[ Silco is glamored, as always. He looks like he could have stepped straight out of Zaun. Down to his clothing, which when he first arrived showed the evidence of patched holes — the same places where he had been bleeding before — now it's unmarred, like a fresh outfit. Like it came straight from the tailor. He still looks untouched, but Mel's sight will see it clear, the edges. The way it simmers like she can see that it's fake.
Silco keeps himself together, lying because it is easy and normal, because it's the only thing he has. He looks like he has not even been touched by his second soul.
His head nods, toward the street. ]
Walk with me. I assume you have already walked East Sophia before? I will not repeat our steps.
[ The boarded door is not boarded.
It's all fake, a ruse. It's a door, and he opens it. They are going down, it seems. ]
We'll be going to Gloria, instead.
[ From Waters Edge to Gloria — underground, it seems. ]
[ With the imprint in play, it's easier to recognize the glamor for what it is. But it's her sight that takes the edges off, sees past it ever so slowly. It's not enough for her to get the full shape of yet, not unless she wants to risk yet another migraine for her troubles, but she knows there's something beyond. She glimpsed it in the alley.
Silco has been changed. He'll deny it because the core of him, the man from Zaun, hasn't shifted an iota. He will think himself indomitable, unwavering, and they will both know it is true and untrue.
The door opens. She blinks, realizing it's a ruse. And she's walked past it so many times. Mel follows Silco through the door and does not speak again until it's closed and the stairwell is plunged into brief darkness but for the light far, far ahead, below. ]
How far do these tunnels go?
[ She'd heard about an abandoned project. It hadn't seemed necessary to follow up. But if it stretches that far then surely there are more. ]
[ It's not fully dark in the stairwell, as Silco starts to step down each step, his shoulders hunched slightly as he does so. The flickering of lights and the hums of soft generators are an indication of that. Once they reach the bottom, there are a few deviations along the way, but they aren't lit and haven't been strung up with the rest of the lights.
Silco's head tips slightly, to give her another sight of that blackened, orange eye. ]
Far enough to get to Gloria. And elsewhere... if you don't mind traipsing amongst the filth.
[ Not terribly specific, but Mel will get a sense that Silco has been careful. The imprint lets them feel... something of one another, but Mel knows Silco's organization by now enough to know that this will be bigger than he will ever admit. That's the way of things. The way the man operates.
An architecture, a scaffolding, an entire plan that spreads out like a web's arms, crawling outward from one central point, each strand one he can pluck at should he need to. The drugs weren't the most dangerous part of Zaun's efforts — Silco had always been the asp waiting at the bottom of the well, ready to strike. ]
They abandoned this, you know. Any deeper, and we would be exposed to radiation.
[ The further they go, the finer the tile goes. Mel will see more signs of work. Posts that are unmanned at the moment with quickly-erected gates, supplies at the entrances to tunnels, streaks of dirt from workboots moving in and out. This place is normally a hum of activity. ]
[ It takes so much of her own effort to push her magic down, stow it away. She forgets, sometimes, how it springs to life for her own protection. She does not need to be the lantern in the dark. Instead, she lets the dark overtake her briefly until they step out into the dim lights of the underground. There's an irony to it, to pass through shadow to find something deeper below, an echo of Zaun itself: a city forgotten is still a place of life, a place to be loved, if only one could see past the shroud of their subjectivity.
Never again. She cannot let it happen again.
Mel follows. Jayce has made shoes for her to allow her to seem more normal when she can be, but her footsteps are only slightly louder than his own — his which are silent, wraith-like. ]
The Katalyth beneath the city? Is it through mining?
[ If so, then the echoes of Piltover and Zaun run deeper than she realizes. She knew there was radiation but how it came to be... That part she didn't pursue. Her eyes scan anything and everything, taking it all it, letting it wash over her. Silco does not narrate; he allows what's been left behind to tell the story. He has been hard at work...and he has a significant bit of help. Recent, organized, efficient. And if it extends even further...
His operation is far larger than she knew. Something cold settles in her stomach at the thought. ]
[ He hasn't had time to look much, more focused on making something from nothing than working on the mysteries of what plagues this world. There are others looking into these things, and perhaps they'll find out, while Silco keeps moving deeper, deeper into the depths. He aims to start digging, recreate the project, and turn this into truly something that spans beneath Karteria itself, but so far, it's only a tunnel that he's had Bruno work to connect.
And some minor connections to the sewers, to allow them to work in secret. ]
But why would they? Nobody knows we're here, and the authorities hardly have any interest in the fortunes of the lower-classes here, now do they?
[ He steps further in. The deeper they go, the more light there is, the better it looks. The work and expansions are one thing, but the tile is starting to look fine, like it's decorative. The lights are diffused by glass, held by darkly brushed bronze, and finally, Mel witnesses her first local.
A brusque man, standing at a door. He looks at Silco and nods, and then looks to Mel. She's with he boss, so she won't get any pushback, but he does offer her a curious look as they pass. The first security gate, she'll realize, as they pass into a longer, wider tunnel.
It's large enough to drive a small cart, really. A lot of people could fit down here in a pinch, though as they move deeper, she'll notice... more movement. More locals. None of them look well off, but they at least look clothed, fed, and healthy. Which is a lot better than topside. ]
When I was young, I wanted for so much, councilor. A warm bed and food were creature comforts that were elusive on a bad week, and a luxury on a good week. That makes one hungry in a way that I do not think you could understand.
These people here are the same. They are hungry to change their fortunes.
[ She'll realize that they are working down here. Hauling boxes, moving neatly packed products. Runners occasionally jog in to make a pickup of pouches that carry illicit substances and drugs to cope alike. Money exchanges. There's security. Large boxes are stacked up to move to warehouses, ready to go. ]
There was no work, you know. Half of them spent their days looking for something.
