Viktor sat in his lab in Zaun, tinkering with one of his latest inventions, when he heard a tentative knock on the door. He lifted his head "Hmm?" Then he remembered he had ordered some crystals from a shop with techmaturgy, so this was probably a courier, who was here to deliver them. He stood up, carefully placing the device on the table, and headed to answer the door.

"What is it?" He asked courier was a young woman, who smiled at him politely.

"Good day, sir. I bring the two packs of power crystals that were ordered to be delivered to this address."

Viktor nodded. "Good. It took you long enough. Come, let us take them inside," he continued, picking up one of the rather large boxes. It was surprisingly heavy and made him wonder how the girl managed to carry them. She followed him obediently into one of the many rooms of his den and placed the delivery on the table he indicated.

"And the payment, sir?" the girl asked. Viktor realized he had forgotten to prepare a pouch with gold to pay for the delivery and needed to take the money from his vault.

"A moment. Wait here. And do not touch anything," he answered before disappearing into another room.

Mira stood in the middle of a large room filled with lots of different...things. There was not a single surface not completely covered in various metal parts scattered all around and all kinds of what she assumed were techmaturgical and hextech devices. And there were tanks and vials with liquids of all colours and consistencies there, too. Resisting the urge to go and try what everything did, she just had to do with looking at all the gadgets in amazement.

Soon she heard heavy footsteps and the deep metallic rumble of Viktor's voice.

"Here. Now be gone. I need to work on my research."

She took the money from his gloved hand and walked out the door onto the street. There she mounted the delivery horse and pulled a paper from the saddlebag to check where she was supposed to go next.

Viktor opened the boxes to inspect the crystals. They didn't seem to be damaged, that was good. He couldn't wait to try them out.

A few hours later he was done and satisfied. The crystals did exactly what he wanted them to and he had successfully managed to augment his staff. Now he just needed to see if he could do the same with his third arm, the lazer was in dire need of an upgrade. He reached behind his back with a screwdriver to remove it but it twitched and knocked the tool from his hand, sending it clattering on the floor. The screwdriver didn't withstand the fall and broke. Viktor muttered a curse under his breath. Now he needed to get a new one as this was the last one of this type he had. So off to the Techmaturgy and Hextech he went.

I'm deeply sorry, sir, but we don't normally sell this type of screwdrivers here," said the yordle shopkeeper. "But we can order it from our supplier and have it delivered to you if you like," he continued.

Viktor pondered on it shortly. It would be expensive to order it like this. Then again, if they didn't have it in the most specialised shop in Zaun, he doubted it would be easy to find it anywhere else. Looking for it would not only take him time but also a lot of effort...and money as well.

"Fine. I will send the payment with the courier who brings it to me, like with the crystals."

The yordle shot him a beaming smile. "Yes, yes, of course. You are our trusted customer by now, so we don't doubt you will pay up and we know you won't refuse to hand over the money like this scoundrel the other day..."

Viktor ignored the shopkeeper's babbling and went back home to his lab. There was still a lot of work to do.

Mira sat on her bed, reading a book on techmaturgy by candlelight. She had always been greatly interested in the subject. The only problem was that her family couldn't afford to have their daughter going to the College of Techmaturgy to study it. Not to mention her mother was strongly against it anyway.

"What would become of you? A mad scientist? No, my dear, you need a stable job, so you can earn some money and save up for the future when you want to have a family."

Mira hated hearing this. She couldn't care less about a stable job and she didn't plan a family either. She just wanted to do something interesting. She also believed techmaturgy could be extremely useful, the inventions would pave the future. That is why she was so excited to find out the local shop with these things was in need of an assistant. The shopkeeper appreciated her enthusiasm and knowledge. She knew how to handle things, repair them and she also seemed to have a knack for predicting what the customers would need and they always knew what to keep stocked on. The yordle had her help him in the shop and she was also tasked with delivering orders to different people. That way she got to meet a lot of inventors and see their labs. It was simply amazing. The pay wasn't too bad either and even her mother seemed to at least accept it. Now if she only stopped hinting that it was time Mira found a man to marry...

Thinking about men sent her thoughts wandering to the Machine Herald. He was half man, half robot and most people believed him to be utterly insane but there just was something about him. And she found herself intrigued by how mysterious he was. He was like a difficult riddle. And Mira loved riddles. She also thought there was a lot more to his story than was generally known...there was an interesting man behind that scary mask, she was sure of it.

She was very excited when the yordle told her she would be delivering a new package to him soon...