"You really don't waste time changing offices."
With Sevika leading the way, Van finally found Silco in a room at the very top of a tall building.
"I'll change again."
Silco stood with his back to Van, looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"From here, I still can't see all of topside."
"You've got quite the ambition, Silco."
"Hm?"
Hearing the irritation in Van's tone, Silco raised a brow and turned around.
"What's got you so worked up this time?"
Van pulled out the vial of Shimmer and held it up in front of him.
"You really intend to mass-produce this stuff? Do you even understand what it is?"
"That's exactly why I intend to produce it."
"...And you don't care about the side effects?"
"For Zaunites, is life really that precious a thing?"
Silco picked up a syringe and, under Van's watchful stare, aimed it at his diseased left eye.
"So you don't care what happens to Zaun if this stuff spreads everywhere either?"
"That's just the unavoidable pain that comes with change."
Click.
As the Shimmer was injected into his eye, the pain made Silco grunt through clenched teeth.
After a moment, once he had steadied himself, he spoke again.
"Zaun needs to change. The Undercity needs a revolution. We can't stand against topside through ordinary means."
"...Do we really have to stand against topside at all? Maybe there's a steadier way—"
"No. I refuse to be satisfied with a few stinking drains. Zaun's children deserve more than that."
Silco leaned back in his chair and looked lazily at Van's deeply furrowed brow.
"You've already seen it for yourself. Only when topsiders are forced to take us seriously do we gain the right to choose. We both want the best future possible. Shimmer is just our method."
"That method is a little too—"
"We produce it in the Undercity and make money. Then we smuggle it into topside and make even more money. It's excellent business."
"Smuggle it? Something this obviously illegal... You've got a route for that?"
"Mm-hm. Why do you think Vander still had to pay protection money to topside when he was in charge, but now that you're running things, you don't?"
"..."
"Once Shimmer starts production, the entire Undercity will change. Before long, even topsiders may have to start watching our faces a little."
Van lowered his head in silence and studied the purple liquid in his hand, his frown deepening.
Force topsiders to take them seriously...
On the way here, he had done what tests he could on Shimmer with simple equipment. By now, he knew well enough what kind of harm it could cause.
"Change demands ruthless violence."
After a long while, Van let out a heavy breath.
"I've only got one condition... This stuff never enters the Lanes."
"The Lanes aren't yours."
"They will be."
"Then you'd better move quickly... That much, I can agree to."
"And one more thing."
Van tossed the vial of Shimmer into the air and caught it again.
"Give me some time. I'll try to improve it."
"Time doesn't wait for anyone."
Silco lit a cigar. Just as he was about to take a drag, he noticed Van staring at him with an intensity that made him pause.
"...What?"
"If I'm going to do research, I'll need funding."
"You... are asking me for money?"
Silco's eye widened slightly. He looked at Van as if he could not decide whether to be confused or impressed.
Van nodded, completely shameless.
As far as he was concerned, if he created an improved version of Shimmer, that would make Silco money too. Silco paying for the work was only logical.
"Heh..."
Silco let out a short laugh, shaking his head as he leaned back into the chair.
"Take it up with Sevika."
...
...
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Van rested his cheek on one hand with his elbow on the bar while the bottle of green, sticky slime rolled back and forth across the counter beneath the push of his fingers.
He kept repeating the motion without thinking, staring blankly ahead.
"Hey, Van! You call this working?"
Ekko staggered in carrying a huge barrel of liquor, set it down with a grunt, and shot him an annoyed look.
"Working? Of course it is. A mind as brilliant as mine does high-level work even while staring into space."
"Hah. If you've got time for that, you can help me haul stuff around."
"I'm the boss. I've got to stay here and tend bar."
"At this hour there's nobody here. You're obviously just slacking off."
"I already told you, I really am thinking about something."
Van had lost count of how many times he'd sighed that day. Until Sevika got him the equipment he needed, every second felt like an hour.
He wanted desperately to improve Shimmer, and he had already boasted that he would, but how far he could actually get... he had no idea.
Was he really going to let something that terrifying spread?
A stronger Zaun...
A Zaun that couldn't be trampled whenever topside felt like it...
Creak.
"The Last Drop... uh."
Van had barely lifted his head before he saw yet another person he had no desire to deal with.
Was today just cursed? Why were people like this arriving one after another?
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Marcus. What'll it be? Orange soda, or lemon?"
"Hmph."
Still wearing his Enforcer uniform, Marcus sat down at the bar with a gloomy face.
"You'll have to call me Sheriff now."
"Sheriff? Heh. I guess topside really has run out of people."
Hearing the taunt, Marcus gave no reaction. He simply took off his Enforcer cap and set it on the bar.
"Pour me... the strongest thing you've got."
Van gave him a surprised look. Marcus seemed worn down, different somehow, like something in him had shifted.
At the very least, if Van had talked to him like that before, Marcus would already have reached for that ridiculous little baton of his.
Van poured him a full glass anyway. Whatever his problems were, Van no longer cared enough to fight over old grudges.
"You're... working for Silco now?"
"Mm-hm. What else would I be doing?"
Van frowned. He had no desire to talk about any of this. In more ways than one, Marcus bore a large share of the blame for how everything had ended up.
"So what exactly do you want, Sheriff Marcus?"
"I... nothing. Nothing, really."
Marcus's eyes shifted uneasily. After a brief hesitation, he picked up the glass and took a large swallow. The strong liquor hit him hard, and he winced immediately.
"I just came to remind you... now that you've taken over this place in the Lanes, keep your people in line. Don't let them cause trouble in my district. Whatever you lot do, I'll... keep one eye closed."
After that, Marcus lifted the glass twice more as if trying to convince himself to take a second drink, but in the end he couldn't do it.
"That's all."
He slapped a gold coin onto the bar, stood up, put his hat back on, and left without another word, while Van watched him with open confusion.
As Marcus disappeared into the night, Van raised what was left of his eyebrow and looked at the glass Marcus had barely touched.
What the hell was that about?
He came all the way here just to say that?
Why did it feel like he had really wanted to say something else?
[End of chapter]