Arcane: Reincarnated as Powder/Jinx

Chapter 5:

We didn't get time to test the new drone before the enforcers came knocking. They'd been pushing us back for a while, but our side hadn't tried to commit to any battles. Instead, we lured them deeper into the lanes.

I huddled together with VI and Ekko. Claggor was off carrying supplies. Our small group surrounded the tiny UFO-shaped drone. "Okay, here we go"

We stepped back before I activated the device. Despite my initial desire to simply control the drone through the computer, it turned out that the range would be awfully low. Perhaps around five hundred meters.

This might be good in normal circumstances, but the computer was delicate and if it was moved too much it could be destabilized. The hex-tech part of made it sturdier, but I didn't want to risk it in any case.

As a way to mitigate this, and also make the drone more tactical, I made a control gauntlet that was quite similar to a Pip-Boy, but more steampunk and less 'fifties sci-fi.'

The device had a simplified version of the quantum computer that I easily assembled just through the leftover resources we had. It was also powered by a hex-gem and was developing its own pseudo-AI, but it's main function was as a relay and a way to control other technology - while the first quantum computer was mainly to develop blueprints, calculate, and research.

The distance I could use the drone suddenly doubled, as the relay could perfectly transmit a signal over an additional 500 meters, as well as do some basic maneuvers. Thus, I could still manually control the drone just through the gauntlet, but I'd need to be in range of the larger quantum computer in order to have the drone move delicately when autonomous.

I could work with that. The drone could gather data independently and over time be able to more more autonomously as well.

We stepped back. Vi punched my shoulder far too hard in an attempt at cheering me on. "You got this Powpow, but we gotta be quick. I already hear the enforcers."

I pressed the activation button and heard the satisfying sound of the magnetic rails starting to spin, as well as the gentle thrust of the hex-gem. It took just a second before it shot up to eye-height and started hovering just in front of me.

In its base state, it was programmed to protect me, VI, Ekko, and Claggor. I couldn't add Vander because he hadn't been here, but the rest had. It could recognize them and stop projectiles or someone trying to attack us.

I'd also made sure that it didn't go rage-mode if VI slapped me, or of someone hit someone by accident. Thus it was only programmed to stop hits or projectiles, and not to strike back.

"Shield!" I shouted. The drone instantly reacted, putting up a blue shield about the size of a basketball. It would take too much power for it to create a larger shield, so I focused mostly on making it sturdy enough to tank shots. The mobility of the drone made up for the smaller size, after all.

Ekko laughed in joy, "Yes! It's working. We did it! Great job Powder. And I helped! I did... Well, a little." He coughed in embarrassment and looked away.

„Of course you did! Thank you Ekko." I patted him on the back, noticing that the drone paid attention to the action and recognized that it was a friendly pat.

I could still have exploited the opportunity to poison him with a needle or something of the like, but baby steps. The drone was learning quickly.

"Now let's take it for a real spin!" I exclaimed.

A few minutes later we were overlooking the industrial district around us to look for any enforcers.

The district wasn't strictly an industrial zone like it might have been back on Earth, but more akin to the initial industrialization of cities where a lot of factories sprouted up in the same area so as to allow for easily moving the raw materials process to nearby factories and do the entire production process in one area without having to ship a lot of materials over long distances.

This particular factory was quite tall, so we were able to overlook the rusted and cobbled-together factories around us. Practically everything down here had been repaired a thousand times, and nothing made that more obvious than these rooftops.

Occasionally, some liquid or piece of scrap fell down and landed on these roofs. Often it was no issue, but if acid or heavier objects came - they would tear holes right through the roof. A lot of factory accidents happened that way, but it was pretty much unavoidable due to the verticality of the city. Anyone that tossed something from above could risk hitting someone further down, especially when they thew it down to the layer below.

When gazing out over the broken rooftops, seeing the toxic fog slither like giant snakes in the streets, and seeing the approaching enforcers, with their metal boots, full armor, masks, and gleaming guns, I truly felt for the undercity, for Zaun.

This might be where trash and misfits ended up, but by the mere location of being below Piltover made everything made flow down into Zaun. Trash, toxic waste, scrap, broken people, and broken dreams. Everything gathered into a cyclone of shit which it was nearly impossible to extricate oneself from.

Although this was a bad time for the undercity, it was also an opportunity. We might not have the resources to go on an aggressive war, but we could definitely handle a defensive war with my hextech and shimmer.

