The Grinding of the Gears Ch. 14

Author's Note: Hello everyone. Second to last chapter, woot woot! I know that this has been quite the ride story wise, and later on you may find some of the events are sudden and strange. While the nature of those events aren't covered in this story, I recommend you read my new story Manifesto to glean some background knowledge as to what's going on. Thanks a bunch for your support, just a quick announcement: the school I work at is putting on a play in a few months (that I wrote). While tickets aren't on sale yet, when they come on sale, it'd be a huge help if you guys bought some. Our school is non-profit, so a majority of our funds come from the play and accompanying silent auction. Not to mention that I'll be there, so you can meet me if you like :D That being said, those of you in the Houston, Texas area should bring your friends and family, or if you're a little creepy, you could always elect to buy a plane ticket to come say 'Hi' and collect a lock of my hair. Just my hair though! You can't have my liver or something. -Kiba

The next morning, I once again awoke to find Morgana looming over me. "Really?" I huffed impatiently. "I thought we talked about this."

"You said not to touch your toy." She purred. "I'm not touching it. I'm touching my toy." As if to accent her words, her hands ran up my chest. She wrapped her arms around my neck and drew herself closer. "You smell nice." She muttered, burying her face in my throat to cover it with intoxicating kisses.

"And this just became weird." I protested, moving to stand up, but she just pinned me down. "Morgana...what are you doing?"

"Playing." She giggled. "We've got plenty of time before the Sheriff brings in Viktor. Why shouldn't we spend our time together?"

"You're acting weird." I repeated, causing her to let out an impatient huff.

"I'm acting weird? You have an angel throwing herself at you and you're too dense to notice. If either of us is acting weird, it's you." She argued, before her voice once more became low and sultry. Again, the rose-tinted mist seemed to swirl around my head as she whispered into my ear. "You've resisted my advances enough, I think. Your honor as a gentleman is preserved, I promise. But there's no reason to deny your desires anymore, love. Just embrace it. Breathe deep and lose yourself with me."

"Why are you doing this?" I gasped, trying to not draw in her charmed presence. The pheromones she had wrapped my head in were beginning to make me dizzy and bothered. "I...I don't like this."

Noting my resolve weakening, she gave a slight grin. "I'm afraid, I have a bit of a confession to make." She admitted. "The truth is…" She paused, leaning closer to me and pressing herself against me. The surprising cold that came with the feeling of her skin on mine paled in comparison to the shiver that ran down my spine when she uttered in my ear, "I'm the girl who has a crush on you."

My senses sharpened almost instantly as I sat up, taking her small body with me easily. "You're lying." I asserted, my eyes narrowing at her. "Why the hell would you do that?"

She let out an offended scoff. "I am not lying! How can you even…"

"I know it's Orianna." I interrupted, causing her eyes to widen. "I know. Not only did Caitlyn tell me, but Orianna herself as well."

Morgana's face twisted into a seething image of rage. "That damned Sheriff! She should have minded her own damned business!" She snarled, just before I placed my hand on her exposed shoulder. Immediately, she seemed to snap out of it, returning back to her flirtatious gaze. "Perhaps she's one of them...but does that really mean that I can't have feelings as well?"

"Morgana, if you want something, just tell me." I protested. "You know I owe you for bailing me out, so why are you playing these games?"

"Why do you assume I'm playing games with you?"

"Because nothing you're doing makes any sense! You just cursed the sheriff for telling me that another girl likes me." I shot back.

"Love doesn't have to make sense."

"No, but neither does manipulation."

The two of us glared at one another as she stood from me, walking towards the bar. Opening the cabinet, she reached for a bottle of Rapture that I kept above the cabinet. Her muscles stretched, trying to get it, but it was just a little too high for her. Blowing a strand of hair from her face, she looked at me expectantly. "Mind giving me a hand here? I need a drink."

