A/N: Hey there folks, thanks for sticking with me. I know I haven't particularly posted much on this story lately, but I'm trying my best to not rush chapters just for the mere purpose of having content out. I hope you'll forgive me for the slow updates, but I'm trying my best to get out of this slump and back into writing again. Anyway, as a side note, feel free to leave a review on the story and tell me what you think so far. Let me know if there's anything you like/dislike about it and what I should work on to improve the story. I'll even accept a PM if you feel like asking me about the story or characters or even if you just feel like talking. But enough rambling, on with the story!
Chapter Five: Discovery
Location: Zaunite College of Techmaturgy (Many years before Jayce's invasion)
"GOOD EVENING SIR OR MADAM. I AM CALLED BLITZCRANK. HOW MAY I SERVE YOU?"
Cheers erupted through a crowd of young men and women, dressed in rubber suits and welding masks. The leader of the team calmly walked up to a bright gold steam-powered golem. The man had dark brown messy hair, with a few oil stains on the white lab coat he wore. His face was filthy, smudged with oil and grease.
"Blitzcrank. My name is Viktor. As a test of your ability as the prototype of many soon-to-be-built hazardous waste overseers, I would like you to take this crate-" At this, the man gestured to a wooden crate filled with medical waste on one of the tables next to him, "-and sort its materials into smaller crates. Once you have finished, dispose of each of the crates according to the materials inside them."
"UNDERSTOOD. YOU ARE CALLED VIKTOR. MY TASK IS TO SORT THE MATERIALS IN THIS CRATE AND DISPOSE OF THEM ACCORDING TO THE CONTENTS OF THE SORTED MATERIALS."
The crowd went silent as Blitzcrank began to work. In a matter or minutes, the golem had materials disposed into proper bins. The crowd of engineers once again erupted with cheers and applause. Once the noise died down, Viktor approached the machine once more.
"Very good Blitzcrank. Your next task is to dispose of the waste bins. Take each bin from the college and bring them to the waste disposal field to the south. Once you have brought the bins there, destroy the waste. Make sure to evacuate any civilians that may be in the area."
"UNDERSTOOD."
Blitzcrank began to move throughout the college, collecting hazardous medical and mechanical waste, bringing them back to the waste bins, and sorting them at incredibly fast speeds. Once the golem had collected all of the waste throughout the college, it picked up the bins and exited the building, heading south for the waste disposal field. When Blitzcrank had arrived at the field, it dumped the waste out of the bins and began to move towards the center, glowing bright blue.
"COMMENCING DISINTEGRATION OF WASTE. SCANNING AREA FOR CIVILIANS…SCAN COMPLETE. IT IS NOW SAFE TO BEGIN DISINTEGRATION."
Blitzcrank's glow became more intense, and after a few seconds, a massive explosion of electrical energy blasted the waste, disintegrating all traces of it in the area. However, one item still remained; a rock, glowing bright pink, had absorbed the energy from the blast, and began pulsating, as if it were a beating heart.
The steam golem stared at the rock blankly - well, as blankly as a robot can stare – for a while, and finally said "UNIDENTIFIED LIFE FORM RECOGNIZED. MUST RETURN IT TO THE COLLEGE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH."
As Blitzcrank stepped closer to the stone, its glow became much more intense, and it began to pulsate at a faster rate.
"PROXIMITY REACTION RECOGNIZED. BEGINNING DEFENSIVE COUNTERMEASURES."
The golem stepped back from the stone and raised its left arm, opening its hand. Its arm then suddenly burst out from its socket, and sailed through the air, followed by a steel cable, connecting its arm to its shoulder. The arm landed on the stone, and Blitzcrank closed its grip around it. The stone began to glow brilliantly, and its pulsating shook the ground around it, but after about thirty seconds, the glow dissipated, and the stone lay still, leaving a plain, grey rock.
"LIFE FORM REACTION STABLE. IT IS NOW SAFE TO PROCEED WITH TRANSPORTATION."
Blitzcrank slowly retracted its arm, readying itself for any type of reaction the stone might have, but the stone laid still throughout the night, and as the golem returned to the college, it shut itself down, having done its job, and waited patiently for Viktor and his associates to return the next morning.
. . .
"Well, Stanwick, I'd call this week a success, wouldn't you?" Viktor said with a big grin on his face.
"I would." Stanwick agreed, "Great job today my friend."
"You as well. Get some rest this weekend, because starting Monday, we start manufacturing these machines so every major building in Zaun has one." Viktor said. "Zaun will become the cleanest city in Valoran, maybe even all of Runeterra!"
"Calm down there, Viktor." Stanwick exclaimed, "Don't you think we should wait it out a bit? There could still be a few bugs in Blitzcrank's programming."
Viktor took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "I suppose you're right." He said.
