Chapter 30
"Crystal. See you later Doc."
Ren gave Viktor a brief wave before jumping down onto a service catwalk. The metal on metal clang of his augmentation connecting with the suspended structure sent vibrations down its length. He loved it. The noise made him feel powerful, like it was like a declaration; "bring it on, Zaun, I'm augmented and ready for you.'
Ren turned and waved to Viktor one final time before rounding the corner and moving out of sight of his mentor. A warm feeling spread through him. It was nice, he thought, that Viktor trusted him enough to go out on his own. Viktor's opinion hadn't stopped him before, but this was a welcome change of pace from sneaking out.
"Less a lab rat and more a partner," Ren thought, before quickly shaking the notion from his head, "well, partner may be too strong a word. Student, maybe? At least a person he tolerates."
He let the quest for the appropriate word buzz around his brain as he descended towards his favorite market below the shattered cultivair. He had heard that Freckles had managed to convince some of the workers from the candle factory to give her some extra wax so that she and Curly could begin their quest to become candle makers. Ren made it the day's mission to buy one of their candles, even though it was likely that the candle would neither smell particularly nice nor burn well.
"Well," he thought, "we all need to start somewhere. I just hope the extra wax didn't come from one of the factories 'experimental fragrances' days. Ugh, the world doesn't need any turkey dinner candles."
The glinting green glass soon came into view and Ren descended into the small, hidden market. It was a quieter day than the last time he had visited, but there was still enough going on to keep his eyes entertained. He took his time going over the various goods on display and was almost tempted to buy some records until he realized that he didn't know if Viktor owned a sonophone. Ren put the record back down on the stall and gave a quick shrug. It just meant that he would have to ask Viktor if he had one.
"Even if Doc doesn't have one, we could probably build one," he reasoned to himself.
The thought of building his own sonophone immediately eased any feeling of disappointment, and he continued on with an improved mood. So elevated he felt that Ren even dared to make eye contact with the crooked nosed goon who was looming behind his stall of ill-gotten augmentations. The goon shot Ren back an icy look, to which Ren returned a warm smile. This lasted approximately three seconds before Ren remembered that value of what was strapped to his stump and he hastily turned his face away and hurried off. Ren heard the goon huff and mutter something foul under his breath but tried not to pay it too much mind. He couldn't look rattled even the slightest before the kids.
At last he found them at the back of the market in the concealed corner that he usually used to sell his drawings. Lumpy and crooked, their first attempts at candles were lined up before them. Curly was beaming proudly at their creations while Freckles gently fanned a piece of paper over the one lit candle in an attempt to waft its fragrance through the market. Ren waved at them as he approached, but then something strange happened.
Curly saw him and a look of nervousness descended on his face. He starred back at Ren with this confused look before finally offering a sheepish wave. Freckles saw this and followed Curly's gaze back to Ren. Her reaction was far different. In an instant she scooped up her candles into her pack, completely abandoning the lit one, and slung them over her shoulders. She grabbed Curly's hand and pulled it down before tugging him away. Curly gave Ren one last sad look before turning to go with Freckles. Then they bolted off. Ren stood there dumbfounded, his mind taking several seconds to process what had happened before he gained the sense of mind to take off after them.
Ren's strides were longer, but the kid's small size made it easier for them to weave through the crowd and gain distance over their pursuer. Ren growled under his breath. He knew he was losing them. His eyes darted around the market, looking for anything that might help him. He found it in the shape of a fire escape attached to a neighboring building.
"Need some space," he shouted as he began to charge his leg.
A mixtures of gasps and irritated cursed rose from the crowd as Ren propelled himself up and over them to grab the lowest rung of the escape. He pulled himself up to the level and scanned the crowd until he spotted them ducking out the back of the market. Without giving himself time for a second thought, Ren leapt off after them.
He scrambled up the fire escape to the top of the building. And, giving himself a running start, he leapt from rooftop to rooftop to rooftop. He ignored the growing murmur from the people below. His attention was only focused on Curly and Freckles.
"Wait! Stop," Ren shouted out to them.
But his words appeared to be ignored. Freckles turned suddenly and ran into an underpass built below the buildings Ren was on. Curly went stumbling after her, but not before casting a quick glance over his shoulder. Ren cursed under his breath as began to charge his augmentation. He was going to have to attempt a technique he was still working on. Without releasing pressure on it, he stepped off the side of the building. He released the blast shortly before he would have become a splat on the ground, and instead the force of the exhaust slowed his fall and allowed him to touch down, leaving only a sizeable scorch mark left on the pavement instead of spattered Renatus.