I sighed, walking to her side and retrieved the bottle. "Seriously, it's like eight in the morning." I chastised, yet I found myself grabbing two glass anyway. "Now please, can you tell me what's really going on?"

Taking the glass, she downed it in one gulp before putting it back on the bar and requesting another. Hesitantly, I poured her another one, which thankfully she just sipped from. Running a hand through her disheveled locks, she let out a breath of exasperation. "It's my sister, alright?" She finally surrendered. "She humiliated me. She humiliated you, my friend. She treats everyone as if she were better than them, and it makes me honestly sick."

"That's it?" I asked, causing her to shoot me a deadly glare. "Sorry, that came out wrong. So you want me to embarrass your sister. Why the flirting?"

"I saw how determined you were to go after that other girl. When you told me about her on the train, I could see that fierceness in your eyes. There's a saying: sometimes you need to be the stick and other times you need to be the carrot."

"If that's supposed to be a clever way of calling me an ass, then I applaud you. But either way, you should have just told me. What if you had succeeded? What if I had fallen for you? Somehow, I doubt you would have stuck around for long after you were done with me. Did you just not care how I felt about it?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, turning away from me and drinking more of her rum. I frustratedly grabbed my own glass and downed it as well. I was beginning to worry that I had a real problem with women and booze. "So...will you help me?"

I looked over my shoulder at her to see she was still nursing her glass. She seemed genuinely upset about the situation, but even still my trust in her was waning quickly. "Is her losing this case not enough?" I asked.

Cheering up at my response, she set her drink down, leaning back against the counter. "I have a theory. I think Kayle may be partially responsible for all of this."

"Kayle? Have you met your sister?"

"Just think about it for a second. Why would she care so much? She's hindered you every step of the way. She refused to acknowledge that there could be another suspect. Then when she found out about it, she just up and killed her. Pretty convenient to not have someone talking, I'd say. Then, when you argued that there was a mastermind, she denied it, and yet she then had you arrested on the grounds that you could be the mastermind. What sense does that make?" I had to admit, Morgana had a point. If Kayle was really so concerned with true justice, she'd want to find the truth, not solely focus on closing the case as swiftly as possible. I tapped the side of my cheek in thought. The evidence was almost startlingly overwhelming.

"And Viktor?"

"A red herring no doubt. I know you don't often believe in coincidences, but perhaps the ring in the picture means nothing. It could just be that the person there was an unseen observer. At worst, he's responsible for the original Orianna's death, but there's nothing to link him to the case other than speculation."

Glancing at the clock, I took note that Caitlyn had stated she'd have him there later today. Should I tell her to forget it? I shook my head. If anything, Caitlyn may be able to shed some light into Kayle's plan. For one suspect, I had motive but no evidence. For the other I had evidence but no motive. It was all very troubling. "I'm going to talk to him anyway." I stated. "You have a point, he's probably not the one responsible, but if I can find out more, maybe there will be something in his testimony."

"But what happens when Kayle finds out?"

I thought about it for a moment. "I should pay another visit to Corin. I'm sure he has some sort of device to help me shut down those cameras. If I move fast enough, the only person who will know is Caitlyn and Vi."

Morgana gave me a lop-sided smirk. "And you think you can trust them? I'd like to point out that they were the ones who betrayed you in the first place."

"Even still, Caitlyn likes Kayle about as much as we do. She won't say a word." I assured her. "In fact, I should head that way now." I paused on my way to the door. "Are you coming?"

"I'd just attract unwanted attention." She nonchalantly suggested. "Kayle's got a sixth sense when I'm involved. It'll be easier for you to do this without me."

I nodded in understanding. Grasping the handle of the door, I paused for a moment. "Morg? I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings earlier. I'm just sensitive about this sort of stuff. Don't ever think that I won't help you just because I'm not in love with you. Okay?"

She simply waved in response, her other hand trailing along her long hair to her collarbone. Stepping out into the snow, I quickly made my way to Orianna's home.

