If Piltover's technology was a car that could cross mountains and rivers, then every outstanding scientist in each new generation upgraded its engine, its tires, and every other part to make it run faster.
The Council was like the driver gripping the wheel.
Zaun's technological system, on the other hand, was more like a frail man with a jetpack strapped to his back.
Even without stability and under conditions that were wildly unsafe, Zaun could still force itself to keep up with Piltover.
Shimmer, mechanical arms, and now the Hextech gemstones they'd gotten this time.
Piltover could no longer casually ask, "Hey, want a ride?"
Only to kick Zaun off again not long after.
Now Piltover had no choice but to sit down and really talk to Zaun, to seriously address the problems it had forced onto the Undercity.
Otherwise, the other side might fly straight onto the roof of their car, and everyone would explode together into the brightest star in the night sky.
Or worse, they might just blast the whole thing over and leave it sprawled on the ground, never to get back up again.
…
"Wait, Vi!"
Caitlyn hurried through the rain, one arm raised in front of her face to shield herself.
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know." Vi let the rain pour over her as she strode forward with both fists clenched. "Back where I came from, I guess."
"Isn't that what everyone here wants? For me to go back there?"
She had gone right back to how she'd been when they first met, all thorns and armor.
"I can fix this."
Caitlyn kept trying to stop her, but Vi cut her off without mercy.
"No, you can't!"
"That's just how this world works. Those people will always look at us the same way."
"I was stupid to think anything could ever change."
Caitlyn slowly lowered the arm she'd been using to block the rain. Vi stood there with her hands braced against her hips.
"Vi, we can find another way. We have to." Caitlyn was still trying, still refusing to give up. "Let's think of something else. We have to keep trying."
"Haven't we already tried?" Vi said. "Topside and the Undercity are like oil and water. They'll never mix."
"Then what about us?" Raindrops streamed down Caitlyn's cheeks.
"We're the same. We were never on the same path."
Vi looked suddenly, quietly desolate.
"You don't mean that."
Caitlyn shook her head faintly.
"Stop making this harder on yourself, Cupcake."
"Go back to your big, beautiful house."
"Forget about me, okay?"
Vi turned away and spoke softly. Then she pulled up her hood and walked off, leaving Caitlyn standing there alone.
…
Who knew how much time had passed before a hand came down on her shoulder and pulled her out of her grief.
Caitlyn whirled around. Beneath the bright glow of the streetlamp, Caleb's face came into view.
"Where did you go?" Caitlyn asked in surprise.
The Council had called Caleb away earlier, and she'd assumed they were just curious about who he was.
She hadn't expected him to be gone this long, and she had no idea what they could have been talking about.
"I went to talk to the Council about the gemstones in Silco's hands."
"What?!" Caitlyn wiped the rain off her face and raised her voice before she could stop herself. "Didn't we bring the Hextech gemstone back with us?"
"I never said there was only one," Caleb replied with a shrug.
"You—?!" Shock and anger flashed across Caitlyn's face. She grabbed him by the collar. "What exactly is going on?"
"Standing here in the rain for this conversation feels a little sloppy." Caleb stayed maddeningly calm. "Want to talk inside?"
…
At the Firelights' base, Ekko was helped over to a seat by the one in the fish mask while Heimerdinger stepped forward in amazement.
"This is extraordinary. You've only lived this many years…"
"And you built all of this yourselves?"
The giant tree and everything built around it were nothing like the rest of Zaun he had seen during his travels.
It could honestly be said that if they were given a little more time, what they built here might not fall short of Piltover at all.
"To create something this magnificent in such a short span of time…" Heimerdinger sighed.
He found himself thinking of his two daring students, Jayce and Viktor.
Back then, he had given them a direct order to stop, yet the two of them had still risked their lives to continue their experiments.
And because of that, the Hexgates had come into being, bringing Piltover prosperity and worldwide acclaim.
"When people get pushed hard enough, it's not strange what they can come up with."
Ekko smiled bitterly, mostly because the one in the fish mask was treating his injured leg at that exact moment.
"Ah!"
With a sharp crack, Ekko's leg jerked up and then dropped back down.
The one in the fish mask took a bandage already sprayed with medicine and carefully wrapped it around the wound. That was the job done.
"But why design it like this?" Heimerdinger asked, looking at the hoverboard in his hands. He couldn't help slipping back into professor mode. "There have to be other methods of transportation that are more efficient, and much safer too."
He frowned. Once that kind of board picked up speed, it was basically placing your life right under your own feet.
One careless moment and you could snap your neck.
And yet these people never seemed to get tired of it.
Bang!
Heimerdinger nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Firelights!" the one in the fish mask shouted, slamming his iron staff hard against the ground.
Everyone else in the camp turned to look. He lifted both hands high and yelled again.
Sitting beside him was the leader who had just returned from outside—Ekko.
"OHHHHHH—!" the crowd roared in cheers.
The firelights in the tree fluttered loose in waves, stirred into the air by the sound.
Looking at such a beautiful scene, Heimerdinger couldn't help letting out a soft sigh, a trace of nostalgia rising in his expression.
"It isn't enough just to survive," Ekko said from behind him, answering the question Heimerdinger had asked a moment earlier. "People need hope. They need some joy in life."
"Brother Ekko!" A child came running over.
"What is it?" Ekko's expression softened, and he gently patted the child on the head.
"That older brother Caleb told me to give this to you when you got back."
In the child's hand was a gemstone, glowing with a faint blue light.
"A Hextech gemstone?!" Heimerdinger was stunned. Jayce and Viktor had shown him that thing before.
But Jayce hadn't presented the gemstone openly during his speech that day.
How had he gotten his hands on something like this?
Ekko was shocked too.
Because he distinctly remembered that Caleb and the others had taken the gemstone with them.
So where had this one come from?
"He also said to give you this when the time came."
The child handed over a slip of paper, then skipped away.
He still had to go line up and practice on the hoverboard.
Heimerdinger leaned in curiously, and Ekko didn't bother hiding it. He unfolded the note on the spot.
"Copied gemstone. Exactly the same. Safe to use."
The message was short, deliberately so, for secrecy.
After all, not many people knew about Hextech gemstones yet.
And Ekko and Heimerdinger just happened to be two of them.
"Your friend can copy Hextech gemstones too?" Heimerdinger asked.
"I didn't know that either." Ekko stared at the orb in his hand. It really did look no different from the one he'd seen before.
Anybody can be replaced.
Caleb's serious expression rose before Ekko's eyes. Maybe that guy really did want him to replace Silco.
Maybe that was why he had even given him a Hextech gemstone.
"Do you know how something like this can be used?" Ekko asked quickly.
"Of course. I've given Jayce and Viktor quite a few suggestions over the years." Heimerdinger stroked his beard with a hint of pride.
"If you asked me to create a Hextech gemstone from scratch, this half-amateur would probably need at least half a day to study it first."
"But if you only need to power something with it, that's no problem at all."
"Heimerdinger has already left the Council."
So Caleb had left the Hextech gemstone here because he had already known Heimerdinger would come here?
"Could I ask you for a favor?"
With that thought in mind, Ekko finally spoke.
"What is it?"
"I want you to help us deal with Silco."
Ekko was already fired up, fully prepared to go all in.