Sequence 1.3


Life in the chem forges was harsh, not for overseer Raz, but for his menials and slaves. Taken from their lives all over Runeterra, these people were thrust into a harsh environment of toxic chemicals, heat, and danger. It wasn't uncommon for whole sectors of the factory to just explode or flood with poison. People were vaporized, eviscerated, turned into ooze, smashed, caught on fire, or just died for no apparent reason.

He was a cruel overseer, and he took pride in that. His shift was the most effective in the Calson Forges and he knew it. He was rewarded for it. The Raz shift had a reputation to keep, one that was upheld by the Captains he had set up.

While he was safe on the command deck, his Captains prowled the factory floors, punishing or spurring on the workers through nefarious means. Hooked flails, studded whips, heated brands, and electro-pikes were all motivators his captains employed.

What they made here and how their workers were treated wasn't even legal. But politicians in the twin cities turned blind eyes when a hefty amount of money and chems was given to them.

Captain Vresh was stalking through the cramped aisles, shoving slaves aside to get through. A particularly skinny woman was flung into the spinning wheels of a conveyor belt and was sucked into it, ground up into a red paste. Her screams faded quickly.

His radio buzzed and he reached for it. "Captains, we close shift in fifteen minutes, power everything down and get those workers out. We do not want a repeat of yesterday," said Raz through his radio.

Vresh turned to one of his lackeys and nodded. The man pulled out a klaxon and activated it. All around the factory, similar clarion calls sounded and tired workers disengaged from their stations, ready to head to the mess hall where they would be fed scraps and paste. Then it was off to bed for them.

But for the Captains and their crews, the fun didn't end there. As soon as the factory was shut down until the next shift could come, the Captains and their crews would go out into the night. Most went to bars or clubs, but some just went home. Vresh was not one of the later ones.

His group went to their usual spot in the Sewersump Tavern. It wasn't really a tavern. It was a conglomeration of a few shipping containers, all welded together in the middle of a dead end. Two stories in all, the top had rooms which were less than savory places to spend the night while the bottom contained the bar as well as seating. People sat on long metal benches bolted to the floor and drank from mugs that were hammered into being from old mining helmets.

The brew itself was a nasty liquid, hard to go down and easy to come up. Distilled in two repurposed chem barrels stolen from an old refinery, it had a peculiar taste. The two barrels were massive, taking up two floors and a mess of pipes led out of them through various plugs and contraptions until it fed out into half a dozen spigots. The rumor mill said that there were still traces of chems in those barrels, one of the reasons the ale was so good.

The other nice thing about the Sewersump Tavern was the tavern girls. Dressed in plain white blouses and brown skirts, if one was handsome enough, they could spend the night with one of them in one of the rooms upstairs.

By the time Vresh's crew got to the tavern, they saw the usual sight: beggars pleading for money or chems on the outside, an old dispensary robot bolted to the street-side, the burly bouncer, and the line of people to get in.

Vresh's group had a reputation for getting nasty and people moved out of the way to allow them to the front. One of his lackeys, Anton bristled at a man who made eye contact but under the watchful eyes and guns of the bouncer, no fights happened here.

As soon as a large group left inside, Vresh and his lads were let in. The second they stepped inside, they were met with the enticing aromas of spices, chems, and of course the ale if it could even be called that. People danced to the blaring noises of techno-music and snatches of conversation in both flesh voices and binaric could be heard.

People sat at benches by tables or in recessed booths. All were packed, except one. "Look, it's the same guy in the same spot," said Jad, another of Vresh's boys.

Another of his workers, Pian, sounded in approval, his flesh voice long since replaced by binaric vox emitters.

The man or woman, nobody could tell always sat in the same booth. Their hand wrapped around the handle bolted to the mug-helmet but keeping the drink on the table. Their drink was always untouched. The other hand twirled a nine inch stiletto blade nimbly. The rules bolted on the wall called for no weapons, but nobody followed the most of the rules here anyways. Who was going to take the knife from them anyways, they literally exuded menace.

Across from the figure, sat another mug. Nobody was ever there to drink from it. The figure would stare off into space for hours, covered in layers of black armor and cloth. Two points of green light beamed out from their eyes.

Vresh's crew stopped looking at the figure and all sat down at a table, a tavern lady brought them mugs and they began to drink. As the hours went by, people came in and out of the bar, Vresh's crew and the figure remained.

