abraxaslogs | [open] july catchall

[Oh, right. Perhaps he'd thought that his previous mention of remedying his terminal state would imply that he did what he needed to do, with regards to the device. Only now that Kyle questions him does he realize that the trajectory is not so obvious. It's not like he was very forthcoming about what it was for.

So, he nods.]

I did, yes.

[And it worked, though he'd been afforded barely any time to destroy it. Even building it was a risk, the consequences not fully realized, even now. He'd stolen government resources to do it--they'd raided his lab in the aftermath. All he can really do is be glad that he's alive, and that he'd safeguarded it accordingly with his own blood. A gamble, regardless.]

I used it to cure my illness, and then I destroyed it.

[That might be a bit of an olive branch--an indication to Kyle that he's not necessarily naive, when it comes to what the government might want to do with his technology, and that he can act accordingly when necessary. This will be no exception.

Still, he offers a wry smile, proud of himself in spite of it all.]

But it did work.

Edited 2023-07-26 20:59 (UTC)

[ Kahlil doesn't bother masking his surprise when Viktor explains what he failed to put together on his own. There's a flicker of something else that darkens his expression for the briefest moment - uncertainty, a narrowing of his eyes that is easy enough to miss. There's no real tangible way for Viktor to prove he destroyed his miracle device, he thinks. He will have to take him at his word here again. Even if it's difficult for him to believe that any man would willingly destroy something so powerful.

None of the Summoned are ordinary men or women, though. This much has been proven time and time again.

His brow furrows for a moment, but he can't help smiling back, his scarred mouth pulling to one side, interrupted by a light, surprised huff. He runs a hand through his own hair, pushing it back. ]

You must be an incredibly important man in your own world. [ He says this sincerely, still smiling, though more faintly now. ]

Edited 2023-07-27 04:26 (UTC)

[It had been the right thing at the time, of course, but now he wonders if he shouldn't have kept it. Something like that would certainly be useful, given recent developments, and it's difficult to forget what he the power he'd felt during his procedure--like there was some kind of partnership with the device for him, if only he were able to reach out and take it. He supposes he'll never know.

And there will always be a part of him that resents the fact that he cannot share the technology, or learn more from the thing that he built. His home deserves what the Hexcore could have done for it, but in the end he will be the sole beneficiary. It doesn't sit right with him, to leave it all unfinished.

So when Kyle offers a little smile and says that Viktor must be important, he lets out a sound that might be a laugh.]

No. [He was an inconvenience, at best, someone they would have all liked to forget about.] That was my partner. He was a bit more palatable to the general public.

[ The short maybe-laugh has his eyebrows raising again, his head canting to one side as he studies the other man for the hundredth time. If he were only being modest, there wouldn't have been the reaction, he thinks. ]

Your partner - the enthusiastic one? [ He lifts a hand a few inches above his own head the tall one. Kahlil is only vaguely familiar with Viktor's partner, they may've talked briefly through magical script or someone pointed him out one of the times the factions mingled.

He's about to ask what his partner thinks of this plan, but this time what should be obvious clicks into place. Was. Kahlil frowns slightly. ]

He's no longer here, then?

[Viktor knows, with that little frown, that he's been caught. For as much as he wants to frame this investigation as something that will benefit all the Summoned, his interest is fairly personal. He wants to tell himself that he'd be working on this regardless, but the fervor with which he pursues it now is for one reason.

He will not let the Singularity take anything else from him, and he will do whatever it takes to reclaim what is his. Viktor does, however, have enough self-awareness not to say that out loud. He imagines this looks bad enough already.]

Mmn. [An affirmative noise, made as he turns back to the blackboard, as if studying the numbers and letters and formulas will reveal something to him--or maybe he just wants to avoid eye contact, momentarily.] He was always better at dealing with the politics of it. And he had a pedigree. Much more preferable, when it came to the public-facing aspects of our work.

[ For Kahlil this new knowledge doesn't really change his opinion on Viktor or the problem with all of this in general. Altruistic intentions, selfish desires, the danger is inherent either way, but he can't judge him as harshly as the spoiled guan'im heirs hoping to conquer paradise.

It's undoubtedly useful to understand the full picture of Viktor's motivations, though. Even if there's little he can do with this piece (or would want to).

Kahlil watches the back of Viktor's head for a second, still frowning. The red coat of the ganal catches his attention from the corner of his eye out from a desk, he'd already forgotten about letting it loose. Kahlil gives it an absent mental nudge toward the blackboard, where it hops up to stand on its hind legs to look, comically almost mimicking Viktor. ]

Tell me about your world.

[ He knows from previous conversation that it's less advanced in some ways then Earth-Nayeshi, but nothing else Viktor's explained makes him fond of the place - aside maybe from one person there. ]

[It's possible he's relived that Kyle doesn't inquire about Jayce further, though speaking about Piltover is speaking about Jayce, in a way. Outside of the tall windows of the laboratory is the city proper, though Viktor would hesitate to call it his home. He notices the little animal after a moment, and bends down to pet it, stalling a bit as he decides how he wants to answer.]

It's complicated.

