The news of the disaster at the Corvus Foundry spread through the Undercity like a virus. People whispered about it in the dark alleys and crowded markets. They said a whole night of production was lost. Hundreds of expensive Sentinel parts were destroyed. Master Corvus was furious. He had lost a lot of money and, more importantly, he had lost face. He sent more Clockwork Sentinels into the Undercity to find the person responsible. But they were looking for a saboteur, a professional. They were not looking for a hollow man like Valerius.
Valerius knew the extra Sentinels made the Undercity more dangerous. He was hiding in an old, forgotten part of the city, a junkyard of broken clockwork and rusted machinery. He knew he could not continue his revenge alone. He was smart, but he did not know the secret paths and hidden places of the vast Undercity. He needed a guide, an ally.
One afternoon, he saw a group of Sentinels cornering someone in the junkyard. It was a young girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. She was thin, with quick, intelligent eyes and clothes made of patched-together fabric. He recognized her as a scavenger, one of the many orphans who survived by finding and selling useful scrap metal. She held a small bag of valuable copper wires. The Sentinels had their red eyes fixed on her, seeing her as a thief.
"Citizen," one of the Sentinels said in its flat, metal voice. "You are in possession of stolen Council property. Surrender it now." The girl, whose name was Elara, stood her ground. "I found it! It's junk to you!" she shouted back, her voice shaking but defiant.
Valerius knew what would happen. The Sentinels would take the scrap, and she would be lucky if they did not arrest her. He saw an opportunity. He looked at the lead Sentinel. Then he saw his target: a large magnetic crane that stood over the area, old and unstable. He focused his energy. He did not need to touch the crane itself, but the control panel at its base. From his hiding spot, he reached out and touched a long metal pipe that was connected to the crane's foundation. He sent a small pulse of his corrupting power through it.
The crane jerked to life. Its giant magnet powered on and swung down, not towards Elara, but towards the Sentinels. The robots, made of metal, were pulled off their feet. They flew through the air and stuck to the magnet with a loud crash. They were trapped, their legs and arms waving uselessly.
Elara stared in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief. She looked around, searching for the person who had saved her. Valerius stepped out from behind a pile of rusted metal. He did not smile. He just looked at her. "You know the secret ways of this city," he said, his voice rough from years of disuse. "I need your help. In return, I can offer you a way to fight back against the people who keep us down here." Elara looked at the trapped Sentinels, then back at the mysterious, scarred man. For the first time, she saw a way out of her difficult life. She nodded. Valerius had found his first ally.