[OPEN] february catchall

[techmaturgy]

Who: Viktor and Friends
When: Early February
Where: Cadens, Nocwich
What: a little afterparty, Nocwich weekend, maybe some other stuff
Warnings: irresponsible cycling

i. the occasion

Despite various protestations and an insistence from Viktor that all of this should not be a big deal, a response to the Academy is sent, announcements are made, and invitations are distributed with the date and time. He maintains, until the very end, the possibility of renagation up until the hour of his award, but Viktor manages to attend, suitably cleaned up in a new suit that he most certainly did not choose for himself. The affair is formal and slightly stuffy, befitting of the Grand Academy, Aleksander Klinger’s usual dour demeanor providing contrast to both Viktor’s apparent discomfort and the small entourage of Summoned in attendance to show support.

The accolade does not kill him, but in the aftermath he doesn’t linger long. There is always more work to do, whether he is now in possession of a ceremonial degree or not, and Viktor is not the type to rest on his laurels, not when all of this has been more of a distraction from what he really wants to be doing, than anything else.

That, and there’s an afterparty to attend.

ii. the workshop

Viktor’s workshop is a familiar setting by now, especially to those who frequent the district of town lined with inventors' laboratories and machine shops. It can aptly be described as organized chaos. Viktor likes working on multiple projects at once, with pieces of clockwork mechanisms littering the worktables, and the walls are plastered with notes and schematics.

For those reasons, this is not a place conducive to gathering in ordinary circumstances, but Hilda and Jesper have done their best to correct that. Tonight, the more delicate projects have been stowed away, the plans carefully removed from the pinboards. The large bay door has been raised, and warm lights invite visitors in. The interior, too, has been decorated with strings of lights and garland, and at least one Hilda-Most-Certainly-Made-This banner that reads “CONGRATULATIONS VIKTOR” (he probably is doing his best not to acknowledge it).

If not for the decorations, the whole affair could be mistaken for one of the firm’s open houses, but instead of showing off current projects and innovations, an attempt at hospitality has been made, with drinks and snacks, an Academy-loaned gramophone piping soft music through the space. Mismatched furniture populates the room, clearly borrowed from other locations, offering comfortable—if no-frills—room to sit. Anything more, it seems, might be a little too much for the ostensible “host”, who despite his quiet gratefulness for the show of support, seems slightly overwhelmed.

Don’t worry about that. Make yourself at home.

iii. later

Once things loosen up a bit (once the requisite amount of alcohol is imbibed, to provide adequate social lubrication for certain involved parties), the gathering becomes livelier, with card and dice games, and possibly entertainment (to be continued). Viktor himself, now in a jacket that Hilda produced for him with the now-infamous decorative stud fastener, might be cajoled into demonstrating a few of his business’s offerings—all manner of tools and equipment for artisans and monster hunters, everything from a handheld gyroscopic laser cutter to night vision goggles that wick away moisture, to respirators for the desert.

There are slightly frivolous projects, too, like automatic appliances and magic-borne electricity dancing around in a faraday cage. The more alcohol involved, the more likely Viktor might be to show off (with some prodding) something…explosive.

And, of course, the automaton (complete with party hat and bowtie) is active, supplying refills and also fulfilling any requests for hi-fives and handshakes. Of everything that’s happening tonight, Viktor seems most pleased with this, and he can be caught sneaking glances at anyone who might be interacting with it—not unlike a proud parent.

iv. ooc stuff

feel free to use this log as a general mingle, otherwise open and closed starters of my own are in the comments. If you’d like something specific, just hit me up. I’m on plurk at whitticus and on discord also at whitticus.

Comments

[ushiri]

[ Generally - in his experience, being that strongly against what your leaders want tends to end badly. Although, if Viktor's objections to the use of his work did actually become a problem his council might not even have to dirty their hands to remove him - he was already dying. Maybe the partner could then be swayed. That is how his thoughts turn, whether his impression is correct or not. This is how Alidas might've asked him to assess a situation.

He thinks Viktor is skirting the answer in this way. But at that hurt in his voice, Kahlil's expression briefly softens and he looks down at his hand where it rests on the table. ]

Could you have stopped that from happening?

[ This council from taking control of his work. Making weapons from it. Viktor's told him about destroying his Hexcore in Cadens, but in his own world the technologies he created would've been far more integrated by what he's described in the past.

He pauses, his mouth twisting. ]

You said once that your future self had given up.

[ And that only days had passed between this version and the other one. ]

[techmaturgy]

[Viktor tried to stop it from happening. They discussed the matter, as always, like he wasn't even there, or worth speaking to, and then Jayce went and made a weapon anyway, despite being the one person who might have listened to Viktor or valued his input at all.]

No, of course not. I was not...my opinion was negligible, if they bothered to ask for it at all. I was not an equal partner, not in practice.

