The five who had escaped the underground dungeon ran through the pre-dawn streets of Zaun. Pale green gas crept along the ground at their feet, neon lights flickering erratically. In the distance, a sound like an alarm echoed. Caitlyn kicked open the door of an abandoned warehouse. "[serious]They won't find us here for a while." Inside the dim warehouse. Stacked wooden crates and musty air. Victor leaned against the wall, catching their breath. Their shoulder-length black hair clung to their cheeks with sweat. (*Jayce is...*) They glanced over. Jayce sat slumped against the wall. A swollen cheek. Split lip. His shirt stained with blood. But his golden eyes hadn't lost their fighting spirit yet. "[excited]Alright, alright, what now! Do we turn right back around and hit 'em with another big boom?!" Jinx bounced up and down on top of a wooden crate. Their spiked blue hair swayed, and the tattoos covering their body stood out eerily even in the dim warehouse. "[angry]Absolutely not." "[serious]Logically speaking." Victor narrowed their gray eyes and pulled a small analysis device from their pocket. A palm-sized metal plate tangled with numerous wires. "[explaining]That bundle of cables we passed in the hideout's hallway earlier. Calculating from the thickness, the number of them, and the amount of heat dissipation—" Their fingers moved rapidly over the device. "There's a dedicated server room on the third basement floor of this building." "[surprised]No way! How'd you figure that out?!" Vi's eyes went wide. Their shocking pink hair swayed, and the old scar on their left cheek lifted. They were the only one unaffected by the Shiftlight. "[excited]So the evidence data's still there! If we can yank that out—" "[excited]We can show it to everyone in the city! We can blow the merchant guild's dirty secrets wide open, right?!" Jinx shouted, their eyes sparkling. "[serious]Exactly." Victor gave a small nod. "I'll do it. This time, we end their schemes." There was no tremor in that voice anymore. Not like before. (*Jayce got hurt.*) (*I can't just stand here crying anymore.*) They clenched their fist. "[excited]Alright! Then it's time for a strategy meeting!" "[laughing]I— wait, no, *I* already made smoke bombs, y'know!" Jinx pulled metal spheres out of their pocket, clattering. "[serious]In that case, Vi and I will handle the diversion at the front." Caitlyn spoke in a deep, gruff voice, yet with crisp, ladylike decisiveness. The gesture of pushing back their short navy hair seemed somehow unbalanced on their large, masculine body. "[laughing]Hell yeah! Let's show 'em what manly power looks like!" Vi clapped Caitlyn on the shoulder with a bang. "[embarrassed]H-hey, stop that! That's no way to treat a lady!" "[laughing]Caitlyn, you don't exactly have the body of a lady anymore!" "[angry]Shut up!!" Jayce laughed out loud at their exchange. "[gentle]...Good. You're all still able to move." That smile made something deep in Victor's chest clench tight. (*He must be in pain.*) (*And yet, he's still worrying about everyone else.*) They looked down, staring at their own fingertips. "[serious]I'll prepare an improvised electromagnetic pulse device, then." They desperately fought to suppress the faint tremor in their voice. "[excited]That's my partner for you, Vic!" Those words made their ears burn hot. "[embarrassed]Wh-who's your partner. ...It's simply the most logical and optimal choice." Victor turned their face away and dropped their gaze to the analysis device. --- Early morning. The operation began. Caitlyn and Vi walked boldly up to the main entrance of the Shimmer Merchant Guild headquarters. "[loud]This is an official investigation! By warrant of the Piltover Enforcer Bureau, we are now searching this building!" The deep, gruff voice cut through the early morning air. The lookouts all spun around at once. "[sarcastic]Huh? Enforcers?" "[laughing]Don't be stupid. This is Zaun. A warrant's just scrap paper—" Without retreating a single step, Caitlyn kicked the door down. **BOOOOOOM!!** "[angry]Resist, and we will subdue you by force!" "[excited]I like it! That's more like it!" Laughing, Vi brushed away the splintered wood with their bare hands. Then, with a single punch, they sent the first man who charged at them flying. **WHAM!** The man was slammed against the wall. "[excited]Next! Bring it on!" The main entrance erupted into chaos. Lookouts gathered one after another. In that opening— Three shadows slipped in through the back door. "[whispers]Jinx, the guards' positions?" "[whispers]Two at the end of the hall. Four around the corner. The rest— well, we can probably handle 'em with explosions!" "[angry]No, we probably can't!" The three of them killed their footsteps and advanced down the corridor. Exposed pipes. A floor vibrating faintly. The air was oppressively hot from the servers' heat dissipation. Around the corner. Six guards. "[angry]Intruders!" "[excited]Hey hey, over here!" Jinx slammed a smoke bomb onto the floor. **HISSSSSS——!!** White smoke filled the hallway. "[angry]My eyes— I can't see!" "[shouting]Where are they!" "[serious]Now! Run!" Victor made an improvised flash grenade and threw it beyond the smoke. **FLASH!!