[ Mel follows, head straight but her gaze looking everywhere. She drinks it all in and attempts to do so without judgment, without preemptive uncertainty, but the longer this goes, the deeper they wander, the more people she sees... The trepidation begins to build and build and build. Silco has an entire operation; these aren't a dozen of Augmented he's pulled under his wing, these are dozens and dozens of Karterians who are doing what he wants.
These are people who believe whatever it is he's telling them. And based on what he tells her in full view of these people who flit to and fro, she has a good idea what that message is. The worst part, she supposes, is that she cannot refute it. Not any longer.
Periodically, she slows for a few moments as they walk, finally turning her head to survey. Suspicion is absent in her gaze, replaced only by curiosity, a deep scrutiny in order to understand. Mel Medarda has only ever needed to be hungry for a mother's love and acceptance. The people here have known true hunger in every sense: for freedom, for autonomy, for food, for safety, for wellness. Long had she heard of the fissures in Zaun, the sickness that the Grey once caused. It was easy to believe that once the fans were installed, that would be it. But it's never so easy. And she'd been a fool to believe so: a fool in a gilded cage of her own making, in limiting beliefs. ]
Opportunities continue to dwindle. Without being able to go beyond the barrier, so many of their jobs have been lost.
[ Woodcutters, farmers (though some remain in limited capacity), researchers, hunters. Now they rely on the Augmented in their mercy, and there is only so much they can do. ]
[ He says it plain. Silco does not balk from these types of truths. He has a different blind spot, one that runs deeper, and laces through him. His ability to self-reflect is a pitch space in the edge of his vision, where he does not look, but this? He can confront this truth head on. ]
Or more accurately, those who Brought us. Who create machines to take away what few jobs exist here. Who keep their medications priced high, their food out of reach, who call them lesser for simply the place of their birth.
[ He says this all in plain view. It is a routine speech, the people recognize it, but they still lift their heads. Some even nod, before going back to work.
The space is open, and wide. Up in a stairway area, a balcony, there is a desk, and a manager's office behind it. Silco does not take her there. He walks, pontificates, he stops over a dark Stain on the ground. Black, like dried blood. Someone died here. ]
Too few are willing to invest in what they need. We are all working together to build something For them.
[ Silco is no altruist. He is not here to make something for them. Mel can see it for what it is here, a staging ground. A test. A self-serving attempt to see what will work — if it will work. If that works in their favor, all the better. The intended byproduct, but two things can be true: this could improve their lives and he is testing to see what will work for Zaun. ]
[ This is the echo of Zaun. She hears it like the ringing of steel, the chugging of machinery, the clanking of a hammer on an anvil. Her gaze roams around as people nod and look up. They acknowledge Silco as a man who understands their plight. As he'd said many months ago: he alone reached out his hand to these people. He walked in the mire to them and stained his boots ever so briefly to show he was one of them and garnered their loyalty with the most important thing he could offer.
He acted. He followed through.
It's impressive. It's something's she's (begrudgingly) admired about Silco's ways: he can inspire belief and confidence in him, he can rally people to a thought. Of course there's enough to be frightened about with that. Old thoughts and habits come up quickly, like slipping on an old glove. Silco won't need much to twist these people to do as he says. He doesn't even need to lie, only to embellish, and he barely needs to do that. Jobs have been taken, food has been scarce. The people at the top do not care for those at the bottom, those of whom the backbone of the city rests.
What he succeeds at here will be replicated back home, should he ever reach that point. And here they are again, as they were that first day, where she is acutely aware of how she is responsible for the steps Silco takes. When she returns, if he returns, then his fate is entwined with her own. She will be the mage walking beside the man who orchestrated the murder of the Council. Can she live with that?
(The fox says there can always be another way. The wolf says there is a place in his throat for all of the teeth she does not show.) ]
And when the upper class, the government, all of those people who stand atop these people... When they push back against you, what will you do?
[ The blood by her feet has long dried but she sees the head of a young girl and a splatter of blood. ]
How will you protect what is important to those you've rallied?
This is not something for me. I'm one man. It's what we will do. What strength we can gather, what we can do together? I've never been a fighter, councilor. [ He gestures at himself. He uses the word councilor pointedly, to remind her of her position, even as she is down here in the mire.
She is a tourist. He is not. ]
We aim to have the right avenues in place to ensure that we will remain unseen until necessary. We will have the strength we require, when the time comes.
[ A twitch of his lips. ]
People like the upper class, the government, when do they look down this way? When do they push back?
It's when we stop making everything function. It's when we make a nuisance of ourselves. We do not aim to do so, until the time is right.
[ She doesn't want to believe it. Silco speaks of it like it's community but she sees it for what it is: it's an army, not quite to the point of fanaticism but certainly aching for justice, for quality of life. It's desperation, and desperation drives men to do terrible things if they aren't helped. Silco's giving them hope; she can't deny that, nor can she deny that it seems to be helping, if not working. But people are never content with waiting and words.
Silco wants action. 'Nuisance' is a nice, gentle word. Not working, perhaps. Peaceful protesting. Interrupting all services. And yet, she doesn't think that's where all of this will land. Not with him.
Although, she can't say it wouldn't be deserved. ]
They'll look down when all of their luxuries are taken from them, when basic services disappear. There are more of the people in the lower and middle classes than in the upper echelons or the government, but they have more power, and more capable of putting down uprisings.
[ And that's how escalation starts. Violence. Is Silco actually invested in the outcome or is he simply fine with stacking however many obstacles he can into a ladder to climb out of this world? ]
The government's kept themselves tucked away and out of sight. I'm curious who they are, what connections they have.
[ Light, and musing. It's a barb that's tossed automatically, but without so much of the heat in his voice. A reminder that they have seen this before, and that hit is something that they will have to circumvent in their own way. ]
You are correct, of course. We all know what it is to do without basics. [ A few nodding heads. Silco says this for Mel, yes, but also for his people here. They are not Zaunites. They are not his people, but they are the closest one can find in this space. They are the ones that he can understand the most, of all the people here.