[This tower, and the skyline outside of it, are only one part of Viktor's domain, which extends down into the ravines below. He elects to skip the broader lesson of Runterran geography, because he understands that's not necessarily what Kyle is asking, when he says world. Viktor's world, such as it is, does not extend beyond--]

The city-state of Piltover is the most technologically advanced on the continent. It is favorably placed--straddling the river Pilt where it empties into the sea.

[Trade, innovation, progress. All things that come from such a location. He gestures to one of the worktables, where a map draws itself into existence. The city, as he describes, seems to be on both sides of the river, though deep gashes and cliffs cut through the southern side.]

It was, supposedly, founded as a bastion against the destructive squabbling of mages elsewhere in Valoran. [Viktor shrugs a little, as if to indicate he's not sure whether or not he believes it.] Though some would say that it was built atop the ruins of Oshra Va'Zaun, sunken into the earth after some kind of...geological incident. Regardless of what is true, the resulting fissures became Piltover's undercity. That's where I'm from.

[He hopes the implication of an undercity is clear--or, at the very least, it puts a few other things about him in context.]

[ The ganal behaves in the way of the ones trained by street performers in Nurjima, which is to say friendly and tame. And though it's not technically real he still watches this mostly-stranger interact with it as if it were, and kindly. He cocks his head to one side again, and waits.

The memory in motion of the city outside the windows is beautiful - oddly, some of the architecture reminds him of what he might see in the nicest neighborhoods in Nurjima - which again echoes century old structures he's seen in Nayeshi.

He approaches the map when it appears, gaze curiously scanning the names elegantly written over different sections. ]

So you escaped the place you were from, and came here - [ he points, drawing a line from the Fissures over the bridge ] - to invent many things, with your partner.

[ He squints, then points at the tower labeled Hexgates. ]

Some of them large.

[Viktor is fully willing to suspend his disbelief when it comes to Horizon creatures. Sure, it might not be real, but it's real enough, and it acts accordingly, so he indulges it. Further down, in the caves, is a companion of his own.

That's probably something for later, after Kyle's curiosity is satisfied. He has the broad strokes, more or less, but Viktor moves closer to see where he's pointing, hooking his cane on his arm and leaning in.]

Escaped is a strong word. I gained admission to the Academy, and left the Undercity to study. But the two halves of Piltover are irrevocably intertwined.

[For better or worse--he couldn't have escaped Zaun even if he wanted to. What he doesn't say is that it was an opportunity rarely afforded to people like him. Even at the Academy, he was stymied, given an assistantship that he was supposed to be grateful for but provided him no opportunity to advance or innovate. Is it any wonder he jumped at the chance to do something important, however illegal?

He follows the end of Kyle's finger to the Hexgates. It's probably not hard to guess that this was the end result of the forbidden experiment realized.]

Our work involved the harnessing of ambient arcane energies through technological means, using a naturally-occurring crystal conduit, not so dissimilar from the "new magic" practiced in the Free Cities. The first application we developed was effectively teleportation, modeled after a spell Jayce observed as a child. The Hexgates are that, on an industrial scale. As you can imagine, it was...lucrative, for the local governing body.

[There's a slight hint of bitterness in his voice, at that, like lucrative wasn't exactly what he wanted to be doing.]

Edited 2023-07-28 03:38 (UTC)

[ Kahlil could continue to ask questions until Viktor had enough, he is incredibly curious about different worlds and people. He spent his childhood in Rathel'pesha praying for the day he would leave for Nayeshi, stealing his sister's bones to go with him. So it's with his own bias he uses the word escape.

And while Viktor doesn't explain the entire circumstances of his admission, there's enough for Kahlil to extrapolate some things. He used pedigree to describe his partner, who must be from the other half. There is a ceiling decided at birth, no matter your talent. It is this way in many places, including his own home.

The Fai'daum may be the exception. ]

I remember you mentioning that. [ The teleportation, at least. The rest is somewhat new. He's heard of the Free Cities magic, the mention of crystals sparks a memory of something Claude told him about strange crystals here. Even having observed Thorne's frequent use of portals, it's difficult to fully imagine what Viktor is describing...

He raises an eyebrow at the bitterness that slips in at the end. ]

They must have had many demands. [ Versus whatever it is that Viktor hoped to accomplish, which so far seems not to be fame or apparently money, now. He frowns at that side of the map, then glances at Viktor again. ]

It's still strange to me that your hextech never demanded a greater cost from the environment, or users. It sounds limitless by your description. [ He actually doesn't think Viktor is lying about this part, or actively attempting to hide something. It's only that... of all the impossible things he has seen, that power should demand an equal cost feels like a vital part of creation. ]

Like a miracle.

Edited 2023-07-28 04:52 (UTC)

They wanted the Hexgates, so that's what we built. But the possibilities were limitless. Or near to it, anyway.

[Especially after they stabilized the crystal, something that took years. Even then, it was still deemed unsafe. Viktor understands everything a little better, now. Heimerdinger was frightened of the possibility, and the Council would never approve Hextech devices for the masses. It would have put Piltover and the Undercity on equal footing.

