abraxaslogs | [March Catch-All]

[He shakes his head, finally finding what he's looking for in one of his meany pockets. Viktor produces what seems to be a portable repair kit, and starts lining up tools from within it--the aforementioned metal brush, an air puffer, a travel-sized oil can. He'll get to work and carry on the conversation while fastidiously cleaning sand out of his metal joints. That should help.]

I have what I need at the workshop.

[In fact, that might be where he's staying. It's not as spacious as the main base of operations in Cadens, but it will suffice, and save him a few trips back and forth from Aquila. Even with the portal, the weather makes things needlessly difficult.]

If nothing else, it's a good test case for how it might hold up in poor conditions.

Can I get you something to drink after you're done with the work?

[Alucard can smell coffee in the air, and truthfully, it is a welcome scent. Reassuring and warm in a way that the dust storms are cold and awful and nondescript while still being present with the faint scent of ozone. There's life in the smell, he supposes.

At least Viktor has what he needs near by. Alucard wouldn't mind doing a portal run if need be, but....apparently those are questionable now.]

It is, as well as a good means of seeing what other stressors we haven't considered yet. If the roads are clear tomorrow, I may pack food for a few days along with some blankets and stay for several nights. [Alucard pauses, tilting his head slightly.] Or is that overzealous?

Let's see how I feel once I finish.

[As in, Viktor doesn't want to commit to anything while he's busy. He's here in Aquila to provide continued assistance to the bunker project, and despite being safely out of the wind, he's not quite ready to relax.]

No, it's best to stay put, especially if the weather continues to be unpredictable. Besides, if you stay in the bunker, you might get an idea of what it might be like to actually use it.

[Alucard nods, knowing simply how Viktor is. Food, drink, everything comes after work. The most that Alucard does is dust off some of the sand starting to accumulate on the seat beside him.]

Well, using it in it's current state won't tell me much beyond where sound is the worst. There's still much to do. What I'm truly worried about now is supply delays for all of the interior construction. Since we can't have a trace of Thorne in there, all of the material I've pulled out has to be destroyed and absolutely cannot be reused.

[The good news is that the sand in the joints of his braces does not seem to be a problematic amount, though he still puffs it out of the metal hinges and brushes it away as they speak. He raises an eyebrow at the idea of the bunker not being habitable, even for roughing it.]

Surely it wouldn't be much different from camping.

[Viktor has never been camping.]

What are they afraid of? Lingering enchantments?

[It seems like a waste of materials, to him.]

It won't be, but I'm not thrilled with the reinforcements yet either. [But the work is more important. Alucard exhales slightly, knowing Viktor has a good point. At least when it comes to the first part. As for the second, well.]

Yes. Anything that could let Thorne in, and that includes enchantments and other magical elements. I don't blame them - it risks the safety of at least two thousand people, should the thing be filled to capacity. If there's even a trace on, one of the stones, then it needs to be scrapped, least that be an inroad for the entire complex.

[He sighs, aware it sounds paranoid.]

I know how silly it sounds, but I understand the magic component of it. The concern is valid.

Suit yourself.

[Viktor will be sleeping on a cot in his little workshop, though that's nothing unusual for him, even when he's in Cadens. Even when his bed is right upstairs.

He supposes Alucard is right, in this matter, but it's in his nature to look for another solution, rather than strip the whole place of everything and discard so much usable material.]

Surely it's easier to run some kind of...detection. Or negation.

I always do.

[They're just both always to be like this.]

Easier, yes, but even a .1% of error here is too much for me to feel comfortable dealing with. Perhaps if it was a building meant for a more general use like Old Public Hall, but this is a very particular case. I've not done something like this before, and I don't want to get people killed because I cut corners either.

[Viktor's not wrong though. Alucard exhales slowly.]

If you have thoughts on how material can be repurposed outside of the immediate building though, I'd welcome it. Desert habitats for animals come to mind.

[Viktor knows it's not his place to interfere with the project, even if he has a few things to say about what they might do or try before tearing it all out. If the Cadens government wants to do the inordinate amount of work, however, he supposes he has no choice but to let them. He can only hope their insistence on bodily removing everything that might be imbued with magic will not delay the project to the point where lives are lost because the bunker isn't functional when it needs to be.]

I'll take it.

[If nobody else is going to do anything with it, he might as well use it for his own purposes. Maybe he can figure out a method to scrub the magic out.]

Unless they're so afraid they refuse to transport it to Cadens.

I'd say that is a strong possibility. Do you have much work you could do here with a truly ridiculous amount of stone and iron?

[The question is genuine, and Alucard tilts his head slightly out of curiosity.]

I will ask. It needs to be moved from the site either way.

I'm certain I could find a use for it.

[Of course, if the citizens of the Free Cities are too fearful to use it, he'll have a lot of useless junk--but that's still better to him, than wasting it. If they're going to strip the bunker anyway...Viktor nods as Alucard finishes his thought.]

If they're providing the labor, then I suppose you're beholden to them one way or another. Have they sent any engineers?

