~The Next Morning~
"That was quick."
Relia lifted my empty bowl of gruel with a faint, surprised look. There weren't even crumbs left from my stale bread.
"I don't know when I'll be back," I eagerly chime, putting on my work boots. "It's my first day, so..."
"I understand," Relia said with a small smile. "Just don't push yourself too hard."
"I don't want to come home early. I want to learn everything I can."
"Mm." She nodded once. "And I want you home early if they allow it. I'm your mother."
I sighed. "If they'll let me, sure. But I'm not counting on it."
"If they do, come straight home," she said, stepping forward to smooth out my burgundy shirt. "I want to hear how your day went."
"Come on..."
"No, straight home. I mean it."
"Alright..." I sighed before my eyes shifted to her satchel. "How's the new job at StimPatch?"
Walking away, she shook her head. "Busy. Last week a pipe fell on a welder's leg and crushed it. We had to remove it. This week it's been mostly sick kids and minor lacerations."
She slung her bag over her shoulder with a familiar, weary sigh. "Every day is different. You'll see soon enough."
She paused. "You're fortunate finding a place in Karvyq's territory. My first job was in Eramis's clinic."
"What happened?"
"They were greedy and careless," Relia answered sourly, opening the door and we stepped outside into the light green haze of morning. "He held ties to Piltover's nobility that wasn't well received by others who knew. Now he's dead."
"What? Who did it?" I blinked.
"It may have been Renata Glasc's crew," she replied slowly while she thought about it. "I'm not certain."
"Who?"
"Another Chembaron," she said simply before brushing it off. "Focus on your first day. Keep your eyes open. Jobs here always look harmless at the start… but the longer you stay, the more you understand."
Nodding, we gave each other a quick hug and said our farewells before parting ways.
At the Gearwright Guild, I stepped in to see Gideon lazily leaned up on the reception desk, chatting with Anya again before turning toward me.
"Ey, yeh made it!" Gideon exclaimed, pushing off. "Ready for some real work?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good luck," Anya called as I followed after him.
Low and behold, however, a few minutes later I was standing in a ventilation shaft holding a broom.
"Uhm…" My gaze slowly rose to a smirking Gideon.
"What? All apprentices start at the bottom. Did you think you were going to get special treatment?"
"Well… it did sound a little different before," I said slowly, glancing around at the other technicians. Some were welding with protective gear, others wedged between gears with toolboxes, and a few preparing machinery connected with tubing to a connection port.
"Aye," he said, following my gaze. "You thought you'd immediately hop into one of their roles. But, sorry to say, everyone starts off at the bottom. Just view this like the rat extermination and stick with it."
"Right," I nodded, taking a deep breath. I wasn't going to let my energy tank. Honestly, I did think it would be more grandiose, but who really starts at the top? No one without solid connections and I was just the son of a Sump medic.
"So what do I have to do?"
"Just sweep up, run errands, and fetch anything the lads need. Yer an errand boy for now and if they like you, they'll start showin' you some things early."
"Fair enough, so…"
Gideon gestured outward. "Go on."
Ah. So it's that kind of job. Got it.
The men working on-site were your typical rough-edged types. Some were silent and hard-working, others cracked jokes or poked fun, and a few didn't mind chatting while they focused. Pretty similar to what I'd expected minus the steampunk clothes and Chemtech everywhere.
"You're goin' to need to get rid of those cute clothes and throw on some real work gear," one said, flicking the strap on my onesie uniform. "If we were in a workshop I'd be fine. But not down here."
This man would later be the one to tell me the basics of how Chemtech worked.
In short, Chemtech, to me, functioned similarly to wet-cell batteries. The Chemtech liquid functioned similarly to an electrolyte. Highly corrosive, required venting, and needed regular maintenance. In this world, the "dead" fluid would sink to the bottom as a black sludge.
New Chemtech, in a small amount like detergent in a washing machine, would then be added with a solution.
Pretty simple power source. The rest was wiring and electrical work around it. Normal Chemtech, the kind Smeech produced, didn't care about anything other than did it work. No "electrical waveforms" or engineering nuance went into the design beyond that.
Karvyq's did, which was why it was more expensive and sophisticated. His workshops and technicians studied extra books, took the extra time, and double checked their work. It still wasn't on par with most of Piltover's work, but for Zaun?
Not bad at all.
As I went around fetching food, cleaning up, and tidying workspaces at the end of each day, I figured out the other parts were still "normal." Welding worked the same way, fixing gears in a gearbox was the same, and so on. There wasn't a magical component so there wasn't a knowledge barrier to entry.
A week in, I even found myself smiling while shooting the shit with the guys.
This isn't that bad.
Nothing grandiose, nothing insane, just a simple living.
Relia was especially happy for me. And while my pay was only twelve coppers every seven days, Gideon would come around with food every fifth day to feed the whole crew, including me.
I can't complain about the pay. There aren't life-threatening combat hazards and it's very relaxed even if I'm running around everywhere.
At the same time, Anya was starting to grow impatient and it felt like I'd be starting on the backend any day now. For now though, I was wrapping up another day.
"Bye! See yah tomorrow!"
"Later, slim!"
"Hey Varyn, you got some brown on your nose! Haha! Just kidding, see yah tomorrow kid."