Last Drop Street was dark even in the morning. The shadow of the cliff covered all of Zaun, so the concept of daytime barely existed here. Steam billowed from pipes in white plumes, and puddles formed across the cobblestones. Kain stepped through them, hurrying toward Salva. His supply bag was lighter than yesterday. The chrome coins in his pocket jingled sadly—what remained after buying food and water. He couldn't stop thinking about yesterday. The purple-haired woman. Golden eyes. In the basement of the old Vander Inn, her back against the wall, her right arm fused with Hextech plating, her face resigned. That slight movement at the corner of her mouth when she said "noisy guy." It was too brief to call a smile, but it was definitely something. So he'd go again today. That was the only reason. ───── Salvage Market—nicknamed "Salva"—sat in a cavern plaza about eight hundred meters south of Last Drop Street. The largest black market in Zaun's mid-levels, it had everything: Hextech parts, chemical drugs, weapons, food. Well, not so much "had" as "might have," depending on the day. Today's goal was food and water. Dried meat and bread. Ideally, an extra water flask. Kain surveyed the vendor stalls. The burnt smell of fried chemical potatoes drifted through the air. There were enough food vendors, but prices were steep. Salva's rates were what they were—two chrome for a meal was only the bare minimum for chemical potato stew. Dried meat and bread would cost more. "Hey, you selling any food?" He'd called out to a lanky man sitting in front of stacked cans. The man looked him over, then said, "Dried meat's three chrome a stick." Three chrome. Expensive. But unavoidable. "What about bread?" "Chemical potato bread, two chrome a loaf. Not fresh-baked though." Leftover from yesterday, Kain thought. He almost said it aloud, then stopped himself. He wasn't doing that again. Adding the water flask would drain most of his chrome. Kain calculated as he mentally crossed off his lunch. No lunch today. Tonight he'd have a bowl of chemical potato stew and call it even. That's how it would be. "One dried meat stick, two loaves of bread. And one water flask." "Flask is five chrome." "Got it." Kain scraped the bottom of his wallet and stuffed everything into his bag. Three chrome coins remained. He'd have to make it through the whole day on that. Well, he always managed somehow. ───── The old Vander Inn sat at the edge of Last Drop Street. It had been a three-story inn and tavern once, but now it was a ruin. The first-floor ceiling had mostly collapsed, and the walls were pocked with shrapnel scars. The second floor's floorboards were half-gone. Only the basement had somehow survived nearly intact. An old Hextech device still hummed there, its blue-white light and low vibration giving the underground a strange vitality. Kain climbed over rubble and descended the basement stairs. When he opened the door, the same scene greeted him as yesterday. Blue-white light. Vibrating machinery. And a woman—Rin—leaning against the wall in almost the exact same position as before. She was alive. Kain exhaled and set his bag on the floor. "Brought you some food." Rin didn't respond. Her long purple hair spread across the floor. Her golden eyes stared at some point on the wall, not at Kain. In the blue-white light, the fused part of her right arm glowed faintly. "Dried meat and bread. Nothing fancy." "I don't want it." She said it flatly, still facing the wall. "Your strength will only drop more if you don't eat. You won't be able to move—" "There's no reason for you to help me." She continued without pausing. "You get nothing from this. It's pointless." Kain fell silent for a moment. She'd said something similar yesterday. But today he'd prepared a response. Logic. Attack with logic. "It's not about getting something. If your strength drops, you'll move even less. That's just rational—" "Irrelevant." Short. Blunt. Logic didn't work. Kain pulled out a stick of dried meat and placed it on the floor in front of Rin. She didn't move her gaze. She didn't even look at the meat on the ground. "I told you to leave me alone." "Yeah, you said that yesterday. I remember." "Then—" "But I'm pretty forgetful, you know." Rin tilted her head slightly. She still wasn't looking at him, but she'd turned a little in his direction. "...Forgetful." "Yeah. Forgetful." Silence stretched out. The device's vibration hummed low. Kain left the dried meat on the floor and leaned his back against the wall beside Rin. Facing the same direction, staring at the same point on the wall. "I'm not trying to hold it over you. I just brought it, so I want you to eat it." Rin said nothing. He pulled out the water flask and set it next to the meat. She didn't have to take it. He was just leaving it there. Another silence. This one was longer. Kain tried to think of something to say, searched for words, found nothing, and searched again. Rin genuinely believed her life had no value. Yesterday's eyes had told him that. So she wouldn't eat. There was no point in eating. Kain