If he had to pick a group of people to tie his fate to, it would be them. That much is clear.
He intends to use them, but... well. If he leaves a mark on this world, he wants it to be their success. If possible. They are expendable, but not without other possibilities taken first. ]
We do. I wonder what it will be, for them to lose it. What will happen? What they will do, if they lose it?
We know what it is, to be threatened into keeping working — even when there isn't enough work to go around. Even if there isn't enough food to go around. Or shelter.
[ A tight smile. ]
Don't worry, councilor. We intend to do this right. You are aware that I had not jumped wildly into such things where we are from.
[ A few glances at Mel, from the workers, as they go about their business. ] I know the merit in patience.
I think what you are discussing will bring about the collapse of a long held system.
[ Her tone is carefully neutral, but she doesn't seem...opposed to it as she might be. Something is brewing between the government, the upper class, and Patho-Gen. What it is, she isn't certain, though she can take a very good guess. Likely that in exchange for funding to Patho-Gen, something is being given back to the upper crust and those in power. She can assume that, beyond the maintenance of their quality of life, it's access to either cutting edge healthcare against the arcane radiation, food, or something else. Or all of it. So the destruction of one piece of that is the equivalent to taking a peg out of a three-toed stool.
It will simply fall apart. ]
But it would expose the relationship between the three most prolific pieces on the board: the upper class, the government, and Patho-Gen.
[ It is, perhaps, blasphemous to invoke the latter's name. They have done a great deal of good for the city in terms of the barrier, the technology, and even bringing in the saviors for the city: the Augmented. But surely people can see the intertwining of these three forces, and that to address one will either bring about retaliation or difficulty from the others.
Silco knows. She's saying it for the benefit of those present.
We intend to do this right. Ha. She wants to believe that. She wants to believe that something new can be done. And... Mel's gaze doesn't soften, perhaps, but there's a far-off quality to it, as if her eyes look upon a horizon that is millions and millions of miles away.
If this can be done correctly somehow, then Piltover and Zaun may still be saved from her mother. And if she can learn from it, then she can at least understand better building blocks for her return to Noxus, which is a foregone conclusion at this point. Silco seeks to wrest control from the powerful here and in Piltover; she seeks the same in her home. Once more, she is struck by the paralleled paths here. She wouldn't have considered it before, not when Silco had been discussed in the Council chamber. But the more that the smoke and ash have cleared away, the more she sees the lines as they stand. It is neither the same melody nor much different.
[ Soft rumbling from the individuals in the chamber. They all hear her, they understand this too. Patho-Gen was a part of the problem. Their medication was out of reach, their gifts to Karteria was out of the reach of these. He understands this. They understand this now.
They also look at Mel with curiosity and caution. The look of people who had nothing, who Silco was throwing a lifeline, and understanding that they Were supported here. In some way, in some measure.
Silco, at the center, standing over a patch of blood he'd made himself, spreads his arms. ]
Support.
[ He gestures to the people here. ]
We are only human, after all. I am one Augmented, and I refuse to simply do everything. [ For most, that would come off as arrogant, but some of the more bookish of the group nod. ] I want to build something with the people here. I want it to be insulated, should I vanish.
This is theirs, after all.
They will need augmented to defend them, they need avenues built to find them. Should we vanish. Which will be a possibility no matter the day.
They do not deserve to have this possibility snatched from them, should I, or you, vanish.
[ This is not how Silco operates, normally. This is an adjustment. A change. Another attempt. To see what works. He is a planner. He is in full control.
These are not his people, and thus his fingers do not grip as tight, as they otherwise would. ]
[ Support she can do. She has the funds for investment, especially if it’s to help people. But Silco brings up a good point about what that would mean: money is useful and places power back in the hands of others; long-term, however, the money will run out without stability and clearer pathways towards success. It would be better to throw her funds at dismantling barriers. Mel’s gaze lifts towards the ceiling, surveying, thoughts scattered as she considers.
When she speaks again, her voice is quiet, because anything she says here is something Silco can use to shackle her later. ]
I can help.
[ Which is an empty offer, she knows, coming from someone like her after all that has been done to Silco, the Zaunites, and Jinx. Still, helping the Karterians has been her priority since the start: to help them means they are shortening how long they must remain here. It only makes sense. And she and Silco have much to do back home. Her gaze flicks towards him. ]
Your people will need resources to begin smaller startups to help their predicaments. You’re working on a physical network wrought in stone but also in people.
[ And she’s already offered Silco options: she gave them to Takasugi so he could complete his little homework assignment. Not that he’d know. So she can throw a few of those out…carefully. She doesn’t want to expose him, after all. Not when it could endanger him. ]
Anything related to medicine is the most important. [ But she and Silco have discussed that previously. ] Infrastructure as well.
[ Her talons lift, indicating the wood, the debris, the stone and brick. ]
I’m in the market for resources as it is, and while all of these are finite, I think we can share. I can look into what’s available. And then there’s caring for these people… [ She can’t offer medicine. But. ] There’s a farm beyond the boundary of the city. I know the person working it. I can see about distribution.
[ She can pay Konoha and her workers and get them more seeds. She wants a good look at those pseudo-barriers out there in the farmland anyway for the Aparallaxia initiative. ]
[ He admits it. The drugs are a part of it. Silco is not one who simply uses drugs for no reason. It's for a purpose. In Zaun, it had been to amass power, here it was to amass funds. It's used to supercede ones lot in life.
For them, the drugs are to give them money, something they had so little of before. Silco had so little need for it, after all, and it made him look more altruistic than he was. What was necessary for the organization was kept, and the rest was for the workers. The people. He didn't need food, he didn't need land, or even more than the barest clothing. Enough to fuel his cigar and drink habit was all he needed.
Even still, he had plenty. ]
Infrastructure will allow us to expand. Allow us to push deeper into this underground, and expand.
