Bara api

The rise of the Hydro Hegemony began not with a bang, but with a trickle. "Valve," formerly known as Elias Thorne, wasn't a warlord or a charismatic leader. He was a meticulous technician, intimately familiar with the Waterworks' labyrinthine pipes and filtration systems. When the Collapse hit, and the city descended into chaos, Elias understood a fundamental truth: water was life. He seized control of the plant, not through brute force initially, but by ensuring the few remaining working pumps continued to churn out purified water. He rationed it, meticulously, creating a system where every drop was a commodity. Those who came to him, parched and desperate, were "baptized" in chlorine-treated water, a symbolic submission to his control. This act, repeated countless times, cemented his authority. The ritual became a chilling reminder: survival in New Vance City meant bowing to the Hegemony's control of the life-giving liquid.