Chapter Text
Down in the underbelly of the Tower, below the Bazaar where the famed Ikora Rey and the noble Suraya Hawthorne can be found helping New Lights harness their Light or sending battle-hardened Guardians out on life and death missions, there is the Annex. But to get there, you have to pass through that grimy stairwell, where vendors don't even bother trying to set up shop anymore. Too many untrustworthy types make their home near where the Drifter set up shop, and despite warnings, make it so civilian businesses simply don't want to bother with the risk. What that means for the Guardians who do end up going down to see the infamous 'Rogue Light-bearer' or the ingenious Ada-1, there is a stretch with nothing. Well, nothing of note, outside of a few frames and maybe the odd Eliksni or Lightless loitering about.
Now, while the Vanguard might not think much could happen in the minute or so it takes for a Guardian to get from the Bazaar to the Annex, those who took that walk got bored. And what could be more damaging to an environment than a slight bored Guardian?
Lucky for the Tower, this bored only resulted in small property damage. If one was to not go directly down the second to last staircase, and instead step inside what must have once been a storage space for one of the now closed shops, they will come across the engravings.
The tradition of carving a message into the concrete wall was old by now, with no one really knowing who started it. The message at the center of the community-made mural that was the first was innocent enough though. One simple message: "I was here."
That's all it took, one simple engraving in a spot not usually travelled.
First a reply, "Who was here?"
Then an answer, "I was, duh."
As it spiraled, people started engraving their clan logos, putting hearts with letters inside, the like. As they grew in numbers, the engravings began to take up more and more space, with it slowly crawling across the wall, like a drink being spilled. However, one day, an engraving was made on a wall that could be seen from the first staircase out of the Bazaar. Frames were there the next day to patch the concrete, spouting about potential 'structural weaknesses' that Ikora had been notified of.
Through this, an unwritten rule was made. The engravings must be kept secret. When the wall became too full, the backsides of pillars were utilized. Short dead-end alleyways, fronts of sheet-metal covers, backs of deactivated frames, and even the Annex itself became a canvas for small conversations, communicated over days, weeks, months, years.
Down one alleyway, there is simply a log of names, with dates beside them. Beneath the names, those who recognize them mark their farewells with a tally. Hundreds of vertical lines under names, showing the many who were touched by one.
Some even took the engraving to be a challenge, which is seen by one cover being filled with only a single continuous poem, detailing the life of a Lightless Guardian.
Of course, the original wall is still there. Chock full of what might be the last recorded words of some Guardians. That's why they still come by to look at it, even if there's no more space for something new. Ghosts take scans of the wall on the request of their Guardians, over a notion that, should something happen, the original forebearers of the tradition are kept alive, even if the Vanguard discovers this little secret.
Favorite quotes are shared among those in the know, with high definition scans of them being traded. Sometimes, these engraved quotes find themselves engraved again, on ships, weapons and armor. At least a hundred hand cannons bear the quote, "may the Traveler have mercy on us," without ever knowing the original engraving was a response to a Guardian thirsting over Lord Shaxx and what might rest under the helmet.
While the VanNet might always be more known, and through that, have thousands of more Guardians and their dialogues recorded in its archives, the engravings in the Annex still continue to grow. Grow the engravings will continue to do, much like a weed, and live within the cracks of the Tower, wherever Guardian hands can work a knife or chisel into.