December 24th, Year 1, Institute of War, East Communication Tower

The eve before the holidays. The Institute was pretty empty, champions and summoners alike are taking some time to go celebrate elsewhere. This is basically a break for everyone.

Well, not everyone is gone. I'm still here, and so were numerous other champions who don't really have anywhere to go. I imagine its pretty complicated to open a portal to the void since all the void champions are still here. Maybe they're just waiting to leave at a later date.

The halls were empty, save for the few summoners rushing down the halls to finish their last bit of work before finaly taking their long deserved break. The rooms were empty, the desks and chairs were neatly arranged, and all the equipment had been stored away so that nothing valuable was in sight. Most of the rooms were cleaned, mopped, and swept, looks more like people are moving out than taking a short break, but I imagine people would want to keep their workplace clean for the holidays so it stays clean when they come back for a new year.

I basically wandered around the Institute, with no real objective in mind. I figured since I don't spend nearly enough time actually getting to know the buildings of the Institute, I might as well take the time and explore a bit while I'm not bothered. I don't stray far from my dorm, and I only go to the common places that all champions go, I never really had a curiosity to explore the Institute.

At least the halls were quiet. This gave me some time to think to myself. What was I thinking? I don't know, sometimes I pretend I'm thinking just to waste time, I don't know why. Usually, matters of low importance pop up. There aren't any major events happening, and I don't really have a place to go, or a date I'm looking forward to (see that pun :D), so there's not a lot on my mind.

Before I knew it, the sky had gone dark, it was almost evening. I had wandered aimlessly for hours, without having done anything. I turned a corner, thinking that I would start heading to my dorm if there was nothing more to see, when a half-open door caught my attention. There was a faint light coming from behind the door. Normally the Institute staff would put away all important equipment, so I was a little surprised to see that an equipment capable of emitting light was left out. It might have been a junior staff member, too eager to go on his vacation, and in a rush, forgot to store some piece of equipment. I figured I might as well put the equipment away, or at least turn the light off.

I opened the door to find myself not alone in the room. A room might be too small to describe what I saw, it was more of an open space, enclosed by walls. In the center was a gigantic crystal emitting the light. The whole place was illuminated, but it wasn't too bright. The walls were actually shelves, and contained a bunch of books and documents. Curious, I walked closer to the crystal. I looked up to see the tip of the crystal, and saw that the ceiling was quite high, not that the crystal was as tall as the ceiling. It appears I'm in some tower.

A man shuffled closer. He seemed a little astonished that there was someone still there, but then he realized who I am. I eyed him for a brief second. Plain summoner clothing, a beard, cracked skin on his hands, it appears this man has been doing physical work for quite some time. Seems quite a bit older than me.

Naturally he asked me what I was doing, so I told him I was planning to leave if I was bothering him. To my surprise, he told me to stay around for a bit, while he told me his story.

This man had worked in this tower for several years, he was actually one of the dozens of workers responsible for monitoring this crystal, which was some form of communication crystal that allows summoners to maintain their link with their champions during a match. If the crystal starts to crack, well that could very well mean that every summoner will have their link cut from their champion, which is where he comes in. This man has the responsibility to maintain the crystal's condition so that League matches proceed smoothly, and he does that through some magic that he didn't explain very well. However, it's often a boring task since the crystal was made to last a long time, and it is very solid, so there is usually nothing to do. Unfortunately, today was especially boring because all his colleagues had gone since it was a holiday, and he was the one chosen to work the entire night. It's a boring job, but I realize it was very important, and all the summoners relied on this man to keep the crystal intact.

He wanted me to stay around so he could at least have someone to talk to for the time being, at least he could relieve his boredom for now. I asked him why he was chosen, and he told me that he actually volunteered. The Institute has been his home, and before the Institute, the man had simply wandered around trying to find a job or anything that interested him. He would work at some place, quit, and work somewhere else, until he found the Institute. This man has no family, and just like me, he doesn't really have anywhere to go. He volunteered because he knew that his colleagues wanted to get home as soon as possible, and he wanted to save them the work and burden of staying behind and maintaining the crystal. His colleagues trust him with the work, and his boss was grateful that someone stepped up to take the responsibility for this boring job. I thought it was very honorable of him to sacrifice his time so that everyone else can have a worry-free holiday.

I didn't want to cut him off, so I patiently listened to this man's story. He talked about his academic life, saying that he should've spent more time with his friends rather than study to get better grades. He told me of some weird but wonderful experiences that he treasures, but even after hearing all that, I could find that the man was quite alone. He seemed to surround himself with all these stories and pride himself in his abilities, but never in his stories did he mention that he did anything with anyone other than himself. He relied on himself all through this time, and managed to find work at the Institute, and he was quite proud, but lonely.

As I was about to leave, he thanked me for listening to what he calls "an old man's rambling". I told him that I enjoyed listening to his story, and he waved me off. I'd just like to mention that usually summoner's treat champions with utmost respect, almost as if we were gods, but this man was quite relax with his manner of speech, and that made me more comfortable than the usual interaction with summoners. I want to be treated as an equal, I want to be treated normally, and I was happy that this man was able to refer to me in a friendly manner.

~Diana