"Why are you so nervous, Ren?" the boy asked himself.
Ren paced in his room in a feeble attempt to work out his anxious energy. He ran his fingers through his hair and scratched at the bridge of his aquiline nose. He continued fidgeting and picking for several minutes before finally flopping back onto his chair with a sigh.
"You know why," he kept speaking to himself, "because them accepting you again is what determines if you have lost or won. Ugh, I'd rather fight off another gang. At least that's a problem I can solve with kicking. No use putting it off anymore. Just, Curly, Freckles, please, go easy on me."
He gave himself a final look over in the mirror to make sure he was as clean and presentable as possible, giving extra attention to his shoulder. After he had torn his jacket to make the emergency tourniquet, he had elected not to have the sleeve sewn back on. It was as good of an excuse as he was likely to get for leaving the limb bare and his tattoo viable. Satisfied that he looked presentable, Ren grabbed a set of sketches from his table and left the room.
"Hey, Doc," he called out, his voice echoing through the old factory, "I'm heading out. I don't plan on getting into trouble so you don't need to have the medical table prepared for me. Don't worry; I'm bringing the gauntlets just in case. I'll be back before dinner."
"Do not do anything foolish," Viktor, not one for needlessly shouting, responded over the intercom.
Ren shrugged. Though it sounded rude, Ren knew it was Viktor's way of telling him to stay safe.
"I'll try not to," he said and then departed.
The air in Zaun was dank. It had rained the previous day and the water was still trickling down the cliff from Piltover. The streets were crowded that day, with much of Zaun's population going out to enjoy the damp air. Though the air still smelled, the smog had been washed out from it, giving the people and their lungs a moment of respite.
Ren took care to avoid stepping in any of the puddles, which were clouded with filth from the fallen Gray, as he made way to the Entresol level. A rainstorm guaranteed the location of the two people he was looking for. Years ago, Ren had showed Curly and Freckles an old fountain carved into the cliff's side. It had been designed to collect rainwater after a storm to power itself. This left it dry most of the year, but the day after a storm when it was functional, it was a popular place to visit. The fountain depicted several Marai with sea life swimming around them. Ren's favorite had always been one that had a large eel wrapped tenderly about her as though it were a long scarf.
The kids loved the fountain and Ren knew they wouldn't miss the rare opportunity to watch it. As he had predicted, then fountain was bustling with activity when he arrived and the splash of the water could scarcely be heard over the murmur of the crowd. He looked to where the kids' favorite Marai, one posed as though it were swimming towards the ocean floor while cradling a crab in her cupped hands, was located and spotted them. But before he could approach them, Ren felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Hey," a young man asked, "you're that twelve kid, right?"
"What," Ren turned around, "oh, right, N-12. Yeah, that's me."
He smiled. Recognition was still something he was not used to and every time it happened, a thrill rushed through his body. Still, he wished he had left his name with the reporter or at least given himself a more heroic title. It felt awkward for anyone other than Viktor to refer to him as N-12.
"I knew it," the man said, "I saw your picture in the paper. That's a wicked augmentation. I wish I could have seen you kick the teeth out of those thugs. My brother owns a repair shop down in the Factorywood. Those bastards had been extorting him for years. So, yeah, thanks for kicking them out of there."
The man offered his hand to shake, which Ren accepted.
"You're welcome," Ren said, "just trying to help how I can."
He went to pull back his hand, but the other man kept a firm grip as he turned over his shoulder and called back to a friend.
"I told you it was him," the man broadcasted, "get over here and thank him yourself."
A woman the same age as the man came bounding over. From a quick glance, it was easy to tell that they were twins.
"Whoah, nice to meet ya'," she said, taking Ren's hand and shaking it vigorously, "our whole family is grateful for what ya' did for our big brother, kicking out those gangsters and all, but for me, that's not all."
Her cheeks flushed cherry red as her smile widened. She did not stop shaking Ren's hand.
"The woman whose arm got torn up, she's been my friend since we were kids, maid of honor in my wedding and everything. I almost lost her, but you saved her! Thank you! You're a hero."
She released his hand so she could wipe away the few tears that were starting to form. By this point, the commotion was starting to attract the attention of others at the fountain. Ren gave quick look towards the kids to make sure they were still there before turning his attention back to the woman before him.
"How is she doing?" Ren asked, "I know the augmentation she received was an emergency solution. If she's having any problems with it, Doc said he's willing to adjust it."
"It's fine," she responded, "wonderful actually. I can't believe the quality for something that was freely given. I also can't believe who she said the doctor was. She said Viktor was the one who operated on her. I wrote it off as delirium from blood loss, but the paper said that you were working with him. Is it true? I figured if he had worked on her she would have come back like a mindless robot or something."