Allow us to get to places where we originally weren't able to.
Imagine it... [ He turns to his workers. ] Being able to take our wares wherever we wanted in Karteria.
[ Imagine it, Silco says, and she can. He tells her it's medicine and she knows that's at least half-true. Shimmer was medicine in a way; it allowed people reprieve from the worst of their pains and their realities. How much more can be done... Well, that's beyond her purview, but if she's able to get samples down the line, she can at least see if Jayce and Viktor can discern their use. Silco's reason for it, though, is clear: capital, which gives people a leg up in the world. Money gets them shelter, allows them to inch ever closer to the respect they deserve.
If someone would at least consider them, and not continue to think less. Likely, the upper echelons won't change their minds. In the end, it likely won't matter. Money talks, after all. ]
How far do you assume these tunnels stretch?
[ It's a genuine question, the gears turning. Her gaze flicks towards him. ]
Do you think they eventually lead out of Karteria, or are they solely tied to the rail project?
[ He asks, his eye going wide to match his own, his eyebrow lifts. ]
Oh no, counselor.
[ He shook his head, as if she had it all wrong. ]
We know every twist down here now. When we arrived, they were not even connected. [ A gesture towards one of the tunnels. ] Now they are. This was a fully defunct project. Little to show for it but two hubs, and disconnected tunnels.
[ A smile, wan, and thin. ]
Working together, you can see what we have done. In such a short amount of time.
And yet they look down on us. [ A few nods, now. They know. They understand. ]
[ There is something wholly unnerving about it all, the way Silco speaks, the way these people so readily listen. In any other context she would call it a kind of religious fervor, insistent, riding the edge of desperation intermingled with shared rage. She cannot condemn their anguish, cannot say it is undeserved, but it is terrifying how quickly Silco has whipped these people behind him. One man in an alleyway, spurred to loyalty, was nothing. This is not only an entire operation but people who have come to see Silco as the arbiter of their future.
That's what greatly troubles her. An entire set of tunnels beneath the city in the span of months means Silco can go most anywhere, be anywhere, do whatever he'd like. Once on the surface, he comes under the jurisdiction of the law (what law? who's going to stop him?) but so long as he remains down here, he could build an entire city beneath Karteria. He could build an army.
Mel feels ill. She feels for a moment like a bird that's fallen into a lake, only now realizing the snake that's coiled beneath the surface. Her voice is calm, measured. Her gaze remains on the structure of the 'ceiling' so she doesn't need to betray herself. ]
They look down on anyone who isn't them because they have something. It's not just about money and status. They have the backing not only of Patho-Gen but the government. And they are hoping the people down here don't realize the power they have together.
[ Silco's group isn't wholly enough. But if more and more of the people become motivated, things can rapidly escalate, and he will be at the helm of change. Part of it, she knows, is deserved. Still, this has to be done carefully, and she fears Silco's rage will hold the reins before long. ]
[ His eyes watch her carefully. Oh, so carefully. She looks upward, away from the people here. Away from their anger, their rage. The one that Silco so carefully stokes, with his words and his phrasing. The one that he uses to erect a shield.
Does she regret it, he wonders? Does she now see what it is that he does? Does she now understand that this is not simply a small thing. That this is a movement. The same as Zaun.
He had once been the man who was propelling them into the future, into legitimacy, and their own kind of legitimacy, not the ones Piltover decreed down to them from on high. They would have their own. They call them thieves and cheats, but they were smart, and sharp, and there was untold talent that was left untapped in the fissures. They were making limbs that Piltover couldn't imagine, and then there was shimmer.
did they not understand the true power in that? Did she not see that it existed here, as well? ]
And we do, don't we? [ he doesn't have to look away from these people. His lips twitch, sharp and fueled by his fervor. ]
They wish to hide, but we see it. We know it.
And eventually, when we have that power together, they will be surprised, when it's pushed against them.
[ She wants to ask 'when'. She wants to know every minute detail of this, how soon he's thinking this will begin, how far the tunnels expand, what demands they'll be making. Silco might not even have every detail of it yet but she can't simply let this happen, not without some kind of control over it. But to tip her hand so soon... He'd shut her out. Mel knows that what he's shown her today is likely only a small piece of his operation, only enough to give her a glimpse not only of the rot in the city and how it affects people but also to settle this almost as a threat.
Pick a side. Prove some semblance of loyalty and help, or you'll be shut out entirely.
Pledging resources is one thing. It'll allow her to keep tabs on it all. She can ask Hugo to watch over things and Takasugi as well, in what small ways he can manage. But it's...going in blind, having to trust other people will be honest with what Silco's fully planning. But she has to, because she doesn't know how much further he'll allow her to stretch her hand without him taking it off.
Her gaze returns to his own, assessing. ]
And if they bear down further on all of you? I know you said they don't know about this. [ In this, she won't speak; the government and Patho-Gen cannot know about this underground. Even if she doesn't fully agree with the outcome, with the loss, these people deserve a fighting chance.
It's how they'll be wielded that troubles her. ] There's only so much more that the people here can take. They're being squeezed enough as it is. It's only been twenty-five years.
[ A lifetime for some. She won't say it's been the blink of an eye, but her point is more that the collapse of Karteria's society is a rapid thing, and it wouldn't shock her if more ramifications happen sooner rather than later. Especially with the recent issue with the tree creature. ]
[ She's right, of course. This is an invitation. Tell her to choose a side, let her see just enough. She doesn't need to know what they're running to understand that it's vital. He could stay small, only push a few drugs, but he's consolidating. Drawing it all together. Making them work to eliminate him. Put this into a position that the structure will fall apart and be irreparable once they reach out.
Once they try to take. ]
Whether it is by food or military might, they will find a way. However, we are all in this together. The people here and we augmented are not a part of their class. They start to remove from us, and from my people here, and they will lose resources. Profits, work, people. [ Food will become a necessity. He's got to secure it, first. ]
They are built on these backs. They bear the load down too hard, and they will see what happens when the foundation splits.
