to disguise themselves..."
The byte at the spotter threw his head up. "Oh! W-Why would their devices be shut off by Piltover's systems? I see right where you were headed."
"Love, Gregory," Caitlyn said, frowning, "we are in the middle of a potential Zaunite attack. Quit sniping my fancy and round up a hextech expert."
"R-Right. Sorry."
"Afterwards get on the statics and lead me towards any further sightings. It'll be simpler to diagnose the source of the issue if it's off our system. Vi, you're with me."
She clapped her fists together. "Finally, some action."
Caitlyn reached for her rifle. It was about half the length of her body-with the barrel disengaged. There was some hextech charge which extended the range and caliber of its shot, but she would be remiss to have her personal defense weapon rely solely on new technology. No matter how successful it was.
*Or formerly successful,* the sheriff of Piltover thought. *What is happening to my city?*
2.
###### District C.
Vi and Caitlyn stepped through the gate between district A and C-the disabled thing didn't make its familiar ping, the one which rang whenever it identified her police badge.
Piltover's layout was designed like a honeycomb, hexagonal units connected to one another by gates. Outer districts connected to three others, while the center district, C, had gates to all the other six. It was a trade-center and diplomatic destination, and a good place to look for stocky furred creatures with violent genes. They were rather enterprising (for rigged bioweapons), to entrench themselves in district C. Yet another reason Caitlyn didn't like having business and diplomacy so close together: the animals played politics with the merchants and retail with the politicians, and that kept them invisible.
A group of Piltovans jogged by, carrying whatever valuables fit into their hands. Another lagged behind to work on a malfunctioning arm. The wearer's face was worn, exhausted, he definitely hadn't gotten his belongings out in time. Along the way he nodded off from exhaustion, letting his screwdriver fall onto the ground. Caitlyn dodged a spurt of sparks and was just about to pick it up, when her static went hot.
"Hello?" An unfamiliar voice asked. "Damned relic, this is."
"Who is this?" Caitlyn shot back.
The man coughed. "My name is Corin Reveck. I'm a machinist helping to install the hextech boosters."
*So he's working on the most likely cause for this mess,* Caitlyn thought. She motioned for Vi to stay close, rather than chase after the wounded. There were plenty of those cases throughout the city. Let the bytes handle it; bytes were for stemming, they were for fixing.
"I am hesitant to be pulled away from my daughter," Corin said. "She is very sick and the outage makes matters worse. But I hear you may have outsider technology to test? If this is a wash I will make sure you never work another day-"
"It's no wash, sir," Gregory said in the background. "Kindly give me back my..." there was some clambering on the department end. "Someone contacted the Spotter seconds ago. Yordle cornered in C12 against the Noxian embassy. Caller was concerned about his store getting caught in the crossfire."
Vi perked up. "Did he say crossfire? Oh, yeah!"
C12 wasn't far from their gate. Giving the chaotic air a listen, there *was* the firing of some weapon not typical to her force or what was sold in stores, or even illegally.
She brandished her rifle and gestured to her deputy with it. "Vi, lead me close. Take the alley over there and we'll be out near C12."
"I know the city by now." She made a motion like reaching her hands into her back pockets, but came back with thin mechanical gloves. They expanded and unfolded into industrial gauntlets. Old cog machinery whirred in their simple-yet-destructive makeup.
They ran, footsteps pattering in stray puddles. The alley's close walls muted the din outside. On their way was a Zaunite straggler, likely slipped in after the gates quit functioning. The raggedy aspect of a man shrunk away from the fully-armed officers.
On the other side of their alley was a veritable mob. Looked like a common enemy had united them in the chaos: a Yordle, hair half-high as its whole body, chucked tools down from a construction balcony. There was no unique gun of any kind.
"Back, you dirty apes!" The beast cried. His voice and the clang of a hurled wrench echoed in C12's courtyard. Noxian standards billowed in each high corner, embedded in the gothic structure of the embassy. "Back!"
"Monster!" A shrill voice shrieked. The wrench flew back up, just high enough to skid across his platform. The Yordle yelped and skipped away from the still object. The metal beams of the platform shook in response.
"Wow. I'm so scared," Vi said, already preparing to put her gauntlets away. "The very definition of mass destruction."
The Yordle stamped his foot. "Incorrigible beasts, ooh! I am academy-bred, you ought to know. You leave me no choice but to re-brandish my H-28G Evolution Turret."
Caitlyn balked. *H-2-what?*
He revealed a small metal cube. Even across the courtyard the sheriff recognized the green glow radiating from all four sides. It began to unfold. She saw the distinct outline of a barrel.
"*Hexte-eech*!" Caitlyn shouted across the yard. "Everyone, clear out!"
The crowd wriggled with uncertainty. But then the hextech device unfolded, revealing a fully-operational turret. A shot rang off-a blue globe with a hollow *floompf*-and went stray into a nearby wiring shop. The window, a good chunk of fabrication and the door flew away in smithereens. After *that* display, the people all got to running, screaming.
Caitlyn shoved Vi back into the alley as a shot flew over their heads. The lantern which was above them rained down in glowing shards.