** "[screaming]Gyaah!" In that gap, the three of them slipped through the server room door. "[serious]Jayce, the door!" "[grunting]Leave it to me!" With his injured body, Jayce threw his full weight against the iron door. In the center of the room, a massive server hummed. Countless cables. Lamps blinking on and off. The wind from the heat dissipation stirred Victor's black hair. "[serious]Starting." Victor connected their analysis device to the server's terminal. Their fingers flew across the keyboard. Data streamed across the screen. Encrypted files. Decrypted one after another. —Shiftlight Weaponization Plan. —Hex Gem Illegal Transaction Records. —Human Experimentation Subject List. "[cold]...What have they done." A chill ran down their spine. Midway through the data transfer, an alarm suddenly began to blare. **WEEEEEEEE——!!!** "[scared]The system reacted! They're coming!" "[grunting]It's fine, I'll hold them off!" Jayce pressed his back against the door, gritting his teeth. From outside, the sound of pounding fists. Angry shouts. (*Hurry— hurry—*) Victor's fingers moved with unprecedented speed. (*Jayce is putting his body on the line.*) They glanced sideways. A back covered in wounds. And yet, he was trying to protect this room. A warmth spread deep in their chest. (*This feeling, it's already—*) "Transfer complete!" Victor slammed in the final command. All data transmitted to the public communication network. A moment of silence. And then— The city moved. "[shouting]Wh-what the hell is this?!" Horizon Terrace. The Shimmer Merchant Guild's misdeeds displayed one after another on the telegraph bulletin boards. The plans. The transaction records. The list of human experiments. "[angry]You've gotta be kidding me! Our bodies were just test subjects for the guild?!" "[angry]You bastards!! How dare you do this to us!!" Outrage spread. In Zaun's Prism Alley, too. "[angry]Hey, look at this! That fake drug, it was the Shimmer Guild's doing!" "[angry]Give us our money back!! You damn frauds!!" "[shouting]Smash the guild's signs!!" Residents swarmed the Shimmer Guild's shops. Signs were torn down, smashed to pieces. **CRASHHH!!** --- In the underground central chamber. The boss trembled, his face pale. "[scared]I-impossible... All the data...!" At that moment— **BANG!!** The door was kicked in. "[cold]It's over, Boss." The five of them stepped into the central chamber. "[angry]You wretches...!" The boss stepped backward. His hand moved quickly. The next instant— "Don't move." The boss had twisted Jayce's arm behind his back and pressed a blade to his throat. "[cold]Hand over the device blueprints. Or else— I'll kill this man." "[grunting]Ngh...!" "[shouting]Jayce!!" "[shouting]It's fine, forget about me! Get everyone out of here!" Jayce shouted. The blade bit into his throat. Victor clenched their fists. (*Again, something is being taken from me.*) (*This time, I have to protect—*) Their heart pounded like a frantic alarm bell. But their mind was cold. "[cold]...Those blueprints are already meaningless." "[sneering]What?" "What you have is a copy of the original blueprints. But the falsified data, the entire weaponization plan— I've extracted it all from the server. And— just now, I broadcast it across the city's entire communication network." Their gray eyes stared straight at the boss. "By now, every resident of Piltover is reading that data." "[scared]Wh-what...!" The boss's hand trembled. In that single instant— "[shouting]Hiyah!!" A blue shadow dropped from the ceiling. Jinx threw their whole body against the boss's knife hand. **CLANG!!** The blade clattered to the floor. "[grunting]Guah!" "[shouting]Now, Caitlyn!" "[serious]Hold still!" Caitlyn grabbed the boss's arm and pinned him to the floor. Handcuffs clicked shut. *Click.* "[cold]...Wait." Pinned to the floor, the boss opened his mouth. "I know... a way to return you to normal. If you want to know it, make a deal." Everyone froze. "[cold]I've already extracted that information from the server as well. The research notes you kept hidden. All of it." The boss's face turned deathly pale. "[whispers]...All clues to the restoration method are included in the evidence data. You have no more cards to play." "[screaming]U... UWAAAAAAAHHH!!" The boss screamed. "[cold]Behave yourself. That is all." Caitlyn hauled the boss to his feet. --- When they stepped outside, the night chill bit into their skin. Stars twinkled in the sky. "[excited]We did it— we actually did it!! Man, that felt good! Let's do it again sometime!" "[angry]Absolutely not!!" "[laughing]Nice work, partner!" Vi slung an arm around Caitlyn's shoulder. "[embarrassed]H-hey, I told you to stop that...!" Caitlyn turned bright red, but let out a small laugh. Behind them— Victor and Jayce stood side by side, a little distance away. "[gentle]...Thanks. For saving me." Jayce spoke quietly. A swollen cheek. A split lip. But his golden eyes were narrowed gently. "[whispers]...It was because... I hated seeing you in danger." Still looking down, their voice trembled. "[embarrassed]N-no, I mean—" Victor hastily looked up. Their ears were bright red. "[embarrassed]Th-that's not it. It was the natural thing to do as a comrade— logically speaking— the data—" "[gentle]...Yeah. I know." Jayce smiled. Unable to look at that face, Victor walked briskly back toward Caitlyn and the others. Jayce stood frozen, staring at their retreating back. He scratched the back of his neck. (*...My face is hot.*) (*It's not the night breeze, is it.*) Under the night sky. The five shadows stretched long. The Shimmer Merchant Guild was finished. But— The boss's words echoed in Victor's mind. (*He knows a way to return us to normal.*) The data certainly contained research notes. However, a complete restoration method still required analysis. (*It's— not over yet.*) Beneath the starlight, Victor let out a quiet breath. The boss was in custody. The evidence was gathered. But the key to returning to normal had yet to be turned.