[Which is something he knew for a long time, but only has only recently begun to voice outside his own thoughts. And, as Kyle assesses for himself, it wouldn't have mattered--all the Council would've had to do was halt his research on the Hexcore and wait out a few months. Maybe not entirely viable, given the immediacy of Jinx's threat, but certainly a problem that might have solved itself, in time.

The rest of it, well. Viktor can't say it's unrelated, but he knows there must have been more to it.]

That...it may have been a factor. More than likely, I failed in my efforts to cure my illness. Maybe the Council destroyed my research, maybe an experiment went awry. Whatever it was, I wanted to stop.

[It wasn't worth it, somehow. He just doesn't know what that something would have been, and the guesses he can make are possibilities he doesn't want to entertain.]

[ushiri]

Here, you were.

[ There's a question hinted at the end of that sentence, because in truth he doesn't know much about how the pair operated in Abraxas, or much about his partner's personality beyond that he seemed personable. He never met Jayce in person at length, they had both been on the first Summoned Conclave, but beyond that he knew him best as someone offering to make knives for people in the Free Cities. Kahlil had only been in Thorne a month or two at the time, and he'd been disappointed not to be able to get a knife.

He can see how they would be on more equal footing here, though. No Piltover and Under City, they had to start from the ground up with their business. Kahlil had played that game when he jumped on the chance to rent the spare room in John's place. When he'd played at taking John for breakfast, and John's friends had teased them about dating. What Viktor had in Abraxas would've been more real. ]

And here you have many more people who support you. Who would fight for you, if you asked.

[ Hilda, Jesper. Others he doesn't know about. Kahlil does not particularly like leaving the defense of whatever research Viktor may have written down in notes in his office to other people, but he doesn't really have a choice - and he wonders, belatedly, if saying all that might sound more like a threat than how it was intended, considering the unspoken half of their recent interactions.

And he can't really guess which of those reasons listed might've been the cause either. He sucks in a breath, something regretful in his gaze. His fingernails on his little and ring finger dig into his palm as his hand curls loosely into half a fist. ]

I would... never wish for someone else to know what it's like to be responsible for taking a life. [ Directly, or in the case of weaponization, indirectly and unintentional. And when he says 'someone else' he means Viktor, very specifically. This is a way he reminds him of John, too. Someone who is kind, and values life, who would never hurt someone if they could help it - but who absolutely has to power to cause so much damage without meaning to. ]

- but sometimes I think it's part of why I... still worry - that you'll succeed one day, and it will be too late to stop whatever comes after.

[ This was a very nice day, he thinks, until just now. ]

cw: reference to suicide

[techmaturgy]

[Viktor makes a small, ambivalent noise in response, leaving things purposefully cryptic in the matter of partnership. He and Jayce had their disagreements, even here, removed from the political situation of their home. He'd forgiven Jayce for things he probably shouldn't have, in hindsight. There were compromises made between the both of them, but in the end Viktor was the one who lost, as always. Being removed from Jayce's particular brand of magnetism has afforded him a bit more clarity, in that regard. He won't make the same mistakes again.

It's easier, as always, to talk about the people who are still here.]

Yes. Even if I wouldn't ask them to.

[Or want them to. That's important--enacting violence on his behalf would be just as distasteful as the weaponization of his technology. He also wouldn't want anyone hurt on his account, which is what all of this circles back to, in the end.

He and Kyle have been fairly good at avoiding the largest point of contention between them, playing at friendship and trying to enjoy each other's company when they disagree on something so fundamental. The bike ride was nice, Viktor thinks, but now it's over, and his expression hardens, even if Kyle does a better job of articulating his fears, this time. Couches it in concern for Viktor's convictions, and what it might do to him if he succeeds at a cost.]

You still think I would be so careless. [That he would push forward, with no regard for consequences. That he isn't thinking about or planning for or trying to negate what this would mean and what might happen, reaching beyond the boundary between universes. He still doesn't believe that it has to work the way it did in Kyle's world, but if it did, and he has to face the very destructive consequences he's trying so hard to avoid, then Viktor knows what he would do.] I would rather die than harm another person in the name of progress. I would do it myself.

[Which is, maybe, the answer that he was looking for, with regards to his theoretical failure, just days away from the moment he left.]

[ushiri]

[ Kahlil finds that almost non-response from Viktor a little curious, his slight confusion showing on his features for a brief moment. Maybe not, then. Or, more likely he thinks, the entire shift of the conversation has Viktor not willing to talk about his partner, because as they continue his expression hardens in that also familiar way. Kahlil finds his own eyes narrowing, frustrated. ]

I don't think you're careless. [ He scowls. That isn't what he meant, and it's not what he said. If he thought Viktor was pursuing this and careless, he would have sought to remove him half a year ago. ]

I think you're human, and you can't account for everything. You can't... control everything.