Now was the time to prove it. "Good luck, Air-1." I patted the drone before using the controls to send the drone on a scouting trip. We could see enforcers, but they weren't randomly breaking into buildings.

They were clearing the streets for the most part, while some other enforcers supported the ground troops from rooftops. Some of them carried tactical shields that could be employed by simply putting them down, while most had rifles at the ready.

The drone was eerily quiet - barely louder than the sound of breathing - as it floated overhead to get a picture of how many we were up against. I'd installed invisible lasers to make it able to give an accurate count of people, so we would have the answer in a bit.

We saw at least a dozen enforcers at the end of the street, but they were merely shouting, putting up lights, and taking their time to slowly push up. They were looking out for ambushes and wanted to make sure not to be taken off guard. Understandable, but it wouldn't help against Air-1.

"How many do you see?" Vi asked - looking over my shoulder.

"At least 40 so far, but it's still counting."

"40... damn. That's a lot for being enforcers. We gotta be careful." We had two-dozen people just in our factory, but the 40 were also just in this district.

They were getting a train of supplies shipped down by elevators and ropes, which made it clear that they were digging in. I might have exaggerated what was going to happen, because this looked more like an occupation than a war.

I think when it became clear that we wouldn't fight them directly, they decided to simply occupy the area closest to Piltover. They had cordoned off all efficient routes up and down, which made this more akin to a military occupation. From Piltover's perspective, however, this was likely more akin to setting up a curfew and some checkpoints to maintain their control of the undercity.

Pilties would never admit it, but they needed the undercity. The area the undercity covered was about three times the size of Piltover itself, and that was only mentioning the currently inhabited areas.

The undercity still had a lot of space to expand if we wanted to. Despite having a far larger population - the exact number was difficult to calculate because of the lack of a real government in the undercity - Piltover still controlled our economy and likely had more than 95% of our total currency if one truly considered Piltover and the undercity to be one.

If we became independent, we could take the larger share of the pie simply through our production capabilities.

"There's a total of 68 enforcers in the district, but those are only the ones' we see. I could have it do a sweep inside buildings as well, but I don't think it's necessary." I had made sure to mark all of the enforcers the drone's scanner picked up in red before I gave the kill command.

We all looked on as a blue lightning strike hit the gathering of enforcers casually chatting. The drone had been calculating the way to most effectively take down all of the enforcers while causing the least amount of destruction and possible casualties among Zaunites, and it decided to instantly go into the encirclement of enforcers.

Air-1 had decided that the throat was the most efficient target and I agreed. Their helmets, protective goggles, and armor would make any strikes there take more time and thus be less efficient.

The drone maintained a single laser beam for cutting as it spun around at throat level and got a handful of them. Not everyone died immediately, but all the ones hit were taken out of the fight and would eventually bleed out by my estimation. At least if they didn't get pumped with shimmer.

I whispered a quiet "Boom," and made sure to imprint the shocked expressions of VI and Claggor in my mind before I started manually controlling the drone. I made it and I would damn well drive it as well.

As I zoned into the screen, I felt as though I was the drone for a moment. I whooshed through the sky, encircling the remaining enforcers and getting angles before slicing throats open with my laser.

"What is that thing?!"

"It got Daniel!"

"We need to retreat and regroup. I... I didn't sign up for this shit."

A few of the enforcers stumbled backwards and started retreating in a disorganized manner, while the more experienced ones made sure to cover themselves with shields and put their backs together to not be ambushed from behind.

I focused on the ones running first, chasing after them and blasting either necks or gaps in the armor at their waists.

Bodies slumped to the ground with loud clanks as armor hit the ground, while the few remaining ones still running scrambled to either get behind cover or shot a few haphazard shots behind them.

"Good job, Powpow! You got them on the run."

"Hahah! Yes!" This time, however, I shouted too loudly.

A few of the enforcers below turned to the sound and aimed their weapons at us. Some shot in our direction reflexively, which forced us to pull back into the building and hide behind some sturdy support beams.

"Shit! I think one of the bullets grazed my hair. I didn't think they could hear us over their fellow enforcers being slaughtered."

My little heart was racing in my chest and the world seemed to slow for a moment.

Milo's annoying voice echoed through my mind - "You're a jinx..."

"No, I'm not. Really. I'll prove it. I already avenged you. I got this. I can't be like..."

"Powpow, who are you talking to?" VI grabbed my shoulder and shook me out of my manic state.

"W..what? What happened?" I regained clarity, but I was still shook.

