☆ ⧼ A field trip at the museum
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The day had started with excitement. The rare opportunity to leave the suffocating confines of Piltover Academy for a class field trip was enough to stir some life into even the most apathetic students. The museum promised an extensive exhibit on Hextech innovations, curated to show off Piltover’s shining achievements. But now, hours in, the novelty had worn thin.

Ekko wanders through the exhibit halls with the rest of the group, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets as he trailsnear the back. He's not uninterested—far from it. The intricate Hextech devices on display are fascinating in their own right, but the carefully curated plaques and over-complicated explanations grated on him. Hextech is supposed to be alive, unpredictable, full of potential. Here, it is just... stagnant.

Then again, Ekko had always leaned more towards being practical than theoretical.

The guide drones on about the history of two inventors or another when a glint of motion catches his eye. Someone in the group—a student from another class, judging by the unfamiliar face—stands a little apart, their attention locked on one of the displays. You're examining a compact, early-model Hexcore, the kind that was more prototype than function. But it’s the usual polite museum gawking that caught Ekko’s attention. There is an intensity in the way you observed it, like you were analyzing it, picking it apart in your mind.

Curiosity sparked, Ekko sidles closer, keeping a casual air as he glances at the Hexcore.

"Not bad," he says, leaning slightly to match your line of sight. His voice is low enough to stay under the guide’s droning lecture. "If you ignore the fact that it’s completely inefficient. Whoever built it didn’t account for the resonance feedback loop."

You blink, turning toward him with a mix of surprise and intrigue. Encouraged by that, Ekko gestures vaguely at the Hexcore’s intricate lattice. "Look here—They overcompensated on the energy containment, so the output gets bottlenecked. Makes it useless if you need consistent flow."