abraxaslogs | [open]

[It's not exactly the same, but from what Viktor remembers of the imagined future, his augmentations had occurred over the course of centuries. Maybe this is what it would look like, had he done it all at once. Viktor watches Kyle's face carefully, taking in the surprise and the changes of expression, searching for disappointment or revulsion. He wouldn't blame him, really. This is all just a bit too close to their supposed destiny, too much that Viktor now knows it can't be a coincidence.

He stands there, arms at his side, while Kyle takes him in. Viktor knows, inherently, that he has some semblance of his powers--that he could reach out and take away the guesswork, when it comes to what's going through Kyle's head. But that feels intrusive, so Viktor concentrates on the shrinking distance between them, and Kyle's hands on the sides of his face, instead.]

No. [Kyle will notice that Viktor is simply standing without assistance--not necessarily unusual in the Horizon, but his posture is more straight and ] The opposite, actually.

[ There's no revulsion in his expression - to see Viktor almost entirely changed, not just his arm, is obviously a shock, but some of that is lessened by the fact that he'll leave this body behind when they leave Horizon. It makes it easier for him to think that this is only another possible future, willfully ignoring for the moment how this is now two separate visions of a similar transformation.

Kyle continues to stroke his face with one hand, letting the other one slide down his chest, tracing over the circular shapes from his brace now merged with his body, trailing as far down as the imprint of his belly button. He's warm, but beneath his touch he feels something else, a stronger current of magic than what he would feel with Viktor's arm. It makes him think of the yellow marbled stone of the Great Gates, and he swallows back a shiver at that. ]

This was the Hexcore. [ Not a question, just confirming what is obvious. There's a slight pause, his gaze flicking up to Viktor's face, betraying some fear now: ] Do you feel less?

[ Not physically. He had just started to worry less about that part of the future. ]

Edited (WAIT ) 2025-02-04 22:24 (UTC)

[Viktor already feels like he's had plenty of time to become accustomed to this body, even if the memories are only implanted. This--what they're doing now--is for Kyle, and Viktor will let him touch and explore all he likes.

The touch is pleasant, at least, this body still capable of feeling. There's magic that hums within him, something he's going to have to answer for--but for now he simply lets Kyle adjust.]

This-- [He says, gesturing to himself,] --is the Hexcore.

[Kyle might note that the Hexcore as he remembers it is gone from the laboratory. That much is on purpose. He reaches for Kyle's hand, wanting to be reassuring, somehow.]

I can feel.

[ His gaze tracks Viktor's hand as he gestures to himself and back up to his face, openly taken aback. ]

You're - [ he fumbles for the right word for a second, not liking the way any his mouth forms around any of them ] - joined?

[ Viktor takes his hand and he doesn't pull away, but there's a flicker of embarrassment that he should be the one needing any reassuring right now. One hand remains placed at his chest, uncertain but needing to understand. ]

How? [ Maybe he should've started with that, even if the broad strokes were explained up to a point - he was about to die, and his partner wouldn't let him. Quickly, he adds: ] How long?

[ How long did he dream of living in this future? ]

Edited 2025-02-05 04:37 (UTC)

Theoretically. I no longer feel its presence.

[If he ever felt it at all--if he's just trying to make sense of the visions dream. Ostensibly, the Hexcore is not physically present in this world. Anything he shows to Kyle is simply a recreation of what occurred, though that doesn't necessarily explain the way he can still feel the thrum of the arcane within him. The Singularity, perhaps, taking on the source of his magic, instead of the Hexcore.

Viktor doesn't necessarily want to think about those implications. Kyle is understandably horrified, though Viktor remains subdued. In his own mind, he's had some time to come to terms with it, after all--even if the transformation was forced on him.]

I...a few months. I think.

[ He's not sure what to make of that answer - he's equally unsure how to interpret Viktor's muted responses, if it's only that he's still reconciling this information himself, or if it's a sign of something else, a deeper change within him.

A few months. Not years, or decades. At least there's that. His gaze trails across Viktor's body again, his expression rendered indecipherable out of habit and caution as he continues to try not to let these past fears take hold.

He's alive, and that's what matters the most. Gently: ]

Tell me the rest. [ Everything that happened after this. He lightly tugs at Viktor's hand, wanting to lead him to somewhere to sit. Not that either of them technically need to in this realm, but it seems less awkward. ]

[Hopefully there's some relief in that answer. In those imagined months, Viktor has certainly come to terms with this form, and what he's become--any shame or apprehension comes from the fact that he knows he's shattering his and Kyle's fragile peace. The uncomfortable similarities to the god-future cannot be easy to swallow, not after they've taken the first step that made it a reality.

