After asking a server for a clean towel and warm water, Caitlyn wiped herself down as best she could, then sat back in the restaurant and stared out the window, still gloomy.
Van kept eating. After what happened with Huck that morning, he had barely had breakfast.
With a body his size, he burned through energy even sitting still. Missing one meal was enough to leave him starving.
"Still upset?"
Van cut into his steak. His knife work was blunt and direct, almost like he was dissecting it.
"Yes. I've never seen anything like that before… You looked like you were used to it."
"Mm. I grew up in Zaun. That was what the Undercity used to look like."
"But the Lanes aren't like that!"
"That's because the Lanes have me."
Van stuffed the meat into his mouth and ate without restraint. Caitlyn had no appetite at all. She only drank, so it seemed he would have to handle this whole table of food himself.
"Right… because there's someone kind like you there…"
Van smiled at that.
Kindness? Was that what kept the Lanes from turning into that alley?
The mountain of corpses rotting in the fissures would probably disagree.
"Why is the Undercity like this… No, it shouldn't be like this."
Caitlyn leaned forward and fixed Van with a burning stare.
"You must have a way, don't you? Like with the Lanes."
"Me?"
Van shook his head with a bitter smile.
"I'm only human, not a god. There's a limit to what one person can do. Just one Lanes is already stretching me thin."
"Then no one is going to do anything about the Undercity?"
"Do something? Who? The fat, rich nobles and councilors topside?"
Van took a drink and swallowed the food in his mouth.
"Of course, Councilor Kiramman is different. When she was young, she helped build Zaun's ventilation system. She gave the people down here at least a little fresh air to breathe… For that, Zaunites should be grateful."
"But that isn't enough!"
Caitlyn did not look pleased at all, even hearing Van praise her mother.
"She's a councilor. Looking after people's lives is supposed to be her duty… And yet this place is still like this!"
Caitlyn looked at the neon-lit streets outside. All that color and noise suddenly seemed painfully ironic.
"I have to do something… But what can I do? Shut down those damned factories? Or something else? Would that help?"
"Uh…"
She looked straight at Van as she asked that last question, her expression serious, urgency written deep in her eyes.
Faced with that sincere gaze, Van was briefly stunned.
"Caitlyn… you're a councilor's daughter."
"…Is that a problem?"
Caitlyn tilted her head in confusion, clearly not seeing anything wrong with it.
Van froze for a moment, then stared into Caitlyn's eyes for a long while, as if trying to see through them into her heart.
After a long silence, the way he looked at her changed. A smile rose on his face before he could stop it, genuine and unguarded.
"No… No problem."
Van set down his knife and fork, his mood suddenly lighter.
"Caitlyn, you really are… Ha. All right, then I'll be honest. I do need a favor from you, and it may be troublesome."
"What favor?"
Caitlyn looked eager, as if being able to help made her even more urgent than before.
"Jayce spoke to me last time. He wanted me to join that… civilian Hextech project. Do you know about it?"
"Of course! That's Jayce and Viktor's dream… Viktor is Jayce's partner. He's a genius inventor too, and like you, he came from the Undercity."
"Oh?"
Van felt as if he had heard the name Viktor somewhere before.
"In that case… would it be against the rules for me to take part in the project?"
"You've decided to join?"
"Yes…"
Van thought of the strained production of compound potions, and of Huck. The damage caused by Shimmer was only sinking deeper.
"I need to find Zaun a way out… and the sooner, the better."
"Going through Jayce alone won't be enough."
Caitlyn straightened in her seat and began counting things off on her fingers.
"Viktor studied at the University of Piltover, and before that, he was Professor Heimerdinger's assistant. So… I'll find a way to get you a research consultant position, something that lets you directly take part in core Hextech research."
"Huh?"
Van's broken brow lifted in surprise.
Research consultant?
"Wouldn't that be… too much trouble for you?"
"No. My family has close ties with the University of Piltover. That part shouldn't be a problem… Also, I'll find a way to convince my mother to invest in you."
"Invest?"
"Exactly! You don't think doing scientific research topside just means sitting in a room and tinkering with gears, do you? Jayce had my family's funding, and it still took him more than ten years to figure out how to control Hex crystals… Viktor didn't have anyone backing him, so even though he's a genius too, he stayed unknown until he joined Hextech research."
Van truly did not understand that side of things. Perhaps it was simply the difference between the two cities' approach to invention. Topside chased refinement, always trying to make better things. The Undercity thought only about how to turn a pile of scrap into something usable.
"The Academy will provide research funds, but that's only enough for small projects. For something like Hextech, it's nowhere near enough."
"Your mother… Councilor Kiramman will agree to that? I'm from the Undercity."
"So what if you're from the Undercity? I'll do my best to convince her."
Then Caitlyn gave him a mysterious look.
"And if the elder Kiramman won't agree, there's still the younger Kiramman, isn't there?"
Van stared at her in surprise, and Caitlyn smiled back.
"I'm the only daughter in my family. I do have some private savings… And I know quite a few important people in business. I can find sponsors for you. Under my name, or we can simply use Jayce's name as a guarantee. He is quite famous lately."
Van opened his mouth, but for a moment, he had no idea what to say.
He had only brought up the beginning of the matter, and Caitlyn had already picked it up, one step after another, planning everything out for him. Things were going so smoothly that Van almost found it hard to believe.
"Caitlyn, uh… I don't understand. Aren't you being a little… Why are you going this far to help me?"
"No. This isn't only helping you. It's helping the Undercity too… I've seen the Lanes. I believe you have ideas, and I believe you're someone who truly wants to change this place. So let me add my goodwill to yours."
Caitlyn seemed much brighter now, smiling beautifully at Van as he sat there in a daze.
"And we're friends, aren't we?"
"Yeah…"
Van looked at Caitlyn's face, and something stirred faintly in his heart. He quickly looked away and raised his glass.
"Then it's settled."
"Mm-hm. For… Zaun!"
Caitlyn raised her glass and clinked it against his.
[End of chapter]