[ And beneath his frustration is a thread of deep concern, what might seem like anger closer to pain, and what must be guilt. What he doesn't seem is shocked by the admission. Maybe this other Viktor gave up because he hurt someone. Maybe he didn't, but something else went wrong. Whatever the reason, Kyle just doesn't want this one to walk the same path to the same end. ]

It doesn't matter. [ He leans away with that sudden dismissal of his own words, knocking back the rest of his drink. Kahlil already said he wouldn't stop him, or at least that he has no intention of harming him. That he hopes he's wrong, and Viktor proves him so.

But banishing his fears completely is impossible.

At the very least, Viktor must not be thinking about his dreaded ceremony anymore. ]

[techmaturgy]

[Now he remembers why they have, independently and without addressing it outright, they've stopped talking about this--because it all comes back to the same thing, and there's no compromising on either of their positions. Viktor doesn't think that further explaining himself will change Kyle's mind, though he desperately wants to. Part of him doesn't want to believe that they could be so different.

But Kyle is right, in some ways. There will be factors he will never be able to account for. All he can do is his due diligence, and hope that will be enough. Of course such an answer won't dispel his concerns, because it might not be enough. He can't account for everything.

Viktor is silent for a moment, weighing his response. His gaze falls down to the table, suddenly guilty at Kyle's assertion that it doesn't matter. Of course it matters.]

I can promise you that...if what I uncover is truly dangerous, I'll stop. I'll destroy it all.

[He hopes, at the very least, that Kyle believes in Viktor's convictions. That he will do everything in his power to account for potential ill effects and accomplish this without the consequences that Kyle so fears. What he can't abide is complacency. Inaction.]

But I have to try. I can't accept this, otherwise. [Not when he might be the only person among them who could actually do it.] The lives we have here, they're not real. Not until we can secure them. I have to do something.

[Because, doing nothing--abandoning the summoning ritual, belief in the future Jayce sold to him--is what put him in this position in the first place.]

probably start to wrap

[ushiri]

[ He thinks there's a discrepancy between their ideas of truly dangerous and risk factors. It's not just harm of others that has Kahlil worried, or even what it might do to Viktor should the worst occur and that comes to pass. If Viktor considers the risk to his own life worth this attempt, Kahlil would be a hypocrite to try to tell convince him otherwise.

As he's done in the past, he backs down from this part of the argument with a slow nod, the tension not quite reversing from his expression, but a quick flick of his gaze in Viktor's direction catches him looking down. He means it, he doesn't believe Viktor is careless. Desperate, yes - at least when they first began speaking about this. In the months that have passed maybe that desperation has tempered slightly.

This is normally the part of the conversation where he excuses himself, as though there's nothing more to be said, resetting this pattern they keep cycling through. The urge to do so now is very strong. The lives we have here, they're not real. Not until we can secure them, he doesn't know if he agrees that it's less real for that, but he can't find the exact words for why. His entire existence is a patchwork mess - this is as close to home as he might ever get. But his faith sometimes makes it difficult for him to imagine losing it all the way others do. He still believes he has some purpose to fulfil here, and he won't fall victim to disappearing the way so many others do until it is fulfilled. ]

I know.

[ What it's like to need to do something. To not be able to sit idle. He doesn't function without purpose either. After a minute he refills his emptied glass from the pitcher, not even half emptied yet. ]

I don't think I'd like you as much if you were someone who would back down so easily.

[ His own frustration hasn't been an indication of dislike. It has, unfortunately for Kahlil, been the opposite. ]

[techmaturgy]

[He knows it probably doesn't mean much, in the end. They likely have different definitions of dangerous, and Kyle doesn't necessarily trust Viktor to stop before it's too late. There's no real placating him, but at least they seem to have reached an understanding. Maybe even an agreement.

Viktor expects Kyle to stand from the table, so when he pours another drink instead he manages to look a little confused. He wonders, again, how much of this is sincere, because he hasn't forgotten the fact that Kyle had expressed interest in his work and in Viktor himself mostly to keep tabs on him. To see if he would need to be stopped.

He wonders, again, how desperate he is for this kind of companionship, regardless, and if it's stronger than the vague distrust he feels, still. This time, he's the one who pushes back from the table.]

I should go. Probably. If you have any trouble with the bicycle, send me a message. I can give instruction in the Horizon, if needed.

[ushiri]

[ He shouldn't be surprised that Viktor decides to leave when Kahlil doesn't, but in spite of all that was just said and unsaid, he hoped maybe the other man might stay a little longer.

It makes him feel very suddenly stupid. ]

I think we'll be alright - [ vaguely inclining his chin toward the blueprint tube ] - but I'll let you know. Thank you, again.

[ He won't get up when Viktor does. He'll most likely stay and stew while finishing this glass, slice through the lock on the bike, and ride it through the portal slightly buzzed. ]