When I arrived there, my watch read 9:30. I hoped I wasn't too early. I raised my hand knocking politely on the door. After a few moments, it swung open to reveal Orianna, her eyes partially closed. "Oh...Kiba…" She let out a mechanical yawn. "You just interrupted my hibernation cycle. Did you need something?"

"Sorry to wake you, I was curious if your father was here. I need his help with something."

She gestured me inside, pointing towards a side hallway. "He's making breakfast. I'm going back to sleep though."

"Alright. Sleep well." I smiled as she sauntered lazily off back towards her room. It brought to mention the question last time I was here about whether or not she was decent. I shrugged it off, heading towards the alluring smell of bacon and eggs. Knocking on the door frame, he looked up from his paper to see me. "Hey, sorry to interrupt."

"No, no. No interruption at all! What can I do for you, Kiba? Orianna told me all about your night last night."

"Sh-she did?" I stammered, thinking back to our passionate kiss.

"Yes. Dancing right? She told me you didn't do so well, but then again my daughter has always been quite the ballerina. No need to be embarrassed, I'm not very skilled myself."

"Yeah." I lied. "I tried to tell her I have two left feet."

Setting down his mug of coffee, he smiled at me. "I don't imagine you came here to discuss your evening last night, however. What can I do for you today?"

I sighed, scratching my chin. "Something new has come to light. I'm questioning Viktor today, but I'm concerned that Kayle may twist the evidence in her favor. She can't charge Orianna again because of double jeopardy, but she intends on pinning this on me. I'm hoping that Viktor can shed some light on to something called Project Infinity, but if Kayle catches me snooping around…" I paused, trying to explain. "I need a way to shut down cameras and recording devices. If I can question him alone, then I'll be able to jump ahead of Kayle's investigation and provide reasonable doubt. Then at least, I'd be able to get this target off my back so I can continue investigating."

His expression turned stern as he set his cup down calmly. "So, you're asking me, a man whose daughter was nearly executed, not to mention attacked by some monster, to risk endangering our family once more by helping you break the law?" My head sank, staring at the table. Now that he'd put it that way, I felt awful for even coming. "I suppose I do owe you one for helping out Orianna. I may be able to whip something up. Whatever you do, don't let someone catch you with it. The last thing I want is to have this blow back on me."

"You mean it?" I asked in surprise. "Thank you, thank you very much, sir. I promise, I'll make good use of it. Once this is over, I'll return it to you. I'm going to find out who framed your daughter, I promise."

"No worries. I'll get working on it as soon as I finish my breakfast. Would you like to stay until it's done? Orianna should be done recharging in an hour or so."

"I actually was curious about that." I replied. "Orianna is all mechanical I thought."

"That's correct."

"Then...what is charging? If she doesn't have any electricity, I mean."

"She needs to be wound." He explained. "Much like a pocketwatch, Orianna has an internal magical field around her heart. When she hibernates, she is attached to a slow spinning key that winds the 'coil' up. I'm afraid it gets into technobabble after that point, but essentially, the concept works the same. The more energy she uses up, the faster she has to recharge. That's why we have a special key for when she's in a match. She winds herself up until she feels back to her full stamina."

"That's incredible." I said. I was absolutely floored by the intricacies of her. "If it's not too much, I have another question. I'm afraid it's a bit personal."

He looked at me confused. "I suppose you can ask. Is this something that's going to require me to get a little something extra for my coffee?"

"Possibly...you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about Orianna. Before the accident, I mean."

He took a deep breath. "It's alright. It's stopped hurting for a while now. My daughter was...well, she was simply everything a father could ever want. She was beautiful, loved to dance. Not to mention she was as smart as a whip and kind to everyone she ran across. The three of us were pretty happy, up until her mother became ill. Doctors hadn't seen anything like it. They called it 'Genetic Runic Inheritance.' Basically, the pent up energy left over from the runewars ended up getting stuck in one of her ancestors' bodies. She inherited that from them, and it didn't take long for her life to be sucked dry."