[ Analogies are good. They are safe. They conceal. ]
[ And conceal they do, but not from her. How much will Silco allow to happen in order to instigate what he feels must be done? 'We are all in this together.' What a magnanimous approach from someone who has been clear that he does not see himself as one of the ones suffering the most here? But he uses all the right language, a true politician, a true manipulator.
Just like her. ]
I'll provide what aid I can. They deserve all of the support and help they can get.
[ She knows it sounds too formal, but there's a tone in her voice that says the truth: this is something she agrees with and believes in, even if Silco's methods in the end may come to a place she will not follow. Until that point, it is her truth. These are the people pushed down by society, by the elites. People like her. If she has any hope of remedying the past, it must start here.
It isn't atonement. Forgiveness is out of her reach. But she can do better. ]
[ Her words are stiff, and formal, but they ring true. Someone who looks like her, who speaks like her... they have never heard something like this either. Not from someone like Mel. She may be augmented, but that means little to them.
They are used to that.
They are not used to someone like her speaking out like this.
It means something.
Silco nods, satisfied. ]
Then we will be working together, towards that end. Won't we?
[ It curdles in her stomach. There are worse people to ally with, far worse causes to get behind. The end result of this may still be bloodshed but it will not be the rampant and indiscriminate decimation her mother would (will) do to Zaun and Piltover to get what she wants. Silco, at least, genuinely seems to want for circumstances to change here...if only as a testing ground. He likely cares so little for the outcome, only to learn from it. If the people here succeed, then all the better. If they should fail, he'll know what to do in Zaun and Piltover when he returns home.
If he returns home.
Mel turns towards Silco. He is not a man of trust, just as she is not either, but she can offer this much: she offers her hand. ]
We will. There's much and more that can be done.
[ Carefully. But she would be foolish to spurn an alliance where, if nothing else, she is garnering information. Silco may not give her more than this...but at least she knows where to find him. In time, these people may give her their begrudging trust as well.
Silco pauses, holds for a moment. His eyes look between the hand, and her, but to spur it now is to spur her potential help, and to deny help for the people here who need it. His hands are clasped tightly behind his back, before he finally lets them go, and lets them rest at his side. ]
And it will be done.
[ He points out, as if to say that words are cheap, but they must have follow through. ]
As long as we all understand that, we'll make our way forward.
[ He reaches out.
He takes her hand. For just a brief moment.
They are imprinted, and something settles within him, even as he loathes that the contact does so. Like that violent, angry thing is brought to heel, even if momentarily. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Silco keeps himself together, lying because it is easy and normal, because it's the only thing he has. He looks like he has not even been touched by his second soul.
His head nods, toward the street. ]
Walk with me. I assume you have already walked East Sophia before? I will not repeat our steps.
[ The boarded door is not boarded.
It's all fake, a ruse. It's a door, and he opens it. They are going down, it seems. ]
We'll be going to Gloria, instead.
[ From Waters Edge to Gloria — underground, it seems. ]
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Silco has been changed. He'll deny it because the core of him, the man from Zaun, hasn't shifted an iota. He will think himself indomitable, unwavering, and they will both know it is true and untrue.
The door opens. She blinks, realizing it's a ruse. And she's walked past it so many times. Mel follows Silco through the door and does not speak again until it's closed and the stairwell is plunged into brief darkness but for the light far, far ahead, below. ]
How far do these tunnels go?
[ She'd heard about an abandoned project. It hadn't seemed necessary to follow up. But if it stretches that far then surely there are more. ]
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Silco's head tips slightly, to give her another sight of that blackened, orange eye. ]
Far enough to get to Gloria. And elsewhere... if you don't mind traipsing amongst the filth.
[ Not terribly specific, but Mel will get a sense that Silco has been careful. The imprint lets them feel... something of one another, but Mel knows Silco's organization by now enough to know that this will be bigger than he will ever admit. That's the way of things. The way the man operates.
An architecture, a scaffolding, an entire plan that spreads out like a web's arms, crawling outward from one central point, each strand one he can pluck at should he need to. The drugs weren't the most dangerous part of Zaun's efforts — Silco had always been the asp waiting at the bottom of the well, ready to strike. ]
They abandoned this, you know. Any deeper, and we would be exposed to radiation.
[ The further they go, the finer the tile goes. Mel will see more signs of work. Posts that are unmanned at the moment with quickly-erected gates, supplies at the entrances to tunnels, streaks of dirt from workboots moving in and out. This place is normally a hum of activity. ]
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Never again. She cannot let it happen again.
Mel follows. Jayce has made shoes for her to allow her to seem more normal when she can be, but her footsteps are only slightly louder than his own — his which are silent, wraith-like. ]
The Katalyth beneath the city? Is it through mining?
[ If so, then the echoes of Piltover and Zaun run deeper than she realizes. She knew there was radiation but how it came to be... That part she didn't pursue. Her eyes scan anything and everything, taking it all it, letting it wash over her. Silco does not narrate; he allows what's been left behind to tell the story. He has been hard at work...and he has a significant bit of help. Recent, organized, efficient. And if it extends even further...
His operation is far larger than she knew. Something cold settles in her stomach at the thought. ]
No one's come chasing you and yours down here?
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[ He hasn't had time to look much, more focused on making something from nothing than working on the mysteries of what plagues this world. There are others looking into these things, and perhaps they'll find out, while Silco keeps moving deeper, deeper into the depths. He aims to start digging, recreate the project, and turn this into truly something that spans beneath Karteria itself, but so far, it's only a tunnel that he's had Bruno work to connect.
And some minor connections to the sewers, to allow them to work in secret. ]
But why would they? Nobody knows we're here, and the authorities hardly have any interest in the fortunes of the lower-classes here, now do they?