Ren followed them into the underpass just in time to see them disappear into a vent too small for him to crawl through.
"Curly? Freckles," he called down into it, "what's wrong?"
The only response he received was the scuffing noise of them crawling through the vents. Ren needed more than that, he needed an answer. Luckily for him, he knew this vent system from when he used it as a child. He thought for a moment, remembering which paths were inaccessible on cleaning days, fan schedules, and where all the exits for this vent were.
"They're going to Splinter's Gorge," he decided, "it's the safest route today."
Ren took only a minute to catch his breath before beginning his ascent towards Splinter's Gorge. The gorge was one of the more narrow ones in Zaun, but that by no means meant it was a forgettable landmark. From the depths of the Sump rose the Splinter, the largest stalagmite in Zaun. It loomed over all the other buildings around the gorge, with the very tip of the structure mere inches shy of Piltover. Several smaller stalagmites grew from Splinter's base, so that in places it looked more like a gnarled tree than stone.
Several walkways crisscrossed the gorge, giving travelers plenty of angles from which to admire Splinter's majesty. These walkways were also a popular place for the children of Zaun to test their skills, daring each other to jump from level to level. Ren waited on the middle of five levels, confident that he could quickly jump to whichever level Curly and Freckles decided to cross on. He heard them before he saw them.
On the far side of the gorge, Curly was doubled over with a heaving cough, his blight-weakened lungs exhausted from running. Freckles was rubbing his back, whispering something in his ear, and looking around frantically. Ren bolted over to them when saw this.
"Curly, what's wrong? Are you-" Ren called out.
Freckles cut him off when she moved herself between them.
"You stay back," she shouted, "his lungs are fine enough. You don't need to go and replace them."
Ren froze in his tracks.
"Replace them? Freckles, what?" he asked, "your words are in the Gray. Why would I want to replace Curly's lungs?"
"Because Ekko told us that you're working for him now and that's what he does. We won't let Curly become golem."
"You've lost me completely. I work for who now?"
"Viktor."
All three of them turned their heads at the sound of Ekko's voice. Ekko was standing on one up the upper walkways around the Splinter. In one, clean motion, he jumped down and placed himself between Ren and the kids. He always made it look so effortless.
"Whew, Ekko," Ren said, "talk some sense into them. I'm not dangerous at all."
"But you work for Viktor now," Ekko retorted in a grim tone, "don't you? You're wearing his tech."
"What? No. I don't work him."
A wave of relief washed over Ekko's face.
"I don't think I've been so happy to be wrong before," Ekko said with a sigh, "now come on, let's get that junk off your leg."
Ren took a step back as his friend approach.
"Uh, no," he objected, "look, I know you hate augmentations and all that, but I kinda need this to walk."
"Come on," Ekko responded, "I know I'm stubborn, but I'm not stupid. I understand and make exceptions for totally necessary augmentations. We'll get you a new leg, a better one, one not made by that creep."
"There aren't any better ones than this."
"Okay, so we'll get you one just as good then, just as long as we can get rid of that one."
"Ekko, I don't want to get rid of this one."
"Why? I thought you said you weren't working for him."
"Working for him, no, but he's, well, he's my friend Ekko. I'm not going to throw this away just because you don't like it."
"Friend? Ren, he's probably just using you as a lab rat."
"Maybe at first. I kinda knew it, but I don't think it's like that anymore. He cares about me. He's been teaching me how to maintain my leg, read blueprints, and even a little about hex-tech. If I'm anything to him, it sure isn't a lab rat anymore, it's an apprentice."
"Apprentice? You mean you want to learn to learn how to make monsters?"
"Monsters, no. Blitzcrank isn't a monster. Blitzcrank was made to help people. I don't think he wants to make monsters."
"You think or you know?"
"I think," Ren's tone was growing hot, "but I know that you're assuming a lot for someone who hasn't spent any time with this man."
Ekko was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath before turning to look back to the kids.
"Get out of here," he told them, "I don't want you to see this."
Freckles hoisted Curly to his feet and pulled him away. Ren started towards them again but Ekko held out his hand, now gripping his clock hand club.
"Ekko, what is wrong with you," Ren demanded.
"I'm very sad, Ren," Ekko replied, "but I'm going to help you. He's got you brainwashed. I need to get you away from him and I'm going to start by getting that thing off of you."
A concoction of rage and sorrow welled within Ren. He leapt backwards. He took a fighting stance as every muscle in his body tensed. The machinery in his augmentation began to hum with energy.
"You can try," he spat.
Solemnly, Ekko reached and turned on his Z-Drive.