Most of his crew were roaring drunk at this point and when the tavern lady brought them their refilled mugs for the sixth or seventh time, Jad's hand reached out and grabbed her forearm.

"Maybe we should run along upstairs cutie," he slurred as he stood up.

Vresh's crew chuckled, Jad usually got his way with women, one way or another.

She shrunk away from him a stuttered, "I have to get back to work! Sorry."

"Whoops," he said, voice clearer now, "I didn't mean maybe, come upstairs with me now."

"No!"

The bar seemed to freeze as people looked at the confrontation. Jad reached for the ladies bosom, attempting to grasp her. She pushed him away from her and he tripped over the bench. Furious at her now, Jad jumped to his feet and grabbed the lady by her shoulders. By now, everyone was watching as he dragged her towards the stairs.

Nobody noticed the figure until their hand clamped down on Jad's shoulder.

Through a heavily oscillated and muffled voice, they said, "She said no, leave her be."

"Excuse me," said Jad, "But I suggest you go back to your booth loner, before this gets ugly."

The figure didn't move, their hand gripped tighter.

"Did you not get the hint," asked Jad as his hand went for the holstered pistol at his hip.

The figure blurred and suddenly their knife was covered in red and Jad was on the floor clutching the bleeding stump of his left arm where his hand used to be.

Jad roared and Vresh's crew surged from their seats. The figure spun and their single knife became three as they fanned out blades. With a flick of the wrist, the knives impaled Vraska, who went down with a cry. The figure continued spinning, blocking punches and dodging weapon shots. Nothing seemed to be able to hit them.

Until Laze was able to snipe him across the room. The figure was jolted as a bullet impacted their shoulder. They barely missed a beat, their wounded arm was up and from their forearm, a machinegun deployed. Laze was literally torn to pieces as the bullets impacted and exploded inside of his body.

The brawl turned from dangerous to deadly and Vresh's crew pulled out lethal weapons. It was over though. The machinegun retracted and armblades went out on both arms. The figure whirled, slicing and cutting their way through Vresh's crew until none remained.

The tavern girl was crying, soaked in blood. The figure pulled out a few coins and tossed them onto the counter, "Thanks for the drinks," was all they said before disappearing into the night outside.


SHI'AREAH [ENGAGED]

BOOTING UP INTERNAL DRIVERS

COOLANT SYSTEMS ACTIVATED

FALLBACK NET ACTIVATED

(INSERT MEMORY DIGIT): 0000003

{VALID MEMORY… ENGAGING}

SEQUENCE STARTING

-~-COMMENCING MEMORY-~-

We are fleeing, my brother is dead. One of my sisters is dead. The other flees with us. We found her at the old tree, where my ancestors buried treasure long ago. She has dug it up and is waiting for us. She says this will be enough to get us to the mainland and rebuild our lives. I do not know where our parents are. Dead most likely. We flee into the forests carrying the bag of gems and gold coins. Our enemies pursue us.

[CPU REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS! VENTING PLASMA]

[PLASMA VENT SUCCESSFUL, HEAT FALLING]

We are on the boat now, we made it to the shore. My sister refuses to use any more of the money we have to feed us, instead she sells her body to those who ask for it so that we can eat. She dies before we make it to the mainland, they say it was due to malnourishment. She died so we could live. Now it is just us.

[CPU REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS! VENTING PLASMA]

[PLASMA VENT UNSUCCESSFUL, HEAT RISING]

We made it to the mainland, someplace called Piltover, or maybe it is Zaun, the city is called many things. I do not know. The mainland is a confusing place. I buy us a small dwelling in the lower parts of the city. It is out of most of the toxic area but still the air is not good. The living is not good here. She looks to me, she says…

"What do we do now %(t Y%l(* %"

-~-TERMINATING MEMORY-~-

SEQUENCE ENDING

FALLBACK NET DEACTIVATED

COOLANT SYSTEMS DEACTIVATED

SHUTTING DOWN INTERNAL DRIVERS

SHI'AREAH [DISENGAGED]


Hey yo, Fresh Sorcerer with another steaming hot load of chapter. For those of you that are reading it, one of the few ways that you can insure this continues is comment.

Suggestions or ideas can really help but also please let me know what I'm doing right.

Fresh Sorcerer out