The rest is...a long story, but Viktor knows he can't avoid it. He'd brought them to the lab for a reason, because it's where everything begins. He steps away, moving to the work bench, running his hand across the tabletop, as he did in the dream. Blueprints, and a notebook, materialize there.]

After I woke up, I knew I had to leave.

[There was no choice. Even if he wasn't betrayed by what Jayce did, he would not have been allowed to exist in Piltover. It was for the best, to go.]

Jayce begged me to stay. But...we both knew it was impossible.

[ He's had very little permanence in his life, he should be happy this lasted as long as it did. Instead of finding a stool to sit he ends up following Viktor to the workbench, glancing over what is summoned into that space. Kyle tentatively reaches out and traces the front of the journal, then fixes his attention on the blueprints. He doesn't need to understand the finer details or discern any of the unfamiliar handwriting to recognize the shape of a rifle on one of the blueprints.

His brow furrows, frowning again as he untangles more of this. ]

He didn't go with you?

[The rifle, the gauntlets. All a corruption of their dream. It doesn't matter if Jayce thought he was putting them into the right hands. Hextech weapons were made, and used, and there is no going back from that. Viktor did what he believed was necessary, but he looks slightly surprised at the question, like it never occurred to him that Jayce going with him to Zaun was a possibility.]

I didn't give him the chance.

[Jayce didn't exactly argue, either, but Viktor had been upset and unsure of what he'd become. He wouldn't have let him follow, even if part of him most certainly wanted it.]

There is no place for him in the Undercity. And I was...emotional. I felt betrayed.

[ Without looking up he touches the blueprints carefully, as though he might scald his fingertips. ]

These were... to use against the Undercity - retribution? [ For the attack on the council he described earlier. In a way, in all worlds, this sort of conflict is the same - he lived through one his whole life in Basawar, it influences his understanding. Maybe Viktor's man thought of it as preventative measures, though he knows Viktor well enough now to know there would be no acceptable reason for their design and creation.

His gaze narrows slightly in concern as he glances at Viktor. ]

What were you doing there?

[ Putting himself in the middle of a long brewing conflict. ]

Edited 2025-02-07 03:15 (UTC)

They wanted the culprit. I imagine a small amount of weapons for a targeted strike was a compromise, to avoid all-out war.

[Truth be told, once Viktor established the Commune on the outskirts of the Fissures, he'd paid very little attention to the political situation until it arrived on his doorstep. In hindsight, it seems strange that Caitlyn and the Noxian detachment that accompanied her and the Doctor didn't find them sooner.

Even with all of that information, Kyle's question seems strange.]

Where else would I go?

[For all of his complicated feelings, the Undercity was his home. Self-exiled from Piltover, there was only ever one option.]

[ Kyle says nothing to that, without more context he has nothing useful to add. There's discomfort, for once, knowing he would likely assess the situation in the same way - and has enacted such targeted strikes with both the Payshmura, and then in Alidas' service. The threat of war and violence hangs over them in Abraxas too, but for the past month he's almost felt like he could shed that part of his identity. He should know better.

He grimaces, and after a beat or two of hesitation carefully slips his arms around Viktor's waist from behind him, resting his forehead against the top of his head, trusting that if Viktor doesn't want him to touch him like this anymore, he will eventually say so. ]

You could have snuck onto a boat, sailed off to see the edge of the ocean...

[ Like they joked about doing here, when they visited Aquila. He sounds a little sad. Part of what he admired about Viktor was his dedication to his home, his desire to see it healed. He knows Viktor would always be drawn back there. ]

[Viktor does not recoil from the touch, finding it comforting enough to lean into it, closing his eyes.]

I could have.

[Isn’t that a nice dream? Viktor isn’t sure how to describe the impulse he felt, the one that led him to the depths of the Fissures, only that he knew where he needed to be. Everything else revealed itself after that.]

If Jayce was going to build weapons for Piltover, then why should I need to wait, to bring Hextech to the Undercity? I wasted so much time placating their bureaucracy only for them to use my work to harm my people. I finally had the means to do something.

[ It gives him some relief again with the easy physicality that's still there. Viktor's hair tickles his face and he lets out a soft breath.

He remembers Viktor explaining that there had been talk of weaponization before, how he felt like he was not an equal partner when it came to decisions regarding the council's wishes. He doesn't try to guess what was going on in Jayce's mind, or what spurred his decision to capitulate. ]

What did you do?