Mental images flashed in my mind of the distant Shurima Desert, cursed to desolation due to the overzealous use of magic. I couldn't even begin to imagine what that would be like to watch the person you love suffer the same fate. "I'm sorry." I murmured.

"It's alright. Like I said, it's been a long time now." His eyes looked down into his coffee cup. "After Ori's mother passed, I decided to become more involved with her life. I tried not to spend as much time at work. I bought her every issue of the Journals of Justice, just because I liked that you could make her smile, even when something so terrible had fallen over our house. In a way, I should be thanking you. But, Orianna came to resent me. She wanted to join the League. Thought it'd make her Mom proud of her." He chuckled weakly. "It was the first time I'd ever gotten into an argument with my daughter. I still remember the hurt look on her face when I told her she wasn't cut out for it. She just slammed the door behind her and walked out of my life."

I frowned. "I'm sure she knows that you love her. I know for a fact she still cares about you deeply."

He nodded in agreement. "I loved my daughter, very much. She was always the light of my life, even before her mother passed. When I was told that she too had died because of some accident...well, I couldn't just let her slip through my arms like her Mom had. Finally, I made Orianna, with the help of some people I thought were friends. Maybe I was just paranoid, but I always felt like they were stealing secrets from me. I isolated myself, more and more, until finally the mechanical girl I'd spent so much time working on opened her eyes." He managed to smile through his watery eyes. "I managed to do the impossible. I brought my Orianna back from the dead...except, I didn't."

"What do you mean?"

He looked solemnly towards her room, an unsettling air flooding the atmosphere around us. "She felt incomplete. Can you not tell? She's not completely human. To be truthful, not a day goes by that I wonder if I did the right thing. Like I said, I loved my daughter...but that machine in there, she's not the little girl I loved."

"With respect, I disagree." I retorted, causing him to look at me in shock. "True, she's a little rough around the edges, but think of what you accomplished! Your daughter, who was dead, was brought back. Even if it was just a piece of her, that's still a miracle. What if instead of dying, Orianna suffered brain damage. She'd be completely different, but she'd still be your daughter. It's not about what body she's in, it's about what's in her heart and yours. When she decided to join the League of Legends, you decided to make the Ball to protect her, because you can't deny that your love for her is still there, even if you can't see it."

Corin sat there stunned for a moment before smiling at me. "Well said, son. I suppose you're right. She is still my little girl, even if she is trapped in that cold shell." He paused for a moment before speaking up again. "She really likes you, you know? I don't think I've ever seen her take that much of a shining to someone. Maybe it's because of how she felt when she was alive, maybe it's this whole investigation, but either way I've never seen her smile quite the way she smiles at you." Leaning forward, he kept a careful eye on her room to make sure she wouldn't come out before whispering. "Between you and me, she's got a bit of a crush on you. If it's all the same, I'd prefer if you let her down gently."

My cheeks burned a bright red as I thought about our kiss last night. "Actually...to be perfectly frank, I think I may have a bit of a crush on her as well." I confessed, causing him to nearly spit out his coffee. "S-sorry," I stammered, "I know that must be weird."

"No, no. I mean...that's good, you know? She doesn't have much self-esteem, so you having a crush on her, it's...well it's helpful." He seemed to feel as awkward as I did about the whole situation. "Just remember though, she is still my daughter, machine or otherwise. I hope that you will treat her with respect."

"Always." I promised. "Obviously, it'd be best if you kept this to yourself. I don't know if I'm ready to tell her yet." I knew that was a lie, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel that Corin wasn't ready to find out yet. Maybe once the case was over, it'd be fine. But until then, I'd just wait it out.

There was a sudden ringing coming from my pocket that shook us both from our conversation. Pulling out my phone, I noticed the purple top hat that represented the Sheriff calling me. I smiled sheepishly at him, but he just nodded his head. "Go ahead. I'm going to get to work on your gizmo anyway."