Oh, that second part I don't doubt.

[At the question regarding engineers, there is a very small laugh.]

A few, yes, to confirm that my plans will work out and that the structure will be stable. The overall verdict is that things will hold. Unfortunately that one scientific gentleman has opinions about design as well.

[No need to name names. Alucard knows he's obvious.]

Do you need a hand with the brushes? I don't know if you've run into any weird angles.

Who, Klingel?

[Viktor will name names, because his distaste for the man is not a secret. He maintains a professional relationship mostly because he needs to, and might have even been surprised by the commendation because he'd been under the impression that Klingel did not particularly care for him, in turn.

Or maybe he's just like that. Viktor extends his knee, testing it out.]

I think it's fine for now. Are you going to try and make your way back there today?

Indeed. I have to keep reminding all involved that people need to live here. It needs to feel like home and have greenery.

[So long as Viktor's the one naming and shaming, Alucard is dunk lightly.]

I'm going to see if including a few pigeons in the art on the walls helps.

[He's serious.]

At the moment, I'm undecided. I want to see how long it takes for this storm to sweep though, and see how long I can distract myself before I overthink it again.

You joke, but it really does. My tracking system was originally designed for small animals. I used his birds to appeal to him.

[Never say Viktor does not, on some level, understand politics--or at least what one has to do, to push their projects past the necessary choke points. If they have to incorporate pigeons into the design to gain Klingel's favor, well. It wouldn't be the first time.]

These are no ordinary storms. We might be here a while.

[So, plenty of time to overthink.]

--I'll see where they would make the most sense. Having said it out loud, the inclusion of birds and air related motifs in the design might not be the worst idea. It would help keep things from feeling like a crowded dungeon.

[There. Everyone will win, and Alucard can be satisfied with that much.]

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate that rock?

Everyone hates that rock.

[And, as always, they're left waiting for the other shoe to drop--that's probably the worst part, knowing that whatever is causing these storms is likely only the beginning.]

All the more reason to do what we can, now, because of what might be coming.

Why must it have emotions?

[Alucard lets out a very soft huff.]

Did I tell you I found out the potential name of the thing lurking within those latchkeys?

To aggravate you, personally.

[Viktor still believes that assigning human equivalences to the Singularity is dangerous, but he understands this is just Alucard venting his frustrations. While they're stuck inside, idle, because of the weather, they might as well have a productive conversation. He's immediately interested in this particular piece of knowledge.]

No, you didn't. What is it?

Just because another artefact can do the same thing you can doesn't mean you have to make it everyone else's problem.

[Alucard grunts, leaning back in his seat.]

Umbvagher, Herald of Abberations. Said to have a capricious nature and indicate coming turbulence. Quite frankly, it sounds like he has created the turbulence. But that's all that the individual in Solvunn could locate.

You think it's capable of pettiness?

[Viktor says that half-joking, and not really expecting an answer. The more important thing is the resurgence of the Heralds--or the appearance of a new one.]

If it was already released from the latchkeys, there's nothing we could have done. Even destroying them would be meaningless, if the entity was unbound during the theft.

Genuinely? Yes.

[Look, he doesn't trust this rock and this absolutely feels like a tantrum.]

Actually, that's what I am unsure of. Is the entity bound to the latchkeys themselves and have a limited radius, or is it fully freed now? I could go either way with an answer, if I'm being honest.

I wish Sten had been present, at any rate. I did write him a note.

[Viktor makes a little hm noise, at that, deciding not to litigate it further. It's all semantics, anyway, and he has to admit that it does feel a little petty, both on the part of the Singularity and on this new herald, who has clearly shown up to ruin all of their lives.]

I would think the latter, unfortunately, given that the weather seems to be everywhere, including the Horizon.

[He likes Sten--he'd been just as disappointed to realize he wasn't present, given the fact that he might have understood why the Summoned were making the choice they did, or explained things in more detail. Perhaps this could have been avoided.]

I'm sure he read it. I hope it might ease the tensions.

Honestly, I feel embarrassed now. I thought the latchkeys kept this deity on a tether. It would have at least explained why he didn't show up with the other three. [Alucard swears softly before leaning his head back and letting his hair drape over the back of his chair. It is deeply and pointlessly dramatic.]

I always thought the problem was followers of a religion more than gods themselves. [He hates being wrong.]

I hope so. Sten has always seemed like what would happen if Geralt wasn't....Geralt.

There's no reason it can't be both.

[In fact, Viktor isn't sure which he prefers--religious fanatics who sow death and destruction in the name of some nonexistent god, or the nonexistent god being very existent, and causing death and destruction anyway. The latter is more relevant to the immediate situation at hand, but the mention of Sten reminds him that Oleuni square itself is now in question.

He frowns.]

I hope you mean that he won't hold a grudge like Geralt. It would be a shame if we lost access to Nocwich permanently because of a choice they never should have asked us to make.

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and then this became foreshadowing no regrets

hee hee hoo hoo