"I'm calling in back..." there was no backup. There was no one at the department besides Gregory and the Corin fellow, maybe a few engineers. She could wait for units to stumble onto them. No. Find a backdoor that leads to a balcony. Too much time wasted. It was up to her to make an action plan.
"I believe that thing has sensors," she called out over the crashing and screaming. "I need to get closer for a shot."
"Can you take it from here?"
Caitlyn pointed to her gun's deactivated barrel. "Preferably."
The deputy breathed in. Gave a few short hops to psych herself up. There was no count to three-there were people being shot at, after all-and spun around the wall with gauntlets outstretched. Caitlyn followed, ducked behind her.
A *floomf.* Vi caught it in both her gauntlets. There was a struggle between two great forces, causing the gravel on the floor to dance, until the officer managed to throw her hands upwards and send the orb straight into the sky.
"Inconceivable!" The Yordle shouted in awe. "How did you do that?"
Vi laughed maniacally. "I'm coming for ya, pipsqueak."
More shots came, faster. Now used to their blunt force, Vi was able to swat them away with wide swings. One. After. Another. A bit closer. Almost twenty meters out.
A switch in Caitlyn's brain told her she was in range. She dove out from behind Vi and hefted up her rifle, taking aim at the platform's supports.
Aim. Fire. The metal support snapped in half first. Then the platform came crumbling after it. A cloud of dust kicked up. Debris skidded out and lined the courtyard, like the flotsam of a ship crashed on rocks.
She picked herself up, charging forward with rifle at the ready. To little surprise the Yordle was already surrendering, both of its mitts high in the sky. His little contraption, h-2-whatever, laid in a heap among the splintered wood.
"Please, be rational," he pleaded. "I am Heimerdinger, dedicated polymath, lover of peace. The turret is intended for a Yordle ball sport I refer to as, erm, you play it with *three* others-"
"What's going on with our hextech systems?" Caitlyn asked. She ripped out the static receiver and clicked it on. "Here's your control, Corin. Now tell us what you know."
Heimerdinger dusted himself off. "Strange. I believe *you* turned off the system."
Vi picked the polymath up by the scruff of his neck. "What? Enough *ball games,* pal! I have some property damage from your kind to repay. To your face."
"I implore you to find the inequity of those two things," Heimerdinger wheezed. "It is true: all hextech magic carries a monitored signature. It would seem someone has shut them all off and is restoring them one at a time. I was following the situation on my own, until I found my disguise disabled. If I had to hypothesize, and I love to more when not being strangulated, someone is seizing your magic supply for a kind of proprietary service."
Vi dropped him, dumbfounded. "Are you for real?"
"I was able to exchange currency at a local institution for hextech magic for my turret. I ran out of currency to recharge my disguise an hour ago. You might have missed that many people are in line for this service... I presume you didn't lose communications? Surely the *police* of all people were alerted."
"Viktor," Corin spat. The anger in his voice sent a shiver down Caitlyn's spine. "That bastard and his associates are *killing my daughter!*"
"You knew about this?" Caitlyn asked.
"We deemed it too dangerous," the machinist explained. "Feasibly, the boosters may be used to control output to an unimaginable level of specificity. You can determine what powers on, and with how much energy."
Heimerdinger frowned. "Yes, yes. That would be the case. It was as if my access to the magic stored within my devices evaporated. I had hardly theorized on the occurrence beforehand. A more social beast than I might have postulated the risk of one conglomerate being tasked with the booster design."
Vi veritably snarled. "I want to smack this nerd, Cait. Cait?"
Caitlyn's mouth had went dry. "Everything uses hextech. If you close a house to its magics, that is essentially an eviction."
"Unfortunately true." Heimerdinger picked up the scrap that used to be a turret. "I must ask to be excused. There are many Yordles who cannot afford to stay disguised. They may need my help to escape."
"Where do you think you're going?" Vi laughed and slammed Heimerdinger back into the ground. "You're under arrest for property damage, attack with a deadly weapon, a few other things."
"Just let him go," Caitlyn said. She felt light-headed. Too many possibilities. As an officer of the law, she grew accustomed to the lifestyle of criminals. All too quickly she understood every single way this new power could be abused. It was a coup.
Vi shook her head and pushed Heimer's head into the splinters. The cogs in her gauntlet spun a bit faster. "He's a bad guy-"
"Vi, I enlisted you!" Caitlyn snapped. "I can put you back in those Pits." The bewildered look of her best deputy set her straight again. "Sorry. Just... just leave it be."
With a frustrated growl Vi let go. The Yordle came up gasping for air and hobbled away, looking back to the sheriff. *Thank you,* he mouthed as he went away, too stunned to speak.
"What now?" Vi asked.
"Corin stormed out," Gregory said. "I think he's after Viktor."
Caitlyn didn't bother holstering her gun.
"So are we."
3.
###### Revolution Sciences Main Floor
Caitlyn and Vi reached the Revolution Sciences building in time to see Corin grab Viktor, the robotic man, by the throat. The man allowed himself to be throttled around-he even locked eyes with the sheriff as his security allowed them through the main door of his compound. The main floor was painted totally white, complete with furnishings and several renditions of plants fashioned out of metal scrap. Compared to the nonstop hustle of the rest of Piltover, it was unsettling to hear no whirs, no moving machinery. It wasn't a place Caitlyn made plans to visit regularly.