"Thanks." I answered, standing from the table and walking into the living room. Flipping it open, I placed it to my ear. "Good morning Sheriff, how are you today?" I asked in my most cheerful voice.

She seemed almost taken aback by my greeting. "It's going well...did something happen? You sound happy to hear from me, for once. Are you not mad at me anymore?" Looking back to see that Corin had already left for his lab, I smiled.

"On the contrary, I wanted to thank you for what you told me and I went out last night and...well, it was really nice. I won't let it distract me, but I can honestly say that I've never really felt this happy before."

She laughed over the phone. "Well, I'm happy for you Kiba. It really shows. But about why I'm calling you. It seems that Kayle got to Viktor first. I don't know how she found out, but I found out that she ordered a transfer to the Piltover prison...yesterday." My eyes widened. Did Kayle know we were on to her? "Kiba? Are you there?"

"Y-yeah. Sorry. Listen Caitlyn, something's come to my attention. Doesn't it seem like Kayle is a little too invested in this case?"

"She's the D.A. Kiba, that's her job."

"Yeah, but I mean think about it. She's been hindering our investigation every step of the way. It's like she doesn't want us to find out what's going on. At first, I thought she was just stubborn, but as you know…"

"There's no such thing as coincidences." She finished. "I tell you what, I can get you in to visit him in Prison. You'll still have the camera problem, but you'll get the opportunity to be alone with him for a bit."

"How are you going to manage to swing that?" I asked.

I could almost feel her grin through the line. "Let's just say, the red tape works both ways. I may or may not have improperly documented a few aspects of your arrest with her name on them."

"Sheriff, have I ever told you how much I love you?" I asked.

"Once or twice." She replied. "But it's always nice hearing it again."

"Yeah, well I love you. I'll see you in a little bit, alright?"

"Understood. Goodbye, Kiba." As the phone clicked to signal an end to our conversation, I turned around to find myself staring into the somber eyes of Orianna.

"Kiba?"

"Hey, Ori. Just got off the phone with Caitlyn…"

"I see." She interrupted. A flash of pain raced across her features.

"Is...something wrong?" I asked.

"I...no. It's nothing." She finally muttered, looking down at her feet. Why was she so upset? Surely she wasn't so concerned that I was in danger. "If it's all the same, Kiba...I think you should leave me alone for a while."

My heart skipped a beat. "What?"

There was conflict in her voice. "I just...I need to process this, all of this. Right now, it hurts too much."

"Orianna, you're not making any sense. What hurts too much?"

"Please!" She chirped, the first time I'd ever heard her raise her voice. "Just go."

"But your father…"

"Go!" She snapped again, causing me to take a nervous step back.

"Al-alright...I'll go." I tried to soothe her. "Can you ask your father to call me when he's done?"

"Sure." She murmured, watching me closely as I walked to the door. "Good bye, Mr. Elunal." The coldness with which she uttered my name was absolutely heart-wrenching. Just as I turned to question her again, she slammed the door shut in my face.

Orianna looked back at the door, her lips curled into a frown as she returned to her room. On her wall, she scanned all of the pictures and clippings she'd kept since she'd started first reading his work. She began ripping them down in anguish, letting out frustrated grunts as the shredded paper rained down around her. When at last she'd completely destroyed it, she went to her bed and collapsed on it, her mechanical sobs echoing in her room. Not even the turret had caused her to feel so much pain in her heart.

I stood there on the doorstep like an idiot, unsure of what to make of Orianna's odd behavior. I didn't really have anywhere else to go while I waited for Corin to finish, so instead I just sat on her doorstep, my chin in my hands. "Hey." A voice called to me, causing my eyes to raise to see Nidalee, standing before me, a big grin on her face. "I'm back." I sighed softly. As if things couldn't get worse. "What's wrong?"