[ He does not see any way this ends well, despite Viktor's intentions. Kyle has his hands around his bare middle, can still feel the warmth of him in spite of the transformation - he can feel somewhat soothed by the understanding that when they leave Horizon the rest of him will be flesh again. Mortal. But in this future - no matter the good Viktor wishes to bring to those people, there will still be those who see him as something else, merged with his miracle. They won't fear that he is capable of weapons, they will see him as a weapon.

The Rifter escaped that fate, but it had changed him. Kyle does not want that for Viktor. ]

Edited (I added a bunch of useless introspection) 2025-02-09 00:19 (UTC)

[Somehow, recounting the events out loud after being removed from them is slightly ridiculous. Kyle, of all people, should understand the idea of predestination, but now fully back in Abraxas, some part of what he experienced doesn't feel right. Foolish, almost, that he would so readily wander back to Zaun with only an impulse to guide him.

Viktor turns, so that he can take one of Kyle's hands in his and start to lead him out of the laboratory, down the stairs. It will be an abbreviated version of his own journey, but it should give him an idea of what transpired. How far into the depths of the Fissures he went.]

I felt power, within me.

[He holds out his free hand, turning over his palm to show Kyle the purple light pulsing within.]

I healed someone. Augmented them.

[ Reluctantly, he lets go so they can walk hand in hand. This will be more of the Undercity than he has seen before, besides the cave system beneath the river. He had always wanted to see more - he just couldn't have known it would be under these circumstances.

Viktor offers his other hand, and Kyle nods, unsurprised and clearly taking care with his response - ]

Just like your miracle was always meant to do.

[ To heal his home. Kyle sounds happy for that, in a way, though the emotion is slightly muted. He watches the strange, purple light shift beneath the metal, a sign of the energy that would be the new body's life blood. He almost wishes he knew less, that he could see only the blessing of this power, and not fearful of what else it will cost him. Maybe Viktor's vision ended before any of that. ]

Yes. At the cost of a life.

[The lingering, unanswered question, then, is whether or not Viktor considers it worth the sacrifice. Kyle knows him well enough by now, he's sure, to understand that Viktor would rather it be his life, a thousand times over. He remembers one of the last things Jayce said to him, in his dream--that Hextech was no miracle, but a curse. Now alone in his own head, he gives more weight to the thought.

Kyle will find that Zaun begins in a livable state, but quickly degrades when the past the Lanes and head deeper into the Fissures. Deeper still, until industrial factories and chem-pipes and mines give way to destitution. The encampment is as he first found it, far from any sunlight and housing only ruined buildings and the tents of those forced onto the outskirts of even the Undercity.]

It was not my choice, to become this. But with these gifts, I can--I could atone. I considered it my responsibility to do so.

[Not only for time wasted trying to play by Piltover's rules, but for the death that he caused. She wanted clean air and water for the Undercity just as much as he did, and he accomplished it, finally, even if it was only localized to a small place. It could be more, with time. If he ever manages to return.

The space around them blossoms. Flowers, clean water. Viktor transforms the encampment as if pressing fast forward on a television remote. Soon, the thriving commune comes into being, though it remains empty of its inhabitants, the Horizon not exactly the best medium for reproducing human activity. Still, the sun that finally reaches the bottom of the cavern, emanating from his temple feels convincingly warm.]

Edited 2025-02-12 00:43 (UTC)

[ His careful mask falters briefly, his hand tightening around Viktor's at the reminder of that single loss of life - if only because he does understand, Viktor made his wishes clear, and knows the weight he carries. He should ask Viktor about this assistant - he should try to display some compassion. But the callous, fearful part of him doesn't want to know anything about this person.

He will ask later, once they have left this place.

The rest of his fears lay ahead.

As usual he's curious about the new surroundings as they travel down, though tempered by the circumstances. He's less distracted than he normally might be by all the new sights and sounds of the Lanes, the lack of people in the streets makes it all a little eerie. Worse is heading further down. The thickness of the air, the greenish tinge is strange - he expects this is also muted in recreation, but it's still far worse than the pollution he was accustomed to in Nayeshi. Basawar is a world that is withering, like the life is being slowly drained out of it. Zaun is being choked and poisoned, as Viktor had always described.

He's confused when they stop at the encampment. He doesn't like the thought of Viktor here. Worse that he describes it as atonement - even if he understands that feeling as well.

As the space around them blooms, it startles him at first. He reaches out to touch the tops of the yellow flowers, their soft, velvet-like petals brushing his fingertips. It's the dome-like structure at the center that his attention fixes on though. A glass palace in a garden. A temple. He stares at it for a long while, transfixed by the warmth, feeling as though he should kneel and equally terrified to do so. ]

Viktor - [ he starts before he fully knows what he means to say, his face gone pale again. ] ... how did you keep this hidden from Piltover?

