Zachary ascended the stairwell of the building, the light from outside sufficient for navigation thanks in part to natural lighting considerations by the designers of this office building. He was nervous as he climbed, though, always worried that he might be encroaching on somebody else's territory and he would not be in any way welcome. Despite the creeping paranoia, Zachary made it to the rooftop of the building without seeing anyone. Once out in the open Zachary found that he had to make the effort to calm himself down and suppress the fight-or-flight sensation. He breathed deeply and took in the panoramic view that his present position offered him to calm himself down. He was not by nature particularly prone to exploring, so he hadn't climbed to the top of tall buildings as nearly often as some other people had in the past year, so this view still held some majesty for him. Despite the desolation, the skyline of Sovereign was still grand, no longer clean and pristine and shiny, but grandeur remained, just as great ruins of ancient civilisations have grandeur. Marring the view was the Wall, encasing him on all sides and preventing the sky, the horizon, the fields beyond, from being seen and serving as a constant reminder of the military grip over the city. The skyways, although normally ignored, formed streaks of light which seemed out of place in the greying husk of the capitol, a taunting reminder of how advanced the city had been just over a year ago.

Now able to focus Zachary proceeded to search the rooftop. He quickly spotted the large metal box with gratings which must have been the office's ventilation and air conditioning system. At a touch he was able to identify after a few seconds that a wind core was still present, still charged, and he could see where it was too. The access panel was locked, but that only slowed him down for the few seconds it took to read the lock in his mind and shift the tumblers aside. Once open, he was able to reach in through the metalwork, prise open the core casing and remove the wind core. It was quite large, but it had to be in order to pump air through an entire multi-storey building.

Closing the panel, Zachary was feeling satisfied with how easily he had made this find when he turned to go and saw a man pointing a shotgun at him standing where he had come from. The man seemed to be in his late forties, with signs of age beginning to show in his copper hair and and fair skin, he had a beard and a balding head. Most importantly, he did not seem particularly welcoming of Zachary's presence. The man's appearance startled Zachary, causing him to step back, and he also put his hands up, still holding the wind core in one of them.

Already Kaa'is was going through a battle plan. [b][i]He's got a simple fire-core powered shotgun, made mostly of metal. Just a flick and we'll have him disarmed. We can barge our way past with the wind cannon and iron knuckles. Even if he fires, that shot is probably metal so our force plus the kinetic shield should be enough to prevent actual damage.[/i][/b] Zachary was about to follow through, readying his power, when he stopped himself. This was not how they normally handled such encounters.

Zachary steadied himself as much as he could and said, "I don't mean any harm." The man did not move, his gaze as steely and aim as steady as before, but at least he hadn't fired, so Zachary continued, gradually growing in confidence as Kaa'is and his body caught up with the idea that he wouldn't be fighting. "I just came here to collect this wind core here, see? If you were using it I can put it back, but it seemed to be abandoned. I didn't know you were here. I don't mean to pose any threat."

Zachary paused to allow the man to respond. To his relief the man lowered the gun slightly and asked, "What do you want that core for?"

"I'm an engineer. I wanted this core to..." he hesitated. It came to mind that perhaps, by some chance, working for Winters and building a sonic weapon could be quite a dangerous answer. Kaa'is quickly jumped in on his train of thought and provided a simple, realistic lie. "...to recharge my wind cannon. I made it myself." He gestured to the wind cannon, the piece of metal piping, sticking out of his backpack.

The man grunted and lowered his gun more. "Since you're done here I'll make sure you get out."

Zachary, further relieved, nodded, put the wind core in his backpack and walked down the stairs with the man following behind him, still armed. The break the silence as they descended the flights of stairs Zachary attempted to strike up some conversation. "My name's Zachary, by the way."

"Thomas," said the man.

"So, is it just you here, or do you have a family or clan as well?"

After a short pause, Thomas replied, "Both. How about you?"

"I've been mostly independent."

"It's going to be dangerous on your own."

"Isn't it always?"

"Especially so soon." Thomas gestured out a nearby window down to the empty street below. "Ever since that announcement the streets have grown emptier, not fuller as such a rouse might do."

Zachary furrowed his brow. "Why do you think that's so?"

"Part of it would be fear. The military now patrol more aggressively, especially up in this District, so small bands are at risk out on the streets. Even if we wanted to fight to break out, we'd be too weak individually."

"So safety in numbers. In order to make a successful break-out, there'd need to be someone to co-ordinate the attack, someone to give the signal for everyone to emerge from hiding and strike. But who?"

"A lot of people and gangs have gone to the Golden Mercenaries, which is the other reason for the empty streets. They're the guys behind the announcement. They're grouping together an army in their not-so-secret base, and they have the timing."

This gave Zachary some food for thought. "I hope they understand what they're up against."

Thomas was grave. "The cost will be dear. But it already has been." They finally reached the ground floor. "Here's the exit. Take care on those streets."

Zachary waved him goodbye. "Thank you, Thomas. Take care as well." Then Zachary left to return to his carriage. He had all three components he needed now, so he just had to get them back to the Winters estate and put them together into a functional device.