[ He steps further in. The deeper they go, the more light there is, the better it looks. The work and expansions are one thing, but the tile is starting to look fine, like it's decorative. The lights are diffused by glass, held by darkly brushed bronze, and finally, Mel witnesses her first local.
A brusque man, standing at a door. He looks at Silco and nods, and then looks to Mel. She's with he boss, so she won't get any pushback, but he does offer her a curious look as they pass. The first security gate, she'll realize, as they pass into a longer, wider tunnel.
It's large enough to drive a small cart, really. A lot of people could fit down here in a pinch, though as they move deeper, she'll notice... more movement. More locals. None of them look well off, but they at least look clothed, fed, and healthy. Which is a lot better than topside. ]
When I was young, I wanted for so much, councilor. A warm bed and food were creature comforts that were elusive on a bad week, and a luxury on a good week. That makes one hungry in a way that I do not think you could understand.
These people here are the same. They are hungry to change their fortunes.
[ She'll realize that they are working down here. Hauling boxes, moving neatly packed products. Runners occasionally jog in to make a pickup of pouches that carry illicit substances and drugs to cope alike. Money exchanges. There's security. Large boxes are stacked up to move to warehouses, ready to go. ]
There was no work, you know. Half of them spent their days looking for something.
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These are people who believe whatever it is he's telling them. And based on what he tells her in full view of these people who flit to and fro, she has a good idea what that message is. The worst part, she supposes, is that she cannot refute it. Not any longer.
Periodically, she slows for a few moments as they walk, finally turning her head to survey. Suspicion is absent in her gaze, replaced only by curiosity, a deep scrutiny in order to understand. Mel Medarda has only ever needed to be hungry for a mother's love and acceptance. The people here have known true hunger in every sense: for freedom, for autonomy, for food, for safety, for wellness. Long had she heard of the fissures in Zaun, the sickness that the Grey once caused. It was easy to believe that once the fans were installed, that would be it. But it's never so easy. And she'd been a fool to believe so: a fool in a gilded cage of her own making, in limiting beliefs. ]
Opportunities continue to dwindle. Without being able to go beyond the barrier, so many of their jobs have been lost.
[ Woodcutters, farmers (though some remain in limited capacity), researchers, hunters. Now they rely on the Augmented in their mercy, and there is only so much they can do. ]
They have every reason to resent us.
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[ He says it plain. Silco does not balk from these types of truths. He has a different blind spot, one that runs deeper, and laces through him. His ability to self-reflect is a pitch space in the edge of his vision, where he does not look, but this? He can confront this truth head on. ]
Or more accurately, those who Brought us. Who create machines to take away what few jobs exist here. Who keep their medications priced high, their food out of reach, who call them lesser for simply the place of their birth.
[ He says this all in plain view. It is a routine speech, the people recognize it, but they still lift their heads. Some even nod, before going back to work.
The space is open, and wide. Up in a stairway area, a balcony, there is a desk, and a manager's office behind it. Silco does not take her there. He walks, pontificates, he stops over a dark Stain on the ground. Black, like dried blood. Someone died here. ]
Too few are willing to invest in what they need. We are all working together to build something For them.
[ Silco is no altruist. He is not here to make something for them. Mel can see it for what it is here, a staging ground. A test. A self-serving attempt to see what will work — if it will work. If that works in their favor, all the better. The intended byproduct, but two things can be true: this could improve their lives and he is testing to see what will work for Zaun. ]
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He acted. He followed through.
It's impressive. It's something's she's (begrudgingly) admired about Silco's ways: he can inspire belief and confidence in him, he can rally people to a thought. Of course there's enough to be frightened about with that. Old thoughts and habits come up quickly, like slipping on an old glove. Silco won't need much to twist these people to do as he says. He doesn't even need to lie, only to embellish, and he barely needs to do that. Jobs have been taken, food has been scarce. The people at the top do not care for those at the bottom, those of whom the backbone of the city rests.
What he succeeds at here will be replicated back home, should he ever reach that point. And here they are again, as they were that first day, where she is acutely aware of how she is responsible for the steps Silco takes. When she returns, if he returns, then his fate is entwined with her own. She will be the mage walking beside the man who orchestrated the murder of the Council. Can she live with that?
(The fox says there can always be another way. The wolf says there is a place in his throat for all of the teeth she does not show.) ]
And when the upper class, the government, all of those people who stand atop these people... When they push back against you, what will you do?
[ The blood by her feet has long dried but she sees the head of a young girl and a splatter of blood. ]
How will you protect what is important to those you've rallied?
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[ Silco shakes his head. ]
This is not something for me. I'm one man. It's what we will do. What strength we can gather, what we can do together? I've never been a fighter, councilor. [ He gestures at himself. He uses the word councilor pointedly, to remind her of her position, even as she is down here in the mire.
She is a tourist. He is not. ]
We aim to have the right avenues in place to ensure that we will remain unseen until necessary. We will have the strength we require, when the time comes.
[ A twitch of his lips. ]
People like the upper class, the government, when do they look down this way? When do they push back?
It's when we stop making everything function. It's when we make a nuisance of ourselves. We do not aim to do so, until the time is right.
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Silco wants action. 'Nuisance' is a nice, gentle word. Not working, perhaps. Peaceful protesting. Interrupting all services. And yet, she doesn't think that's where all of this will land. Not with him.
Although, she can't say it wouldn't be deserved. ]
They'll look down when all of their luxuries are taken from them, when basic services disappear. There are more of the people in the lower and middle classes than in the upper echelons or the government, but they have more power, and more capable of putting down uprisings.
[ And that's how escalation starts. Violence. Is Silco actually invested in the outcome or is he simply fine with stacking however many obstacles he can into a ladder to climb out of this world? ]
The government's kept themselves tucked away and out of sight. I'm curious who they are, what connections they have.
