Chapter Text
Ekko drummed his fingers on the counter. It was another boring day in the shop, fixing things, cleaning, struggling to reach high shelves, dusting high shelves. The thick, warm air of the undercity, got on everything.
Yep, just another day in the undercity, people working, kids playing, people just making the most of it. Enforcers patrolling and harassing the innocent.
As he stared at the clock above the door, he thought about fixing it. It was off by about 2 seconds, but before he could come to a decision the door chimed.
A customer.
It was time to do what he does best, he stopped his drumming, gave the unknown man a smile, and greeted him.
The man was obviously not a trencher, from his clean pressed slacks, off white vest, nice leather shoes, and healthy glow. No one down here could achieve that look. This guy had money.
But It was unusual, topsiders didn't come all the way to the lanes to buy goods, usually they came down to partake in activities and pleasures, considered taboo on their side of the river.
The man greeted him with a quick wave and a smile back. Then he went to browse the shop. He looked at everything, from the not so legal items, to the pretty items Benzo only kept out for display, they were useless even by undercity standards, but to fools, all that glitters is gold, and this guy might just be one.
He put the things he was going to buy on the counter, it was more than any one customer had ever bought.
He was a fool.
“So~,” he dragged the word out, “you looking for anything specific?”
“Well yes,” the man began to explain in vague detail, what he thinks he needs, as he put more junk on the counter. He was nervous, and backing tracking on his words.
Ekko quickly switched tactics. He’d butter the guy up and so started his classic upsell, telling him about how everything he picked was so useful and great, making him comfortable and slowly began asking questions especially about his project.
The guy was opening up pretty soon about everything, telling him his name, Jayce Talis. how he hangs out with his little sister every Saturday afternoon. Ekko put this information away in his mind. It might be useful later if he gets the right details. Jayce had put one last item on the counter at Ekko's suggestion.
A worthless old mechanical pen that Powder had decorated with spare parts. Its ink cartridges were messed up so it made it all different colored when writing. Ekko propped it up to be great when writing things that helped make it easier to see.
“Since you’re buying so much, I'll give you a discount,” That was the biggest lie he ever told, there was a reason nothing in the shop had a price tag. Ekko charged him double.
Jayce seemed very excited at that. He easily paid with no complaint, he didn't even haggle, just gave him a whole bag of pure gold coins.
He couldn't imagine having that much money to throw away when the bag of coins hit the counter.
He watched as Jayce walked out of the shop. A notebook fell out of his pocket, but he kept going, unaware, like a typical pilte. Waiting a few minutes, making sure Jayce wasn't coming back.
People don't like it when you go through their stuff, that was a lesson he learned the hard way.
Ekko quickly hopped over the counter and grabbed the notebook. It's nice leather, but used, like someone wrote in it, everyday. He
wondered if he could get his address.
Reading though the book, it was like the rambling of mad man, talk of the arcane, mages, runes, crystals, inventions so complex it made your head spin, weapons and tools straight out of fantasy books, well more like the rambling of a narcissist, this guy wrote his name on, every single page. Ekko couldn’t help but laugh as he closed the book, he had to show Powder, he needed a second opinion.
“Benzo,” he shouted, “can I go see Powder.”
Benzo carried out boxes of ‘new merchandise’, (new by undercity standards) out of the back room, and sat it on the counter. “Sure, but when you get back, dust the shelves properly.” He patted his head, clearly proud of him.
“I will, promise,” said Ekko as he grabbed pencils, pens, oil crayons, and one gold coin, and dashed out of the shop.
The Last Drop was in full swing, people drinking strong spirits, sour whiskeys, and other liquors, talking with friends just letting the stress of their day to day drift away, like the smoke from their cigars, and pipes.
Ekko waved to Vander and walked though the bar to his friends usual seats in the far back booth.
Powder sat in the counter of the booth, all alone. The others were probably out, on a job. Colorful paints, and well worn brushes lay on the table as she painted bomb casings, and her other little inventions, humming lost within her own little world.
“Pow, you won't believe what happened,” said Ekko, sliding into the booth, putting the stuff he was carrying on the table, and holding the book out.
