Something was off about Viktor that day and Ren did not like it. When he had returned home the previous night, Viktor had ignored Ren and had retreated immediately for his workroom. The scientist had yet to emerge. Ren paced around the training room, carrying on a one sided conversation with Mary.

"Why does he need to be like this today, Mary," Ren asked, "just when I was ready to show off my killer new paint job I did on the leg. I know, I know, that would just annoy him, but look, I was going to balance it out with some good news as well. I've gone through all those blue prints countless times and I bet I could even draw that basic leg schematic from memory. That would make him happy, or at least mildly pleased. You know?"

He looked to Mary for an answer but, unsurprisingly, the automaton said nothing.

"Of course you don't," he sighed, "you aren't human, but neither is he really." He walked up to Mary looked directly into her lensed eyes. "What we need to do is combine your robotic mind and my human one. Meet in the middle somewhere. What do you think?"

Again, silence.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Ren answered himself.

He returned to his pacing until the sound of his stomach growling was louder than the thud of his metal limb on the ground.

"Let's grab some food. I can't think on an empty stomach."

Mary followed Ren into the kitchen and watched him passively as he rummaged through the icebox and cabinets. His findings were the same as always: fruit, dried fruit, canned soup, and a single fresh vegetable. He groaned loudly as he swung the icebox closed. He slumped into a chair and began to begrudgingly eat an apple.

"I need something more filling. I swear, these things sometimes leave me hungrier than when I started. I bed if the Doc had more solid food, he'd eat it. But then again, this is a man whose height of his cooking prowess is warming up some canned soup. I can cook better than that."

Ren stopped talking. His eyes went wide.

"That's it Mary," he exclaimed, "I'll cook us a dinner. Cheer him up, say thanks for the leg. He'd have to have replaced his stomach to refuse my cooking. He hasn't replaced his stomach, has he? Eh, never mind. If the Doc hasn't left his rooms yet, I doubt he will for the rest of the day. That should leave me some time to go out and get what I need. If he does leave, I need you and Percy to cover for me. You guys will do that, right?"

Silence.

"I am so glad I can count on you."

With his mind made up, Ren was off like a shot. He grabbed his bag, money, and a few sketches, in case he extra time to sell, and bolted out the door to the elevator. His metal toes tapped in time in with the gears of the lift as he descended into Zaun.

Ren weaved through the familiar streets until he found himself at one of Zaun's largest food markets, the Victuals Plaza. This immense spider web of stalls and stores spread out from a central elevator that moved food between the two cities at all hours of the day. Ren loved this place. Every type of person in Zaun came here for food, from Chem-Barons to sup-scrapers. And for every type of person, there was a food.

Ren breathed deeply the various scents. Fragrant lavender perfumed the air from where a woman sold these purple blossoms she had grown in her cultivar. Further down the way, an older man wan was selling a hot out of the fryer apple cider donut to a mother with an excited child & a stall that sold honey from all over Runeterra was entertaining the son of a Chem-Baron.

Baskets of fruits & vegetables passed by Ren as he strode down the walk ways. He collected waxy onions, fresh cabbages, dried beans, potatoes, carrots, celery, savory pork sausages, a single fragrant bay leaf, and a about a dozen hard candies. A contented hum vibrated in his throat as he looked at the collection of goods gathered in his sack. He only wished he had more space to collect a handful of dried mushrooms from one stall run by a pair of twins with thick glasses tinted the green of Zaun's glass.

Ren was about to leave when a heavy, meaty aroma caressed his nostrils. He sighed deeply & followed the fragrance to a restaurant. There, displayed tantalizingly in the front window, was the most decadent food he had ever eaten, schweinshaxe, fried pig knuckles.

Four rows of pig knuckles were being roasted in a rotisserie style over the soft glow of a charcoal flame. Fat dripped down from meat on the top row onto the skins of those below it, before dripping down to the row after that, and so on. This left the meat with a crispy skin that glistened with fatty oil and provided a slight crunch to the salty meat below. Even though he knew he did not have money to afford one, it still took a great deal of willpower for Ren to look away. He promised himself though, that next time he did have the money for one, he would be back.

