"You've got no file, no record, so why are you in prison?"
"I was too optimistic, I guess," Vi answered casually.
"You assaulted another inmate. Why?"
"Do I need a reason?" Vi still sounded distracted, pacing back and forth in the cramped room.
"We're investigating a case. He's an eyewitness."
Vi's pupils contracted slightly as Caleb's words echoed in her ears.
"By now, she should've killed six Enforcers and blown up a building."
"Assuming today is Progress Day."
"What case?" Vi moved up to the bars, her eyes locked on Caitlyn.
"Does this look familiar?" Caitlyn opened her notebook and pulled out a photograph.
In the photo was a wooden board, painted with a snarling monkey face.
Bang!
With a loud crash, Vi grabbed the bars with both hands so hard it looked like she might burst out of the cell the next second.
"Where did you get that?"
"There was an attack. These are pieces of evidence." Caitlyn closed the notebook and looked at Vi. "You know who did it."
"Silco." Vi spat out the name through clenched teeth. He was the one who had caused her father's death, her friends' deaths, and Powder's disappearance.
"I need evidence from you before I can believe your accusation against Silco."
"I can give you evidence, but first, you need to get me out."
Vi pointed outside the cell, then continued, "And there's one more person you need to let out too."
"Heh." Caitlyn let out a sharp laugh. "I'd have to be completely out of my mind to trust someone like you."
"Someone like me? Figures. You Enforcers are all the same. You look respectable enough, but underneath, you're worse than animals." Vi's eyes burned with fury.
"Then stop wasting time and go find Silco yourself!"
Caitlyn raised an eyebrow and replied, "I will. Thank you."
"Hmph. The Undercity will chew you up and leave nothing but bones." Vi sneered at Caitlyn's retreating back.
…
"Inmate 2120, you've been pardoned."
A guard pulled out a key and opened Caleb's cell door. "By order of Councilor Talis. You're to assist Miss Kiramman with her investigation."
"All right." Just as expected, Caleb got to his feet and stretched lazily.
As he stepped out through the prison gates, the troll-like warden sitting at the desk gave him a crooked grin.
Standing in front of him, the two women fixed their eyes on him.
"He's the one who can find the evidence?" Caitlyn asked, openly skeptical as she looked at Vi.
"Don't let the look fool you. He's sharp," Vi said with a wicked grin before stepping onto the boat.
"Hello, Vi. And Miss Caitlyn." Caleb gave them a slight bow, smiling pleasantly in greeting.
"Do we know each other?" Caitlyn asked, her long brows knitting together.
"The Kiramman family's daughter likes fieldwork, and she also happens to be an excellent shot." Caleb stepped onto the boat as well.
…
In the Lanes, Caitlyn struggled to climb down from a platform, and luckily Caleb caught her steadily from the side.
"You're welcome." Catching a piece of clothing Vi tossed over, Caleb turned and draped it over himself, then smiled at her.
"Still, thank you." Caitlyn panted lightly as she followed the two of them into the surging crowd of the Lanes.
Vi was the first to sit down at a fish stand by the roadside. The stall owner was a fat fish-like man, with several cleavers stuck into the wooden board hanging from his left shoulder.
At that moment, he chopped off a fish head and tossed it into a bowl.
"I came here to investigate a case, not to sit around and eat garbage with you."
"I came for the meat. Prison food is disgusting, you know that?" Vi was already dipping pieces of fish into a sticky sauce and wolfing them down.
"Where's Caleb?" Caitlyn looked around and asked, puzzled. "Where did he go?"
"No idea…" Vi still didn't look up. "That attack really killed six Enforcers?"
"It did… and something very important was stolen too. A Hextech gemstone."
Caitlyn opened her notebook and pulled out a photograph. "A very important piece of technology."
"Then forget about him. I'm taking you somewhere." Vi took the napkin the fish-man handed her, gave the design on it only the quickest glance, then stood up.
…
"So, did Sheriff Marcus come by?" Caleb sat in a chair, looking at the man across the table. Set into that long, narrow face was an eye with a black sclera and a red iris, like some man-eating demon.
"You're interesting, I'll give you that." The cigar in Silco's hand glowed faintly and dimly as he exhaled a soft stream of smoke.
"He left with evidence tied to the Firelights." Silco reached out and ground the cigar into an ashtray covered in graffiti.
"Then I'll get straight to the point." Caleb waved a hand in front of his nose to clear away the smell of smoke.
"I want to help you build that Hextech weapon. At scale."
"What did you just say?" A small figure dropped down from the ceiling. Her hair was tied into two long braids, and one side of her body was inked with swirling cloud patterns.
"Oh, wow, what a sweetheart. Wanting to lighten my workload for me."
"I'll handle the device. Jinx can test it." Caleb curled his lips into a smile. "Of course, I'll need the same kind of core the Hexgates use."
"Hahahaha, interesting. You really are interesting." Jinx burst into loud laughter. "You?"
A dagger slammed into the wall beside Caleb's face, and in the blink of an eye, Jinx had vanished again.
"She's the only one I trust." Silco folded his hands together and stared at Caleb. "But that doesn't seem to be what you really came here to talk about."
"Singed could do it too. Didn't he create Shimmer for you in the first place?" Caleb shrugged. "You really do lean hard on your daughter."
"Get to the point." Silco leaned back in his chair. "My patience is limited."
"I've got information. Valuable information. Enough to help you achieve Zaun's autonomy and put it on equal footing with Piltover."
Caleb cleaned the dirt from under his nails as he spoke in an offhand tone. "But you'll have to agree to my terms before you get any of it."
"Heh. What a joke." Silco looked at the young man in front of him with contempt. "Do you know whose territory this is?"
"For example, Vi never died."
Silco was visibly shaken by Caleb's next sentence.
"She's spent these past several years in Stillwater Hold. Thanks to her, I only got out recently myself," Caleb went on as if he were talking to himself.
"She's currently walking around the Lanes with Miss Kiramman, so the condition attached to that piece of information is this: you're not allowed to take either of their lives."
"And why should I believe you have more information that will help me instead of harm me?" Silco had already straightened up in his seat.
He had never seen this man before, not in Piltover and not in Zaun.
Just who was he, exactly? How could he so easily seize on Silco's weakness while revealing so many hidden details?
"I'm more useful alive than dead, and our goals align, don't they?" Caleb smiled at him.
"Hoo…" Silco let out a long breath. "I understand."
"Then, shall we call this a pleasant partnership?" Caleb extended a hand. Silco hesitated for the briefest moment, then took it and gave it a shake.
"A pleasant partnership." Silco's voice was still steady, but there was fatigue in it now.
The man before him was unfathomable, enough to make even him waver.
Whistling, Caleb walked out of the bar and blended into the crowd.
"Mm… I've got a lot to keep me busy now."