had no idea what to say to someone like that. "Look, just eat it. I'm doing this on my own, so you don't have to worry about it. But if you won't eat—" His words caught. "If you won't eat, then I'll shove it up your nose!" His voice echoed through the basement. The moment he said it, Kain realized what he'd just said. Shove it? How? Dried meat? That was physically impossible. Rin went rigid. One second. Two seconds. "...Up my nose." "I-I was just saying that! Spur of the moment!" "Dried meat." "Y-yeah! Probably!" "..." Rin turned her face toward Kain. Her golden eyes met his. And they—narrowed. The corner of her mouth rose, just slightly. No sound came out, but it was definitely a laugh. More distinct than yesterday's "noisy guy," clearer somehow. Kain froze. His face was burning. (This is bad. She's not even smiling that much, so why is my face so—) "...You laughed." "I didn't laugh." "You just did." "I didn't. You just said something strange, so I was a little surprised." Her voice was softer than yesterday. Just a little—barely noticeably—softer. Kain noticed, and his face got even hotter. This was bad. He couldn't let her see him like this. "...Whether you drink or not is your choice." He set the water flask beside her and turned away. He had to, or she'd see his face. That's when it happened. Thud. Thud. Sounds from the ceiling above. More than one person. Footsteps entering the first floor of the old inn. Heavy, careless footsteps. Kain spun around and locked eyes with Rin. She went very still. "Might be Scrappers." He whispered it. Scrappers—a notorious gang known for taking salvage by force. They raided ruins and stole the entire haul from whoever was already working there. Every salvager in Zaun knew about them. If they found out about Rin, it would be bad. Kain quietly pulled the basement door shut and slipped through the gap, closing it behind him with his hand. It was like locking Rin in, but there was no choice. Three large men stood in the rubble-filled first floor. All of them were huge. They wore protective gloves and had iron pipes and tools hanging from their belts. Scrappers. No doubt about it. "Huh? Who're you?" The man in front looked Kain over. "Salvager. I was checking this place." "Yeah? Find anything?" "Nothing. Just junk." "Anyone around here?" There it was. Kain paused, then said, "No." "No! Nobody at all! Nothing, nobody!" The man's eyes narrowed. "...You said 'nobody' twice." "I-it's just a habit—" "Um—" He was terrible at lying. His mind went blank. "There was a cat. Maybe. Earlier. A small one." The three men exchanged glances. "A cat." "Yeah, a cat. Zaun's got them, right? Strays. That's all." "...Suspicious." The man started moving closer. Kain was aware of the door behind him but didn't move. "Open your bag." "My stuff? Just dried meat and bread." "Open it." Kain opened it. Food and a water flask. The man glanced at them and made a bored face. "That all? Just food?" "Told you." "Any Hextech parts?" "Haven't collected any yet. It's morning." The man thought for a moment, then said, "That's a toll then." He ripped the three remaining chrome coins straight from Kain's hands. Three coins. His dinner money. Gone. "That's today's passage fee. Now get lost." "...Understood." He couldn't argue back. Three against one—he couldn't win. Kain stepped over the rubble and left the old inn. He took a deep breath of Last Drop Street's air. Once he confirmed the footsteps had faded, Kain returned to the inn. This time quietly, footsteps silent. He descended the stairs and opened the basement door. Rin was near the door. She'd returned to her usual position against the wall, but she was right beside the entrance. And—there were finger marks on the wooden frame. Marks like she'd grabbed it, ready to stand or prepared for something. That kind of mark. Kain saw it and said nothing. Couldn't say anything. His chest ached, a dull throb. She hadn't given up. She wasn't completely waiting for death. Knowing that made him feel something he couldn't quite put into words. "Chased them off." "Scrappers?" "Yeah. Paid them three chrome to leave." "...They took it from you." "Yeah." He was quiet for a moment, then set the bag on the floor. The dried meat, bread, and water flask were still there. The gang hadn't taken them. "I'll come back." That was all he said before standing up. Rin said nothing. She just watched him with golden eyes as he moved toward the door. Kain glanced back as he stepped through. Rin's gaze had fallen to the water flask on the floor. Whether she'd drink it or not—he still didn't know. But she was looking at it. That was enough for today. He climbed the stairs, stepped over the rubble, and went outside. The air was still dim. Pipe steam drifted white through the darkness. Kain shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking. His stomach was starting to growl, but the strange feeling in his chest bothered him more. As the Scrappers left, one of them had said something to the others. His voice was too low to hear clearly, but one word came through. "Basement."