[ This place is completely indefensible. ]

[He assembles the Commune as he remembers it, with its stained glass houses and workshops, churning water pumps, fields of yellow flowers, and of course the greenhouse. That's where he wants to take Kyle, because that's the real revelation--using the various cultivars within, combined with the adaptive power of the Hexcore, to purify the air and soil and water. As they walk, Viktor's appearance changes, too, closer to how he remembers it from the Commune.

The motifs, now, become evident. Fractal patterns, spirals on spirals, all taking shape, built into the architecture around them. The natural form of the Arcane.]

I...didn't.

[Viktor says this like it's never occurred to him. The figurative doors were always open to anyone who needed his gifts, Piltovan and Zaunite alike, as long as they surrendered their weapons at the entrance. It was only in the last few days of his dream that the politics of his world began to encroach. Vander and his daughters arriving at the gates with the Noxians in pursuit, at the same time as Jayce's return through the strange anomaly, cannot have been a coincidence.

Still, he knows Kyle needs an explanation.]

This place is deep in the Fissures. Piltover had other priorities than to investigate rumors of its existence, I imagine.

Edited 2025-02-12 23:50 (UTC)

[ They walk, and he takes in the size of the commune - the amount of small living structures, places for crafter's to work, the signs of self-sufficiency- and tries to estimate the amount of people living and working here. Drawn here, to Viktor.

It makes him nervous.

Viktor changes again too, though not as extreme this time. He reaches over to touch his longer hair. Lightly: ]

You look more like a priest than I do now.

[ Kyle no longer wears his vestments when they're together, not since the summer. ]

Edited (phone tag Mess) 2025-02-13 03:07 (UTC)

[Viktor glances as Kyle, then huffs a little laugh.]

I hadn't thought of it like that.

[He enforced no hierarchy in the commune, of course, but they called him the Herald anyway. Viktor understands how this must look, to Kyle, even if he gets the sense that his relationship with his own god is reframed, as of late. It isn't lost on him, that he dresses differently in the Horizon.

Viktor's hand brushes Kyle's arm, leading him into the greenhouse. He reaches for the large frond of one of the plants, skimming his fingers across it.]

These cultivars...hybrids, for reclaiming the soil and water. Cleaning the air. The yellow flowers that you see were the most successful.

[ Just hearing a small laugh from him briefly soothes Kyle as they enter the greenhouse. Of course Viktor wouldn't see himself that way, but it doesn't matter. That dome sits apart from the other structures, which all seem to spiral out from it - how many more will come? How does he maintain order, when Kyle knows he has no interest in any of that?

He stops a few paces away from Viktor, taking in the space, the earthy smell reminding him of somewhere else. It's beautiful, but he closes his eyes for a moment, frowning. ]

The people here assist you? With all your work and... keeping order?

[He isn't sure what Kyle is thinking about all this--Viktor knows he could reach out and discover it with only a touch, but he doesn't want to alarm him. There is still much about this he needs to handle delicately, if the frown on Kyle's face is any indication.

He wants Kyle to be proud of him, but he knows that this place that is strange and difficult to explain.

Outside the greenhouse, Viktor does his best to conjure the shadows of the Commune's inhabitants--less recreations of individual people, and more the patterns of work that occurs here. Smithing, horticulture, maintenance of the water pumps, new construction. He looks at Kyle, and nods.]

We have made this place a refuge. Everyone is welcome.

[ His expression doesn't change very much as he watches those impressions of people going about their business. ]

And - you still mean to find a way to get back here somehow? [ a pause ] To see this place grow?

[ Does he still mean to seek out the Jayce he lost here as well? ]

I...don't know.

[His mind feels slightly clearer, looking at all of this from the outside, with the added experience of his time here. He still wants to find Jayce, and might be closer to it than ever, given his newfound power. That, and he knows that the Commune is tenuous, hinging entirely on his own abilities. To make things right, he needs to return to them and puzzle out its long-term sustainability, otherwise his work will be for nothing.

All of this new information about the arcane, and his remembrance of those imagined years, however, makes things feel less urgent. He finds himself, perhaps unexpectedly, not wanting to give Kyle an answer that asserts the fact that they will eventually need to part.

But...what if they didn't have to?]

I would like to return here, yes. [To find Jayce. To complete his work.] But I know more, now. [About the nature of the universe--the places he might be able to go, and see, especially with his newfound power. The things he could discover, and bring home with him.] There's time.

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these old threads take me forever to find, so I'm just linking them for both of us lmao

bless you

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