He has a better comprehension of what Kyle means, though unfortunately he has no good answer. Perhaps ambient arcane energy is so abundant in Runeterra that it was simply never a concern. If there is a human cost to using Hextech devices, they never discovered it.

(Though he thinks, of course, of the Hexcore. How it had reached out to him. Offered him something, if only he had been strong enough to take it. If only Jayce and Nadine and Alucard hadn't stopped him.)

He shakes his head, bringing him back into the moment.]

It was a miracle. I hoped to use it for environmental reclamation. Everything in the Undercity is poison. The water, the air. Runoff from the mines and factories. I could have changed that. But that wasn't of interest to the Council, so.

[He was never given the chance.]

[ He glances out the window again at the vibrant city, searching for the cracks and rot in the direction of the factory smokestacks. He can imagine the smells of the streets, but it's really Nayeshi he remembers - that specific grime in the air you can taste and feel as grains on your tongue when a bus sputtered by on the street, the damp stains on the pavement with the slick rainbow sheen. But these are only small signs of what Viktor seems to describe. ]

What will you do, if you can return? [ With this healthy body and the memories of this world. He turns to Viktor again, a notch at his brow. This doesn't feel so much like a test of judgement yet as some of his other questions, only curiosity again.

Will he be content to go back to working under the council? ]

Edited 2023-07-28 20:03 (UTC)

I don't think I can return. Not to the exact place and time that I left.

[He would create an alternate timeline simply by existing. Besides, Kyle is right that Viktor doesn't want to go back to working under the Council, especially not with the cities on the brink of civil war. It's been a long time since he's thought of it, but his last conversation with Jayce--the Jayce knew from home--was not a pleasant one. No, if he is to return home with his memories and his changed physical state, he cannot just slot back into the place he left.

That doesn't answer the question, not really. The truth is that Viktor isn't sure where he can go, or if he would be happy there. All he really knows is that he can't stay.]

But the idea of alternate timelines and parallel universes...intrigues me.

[ He looks confused for a second, realizing he may have misinterpreted part of a previous conversation. There's a stiffness to his posture, a discomfort all of a sudden. He wants to ask something he doesn't know how to put to words, his understanding of these things is limited to his own experience and what others have told him. ]

There are some Summoned who come from the same world, who know each other, but remember a different history. This is what you mean?

[ By alternate timelines and parallel universes. Claude and the others. There are probably more that he doesn't know about. He's not sure he likes to think about it. ]

[In truth, Viktor wants to go home--wants to use what he learned here to finally help the Undercity, but the chain of events that he left is not one he can stop. No, he needs to find some other solution, one that preferably involves finding his version of Jayce, as well.

It is too much to ask for. He knows this, but Viktor has never liked being told that something is impossible. For now, he nods.]

Jayce and I were separated by a matter of days. He remembered events--things that involved me--that I did not. It's possible that if I were to return home with no memory of this place, I would continue along that path. It's just as likely that it was not my future.

[Versions of his home that branch out in every direction.]

Every minute difference, a new universe. Infinite.

[ The Issusha'im, the Oracles - they interpreted time. They lived within it and its many infinite possibilities, while their bones remained in Umbhra'ibaye, and they interpreted what they experienced for the nuns and priests that guarded them. Rousma had tried to explain it better to him, once, but like so much of what she spoke of it was in riddles.

He glances down at the map again, not really looking at it. For a second it looks like he's going to say something, or ask something, starts to open his mouth - then stops. Shakes his head, seems to try to start again. ]

So if you were to enter an... alternate timeline. Wouldn't there be two of you? Two separate versions of you, living in the same space.

[ But this was not what he experienced. ]

I don't know.

[Viktor shrugs openly, unhooking his cane from his arm and taking a few steps away from the table, back to the chalkboard. There's nothing on it that will provide him the answer he wants, because the truth is that all of this is new to him, and he's fumbling blindly in the dark. And he is a scientist, who can readily admit when he's lacking the necessary information.

Kyle raises an interesting possibility, one of many.]

I can't begin to guess how it might work, in practice. What the rules are, and how they might be broken. If they're different in this world than in others, as a function of the Singularity.

[But he's been gathering information, from those with experience in the matter of infinite universes. Tony, before he disappeared for good. Stephen Strange, mostly. Viktor huffs a little laugh to himself, though he's sure that most people wouldn't find it funny.]

Sorry. That's probably not a comforting answer.

I'd rather have honesty than comfort. [ Says the liar.

This is true, though.

He is very, very close to explaining the rest, what happened to him three years ago, why he knows how horribly wrong things can go. But there doesn't seem to be a purpose: Viktor admits that he has no answers, and Kahlil can never decide if he really wants them anyway, if they would help or hurt more. The only thing that matters is that maybe, somewhere, he didn't fail Rousma. That he brought her bones to Nayeshi, even if the two histories in his memory make that seem impossible. ]

I should go. [ This comes out a little abruptly, and so he adds: ] We try not to stay here long, in Thorne. They notice. [ A pause. ] I'll let you know if anything with the rifts escalates here.

[ And then he's gone.

The ganal, left behind, skitters under the desk again. ]

[open] july catchall

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