Arcane: Broken Mechanism

- Is this kid under my supervision now? - Jerry asked indifferently, looking Sirion up and down.

- Of course, the boss's orders, and you've probably heard them yourself already, - the big guy grinned and turned around. - Well, good luck with the fresh blood, I hope at least this one lives a little longer than the previous ones.

These words did not hurt Sirion as much as they had yesterday. He had somehow already gotten used to the idea that nothing good would await him either in the training that awaited him or in the work itself. There were only three possible outcomes that would most likely await him: 1. He would be lucky and would cope with all the tasks set and survive. 2. He would be unlucky and would die. 3. He would be unlucky and would be caught by the peacekeepers.

Oh, there was one more option. He would somehow do something wrong to Finn and Finn would personally kill him through his minions, or send him to work at his Chem-tech plant for minimum wage or food.

"Maybe I should just wait for the right moment and try to escape, to Vander for example?" another thought ran through his head. But as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. He rejected this option almost immediately. Zaun was still an unknown area for him, he didn't know where everything was, what areas and secret places there were where he could hide from the thugs who would be sent after him if he escaped. And they made it clear to him that if he tried to escape from the gang, they would look for him until they got him, no matter whose wing he climbed under.

Sirion came out of his thoughts and stared at Jerry. Now he could see him. Asian features, he looked to be in his early forties, with a solid physique, which was obviously maintained by hard work. His face was covered with small wrinkles, and gray hair was already starting to appear in his short-cropped hair. Jerry, unlike most of the other workers, did not look at Sirion with disdain or arrogance. On the contrary, his gaze was attentive, even slightly tired. His attention was very much attracted by the prosthesis on his leg. A mechanical prosthesis, with a green liquid flowing through the compartments inside.

"This, as I understand it, is Chem-tech," - in general, the concept of such a substance as Chem-tech seemed a little strange to him. He could not understand, wasn't it a drug like Shimmer, which gave certain advantages, but caused addiction, or was he confused about something? Why was there a liquid of this substance flowing in the same prosthesis? He would have to figure this out later.

"Um… My name is… Yes…" he stopped, almost saying his real name. In this world, he was called by a different name and it was time to get used to it. But it had only been about a day since he had found himself here, and the new name was hard for him to come by. "My name is Sirion," he extended his hand towards the so-called Jerry, who was apparently supposed to be his mentor in training and missions.

"Follow me," the latter merely glanced at the outstretched hand, without shaking it in return. Sirion looked at his outstretched hand and returned it with a sigh. Well, this was not the first time he had met

Jerry led Sirion to the training ground, which was a mixture of scrap metal, pipes, and rusty structures.

"Okay, kid, show me what you can do. If you grew up in Zaun, you should be able to run on roofs and jump over garbage heaps." Sirion nodded and looked at the proposed obstacles. Most of it didn't look too difficult: a few intertwined beams, a pile of old equipment, a narrow pipe that you had to navigate without losing your balance.

"Let's start with a warm-up. Climb over this and get to that platform," Jerry pointed to a ledge five meters off the ground.

Sirion sighed and moved toward the obstacle. The first move was easy: he ran along the beam, jumped over a pile of junk, and climbed up a rusty pipe, using it as support. Then he pushed off and landed with precision on the platform.

"Hmm, okay. Get down," Jerry said, but his gaze became a little more focused. The next task was more difficult: run along a narrow metal beam, then climb a vertical structure two stories high and jump down, tucked in. Sirion did not disappoint. Balancing as if he'd been doing this his whole life, he cleared the beam, climbed up, and jumped down, landing softly, as if this was all just a matter of course. Jerry frowned, watching the boy.

"You said you were new here?"

"Yeah, well," Sirion replied, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"You know, kids in Zaun learn to jump on rooftops pretty quickly. That's how they survive here. But you..." Jerry narrowed his eyes. "You move too well, like you've been training for years."

Sirion felt his insides tighten. "Here we go," he thought.

"Yeah?" he said, trying to hide his excitement. "It just happened, I guess."

Jerry didn't answer, but he set the next task.

"Okay, let's see if you can do this," he pointed to a difficult course that involved jumping from one platform to another with a difference in height, hooking onto a horizontal pipe, and then sliding under a low-hanging beam.

"Well, here comes the real test," Sirion thought, running up and starting to move.

He completed the task with such speed and precision that even he was surprised. Jerry frowned even more.

"It looks like I'll have to make this training more difficult for you," he said, hiding a slight smile behind a sullen expression. "Otherwise it'll be boring."

"But it won't be boring for me," Sirion thought, trying to catch his breath and feeling how his body seemed to be adjusting itself to the new challenges.