Ren gave a quick glance at the clock attached to the elevator shaft. The time was growing late. It was too late for him to sell any of his art, but not so late that he couldn't stop by to visit his friends. Without further hesitation, Ren made for the favorite hangout of Freckles and Curly. All he had to do to find this place was ride the elevator up two stops and follow his nose.

A large candle factory dominated this district. It made the air heavy with aromas and all the walls of the surrounding buildings had a waxy sheen to them. Though it was impossible to smell the stench of the Grey here, many people still chose to avoid this area because of its confused aroma. Vanilla mingled freely with fresh orange or lime fragrances, but then these fruity fragrances could also clash horrifically with the earthy smell of musk or sticky pine. On rare and terrifying occasions, the factory would attempt to use the latest chem-tech machinery to accurately duplicate other smells that shouldn't exists as candles at all, such as buttered popcorn or a salt marsh at low tide.

This left many of the residential buildings with one or two vacant rooms, and it was in one of these rooms that some of Zaun's street kids set themselves up a little hideout. Freckles and Curly both loved to come here. Freckles would love to try and pick apart the fragrance notes of the air while Curly, ever the wishful dreamer, liked to imagine up his own perfume ideas. Because of this, Ren was pleased to find the two of them sitting on the rooftop attempting to coax a pigeon to eat from their hands.

At Ren's approach, the bird took off. The kids whipped around to see what had scared the animal and their faces lit up. Freckles tried to feign anger over the scared off bird, but her impish smile kept her from looking the part.

"And there is goes," she said, "we were so close to getting it. Wasted a whole bag of chips on that stupid bird."

"Well," Ren said as he took a seat next to them, "I can't do anything about the bird or your chips, but maybe these can be a replacement for them?"

Ren pulled the candies from his bag. The final traces of Freckles's fake anger vanished and Curly clapped his hands together in delight.

"Cavernberry, you know that's my favorite flavor," Curly exclaimed.

Ren nodded and passed out the divided up the wrapped cadies between the three of them.

"So how did you get up hear so quickly," Freckles asked, "I didn't have time to hear you?"

"You know I've always been a half decent climber," Ren stated matter-of-factly.

"But now you're all decent, then," Curly chimed in, "you've been practicing."

Ren shrugged.

"Only kinda," he explained, "I've been building back my strength, yes, but the Doc and I have also been improving on my augmentation."

"Your prosthetic?" Curly asked.

Ren nodded and began to roll up his pants leg to proudly display the shinning limb.

"Yeah," Ren affirmed, "he's been focusing on its flexibility. He's almost got it as good as toes. But while he's been working on that, I've been working on something more impressive," Ren used this moment to pull back the rest of the covering in one swift movement, "boom, killer flame paint job to match my tattoo."

Ren's face was set with a smug pride as his displayed his handiwork. Red and gold stylized flames spiraled around his limb. He had painted each with a dark, black outline so that they popped all the more intensely on that experiment which he was supposed to keep secret. Ren didn't care though. He loved his flames; no matter how often Viktor had told him that they looked tacky, and having them painted on his augmentation made it feel more like a natural part of him.

"As artistic as ever," a voice called out.

Ren's head whipped around at the familiar voice. He was unable to suppress a smile when he saw the voice's owner.

"Ekko," Ren said.

He was on his feet in an instant and went to meet his friend in an embrace. A small, contented sigh escaped him as he gave Ekko a clap on the shoulder before parting. Ren gave him a quick look up and down. Ekko seemed unchanged for a young man ever improving himself. He still wore the same look of confidence, still dressed in the same street style of his city, and still smelled of grease and waxy hair products. For Ren, seeing Ekko like this was like stepping back in time. He had that effect on people.

"Where have you been," Ren asked, "and don't tell me that you didn't have the time."

"Where have I been," Ekko responded, "where have you been is the better question? I searched for you for days. We all thought you were dead."

"I did fall pretty far. But that doesn't matter now, it's in the past. I'm alive and better than ever. Check this out!"

Ren presented his leg with the upmost pride.

"I know how you feel about augmentations," Ren continued, "but they told me you found my toe, so you should understand that I needed a new leg. The expression is back on your feet, not back on your foot. So here I am with a new and possibly better leg."