"Now why don't we go to the pub and grab a drink? It is Friday after all." Stanwick suggested.
"You go on ahead. I think I'll head back to the college. I've got a few projects I'd like to continue working on." Viktor replied.
"You work too hard my friend," Stanwick said with a sigh, "I'll see you Monday."
The professors shook hands and departed, and with each step Viktor took towards the college, his face became more stern and serious. When he had arrived at the college, he sighed deeply and swiped his entrance card to enter the building, heading for the Techmaturgy Engineering Lab.
As the engineer entered the room, he noticed Blitzcrank in the corner, who was resting in sleep mode.
He flicked the light switch and headed toward a table with an odd-looking mechanical armguard lying on top of it and began to tinker with it. After about an hour of working on the armguard, Viktor strapped it on his forearm and raised it at a mechanical dummy that sat in the corner of the room. He flicked a switch on the armguard and a small cannon emerged from the top of it. Next to the switch, there was a small red button, and after carefully aiming his hand at the dummy, Viktor hit the button, and a spinning blade fired out of the cannon. As soon as the blade hit the dummy, it exploded, and a translucent barrier appeared around Viktor.
"At last, it is finally done." Viktor sighed and collapsed on the seat behind him, taking off the armguard.
With a big grin on his face, Viktor said to himself, "Now that I've perfected this weapon, I can apply this to Blitzcrank and any future steam golems we may create. That way they can have a means of defending themselves."
At the mention of its name, Blitzcrank became active again.
"I SEE YOU HAVE ARRIVED VIKTOR. AN UNIDENTIFIED FORM OF LIFE HAS BEEN DISCOVERED AMONG THE WASTE AT THE COLLEGE'S WASTE DISPOSAL FIELD."
"Ah Blitzcrank, you're awake. An unidentified life form you say?"
"AFFERMATIVE VIKTOR. IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT BACK FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS BY THE COLLEGE."
"I see, good work. Show it to me."
"UNDERSTOOD."
Blitzcrank opened its fist, holding the stone, which had gone completely gray, out to Viktor. After examining the stone, Viktor's lips fell from a smile to a frown.
"This is a rock, Blitzcrank. I see there is still a few bugs in your programming."
"NO ERRORS HAVE BEEN DETECTED WITHIN CENTRAL PROGRAMMING. A HEARTBEAT WAS OBSERVED WITHIN THIS STONE WHEN PICKED UP."
A look of confusion appeared on Viktor's face. "Are you sure?"
Blitzcrank moved the tables to the edges of the room and placed the stone in the empty space.
"DEMONSTRATING RECENT FINDINGS. COMMENCING DISINTEGRATION."
With a look of shock on his face, Viktor shouted "Blitzcrank abort!"
"ABORTING DISINTEGRATION."
"Allow me to test this hypothesis, Blitzcrank." Viktor said, running his fingers through his hair, letting out a sigh of relief. He picked up the stone; placing it on the dummy stand he had just used to test his weapon, and walked back to his workstation. Equipping himself with the armguard, he took aim at the stone and fired. The spinning blade exploded as it hit the stone, and sure enough, another translucent barrier surrounded Viktor. However, the stone did not disintegrate. Instead, the stone absorbed the power from the explosion, as it shone bright pink, illuminating the room while violently shaking and pulsating. Viktor covered his eyes as the stone began glowing brighter and brighter, and after about a minute, reverting to its dormant state.
A chilling silence fell over the room as Viktor slowly lowered his arms, a look of sheer terror falling over his face.
"What on Runeterra…" he said nervously, "I've never seen anything like this before. Blitzcrank, you found this in the waste disposal field?"
"AFFERMATIVE."
Why would such an interesting specimen such as this be left to die in the waste field? he thought.
After composing himself, Viktor turned to Blitzcrank and said, "You may resume sleep mode Blitzcrank, thank you for your cooperation today. I will see to it that this life form is analyzed further by Professor Stanwick."
"UNDERSTOOD VIKTOR. RESUMING SLEEP MODE."
After returning to its corner, Blitzcrank shut itself down for the night.
Using heavy-duty gloves, Viktor picked up the stone and carefully placed it inside a large specimen case, labeling it with the words, "Unknown Life Form". He then tidied up the lab and placed his project in a techmaturgy storage area labeled "weapons". Picking up the stone's case, Viktor walked over to the telephone inside the lab and dialed a number.
"Stanwick?...Yeah, it's Viktor…I have something here you might be interested in, are you still out at the pub?...Great. I'll meet you there." click.
Viktor took a few steps towards the door when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and stood straight up, looking down at the case in his hand. After a few seconds of silence, he continued out the door.
Strange, Viktor thought, I could have sworn I just heard a young girl laughing…
End of Chapter Five