She blinked, almost dropping her brush. “ Oh hey Little Man.” putting down her brush, and making sure no paint went where it wasn't supposed to be, she took the book, as Ekko gave her a quick run down of what happened as she read.
“You think he was a mage?” Powder asked as she flipped to a new page.
He thought about it for a second before responding. “ There's no way he was a mage, mages are supposed to be dangerous, and mystical,” -He paused trying to find the right words- “he was the exact opposite.”
She hummed in agreement, and flipped to another page.
Atlas gauntlets
The page read.
Giant metal fists with individual fingers that could move, just like a human hand, shields that could protect the user, powered by the crystals they had read about early, and other little ideas.
“That's the one I was telling you about,” stated Ekko pointing at the page.
Powder looked at him, he looked at her, and at that moment they were thinking the same things. “Vi would be so cool in these,” they say in unison.
Still thinking on the same wave, they grab crayons, they're gonna fix these calculations, spice up those boring pilte designs, and maybe, just maybe make them a reality.
After half an hour they're finally done. They had fixed the calculations, redesigned almost everything in there, and filled up the few empty pages with their own inventions that would be powered by those crystals, if they ever got their hands on them.
They wanted to turn their imagination into reality, but they were just kids, limited by circumstances so far out of their control, but it was fun to imagine, to dream of better things.
Ekko looked down at the table, face a little bit red, and asked. “Do you wanna get Jerichos?”
At the sound of that Powder eyes lit up. “Yeah, let's go.”
Jayce let out a sigh as he stood in line for the monorail, holding his box of newly bought mechanical parts. The line was being held up by some half clothed drunk, yelling about how some woman stole all his money.
It was getting late and he was supposed to meet Cait.
Shifting the box to be held with one hand, he used the other to search his pockets. He felt the cold metal of his pocket watch, the smooth paper of his monorail ticket but something else was missing, something much more important.
The book
His mind raced as he thought of every place it could be, he hoped no one found it, he must have lost it on the way back, he knew he had it on the way down.
He quickly turned around, slipping past the people in line, and back into the depths of the undercity.
Powder and Ekko sat on crates, just outside the alleyway beside Jericho's stand, waiting for his famous mystery meat stew to finish cooking. The aroma of the spices, herbs, meat of unknown origins, and strange mushrooms of the undercity, that somehow Jericho always made taste amazing, was so strong, it filled the whole street.
The wait truly was unbearable.
Messing with the edge of a page, of a beautifully drawn landscape some of the only pages they didn’t rewrite, and draw over. Powder broke the silence. “You think he'll come back for the book?" She flipped the page to another landscape drawing. There were all of the same place, just from different angles, and seasons, sometimes it was snowy, sometimes it was spring.
“Nah that guy was more naive then a baby poro, he probably won't be back,” Ekko stated, leaning against the wall and crossing his legs trying to look cool.
Powder stayed quiet, continuing to look through the book.
After a few minutes a shout could be heard. “ HOT AND READY, HOT AND READY, FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE.” As soon as Jericho said that, they got up and took a seat at his stall.
With a quick exchange of coins, bowls of piping hot, spicy stew were in their hands, and slurped down in seconds.
It truly was worth the wait.
Giving Jericho their goodbyes, they made their way through the crowded main street. It was a struggle, they were accustomed too, being pushed around, they grabbed each other's hands, making sure not to lose each other.
“Yesterday Benzo just got some new chem engine parts, we could try to make something from the book.” Ekko said, smiling brightly.
“Did he get any more gunpowder,” She asked as they rounded the counter into an alleyway.
“He didn't,” he checked their surroundings and began to whisper. “He said some new gang leader been buying up all the gunpowder factories and jacking up the price.”
She frowned at that.
“But we do have a complete but broken topside arcade game," he said trying to make her smile.
“Really,” she stated as a smile formed on her face, sketching ear to ear. piltoven arcade machines were a hot commodity not something you find everyday, and it would be the perfect thing for the arcade.
“Yeah and the best part is, Benzo said if we fix it and it doesn't sell we can keep it.”
Powder let go of Ekko's hand, and began to run to the shop. “Catch me if you can.” She shouted, gigging.
“That's cheating.” He shouted as he began to run after her, through the cramped alleyway.