I had no clue I'd be affected similarly to the original Powder. I knew I got some of her manic glee, but that's still a long ways away from being the chaotic Jinx. Did I have some unidentified mental illness that would inevitably affect me? I couldn't. Right...?

"You started babbling and talking to someone that wasn't here. The way you spoke... It sounded like Milo. Are you okay?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm fine. At least... I'll be fine when we get the enforcers out of here. I just thought I heard Milo's voice for a second."

Claggor remained silent, like usual, but VI brought me into a hug. „I know it's hard, Powder, and I know you're really tired after working so much on these weapons, but it'll all be over soon. We'll talk more about how you're doing when all of this calms down, alright?"

I nodded into her shoulder, and as if on cue tears started falling uncontrollably from my eyes. "I Think I got something stuck in my eyes." I wiped them, but the tears just kept coming.

VI stroked the back of my head and hummed something. She was really a good sister.

"I'm really glad you're my sister, VI. You're the best sister anyone could have asked for. Such a bad-ass, and so kind as well."

She chuckled, "I think the exact same thing. You're such a genius and the sweetest girl I know. I'm really happy you're my little sister. Claggor, get in here. We might not share blood, but you're still our brother."

The big guy lumbered over and gently embraced us both. "I appreciate you both as well."

I just kept crying. I'd be worried about dying because the enforcers noticed us, but I still heard the drone buzzing about outside and more screams than ever.

"I'm fine... put me down."

VI didn't budge.

"VI, please! Down!"

She held me for another two minutes. "Heheh, okay." She brought me out of her tight embrace and gently lowered me to the ground before drying the last of my tears and cupping my chin. "There you go, cupcake."

I beamed up at her as we heard the shouts outside die down - and the gurgling of the last remaining enforcers disappeared soon after.

When looking out at the absolute massacre in the street below, I couldn't help but whistle "Phew, I'd say that's a successful test. What do you say?"

I got a few whistles in response from VI and Claggor.

"Yeah, definitely a success." VI stroked my hair in a show of support. "How about you have the drone do a sweep of nearby buildings before we head down to get the loot."

"Sounds good!" I nodded, "But it needs some time to recharge before it can work at max capacity. If it gets into a fight again, it can still handle a good amount - but I don't want to risk it falling in battle. Just reconnaissance will keep it slightly energy-positive, but rapid maneuvers and fights drain a lot out of it. It's already down to 40% from that short fight."

VI got that look on her face that said that she's thinking about how to beat the shit out of someone in the most efficient way. "Alright, I'll take that into account. I'll inform the crew. We'll send Vander a runner after we clear the area." She clapped my shoulder again, and headed down to inform our manpower.

Compared to what I'd seen of her on Arcane, the real version of her was a far better fighter that could think on her feet and handle a lot. She might not beat someone like Vander just yet, but I - or 'old' Powder - had seen them spar and she was making the old man really work for it.

She had the kind of combat instinct that could make someone into a world-champion if they keep at their craft, and she was definitely putting in the effort.

It wasn't just the training, but the jobs, taking on responsibility, and trying to improve herself. She might not be the smartest when it came to math, but she was great at finding out who were tailing us, setting up an ambush without a prepared plan, and handling chaotic situations that cropped up.

Me, and also the original Powder and future Jinx, were planners. Jinx and Powder had a nasty shot and could easily handle opponents at a distance, but they struggled when the opponent got close. VI was the opposite.

Making up for her perceived weaknesses, however, was a large motivation behind Powder improving her explosives and other devices. I completely agreed with the logic, but I'd rather have an impenetrable armor than chaotic explosives.

Or, even better, both. I licked my lips at the thought, catching a look from VI, but I just gave her a wide smile and focused on the screen showing what the drone was seeing.

As opposed to Powder and Jinx, however, my analytic mind could easily find the weakness of any fighting style, allow me to absorb the knowledge of how to most efficiently move in a fight, and analyze an enemy or situation on the go.

I knew I could make plans and execute them without VI's input, but she still had valuable experience I lacked. Most importantly, I didn't want her to feel left out or useless - like how I, how Powder, had felt most of the time.

As VI disappeared downstairs, I honed in on the screen on my arm. It showed the aftermath. This wasn't a fight - it was a slaughter. Usually it was our people on the receiving end, so despite the nausea that welled up in my stomach I managed to keep it down.

Long spurts of blood painted the alley-walls like it was a Pollock, some heads had fallen off, others had heads barely dangling from a remaining chunk of neck, while others had their guts spilled.