"It's impressive," Ekko admitted, "but better than your own leg? I find it hard to believe that you honestly prefer this over your own flesh and blood. And, you still haven't answered my question. Where have you been? Curly and Freckles told me they saw you and I went and checked every hangout and couldn't find you."

Ren gave a quick shrug. "He's been staying with his doctor," Curly cut in.

"Doctor," Ekko mused, "I didn't know you had a doctor."

"I do now," Ren replied, "he's the charitable sort. He's a student, and he offered to work on my leg for free if he can submit it as a final project. I had no money and the Doc needed a passing grade, so things worked out."

"I understand," Ekko said, "but please," he continued tone tinged with fake whining, "please, tell me you didn't give your body to science for a Piltie."

"Of course not," Ren snorted, "this leg is Zaun through and through."

Ekko gave an approving nod and leaned in closer to inspect the limb. Ren continued to talk.

"Look all you want, Ekko. You won't see another like it. It's one of a kind, and not just because of my paint job. It's a cutting edge, brand new, rocket leg! You should see how I can kick with this thing, or climb, or jump. With that little extra boost I bet I could even make that jump."

Ekko nodded, only half listening. He knew how Ren could ramble on, and he wanted his attention focused on the augmentation before him. He quickly realized that Ren wasn't exaggerating when he called the limb cutting edge. The craftsmanship was of the highest caliber, constructed with beyond human precision. Ekko found it difficult to believe that any student in Zaun would have crafted anything this sophisticated without him hearing about. If he had heard, he would have taken the news to his parents immediately, to show them that the academies here were just as good as those in Piltover. But he had not heard anything, and he had a sinking sensation that he had seen handiwork like this before.

Then his eyes caught something on the limb's calf. It was small, no larger than his thumb nail, and appeared to be a defect. Ekko ran his finger over the scratch. It, like everything else, was intentional and had been etched in with care. Craning his head around, Ekko caught a better look at the symbol. A gear was the maker's mark of this limb, and within this etched gear, was another smaller image. Ekko's brow furrowed as he looked at this familiar mark, when suddenly, something Ren said had grabbed his attention.

"Isn't it glorious?"

Ekko's head shot up.

"What did you say?"

"Isn't it glorious," Ren repeated, "the leg, a second chance to live, everything."

Ekko gave a non-committal hum as an answer. The dreaded recollection of where he had seen that mark before had come back to him. It was on the augmentations of those who had claimed that they were part of a Glorious Evolution, those who had attempted to persuade him to come with them and, when that failed, had attempted to forcefully bring them before their master. Viktor.

A scowl pinched at Ekko's features. He wished that he could jump back in time and forget that realization, but it would be a fruitless endeavor. He could never forget knowledge. This was something he would have to deal with eventually, but not now. He didn't want to sour his reunion with his friend nor jump to conclusions about who Ren had been associating with during his absence. Ekko resolved to wait, if only to not make a scene in front of Curly and Freckles.

Ren noticed the change in Ekko's expression.

"What's wrong," he asked.

"Something small," Ekko answered, "it looks like you have a scratch or something on it."

Ren pulled his leg up in a panic.

"Oh jeez, I hope not. The Doc would not like that," a realization hit him, "and he also wouldn't like it if I were late. Time, time, what's the time."

Ren looked to the large clock above the candle factory's entrance.

"It's getting a little late for comfort, I should head out," Ren said as he gathered his belongings to him, "Ekko, next time I have a free day, we should do something together, maybe do some reclaiming from a Chem-Baron's personal dump. That's always good for some fun finds."

"Yeah, sounds great. I miss doing that stuff too," Ekko said and he hoped that all his fears would be proven false so that he and Ren could go back to things as they were.

"Alright," Ren said cheerfully, "see you later."

He quickly bestowed a quick nooogie on the heads of both Curly and Freckles before taking off. After a quick pause at the edge of the building, he kicked off with his augmented leg and its rocket, clearing the gap between buildings with ease. The two kids smiled with delight at Ren's fire, but Ekko was unmoved. Something was off about Ren that evening and Ekko did not like it.