[ And she's willing to go looking. ]
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[ Light, and musing. It's a barb that's tossed automatically, but without so much of the heat in his voice. A reminder that they have seen this before, and that hit is something that they will have to circumvent in their own way. ]
You are correct, of course. We all know what it is to do without basics. [ A few nodding heads. Silco says this for Mel, yes, but also for his people here. They are not Zaunites. They are not his people, but they are the closest one can find in this space. They are the ones that he can understand the most, of all the people here.
If he had to pick a group of people to tie his fate to, it would be them. That much is clear.
He intends to use them, but... well. If he leaves a mark on this world, he wants it to be their success. If possible. They are expendable, but not without other possibilities taken first. ]
We do. I wonder what it will be, for them to lose it. What will happen? What they will do, if they lose it?
We know what it is, to be threatened into keeping working — even when there isn't enough work to go around. Even if there isn't enough food to go around. Or shelter.
[ A tight smile. ]
Don't worry, councilor. We intend to do this right. You are aware that I had not jumped wildly into such things where we are from.
[ A few glances at Mel, from the workers, as they go about their business. ] I know the merit in patience.
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[ Her tone is carefully neutral, but she doesn't seem...opposed to it as she might be. Something is brewing between the government, the upper class, and Patho-Gen. What it is, she isn't certain, though she can take a very good guess. Likely that in exchange for funding to Patho-Gen, something is being given back to the upper crust and those in power. She can assume that, beyond the maintenance of their quality of life, it's access to either cutting edge healthcare against the arcane radiation, food, or something else. Or all of it. So the destruction of one piece of that is the equivalent to taking a peg out of a three-toed stool.
It will simply fall apart. ]
But it would expose the relationship between the three most prolific pieces on the board: the upper class, the government, and Patho-Gen.
[ It is, perhaps, blasphemous to invoke the latter's name. They have done a great deal of good for the city in terms of the barrier, the technology, and even bringing in the saviors for the city: the Augmented. But surely people can see the intertwining of these three forces, and that to address one will either bring about retaliation or difficulty from the others.
Silco knows. She's saying it for the benefit of those present.
We intend to do this right. Ha. She wants to believe that. She wants to believe that something new can be done. And... Mel's gaze doesn't soften, perhaps, but there's a far-off quality to it, as if her eyes look upon a horizon that is millions and millions of miles away.
If this can be done correctly somehow, then Piltover and Zaun may still be saved from her mother. And if she can learn from it, then she can at least understand better building blocks for her return to Noxus, which is a foregone conclusion at this point. Silco seeks to wrest control from the powerful here and in Piltover; she seeks the same in her home. Once more, she is struck by the paralleled paths here. She wouldn't have considered it before, not when Silco had been discussed in the Council chamber. But the more that the smoke and ash have cleared away, the more she sees the lines as they stand. It is neither the same melody nor much different.
She takes a breath. And then: ]
What do you need for this?
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They also look at Mel with curiosity and caution. The look of people who had nothing, who Silco was throwing a lifeline, and understanding that they Were supported here. In some way, in some measure.
Silco, at the center, standing over a patch of blood he'd made himself, spreads his arms. ]
Support.
[ He gestures to the people here. ]
We are only human, after all. I am one Augmented, and I refuse to simply do everything. [ For most, that would come off as arrogant, but some of the more bookish of the group nod. ] I want to build something with the people here. I want it to be insulated, should I vanish.
This is theirs, after all.
They will need augmented to defend them, they need avenues built to find them. Should we vanish. Which will be a possibility no matter the day.
They do not deserve to have this possibility snatched from them, should I, or you, vanish.
[ This is not how Silco operates, normally. This is an adjustment. A change. Another attempt. To see what works. He is a planner. He is in full control.
These are not his people, and thus his fingers do not grip as tight, as they otherwise would. ]
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When she speaks again, her voice is quiet, because anything she says here is something Silco can use to shackle her later. ]
I can help.
[ Which is an empty offer, she knows, coming from someone like her after all that has been done to Silco, the Zaunites, and Jinx. Still, helping the Karterians has been her priority since the start: to help them means they are shortening how long they must remain here. It only makes sense. And she and Silco have much to do back home. Her gaze flicks towards him. ]
Your people will need resources to begin smaller startups to help their predicaments. You’re working on a physical network wrought in stone but also in people.
[ And she’s already offered Silco options: she gave them to Takasugi so he could complete his little homework assignment. Not that he’d know. So she can throw a few of those out…carefully. She doesn’t want to expose him, after all. Not when it could endanger him. ]
Anything related to medicine is the most important. [ But she and Silco have discussed that previously. ] Infrastructure as well.
[ Her talons lift, indicating the wood, the debris, the stone and brick. ]
I’m in the market for resources as it is, and while all of these are finite, I think we can share. I can look into what’s available. And then there’s caring for these people… [ She can’t offer medicine. But. ] There’s a farm beyond the boundary of the city. I know the person working it. I can see about distribution.
[ She can pay Konoha and her workers and get them more seeds. She wants a good look at those pseudo-barriers out there in the farmland anyway for the Aparallaxia initiative. ]
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[ He admits it. The drugs are a part of it. Silco is not one who simply uses drugs for no reason. It's for a purpose. In Zaun, it had been to amass power, here it was to amass funds. It's used to supercede ones lot in life.
For them, the drugs are to give them money, something they had so little of before. Silco had so little need for it, after all, and it made him look more altruistic than he was. What was necessary for the organization was kept, and the rest was for the workers. The people. He didn't need food, he didn't need land, or even more than the barest clothing. Enough to fuel his cigar and drink habit was all he needed.
Even still, he had plenty. ]
Infrastructure will allow us to expand. Allow us to push deeper into this underground, and expand.
Allow us to get to places where we originally weren't able to.
Imagine it... [ He turns to his workers. ] Being able to take our wares wherever we wanted in Karteria.
[ They could never catch them, then. ]
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If someone would at least consider them, and not continue to think less. Likely, the upper echelons won't change their minds. In the end, it likely won't matter. Money talks, after all. ]
How far do you assume these tunnels stretch?