Jerry didn't waste time on long pauses. Sirion barely had time to catch his breath when the mentor pointed to an even more complex structure. It was a bundle of narrow pipes located at different levels, intertwined with platforms and metal debris, where one wrong step could lead to a fall.

"Come on, kid," Jerry waved his hand. "Let's see if you can handle this. The task is simple: go down from the top pipe to the one below and return here, but do not touch the ground."

Sirion silently assessed the route. At first glance, it was a chaos of metal structures, but the longer he looked, the clearer the route became. Taking a deep breath, he came closer and began to climb up.

The first jump was difficult: the pipe he needed to get onto was covered in oil stains, and his feet almost slipped. Sirion caught himself, grabbing a ledge nearby in time. "Don't relax," he reminded himself.

He moved on, grabbing the smallest of ledges with his hands and feet, as if his body knew what to do better than his mind. Jerry watched, eyebrows raised slightly.

When Sirion reached the bottom pipe, he turned to his mentor.

"Now back?"

"You're not only a parkour runner, you're also cheeky," Jerry snorted, but waved his hand. "Yeah, go back."

The route was even more difficult on the way back. Fatigue was taking its toll, and on one of the jumps Sirion felt himself losing his balance. However, he instantly pushed off the nearest beam, regaining his footing.

Back at the starting point, he stood, breathing heavily, but with his head held high.

"So, how am I?"

Jerry chuckled, but there was a flicker of respect in his eyes.

"Okay, kid. I admit that you can do more than I expected. But the question is, where did you get such skills? For a street pup, you're too good.

Sirion thought for a moment.

"I've just always been... well, nimble. Climbing rooftops while the other kids were fighting in the alleys. I guess that's the only thing I'm good at."

Jerry chuckled again, but didn't press the issue further.

"Okay, that's none of my business. There's a new test tomorrow. Now you can go and rest."

***

Finn sat at his desk, thoughtfully twirling a small gold pendant in his fingers. His sharp gaze slid over Jerry as he entered, as if trying to read his thoughts even before he spoke.

"Speak, how is my new courier?" Finn asked, leaning back in his chair. His tone was calm, but a shadow of impatience danced in his eyes. Jerry, accustomed to such attention, calmly folded his arms across his chest.

"Not bad, very good," he began. "Crawls like a rat in a garbage can, only faster. And he performs such tricks that a couple of times I even doubted whether he was human. But..." He paused, trying to find the words.

"Your guys," Jerry continued, "gave him a good thrashing. It is obvious that the boy is strong, he has not broken down, but his movements are still a little constrained. We need to give him time to rest and heal his wounds. And then I'll continue training him and bringing him up to speed. He'll be a good courier, - Finn frowned after listening to the report.

- So he's not only strong, but also fast. That's good. - He played with the pendant for another second, then abruptly put it aside. - But time is something we don't have in abundance, Jerry. If the kid is really good, we need to speed up the process. Let him not relax for too long.

- He's strong enough, - Jerry assured. - But if you want him to last at least a couple of months, it's better not to push him too hard at the very beginning. The kid is smart, Finn. I'm telling it like it is, - Finn took a long look at his mentor, then nodded.

"Okay, do it your way. But remember, Jerry, I don't need just a smart courier. I need a man who can survive in any situation. Zaun is no place for the weak, and I'm not going to wipe his nose."

"He'll understand," Jerry turned to the exit. "This kid will get used to it. Or break. But I think the first option."

Finn just chuckled, returning to his papers.

***

Sirion lay on a creaky mattress, rubbing his stomach with one hand, where it still ached from recent blows. The pain was dull, but it reminded him of itself with every movement. Shortness of breath and a general feeling of weakness did not let him forget that his body was not in the best condition yet. He tiredly closed his eyes, then opened them again, concentrating on the scale in front of him.

"The system is loaded at 69%,"

Sirion gritted his teeth in irritation. This scale resembled a mockery. It moves, but so slowly that it could have made him howl. Several times he had already tried to somehow call the system or make it speed up, but all to no avail. No reaction, except for this static percentage.

"How much longer do I have to wait?!" he thought with annoyance. — "The more time passes, the more I understand that without this thing I won't last long here. They said they'd give me a couple of days. And then what? Will they send me on some errand to this hellish city? Without weapons? Without training?"

He sighed heavily and looked around the room. The dim light from the small window barely penetrated the smog, illuminating the walls covered in cracks and chemical stains. The metal box in the corner looked almost a mockery in this wretched interior — the only piece of furniture besides the mattress.

"Maybe I should try to understand what I can do on my own, without the system?" — the thought flashed. — "But somewhere inside I know... Without it, I'm nobody. This thing is my only chance. If only I could wait until it finally boots up." Sirion closed his eyes, deciding to at least rest a little. But anxious thoughts about what awaited him next kept spinning in his head.