"It's true. He augmented her. He augmented me as well, and as you can see, I've still got my charm and personality. No robot thoughts here," he chuckled as he tapped his forehead.
At the mention of Viktor, the crowd around Ren grew once more.
"I don't believe it," a man in the voice complained, "last I heard, that creep was turning people into golems."
"Why do people keep saying that," Ren asked, "he's not the most personable guy, but I would hardly call him a golem. Also, why the fear of golems? Blitzcrank is great."
"You work with the guy and you don't even know what he's done," the man replied, "do you really think Piltover would smash up his lab if it wasn't dangerous? They usually leave us alone unless it's serious."
"Uh, yeah I think they would send one of their brutes down," snapped another voice from the crowd, "have you met a Piltie? They hate seeing us succeed."
Ren stepped between the two.
"Look, whatever the Doc did years ago, that was then," he said, "right now, he's trying to help people. He only wants what's best for Zaun, and by the Sump, I'm going to prove it!"
"Yeah," cheered the woman, "this kid has done nothing wrong. If he says that Viktor is helping him, well then he's helping him. He saved my friend, the least I can do is believe him."
The crowd continued to grow and Ren could no longer see where Curly and Freckles had been standing. Nor could he leave to search for them as he was being bombarded with questions from those who surrounded him.
"Okay, hero, if you and your scientist really want to help, why don't you do something about Baron Grime's men creeping into Promenade?"
"Do you think Viktor could replace my augmentation?"
"Did the boss of the Whumps really have one of Spindlaw's augmentations?"
"How much would something like that cost?"
"Didn't I see your picture somewhere?"
"Do you want me to believe that a kid did more for getting rid of that gang then a Baron's enforcers?"
"Absolutely! Can you ignite your augmentation on demand or was that exaggerated?"
"Let me have a closer look!"
"What in Janna's name is a moggle?"
Ren's head spun as he tried his best to keep up with the exhausting pace of the questions. For every question he answered, another seemed to pop up. Any other day, he would have been eager to answer all their questions, but the anxious energy he had started the day with continued to grow as he tried to sneak another peak at the Marai fountain. Ren wanted to break away, leap right out of the crowd, but he couldn't afford to look rude, so he smiled through the stress and kept talking.
"Excuse me," asked a voice so quiet it could only just be heard over the crowd.
But to Ren, it could not have been louder. He recognized that soft voice as Curly's. As expected, Freckles's voice was not far behind.
"Be louder," she told her friend, "nobody will hear you like that. Watch. Excuse us! We want to see this hero too!"
Ren looked down just as the two of the kids wedged themselves through the crowd. His heart skipped a beat as his eyes connected with theirs. The noises of the crowd faded as his attention focused.
"That's just Ren," Curly stated.
Freckles grabbed Curly's hand as she looked up at Ren. There was still suspicion in her eyes. Ren knelt down to their level. Everyone else in the crowd could wait.
"Freckles, Curly," he said, "it's good to see you two. I'm so sorry for how I behaved the last time you saw me. Please forgive me. I panicked. I was stupid. I know you may not believe me, but I am really trying to be a hero. I know I have a lot to do to regain your trust, but please give me the chance."
He reached into his bag and handed over the two drawings he had packed to them.
"Please."
They looked down at the drawing. Ren had drawn himself in a heroic pose, a cheerful smile on his face, and his augmentation shining unapologetically. Curly didn't say anything. He jumped at Ren with open arms and buried his face into Ren's scarf. Ren hugged him closely.
"I missed you," Curly sniffed, "I knew you weren't a bad guy."
"I would never want to hurt you two," Ren said.
"I'm still mad at you," Freckles said.
"You have every right to be," nodded Ren.
"But you apologized, so I guess I can give you another chance."
"Thank you."
Ren let out a deep sigh as though he had been holding his breath for too long.
"So ya' name is Ren," the woman he had been speaking to earlier asked.
Now that his mind wasn't so burdened with dread, an idea quickly sprung to it. He let Curly go and pulled himself upright before responding.
"Not quite," he said, "you see, that's only part of my name. You may call me ReN-12."
He struck a pose identical to the one on the drawing he had given to the children, much to the delight of Curly. Freckles rolled her eyes, but a small smile did make its way to her lips. The adults in the crowd looked at the boy with a mixture confusion and amusement. A few even chuckled and walked away shaking their heads, but Ren didn't care. Whether they thought of him as a fool or a naive idealist, it didn't matter. They wouldn't soon forget him, and that was enough.