[ It's a genuine question, the gears turning. Her gaze flicks towards him. ]
Do you think they eventually lead out of Karteria, or are they solely tied to the rail project?
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[ He asks, his eye going wide to match his own, his eyebrow lifts. ]
Oh no, counselor.
[ He shook his head, as if she had it all wrong. ]
We know every twist down here now. When we arrived, they were not even connected. [ A gesture towards one of the tunnels. ] Now they are. This was a fully defunct project. Little to show for it but two hubs, and disconnected tunnels.
[ A smile, wan, and thin. ]
Working together, you can see what we have done. In such a short amount of time.
And yet they look down on us. [ A few nods, now. They know. They understand. ]
We do what they cannot.
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That's what greatly troubles her. An entire set of tunnels beneath the city in the span of months means Silco can go most anywhere, be anywhere, do whatever he'd like. Once on the surface, he comes under the jurisdiction of the law (what law? who's going to stop him?) but so long as he remains down here, he could build an entire city beneath Karteria. He could build an army.
Mel feels ill. She feels for a moment like a bird that's fallen into a lake, only now realizing the snake that's coiled beneath the surface. Her voice is calm, measured. Her gaze remains on the structure of the 'ceiling' so she doesn't need to betray herself. ]
They look down on anyone who isn't them because they have something. It's not just about money and status. They have the backing not only of Patho-Gen but the government. And they are hoping the people down here don't realize the power they have together.
[ Silco's group isn't wholly enough. But if more and more of the people become motivated, things can rapidly escalate, and he will be at the helm of change. Part of it, she knows, is deserved. Still, this has to be done carefully, and she fears Silco's rage will hold the reins before long. ]
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Does she regret it, he wonders? Does she now see what it is that he does? Does she now understand that this is not simply a small thing. That this is a movement. The same as Zaun.
He had once been the man who was propelling them into the future, into legitimacy, and their own kind of legitimacy, not the ones Piltover decreed down to them from on high. They would have their own. They call them thieves and cheats, but they were smart, and sharp, and there was untold talent that was left untapped in the fissures. They were making limbs that Piltover couldn't imagine, and then there was shimmer.
did they not understand the true power in that? Did she not see that it existed here, as well? ]
And we do, don't we? [ he doesn't have to look away from these people. His lips twitch, sharp and fueled by his fervor. ]
They wish to hide, but we see it. We know it.
And eventually, when we have that power together, they will be surprised, when it's pushed against them.
[ That's what he wants.
He wants to build it to a fever pitch. ]
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Pick a side. Prove some semblance of loyalty and help, or you'll be shut out entirely.
Pledging resources is one thing. It'll allow her to keep tabs on it all. She can ask Hugo to watch over things and Takasugi as well, in what small ways he can manage. But it's...going in blind, having to trust other people will be honest with what Silco's fully planning. But she has to, because she doesn't know how much further he'll allow her to stretch her hand without him taking it off.
Her gaze returns to his own, assessing. ]
And if they bear down further on all of you? I know you said they don't know about this. [ In this, she won't speak; the government and Patho-Gen cannot know about this underground. Even if she doesn't fully agree with the outcome, with the loss, these people deserve a fighting chance.
It's how they'll be wielded that troubles her. ] There's only so much more that the people here can take. They're being squeezed enough as it is. It's only been twenty-five years.
[ A lifetime for some. She won't say it's been the blink of an eye, but her point is more that the collapse of Karteria's society is a rapid thing, and it wouldn't shock her if more ramifications happen sooner rather than later. Especially with the recent issue with the tree creature. ]
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[ She's right, of course. This is an invitation. Tell her to choose a side, let her see just enough. She doesn't need to know what they're running to understand that it's vital. He could stay small, only push a few drugs, but he's consolidating. Drawing it all together. Making them work to eliminate him. Put this into a position that the structure will fall apart and be irreparable once they reach out.
Once they try to take. ]
Whether it is by food or military might, they will find a way. However, we are all in this together. The people here and we augmented are not a part of their class. They start to remove from us, and from my people here, and they will lose resources. Profits, work, people. [ Food will become a necessity. He's got to secure it, first. ]
They are built on these backs. They bear the load down too hard, and they will see what happens when the foundation splits.
[ Analogies are good. They are safe. They conceal. ]
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Just like her. ]
I'll provide what aid I can. They deserve all of the support and help they can get.
[ She knows it sounds too formal, but there's a tone in her voice that says the truth: this is something she agrees with and believes in, even if Silco's methods in the end may come to a place she will not follow. Until that point, it is her truth. These are the people pushed down by society, by the elites. People like her. If she has any hope of remedying the past, it must start here.
It isn't atonement. Forgiveness is out of her reach. But she can do better. ]
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They are used to that.
They are not used to someone like her speaking out like this.
It means something.
Silco nods, satisfied. ]
Then we will be working together, towards that end. Won't we?
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If he returns home.
Mel turns towards Silco. He is not a man of trust, just as she is not either, but she can offer this much: she offers her hand. ]
We will. There's much and more that can be done.
[ Carefully. But she would be foolish to spurn an alliance where, if nothing else, she is garnering information. Silco may not give her more than this...but at least she knows where to find him. In time, these people may give her their begrudging trust as well.
Maybe. ]
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Indeed.
She offers a hand.
Silco pauses, holds for a moment. His eyes look between the hand, and her, but to spur it now is to spur her potential help, and to deny help for the people here who need it. His hands are clasped tightly behind his back, before he finally lets them go, and lets them rest at his side. ]
And it will be done.
[ He points out, as if to say that words are cheap, but they must have follow through. ]
As long as we all understand that, we'll make our way forward.
[ He reaches out.
He takes her hand. For just a brief moment.
They are imprinted, and something settles within him, even as he loathes that the contact does so. Like that violent, angry thing is brought to heel, even if momentarily. ]
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