She shrugged off the inquisitive touch of one of his security bots. The thin, copper-framed thing whirred in protest, but didn't try to touch her or her rifle again. There were about four, armed with steam harpoons fixed onto their elbow-joints.
"Bastard!" Corin yelled. "Liar! Turn it back on, or she'll-"
Viktor finally nodded to his detail. One came flying forward with the butt of its weapon and struck down. The sallow man peeled away like a petal, drawn across the floor in a pathetic pile.
"Please," he blubbered. "Turn her machines back on, please..."
Viktor smiled and stepped around the man. His oiled metal face shone in the white light.
"Sheriff and deputy!" He cried. "I was wondering when you would pay me a visit."
Caitlyn gestured to one of the bots. "New models? There's a lot of security here, hextech-less security."
"Let's skip the questions, I can see you're beside yourself with worry. It was I. I turned off the grids-for a *moment*-in order to implement new strategies for how magic is used in our beautiful city. As for the chaos outside, well." He spread his arms in a shrug. "We're all only human. But it will be magnificent in the end, my vision will change everything."
"Whatever end you have will need to wait," Caitlyn said, raising her rifle. Electricity sparked through her fingers. "You're coming with me, tin man."
Vi equipped her gauntlets hesitantly.
"All I wanted to do was fill Piltover's public with a sense of security," the robotic man insisted. "Over time, your police force has become incapable of protecting such a large and diverse community. It is why we the inventors, we the ones advancing the age, ought to have the right to make our own rules."
"I am far from outdated," Caitlyn said.
Viktor hummed to himself. "Is it even worth it to, hm... sure. Let's find out." He tossed up a finger.
A bolt ripped through the air right above the sheriff's head. She flew into a squatting position and struck a leg out, spinning on the tile. The robot's steam weapons needed to be reloaded each shot, so it was worthless to go from the one that fired last.
(Counterpoint: if one of those bolts hit her dead-on, there would no longer be a Caitlyn.)
Instead she lined up her sights on the glowing eyes of the one behind her, the one that was trying to get her weapon. Bang. Bang.
Two shots and it went down, chirping and screeching about the new holes in its circuits.
Combat itself is like a good mystery. It requires investigation, deduction, and a willingness to rely on gut instincts.
The sheriff's gut told her to throw herself forward into a somersault. As she skid across the clean tile another bolt flew overhead. She planted three shots into the shooter as revenge. Every second passed-by, however, gave the bots' information for their targeting array. Caitlyn caught a glimpse of Vi's feet dashing by before she rolled again, this time feeling the punch of wind as a bolt smashed into a plant. Without taking time to calibrate she let off a random spray of shots in the last shot's direction.
A definite noise of powering down. Three decommissioned, plus whatever Vi had.
At least one-the deputy had just punched the head clean off of a bot who was desperately adjusting its aim. She began to take their focus: close-ranged fighter meant easier shots.
Caitlyn took the time to get her bearings. Viktor hadn't moved from his spot, but was now wearing a grim look of determination. Corin laid motionless on the floor, hopefully alive. Vi had her gauntlets outstretch to try and catch the bolt of some far-off bot-
She fumbled to get her gun up in time and shout out a warning. "Don't try to catch those-"
The bolt slammed into the machine gauntlets in an explosion of sparks. Its sheer force parted her guard and the now-blunted spearhead bludgeoned Vi in the chest. She popped up in the air an inch, widened her eyes in surprise, and then slammed back onto the floor. Motionless.
Roaring, Caitlyn shot the attacker dead. It was the last one, too. The last damned one.
"Wow!" Viktor clapped his hands together. Clang, clang, clang. "Did you see the way she-never mind. Your anachronistic sense for justice got your deputy hurt. I had you studied, Caitlyn. I understand how afraid you are of hextech magics. Why you wish to disallow me the opportunity to enrich everyone's lives. Exclusion, tyranny, those are the sort of troubles that get you all riled up. Ah. Similarly, I know your blind spots."
Caitlyn glanced up at the main floor's terrace. She barely had time to see the glint of a gun before she was shot. In an instant it was all over, her gun slid away, she squeezed the wound on her stomach and curled up in pain. Whatever shot her had made a distinct thrum, and felt like it tore her up on the inside.
"I imagine you will bleat in your last moments," Viktor said. "*Oh, I could have stopped this.* NO. This was in the cards since Piltover's inception. In order to progress, humanity conceded its flesh for robotics. To progress again, we turned a blind eye to the pits in Zaun. To progress further beyond, we installed hextech into everything. Now it is time to realize the full potential of what we have made. To put reins on this wild mustang we bred, and make it whir instead of whinny."
He revealed a small hextech revolver.
"So it can lead the charge of my glorious revolution! Goodbye, sheriff."
Like the station, like the city, like the Yordle disguises and like Corin's machine, and like the bots around them and Vi and her gauntlets,
Caitlyn shut off.