"Ori's angry at me. I don't know why." I commented, causing her to frown before looking about herself. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing...just…" She took bit her lip in thought for a moment. "Look, I just need to hear it from you, once and for all."

"What?"

"You know what."

I thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out what she wanted me to say. I had no idea. "Well, okay… umm…" I began to search my mind, racking it for something, anything. Then, the realization came to me: closure. "Nidalee." I began, causing her to nod her head. "I know that things have been weird between us. I really enjoyed our time together."

"Go on." She urged me, her eyes staring deep into mine.

"When Morgana sent you away, I was furious. You'd already decided to stay, so why on Earth would she make you leave when I had what I wanted right there." The amazoness swallowed nervously. Was this not what she wanted to hear? "But Morgana pointed out to me that...I'd become too distracted. To ask you to stay would be throwing away my case, and worse, it wouldn't be who you are. The Jungle is part of you Nid, just like Piltover is part of me. Don't get me wrong, I care about you but...I think that we were just made for different people." She glanced all around her once more for a moment before slowly raising to her feet.

"I understand." She muttered, causing me to look around puzzled.

"What in the world are you looking for?" I asked, trying to follow her gaze, just as I saw the shadow of a man slip back into the alley way. "Nid...are you in trouble?" I whispered, my hand going for hers. She seemed shocked when she felt my touch.

"Listen." She urged me quickly, pulling me close. "I can't explain much, but you'll have to trust me. This world is not the only one. There are multiple ones and right now, you're in danger. Things are changing. Things that shouldn't be happening, are happening."

"Nidalee, you're starting to scare me." I muttered, but she just frowned, once more looking over her shoulder at the alley way. Who the hell was she looking at? "Nid?" I repeated. I thought for a moment she couldn't hear me as her primal nose sniffed the air around her.

"I've got to go." She stated suddenly, going to leave, but I held her arm tightly. "Kiba, let me go. I need to leave, now."

"Not until you tell me what's going on! Why are you acting so weird?"

She took a deep breath before finally leaning closer to me and whispering into my ear. "Orianna's upset about your conversation with Caitlyn. She couldn't hear the other side, so all she heard was you saying 'I love you'." My mind reeled at the realization as she slipped through my grasp. "I've got to go." She informed me again, rushing towards the alley way.

"Wait, Nidalee!" I called after her. How had she known about that? My eyes turned to the front door. Was she right? It would make an awful lot of sense. For a moment, I thought about chasing after her, but on the other, the longer I left Orianna to wait...my memories of her opening her chassis in the prison made me concerned.

I raised my fist to knock on the door. There was no guarantee that she would open it for me, but I had to hope. Just as I was about to make contact, it opened revealing a surprised Corin. "Oh, Kiba. I was wondering where you'd gone off to. Getting some fresh air?"

"Sort of. Listen, I need…"

"The device, yes. It's finished." He placed the small transponder in my hand. "This will shut down any cameras or microphones in a quarter mile radius. If I had more time, I could make it last longer, but as it stands this will only give you an hour."

"An hour is all I'll need." I assured him. "But Ori…"

"She's probably still hibernating. But don't you have to get going to talk to Viktor? I thought you only had a small window."

I gritted my teeth in frustration. He was right of course. "Yes." I finally hissed under my breath. "Just, promise me you'll check on her. Okay? I can't explain why, but I feel like something's wrong."

"Sure thing. Don't worry about it too much, alright? I know you feel for her, but make sure you get yourself out of trouble first. You can't do anything for her from behind bars." I nodded in understanding.

"Thank you again, for everything."

"Don't mention it."

I quickly took off down the street. The alley way that Nidalee ran down was on the way to the prison, so I knew I could sate my curiosity. As a loud crack of thunder echoed around me, I realized that I was once again becoming distracted from my case. Electing to ignore it, I had to make it to Viktor before it was too late. He was the only one who could help me now.

To be continued...