[open]

[techmaturgy]

Who: Viktor and special guests and YOU
When: end of January/February pre-event
Where: Cadens, the Horizon
What: it’s canon update time baybe and things have become…weird…
Warnings: potential references to suicidal ideation, and also a manslaughter. arcane season 2 spoilers through episode 6.



[open and closed starters in comments! If you want a custom starter or something specific, just hit me up. Details on the canon update, including new powers are here. I’m on plurk at whitticus and on discord also at whitticus.]

Comments

[cryptsleeper]

Good. Still important that she hear it constantly though.

[It's remarkable, seeing her move as naturally as anything else. Alucard could watch it for a long time, but no. They need to tether themselves to reality.]

I know, it is just. An adjustment.

[But he's okay. He's got it.]

Home seems as if it was quite dynamic.

[techmaturgy]

Take all the time you need.

[To float around. To take it all in. Viktor knows that there's no sense to be made of anything without further explanation on his part, but if Alucard is frightened by the weightlessness of this place, they aren't getting anywhere.]

This is beyond the realm of the physical. [As in, it's not home, not as he's described Piltover to Alucard.] Rather, a psychic plane, not unlike the Horizon itself.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard sends up settling into a sitting position, even if there's no chair. He's sat on the floor with books on his lap plenty of times. He gestures for Rio to join him, because is there anything better than a lap full of friend?]

I only meant to say that it seems like a lot happened. I've seen Geralt and Jaskier endure this before, but not....on such a cosmic scale.

[techmaturgy]

[Rio obliges, resting her large head in Alucard's lap. She's as weightless here as anything else, so despite her size it's not uncomfortable. Viktor, for his part, will continue to float, occasionally reaching for a passing star, or stirring up celestial dust.

He seems at home here, strange as it is.]

I only dreamed of a few months. [A relatively short amount of time, if Alucard was worried.] In that time, my research on the Hexcore...evolved, exponentially.

[cryptsleeper]

[Rio gets all the under the chin skritches she could ever need. She is a good girl.]

Dare I venture "astronomically" instead?

[Alucard's smile is small and awkward, acknowledging that it is a terrible joke.]

I'm listening.

[techmaturgy]

Cosmically, perhaps.

[Because it is metaphysical, as he’s said. Viktor reclines, leaning back on an invisible surface, as if pondering how he’s going to start. It is, in fact, a very long and complicated story, even if it was only a dream. Even if the dream only covered a few months’ time.]

Jayce was forced to use the Hexcore, to save my life. It catalyzed a physical transformation.

[This is the part he knows that Alucard won't like, which is why he knows he shouldn't beat around the bush.]

One that might look familiar to you.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard is quiet. He listens. He's getting a fraction of what happened, he knows this because these dreams are never simple, straight forward things no matter how hard one might try to force them to be otherwise. No part of him is shocked that Viktor is starting broadly and--

--he laughs. It's the laugh of a man who knows that the universe has decided to one up him and that he simply must accept this fact. And so he does. Viktor's always going to do that, then.

His smile is bittersweet, but Alucard's tone makes it clear that he will work to accept this.]

Strange how that's a universal constant.

[techmaturgy]

[Viktor watches Alucard's expression carefully for the realization, and perhaps he doesn't expect a laugh. He remains neutral, understanding that this is likely just part of processing the information. He's had time to come to terms with it--Alucard hasn't, and he will admit that the implications of a similar outcome across disparate universes does not bode well for the debate regarding their eventual ascension.]

I have been contemplating that, myself.

[That he would achieve such a similar form--and abilities--in isolated circumstances. He was not one to believe in destiny before, but now he feels he must reconsider.]

Convergent evolution.

[cryptsleeper]

Mm. Like how every vampire I've met here can't go into the sun, but other quirks and weaknesses vary from sphere to sphere. Not that I'm comparing--

[He trusts Viktor won't take offense, but it is worth delineating all the same. Alucard lets silence fill in for a moment, his hand rubbing behind where Rio's ears might be.]

How do you feel about it?

[techmaturgy]

Something like that.

[Constants across universes. Viktor considers these implications to be slightly more serious, especially considering the imagined centuries, but finds himself less alarmed than he might have been, without the added context of his dream.]

I would have preferred it to be my choice. [Though he did fully intend to enact such a transformation on himself, before it catastrophically failed.] But, I suppose this was always meant to be the end result.

[cryptsleeper]

[The question of choice makes sense. Alucard can only nod in agreement. From the sounds of it, what Viktor had happen was sudden and not without his full sayso, compared to centuries of eventual modification.

Alucard's hand moves towards Rio's belly, trying to coax her into bellyrub mode.]

I suppose so. Did...has....this form held amongst others, or is there something else? And what happened after you gained this?

[techmaturgy]

[Rio obliges, of course, rolling over to provide Alucard access (so that he might give her tummy rubs in exchange). Viktor smiles at the sight of it, though the expression is subdued. He understands that the circumstances are different--one all-encompassing transformation, versus augmentation over the course of centuries--but the result is the same. That is, functionally, what matters.]

