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"Piltover is about to attack. They have Hextech Rifles—long range, high damage. We can't win like this," Chen explained, his voice echoing in the cold, damp laboratory.
Viktor, leaning heavily on his cane, stared at his own trembling hands. He knew Jayce had moved into the Council, but the thought of his partner authorizing a slaughter was a jagged pill to swallow. "I trust Jayce," Viktor whispered. "He would never agree to a war. He's a scientist, not a killer."
Chen let out a long, weary sigh. "Jayce is a scientist, Viktor. Like you. And that's exactly why those politicians will walk all over him. He'll be counting the gold they gave him while the bridges are burning."
Singed, who had been silent throughout the exchange, looked at Chen with clinical detachment. "Proof?"
Chen handed him the crumpled note from the Fish Head Boss. Singed adjusted his bandages, his eyes scanning the intelligence. "The merchant with the marsh frogs... he is rarely wrong. If Piltover comes down here, my research ends. I cannot have my samples contaminated by Piltie boots." He turned to Chen. "I will help. But my funding must match what Silco provided."
"You'll have everything you need," Chen promised.
Viktor stepped forward, his breathing shallow. "I also want to protect Zaun."
"Can your body even handle it, Viktor?" Chen asked gently.
"No," Viktor admitted. "But as you said... I must join the glorious evolution."
Singed's gaze was piercing. "What you are doing will make you a pariah, Viktor. Are you certain?"
"I have made my choice, mentor. Help me."
The First Augmentation
Chen felt a surge of adrenaline. With Singed and Viktor on board, the "Chem-Tech" synergy was almost at its peak. He reminded them of the deadline—six days—and instructed Singed to prepare the Alchemical Inferno as a last resort.
Before leaving, Chen looked around for Powder. He found her standing in a dark alcove of the lab, staring at a massive, half-wolf, half-human specimen suspended in a vat of preservative chemicals.
"Is this... a werewolf?" Powder asked, her voice hushed. "Why does he feel so familiar?"
Chen looked at the beast—the dormant form of Warwick. He knew the truth that even Powder hadn't fully realized: that the monster in the tank was once Vander, rebuilt by Singed's needles.
"Let's go, Powder," Chen said, pulling her away before the memories could surface. "We have work to do."
Back in the grotto, Viktor's transformation began. It was not a surgery; it was a sacrifice. He carved runes into his own flesh—the same geometries found on Hextech Crystals—and strapped metal support frames directly to his skeletal frame.
He took the syringe of refined Shimmer and drove it into his thigh. His veins turned a violent purple, bulging against his skin as he let out a howl of pure, unbridled agony. With a shaking hand, he pressed his blood-stained palm against the Hex Core.
The device hummed, greedily drinking his life force. Blue and purple light erupted, fusing metal to bone and circuit to nerve. When the light faded, Viktor's right leg was no longer flesh. It was a shimmering, mechanical limb of Hextech purple—the first step in his journey toward the Machine Herald.
The Invisible Scout
Three days later, Chen and Ekko were hunched over a sand table at The Last Drop, simulating the defense of the industrial district. The door creaked open, but the room remained empty.
Chen raised his lantern, and Ekko gripped his Z-Drive, but a familiar screeching voice broke the tension.
"The shiny-city is busy! Very busy! They have guards everywhere!"
Twitch materialized on the table, gnawing on a piece of moldy cheese. "The Warden's house is like a hive! Searchlights! Everywhere!"
"Did they see you?" Chen asked.
"Sneaky rat! Fast rat!" Twitch licked his paws. "But they have a box—a Hextech box—that sees through the dark. It sees my smell! It sees my shape!"
"The Hextech Thermal Scanner," Ekko muttered. "They used it to wipe us out in the other timelines."
Chen's mind raced. "If they're using the scanner to watch the front lines, their rear will be unguarded. Twitch, you'll slip into Piltover the moment the shooting starts. While they're looking at us, you look for the Warden."
Twitch cackled and vanished again.
Just then, a Wildfire scout burst in. "Political Commissar! Camille Ferros is here! She's asking for you!"
Ekko checked his watch. "Wait. In the previous loops, she didn't come for another three days. This is early."
"The butterfly effect," Chen said, grabbing his lamppost. "Our preparations are changing the timeline faster than we thought. Let's see what the Steel Shadow wants now."
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