abraxaslogs | [open; July adventures]

Don't apologize.

[They all knew this was the risk when they decided that Viktor's life was worth more than any potential destruction that the Free Cities could enact with his work. Despite this, he finds he can barely face the consequences. He thinks he if he knew the Free Cities could crack his notes, he never would have put pen to paper after all. He thinks he might have accepted his fate.

Alucard asks if there's a contingency, but that's already ben breached.]

It's my theory of the arcana system. Once they understand that, there's...nothing they can't build.

[Alucard almost opens his mouth to argue that the expression was one of empathy, but time. Place. Battles picked.

He exhales slowly. The contingency is fucked. Great.]

So we're going to sabotage the government's war machine?

[The question is politely curious, like asking about the weather. If nothing else, Alucard doesn't seem opposed.]

How do you suggest we do that?

[He'd built the Hexcore to be esoteric--and to use blood, for that matter. Who knows what the Free Cities did to puzzle out the remnants of his notes, and who knows how much further they might go? Viktor can't see a way to easily stop it, now that they've cracked his theory.]

They can break through Thorne's wards now. We have no leverage.

The facetious answer is we all help you make something even more brilliant than the Hexcore. My genuine answer is just go in and destroy all of their work. Fair would be fair, although I dislike the thought of being open to attack by Thorne, given their new rulers seem competent.

[It's not plausible. Any of it. The focus is instead on Viktor and making sure that his trust is founded and that he won't descend into abject misery.]

--We don't. That's as honest an assessment as any. Have you shared this information with anyone else?

I could encourage an investment in defensive technologies instead. I could--

[He trails off, knowing that anything he could offer is useless, or equally likely to be misused. Viktor can't accept that the answer is to stop making anything at all, but that increasingly seems like what must be done.

A shake of the head is all he can offer.]

No one, not yet. [But he will go to other, trusted individuals.] I'm still deciding what to do.

I could go in as a series of bats and shit over everything, so that the work is impossible to read anymore.

[He's only somewhat joking about the offer.]

Thank you for trusting me with this. [Viktor has many reasons not to, these days. It feels...correct, acknowledging this.] There is every chance that what you should do will appear only when you're not thinking of it.

I'd really prefer you didn't.

[Scatalogical revenge notwithstanding, they're likely not working off his original notes anymore.]

I should go to Portam Hall. Demand an audience with Reiner. What I say after, that, though...

[He isn't sure.]

Noted.

[He won't. Promise, even if it would be satisfying.

Alucard opens his mouth to say something, pauses, and closes it for a moment. Then he figures out a more tactful way to say his current thought.]

I don't think that will end where you want it to. A meeting like that requires strategy. I-- [shit.] Astarion might be better qualified for exacting words. Or even legal recourse, come to think of it.

I'm not sending Astarion.

[Despite the fact that Viktor is not entirely certain of how that might end up, he can't expect someone else to fight his battles for him. They have no legal recourse, is the thing--Reiner has suspended elections and can more-or-less do what she likes. Pushing back on this might get him thrown out of the Academy, or roped into building more for the goverment.

There's one thing he does know, however.]

This is something I need to do on my own. So if you have any...recommendations, please share them.

[Before he goes inside.]

[It was only a thought. Alucard can accept that it isn't a well received one, and he doesn't push it.

He exhales slowly, trying to collect stray thoughts.]

How soon were you planning to approach?

As soon as I work up the nerve.

[That could be a joke, but Viktor seems deadly serious. Trying to confront Reiner about this will be one of the hardest things he's ever done.]

But I can't delay, not for long.

[They might do something worse, in the meantime.]

No, I suppose you can't. A day or two at the most. Enough to get an outline of what to say. The right things in the right order.

[For all of Alucard's recent frustrations with Viktor, it is impossible not to appreciate the dedication to humanity and progress that is the bedrock of his work. The outrage here, it is correct. Appropriate. Deserved. And like hell anyone should not let Viktor make it clear this is unaccepable.

...There's a thought. Alucard breathes out, repeating the words left for all Summoned after their awful little adventure with that goddamn rock.]

We are you, and you are us. You are not theirs. I think that needs to tie into it.

Edited 2024-08-09 01:18 (UTC)

[A day or two at the most, which means Viktor has no more time to hand-wring over this, the way he's doing now.]

How? Don't you think it's dangerous, to further reveal the nature of our connection to the Singularity? Even if I told them what happened to us, I don't think they'd believe me.

[He doesn't think they would understand it.]

