"Zaun is not merely the Promenade as many Topsiders believe; nor just the Lanes as a lot of tourists think; nor even the mines as the capital owners assess. Zaun is also its most lost children," Silco lectured.

They trekked down into the deeper miasma. Silco waited for them to catch up as they reached a new level down. "Welcome to the Sumps."

The main councilor looked around in despondence. Shame on us. Me especially. Despite his reticence, Viktor had told me about problems in the underground, but I thought they would be temporary and resolved locally. Widespread poverty, unsheltered addicts, petty street crime, and diseased youth were clear along the way. But it is more frequent and intense here. It reminds me of how it was during and after the Rune Wars.

"Have the Sumps always been like this?" Heimerdinger asked. I didn't think about this place much even in the beginning. Before the canal project and the bridge.

"Yes and no. The pollution has decreased, but the population here has grown."

"Decreased but still present. What of the giant ventilators that were installed early near mining operations? Don't they alleviate the grey and similar gasses?" the yordle followed up.

"They likely did when they worked. I have not known them to operate in my lifetime."

Shoola observed the tell tale purple veins of many nearby. "Is the population growth mostly of shimmer addicts?"

Silco nodded. "Predominantly. Due to the limited resources available, what permanent housing there was has been repurposed. That house remains, likely due to concerns with disturbing the tower."

Jayce looked down then back at him. "So again, your shimmer production has made it worse?"

"My diplomatic instincts aside, I care little for who you wish to place the blame for past mistakes. I wish us to look to the future."

Jayce shook his head. "I understand the drive of pursuing a dream, but we have much to address before negotiating on Zaun is possible. We should talk about the crimes I brought up earlier directly."

Heimerdinger looked at Jayce. He's letting independence be on the table too easily. Even if that must be the course for protecting from a hextech disaster and for helping these unfortunate souls, we should not concede it quickly.

"Reasonable, but I've monopolized the conversation. My love of hearing my voice notwithstanding, kindly tell me what you have," Silco replied.

There were polite smiles from the politicians, who recognized false self-effacement easily. Shoola took the lead. "The first crime may not have been done by the same group as the later ones. I imagine word has reached the Undercity about it."

"Sheriff Marcus died in an explosion. Likely foul play or at least recklessness," Silco answered in a neutral tone.

Heimerdinger picked up the conversation. "Without exposing sources, it seems likely the bomber was one Powder or Jinx. Allegedly it was unintentional, but the witness may have been tricked or threatened. Do either of those names mean anything to you?"

He seemed more surprised by the name 'Powder' than by 'Jinx'. Maybe this girl is leading a double life.

"Aliases are common down here. And the crafty are prone to doing false flag and false colored flag operations. I knew of a Powder–she was with the Firelights. Do you have a description of her?"

Jayce answered quickly. "An Undercity dressed woman, not over 20. Slim build, shorter-side. Electric blue hair with long pigtails."

Jayce, let Silco speak. We probably could have had him describe her first. "Hmm… it does seem to fit her, especially the long braids. Yes, she's probably with the Firelights."

Jayce moved a little closer to him. "The victim, Sheriff Marcus. He was on the take, yes? And by you?"

Great Gyroscopes, Jayce.

"I had met with the late Sheriff many times and voiced my views of what was best for all parties. I wished for the Undercity to not have more conflicts with Piltover's Finest. When he offered to not only leave me from harassment and brutality, but all of the underground in exchange for a medium-sized bribe, it was a moral compromise I felt obligated to make."

Silco wouldn't take credit for crimes he didn't commit. It is of little consequence now, though, except for other enforcers that may be corrupt. Hopefully Hoskell and Salo will find a capable new sheriff, though they seldom agree with each other.

"Understood," Shoola said. "Have you heard about the other crime?"

"The Progress NIght Robbery? Only what you've said and I've read. Glad no one was killed, but what was stolen or this kidnapping…" Silco shrugged.

Heimerdinger was studying him close. He must be mixing truth, half-truth, lies, and lies-by-omission. But assaying them apart is difficult. "It seems the enforcers were lured into a pavilion by a fire and subdued with a knockout gas. Cleverly, it also seemed to extinguish the fire."

It was a couple of heartbeats before Silco answered. "That sounds very much like the Firelights. While I am sure you recognize my interest in defaming a competing faction, they prefer to minimize casualties to gain popular support. Which makes me think that if Powder is responsible for killing the Sheriff it was probably without intent."

"Do you not? Minimize casualties, I mean." Jayce challenged.

"Which am I, Mr. Tallis? Am I a cruel drug lord who is also a frothing ultranationalist? Am I someone who buys enforcers and then kills them? Do I engineer major crime sprees and then call summits to reduce tension?"

Heimerdinger touched Jayce's elbow before he could retort. "No one is making criminal accusations against you, Silco. At least not without proper investigation."

Shoola looked at Jayce with a raised eyebrow. He took a second to figure out her meaning, then nodded. "The Progress Day presentation was to be the next generation of hextech–the hextech gemstone. Unlike hexcrystals, it is fully stable. It can generate tremendous power; it was going to be deployed to revolutionize industry, especially mining and artificing."

"Sounds incredible." He nodded to Jayce with respect. "If the technology is so breakthrough, would people besides you or your partner be able to use it? Or even…"

"Weaponize it?" Jayce finished. "Cards on the table, we're not sure. Unlikely in the short term, but the fissures have brilliant and even genius creators. They also took my notes, so that could accelerate such a calamity."

Heimerdinger shifted his weight. As usual Jayce, you've got to slow down. We don't need to tell him everything, especially if we aren't getting valuable information in exchange.

"That could spell devastation. I said the Firelights weren't homicidal, but they've never had such a powerful resource in their hands. And to protect yourselves, you would need to…"

Jayce finished again. "No. Viktor and I–"

"It is important we don't let it come to that. The horrors–the atrocities of the Rune Wars must never be repeated," Heimerdinger interrupted and shook his head trying to do damage control.

Silco glanced to Shoola who was restraining a frown. He coughed. "My understanding of war is from the personal and street level. I hate to imagine it on such a large and bloody scale. I fully agree we cannot let such a war happen."

Shoola stepped forward, almost trying to get between Jayce and Silco. "For the last offense, an officer was kidnapped and possibly killed. An onlooker claimed they saw three people on some type of personal flying device and one of them was lying as if unconscious."

"Before I would not have thought kidnapping would fit the Firelights modus operandi, but perhaps they have radicalized. They did kill some of my crew at the docks, after all. Maybe the enforcer discovered the identity of one of them."

"Do you know much about the identity of the Firelights?" Heimerdinger asked.

Silco looked away for a moment and seemed to be recollecting. Then he gave a reluctant nod. "Their leader is named Ekko. An alias he used to use is Little Man, possible E, they often seem to go by the first letter of their name. About my height, but more athletic. Around 19. Dark skinned with white hair."

The councilors looked at each other. Shoola was repeating the description, presumably to memorize it.

"You have given us a tremendous amount to consider, Silco," Heimerdinger noted. "I had hoped for another meeting almost immediately, but processing this and then coming to a course of action will take time for the Council. Perhaps in three days from now; two if it goes well? With the meeting taking place at a neutral or topside location?"

"It will take a little rescheduling by me, but it certainly is worthwhile." He gestured to the ramp. "Shall we return?"