I've been granted certain...abilities. Access to this plane is one of them.

[cryptsleeper]

...The others being?

[Luckily, giving Rio belly rubs means that Alucard's eyes are on her for the next few moments. He has to ensure he's rubbing just the right spot, and if it gives Viktor a moment to figure out how to put everything into words, so be it.]

[techmaturgy]

[Viktor thinks, perhaps, that I can see into people's minds is likely not the best opener, for the various and strange amount of powers he's been given, thanks to his merger with the Hexcore. He hasn't exactly tried it, upon awakening, some clarity of mind reminding him that to do so would be an intrusion.]

I healed someone. Augmented them.

[cryptsleeper]

Instantly?

[Alucard's head picks up from focusing on Rio, no small amount of surprise on his face.]

Through magic or...?

[techmaturgy]

Through magic, yes. The Hexcore.

[Bent to his will, in no small part thanks to his physical merging with the device. That had not been Viktor's choice, but he'd resolved not to squander the gifts, not when he needed to atone for his transgressions. To finally do something good for the Undercity.]

If it were here-- [It is not; he feels its absence,] --I would be able to use it with only a thought.

[cryptsleeper]

[All through the Hexcore. Alucard makes a thoughtful noise, acknowledging that the lack of the thing will change things here.]

And you've used it at home? May I ask what you've done with it?

[techmaturgy]

I can show you, if you like.

[That will be easier to explain. The Horizon allows for the manifestation of his memories, but with his own abilities, he can share the sequence of events with Alucard using only a touch.

He will, however, ask permission, even if he's not being entirely clear about what he plans to do.]

[cryptsleeper]

--Very well.

[He's not sure why this has such weight, but apparently it does. Alucard pauses Rio's belly rubs, giving the moment the gravity that it seems to demand.]

[techmaturgy]

[Given permission, Viktor reaches out with his hand. Alucard might notice it's his left, that is, not the arm transmuted to living metal in the real world. He touches his fingertips to Alucard's forehead, and though the nature of the Horizon will prevent the full connection, it provides a clearer vision of Viktor's dreams than a simple recreation of the memories.

It's a complicated sequence of events, everything that brought him to this point. Alucard will see the missteps of the Hexcore, the lengths to which Jayce went to save him--and his departure in the aftermath. His first augmentation. The Commune that sprung to life in his wake, and the way he used Hextech to clear the air and provide fresh water. It ends after some months of activity there, with a strange conversation with Jayce and opposing forces gathering at his gates. The cosmos bleed in to the end of the memories, returning them both to this strange astral plane. Rio looks at Alucard, expectantly.]

You have questions.

[How could he not, after all that?

[cryptsleeper]

[Boop and then--

--Alucard thought that just being in Viktor's Horizon was a lot. The sudden flood of events, the narrative of it, the complications, Viktor more or less fucking dying only to come back and lead an entire Commune and...

...He can't sprawl backwards exactly. But Alucard is very glad to have not had his hand on Rio either. He might have squeezed too hard in just trying to hang on to everything.

Questions.

Fucking hell.

He's quiet for a long, long time. A hand extends towards Rio, wanting to pet her again for the need of just something to do with his hands. This...whatever it is...appears to work in the real world too.

Alucard can't find words. They're not going to come in response to all that.

Which is a good place to start.]

I'm...going to need time to make sense and truly parse everything you just showed me. This isn't me having opinions about anything I just saw, it is just an overwhelming volume of information to suddenly have in one's head.

[techmaturgy]

[Viktor will wait patiently, knowing that it is a great deal to process. There's some apprehension, too, knowing that in sharing these memories with Alucard, he's also laid bare his own transgressions.]

I thought this would be more expedient.

[There's some apology in his voice, for the sheer amount of information. How disorienting it must have been. Rio, for her part, nudges against Alucard in an apparent attempt to offer him reassurance.]

Suffice to say, my own horizons have...broadened.

[cryptsleeper]

No, no it is it's just--

[Alucard's hand rests on Rio's forehead and--

His eyes narrow.]

Did you just make a pun?

[If not, the word choice is deeply delightful. Alucard needs to parse all of this. But he can't do it instantly in front of Viktor. So there's only one way to put them on even footing.]

Does that ability to impart memories in an instant work the other way as well?

[techmaturgy]

It wasn't intentional.

[But he manages a small smile, figuring he needs to take what he can get, given the shock of everything. Alucard will take some time to himself, he's sure, and then return with the difficult questions. For now, he's able to entertain what he does manage to ask.]

Yes. But I would not do so without your permission.

[This had been a one-way transfer--at least for now.]

[cryptsleeper]

Well then I'm impressed.

[He pauses. Then lets out a quiet laugh, looking down at Rio then up at Viktor.]

I don't know. Perhaps turnabout would be fair play. Then we both get to have too many questions about each other.