There's exactly one person in any position of power I'd trust with that information, and it's a werewolf.

[He really, really may have already talked to Sten about this, but never mind.]

I think that it's the undercurrent of it all, rather than anything explicitly stated. That there's a fundamental and moral wrong being done here at the macro level of warfare and microlevel of stolen research, especially when the researcher's perspective has been clear from day one.

I'm just not sure how you say all of that. I've always been better at actions.

Maybe he can negotiate for me.

[Viktor says that with a huff--impossible, of course. There's no getting around this. It has to be him, and they both know it.]

If they had any integrity, they would not have stolen research from someone who could not object.

[And he did object, refusing to allow them access even from his recovery bed. Raiding his laboratory at that exact time was a low he was sure they wouldn't be able to duplicate, until now.]

Chastising them won't work. I need to appeal to something else.

Correct. It was what I believe they call a dick move and we should assume it will be repeated in the future.

[Appealing. Alucard frowns, considering.]

What do the want, ultimately? And how much can you bluff?

That's also the problem. I can't, in good conscience, build anything else.

[Anything could be repurposed. His hands are tied. For someone whose entire worth hinges on how he's able to improve lives with his technology, this is the worst possible position to be in.]

I imagine they want to continue using the technology with impunity. It can break through Thorne's wards--there's little reason to stop now.

The only question that remains is what is the rebuke?

[He clarifies, because he knows that there's no obvious answer, and it is harder given Viktor's convictions of pacificism.]

You have a little time to think on that answer. And you know the stakes, so I won't repeat them. I...just don't have answers. At least not ones you'd like.

I don't know. That's the problem.

[He has some time to think on it, but not enough. And there's no good solution, not really. He'll just have to go to Portam Hall and see what happens.]

What would you do? Besides turn into bats.

[Viktor is not Alucard. But his own personal course of action might be helpful to hear.]

The bats were a compromise.

[Alucard considers how to word this, but at the end of the day, it's quite simple.]

I'd become my father in all his dark fury and destruction. Localized to the immediate room, but enough to make the point and demonstrate how much of my natural abilities I have held back on.

[Viktor is quiet, though he allows himself a few uncharitable thoughts. For all that Alucard is concerned that Viktor will walk the same path as his father, or at least exhibit his tendencies, he's the one saying he'd emulate his destruction.

He reminds himself that this is just a fantasy--not a real plan of action. Even knowing the imagined future, he can't imagine enacting that kind of display of power.]

Scaring them into submission is a valid strategy, I suppose.

[He says, flatly. Something he could never hope to do--Viktor doesn't like the idea of making threats, especially if he doesn't actually intend to--or can't--follow through.]

I never said it was a good strategy. Or even a smart move. If anything, it'd just make me into a matter to be dealt with. [Alucard knows that he's stinking of hypocracy given past problems. He's also worked on owning up to just how much of his father's anger is within him. The cult situation forced that hand.]

You asked what I'd do. Not if it was viable. I don't have the kind of authority to back up a threat to an entire country. And that's what we keep running into. Individually, there's little recourse available.

It's only nonviable because it isn't productive.

[Not that it wouldn't accomplish anything. Viktor knows that a hypothetical is a hypothetical, but this has been revealing regardless, especially given how things ended between them in the imagined future.]

I will try to reason with them. That's probably all I can do, outside of destroying the contents of my workshop.

It would also be entirely impulse. No planning put into it, I'd just...react. I know what parts of myself I struggle with.

[It's not an excuse. Only an acknowledgement of what the dhampir does when he feels backed into a corner.]

The very, very best thing I can suggest is to find other Summoned that you might trust with this information and who know how to deal with those in charge. Then write what you mean to say, so that nothing is missed. If you need I'll listen.

[He takes a sharp breath at the mention of destroying the workshop entirely. No one wants that, but Alucard can see how it might happen.]

Whatever you need to address this situation, you have it from me, Viktor. Support, presence, a set of hands. Just say what and when.

[Viktor knows that he has to tell the others. His friends in Thorne deserve an explanation most of all, though he hasn't yet decided if he's going to disclose this to the Summoned at large. But it's true that some of their number might be able to provide him with some advice, specific to politics.

He can start there.]

I'll let you know. [He needs a few second opinions, just for his own peace of mind.] They might not even want to see me.

[Because, of course, they know what they did.]

/end, I think?

cryptsleeper - 2024-08-12 17:43 (UTC) - Expand

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/end, I think?