Most of the injuries looked like that, but a few had their eyes pierced, and some had accidentally shot their comrades - either denting armor or blowing a hole in the back of someone's head. A few of the bodies still moved, but just barely. It was obvious that they'd bleed out in just a few minutes.

The modern part of me, as well as the remaining innocent part of Powder, felt horrible despite the necessity. Logically and emotionally I knew that a lot of these enforcers were just regular people who clocked in at work, but the few bad apples among their batch really spoiled them all.

At least when they were masked up and everyone looked the same. Research has shown that giving people the allowance to disassociate from their real identity brings out the worst in people, and giving someone a gun, armor, and mask really doesn't do anything to dissuade that person from wielding their power like a blunt object and taking their anger out on random Zaunites.

Technically I didn't have to join in on the cleanup. I was tired, small, and had already put in a lot of effort into making the drone. My time would likely be better spent going over the data and trying to improve the drone further, but I needed to truly feel the impact of my actions up close. I couldn't allow myself to become a sociopathic killer like Jinx. I had to understand what I was really doing.

Jinx chaotic way of handling matters made her more of a hazard even to her own side, and I had to avoid that.

The episode earlier was a real wake-up call. I needed to fix my mental state, and perhaps even make some drugs to counteract it. If I could use shimmer and some other chemtech drugs together with hextech, I could likely re-create myself on the genetic level and even more.

I figured I'd start with shimmer and work on improving it first.

Not only did I have to feel the impact of my actions up close, but this was also a chance to get a mental scan of the result of the drone - giving me very practical data.

The drone finished its sweep an hour later, and then we headed out as a large group. The drone floated over us as overwatch while we collected the bodies, unwrapped them from their armor, grabbed pouches, shields, weapons, and masks, as well as ammunition, rations, and their lights. They'd really come in handy, but we couldn't have out guys walk around in enforcer armor.

For the most part, I took off masks and sorted weapons on a table in the workshop. I looked into the faces of the people I was responsible for killing. A few were young - barely adults. Most were at least middle-aged.

Wide-eyed panicked faces met me as I pried off their masks, while a seemed to have been taken off guard and didn't even react before dying.

My hands were soaked in blood, and my shoulders trembled at seeing so much death. This might be the norm for this fucked up world, but this gave me a reason to change it.

A world at constant war - with tension everywhere - might suit me while I was building up, but when I got to the top I wanted to make an era of peace.

After getting a look at the masks and guns, the blueprints automatically formed in my mind. They were simple, but pretty reliable. I could set up a production facility for something better, but that would mean I lost control

As long as my creations could only be used by me or those close to me, I'd remain in power. If everyone had automatic rifles, I'd be far less useful.

I threw the idea away. Before implementing any kind of second industrial revolution, I had to secure my own safety and power. That meant resources pouring into me and my creations.

The level of technology in this rifle was on the level of a WW1 rifle, but it was too embellished and not practical enough for my tastes. It was clearly an expensive product just based on looks, but I could also see a lot of wasted metal.

If I got the same amount of metal, I could likely make at least 1,5 times the guns - if not more.

It was laughable that they spent valuable metal on engraving beautiful patterns, reinforcing the butt of the gun with far too much metal, and didn't even having a scope.

Despite not wanting to make guns, I still took them apart, cleaned a couple of them, and put them back together.

"Ekko, can you come over here?"

"Yeah, Powpow, what is it?" He nodded and ran over.

"Could you make scopes for these guns? I can draw up a blueprint for you."

"Ehm, sure. I can do that! Yes. I already know how to enlarge an image through lenses after working with you on Fey, so it shouldn't be that difficult."

"Good." I grabbed a piece of paper and started drawing up the schematics, making sure to make the scopes modular and the lenses easily replaceable, as well as making sure that it'd be easy to just snap them onto a gun and easily hone in on a target.

I handed Ekko three different drawings. One of the scope itself - including how to adjust the scope multiplier, one for the attachment mechanism, and one that contained the lenses as well as how they should be positioned.

VI was just carrying in another set of armor, so I headed over to her. "Hey, VI, I'm going to get some food and sleep. I gave Ekko a task to make some scopes for the guns. I know a lot of the people here know how to clean a gun, so let some of them work on the guns while some others help Ekko with making the scopes. Also gather together all of the explosives, gunpowder, and everything else that can go boom. I have an idea for it..."

"Sure, Powpow," she gave me a quick hug, „you go get some rest. I'll take care of the rest of the cleanup."

"Great! See ya in a few."