The night was dark and moonless. The only light in the Undercity came from the sickly green glow of gas lamps. Valerius moved through the shadows, his body tense. He reached the back of the Corvus Foundry. The air here was thick with the smell of hot metal and burning coal. He found the small maintenance hatch he had seen before. It was just as he remembered, hidden in a dark corner. He looked around. There were no guards in sight. He pulled on the heavy iron handle. With a low groan of rusted metal, the hatch opened.
He slipped inside into the loud, hot belly of the factory. The noise was deafening. Giant pistons hissed, and hammers crashed down on metal. Rivers of molten brass flowed in channels on the floor. He kept to the shadows, moving carefully between huge, steaming machines. He was looking for the main assembly line. The System in his mind placed a simple marker on his vision, guiding him through the maze of machinery.
Finally, he found it. It was a long, complex machine with hundreds of small clockwork arms. These arms moved with amazing speed, picking up gears, plates, and wires, and putting them together. This machine was the heart of the foundry. Valerius smiled. It was time. He waited for a moment when no workers were looking. He ran to the side of the assembly line and placed his hand on its main control panel.
He whispered the command, "Corrupt."
Energy flowed from him into the machine. The smooth, rhythmic sounds of the assembly line changed. The soft clicks became loud, angry clanks. Gears began to grind and scream. The small, precise arms started to move wildly. Instead of putting parts together correctly, they began to crush them. They bent brass plates and snapped delicate wires. Sparks flew as the machine tore itself apart.
An alarm bell began to ring, loud and frantic. Workers started shouting in confusion and fear. The assembly line was now producing nothing but scrap metal. Valerius watched the chaos for a moment, a feeling of cold satisfaction filling his chest. His first real act of vengeance was a success. He did not wait to see more. As workers ran towards the broken machine, Valerius slipped back into the shadows and escaped through the hatch, disappearing into the night. He had been a ghost, and he had left a nightmare behind him.