Ren remained in the crowd a while longer, continuing to answer as many questions about himself and his scuffles as he was able to and take note of the various grievances people wanted him to resolve. He made a mental list of deeds he believed that he could accomplish so, despite his desire to thrash some Chem-baron's goons, he knew it would be smarter to first look into more minor gangs and criminals. Beyond fighting, he knew there were other places, much like Bonnie's apartment, that he could help.
As the crowd dwindled down and even Curly and Freckles had to leave for dinner, a few remained to ask Ren a very different set of questions. They wanted to know more about Viktor and his augmentations. They asked about being augmented themselves, having existing augmentations repaired, and what sorts of payments Viktor would accept. Not knowing how best to answer the people, Ren asked them all to write letters and return here the next day so he could deliver them to Viktor.
"It's a few extra steps, I know," Ren said, "but I want to respect the Doc's privacy. He's not much of a people person. But I promise you, he will respond to these. After you give me the letters, I will come back in a few days with his responses. Crystal?"
The group agreed and departed. Ren let out a sigh. Finally, silence. For several minutes he enjoyed the serenity of the Marai fountain, until a growl from his stomach told him that it was time to return home. He turned to leave himself, but a soft blue glow emanating from an alley caught his attention.
"So that's how it is, huh? You're selling people out to him?"
"Say what you want, Ekko," Ren responded, "you're not changing my mind."
Ekko strode out of the unlit alley. His weapon was not drawn, but the Z-Drive was primed and ready for emergency use.
"I think you're beyond words changing your mind," Ekko said.
"I could say the same about you."
The two were quiet. They stared at each other, eyes quickly darting to see if the other was reaching for his weapon.
"So what do you want?" Ren asked, breaking the silence, "I'm not going to fight you again, so if that's what you want, you can leave."
"I'm just watching, making sure you aren't doing anything foolish to endanger those two."
Ren rolled his eyes.
"Do you honestly believe I would hurt them? You know I love them as though they were family."
"I know," Ekko sighed. He was silent for another moment, "but I don't want you talking to them about Viktor. They're too young to get mixed up with that freak."
"He's not a danger to them."
"Maybe not to them, but he is a danger. He tried to steal my Z-Drive, or are you conveniently forgetting that?"
"I haven't forgotten."
"But you still stick up for him?"
"Someone has to."
More silence.
"We're going in circles again," Ren said, "just get back to the point you were making about the kids."
"They're ten, Ren. Whatever you plan on doing, leave them out of it."
"It's no more dangerous than the stunts you pull. You want to make Zaun a safe place for them as much as I do. Seeing us fight must confuse them. We both want the same thing."
"Methods are the difference."
"Ah yes, because rending time is so much safer than kicking someone with an augmented leg."
"Cut your sarcastic tone. What I do, I do alone. I'm responsible for my actions and mine alone. You've gone and tacked your morality to someone who has none."
"Look, I don't agree with everything he has done."
"But none of those things were deal breakers either."
Another minute of silence.
"What if you had won?" Ren asked, "What if you beat me and threw my leg into the Sump? What then, Ekko?"
"I would have helped you. We would have gotten you another augmentation, one without any additional weapons strapped to it. Then, after you healed up and got his thoughts out of your brain, life would go on."
"No, not for everyone. Out there, there is a woman who is alive because I brought her to Viktor. And the people in the Factorywood are safer because my augmentation has additional weapons strapped to it. If you had thrown my leg down that chasm, she would be dead and those thugs would still be extorting people. And if I had tried to fight those thugs with a plain old prosthetic, I would likely be dead as well."
"You would have fought a gang by yourself?"
"No, I wouldn't have. That's the thing. I would never have done something so bold by myself before. It would only have been if you were there. But now, I can do these things. I can be bold. I can save people. You're just one person, Ekko, an amazing person that I am so lucky to have known, but even with all the time in the world, you can't be everywhere at once. Let me help how I can, Ekko. Judge me for what I do, not what Viktor has done"
Silence. Then, Ekko reached back and switched off the Z-Drive.
"I hate this," Ekko said, "I hate this so much."
"I don't want to fight you."
"I don't want to fight you either, Ren. Fighting won't change your mind and neither will words. I only hope that you will come around and see him for the monster he is."
"And I hope you will see how much good can come from his inventions as well."
"Doubt it," Ekko sighed, "look, Ren, I can't control you, but I can hope that you will see reason and not let yourself be manipulated by that man. Just know that if I think you're too far gone to think for yourself or if you become a danger to the people of Zaun, I will fight you with every ounce of strength I have, no matter how many times it takes."
"Crystal. Let's hope it never comes to that."
"Let's hope."
The two turned away from each other and went his own separate way.