abraxaslogs | [open] march catchall

I would have figured something out, but yes. This was advantageous.

[He imagines that if he ended up in Thorne or Solvunn he would've just thrown himself into practicing actual magic, instead of just finding the most useful way to leverage his own engineering skills into recreating his work with the resources available.

(He's hidden the books and paperwork elsewhere. Perhaps, some other time).]

An intriguing enough theory, I suppose. [A beat--a raised eyebrow.] If you want, I can go to your space and blow it up.

Well since you arrived the same time I did, you would've been able to swap at the peace summit like my friend Inej did. I hear that it is a very rare occurrence though, this is the first time it's been easy.

[ Jesper knows the history generally of what happened with the Summoned in this land and how they fled Thorne, and only recently the other places started using the spell. He wonders what he and Inej would've done if it hadn't been easy. They were determined to make it happen, but he knows it wasn't impossible, people have done it. They got lucky, that's all. ]

Sure, why not?

[ As if Jesper wouldn't roll with whatever is thrown at him. He'd probably regret it if he couldn't make it all back, but he's also confident that he could. He helped someone else form their Horizon, he has a firm idea of how to do this now. Who hasn't thought about the Crow Club blowing up at least once? ]

It's more interesting than this room. No offense, but I thought a science lab would be more exciting. And it's so huge for one person, did you only use one section of it always?

[ Yes there was just an explosion but he missed it, and he's grading the place on a curve now. Jesper's every inch is decorated or filled up in his Horizon, it's colorful or unique no matter where. ]

It makes me wonder what the goal was. A show of neutrality, perhaps?

[Though he says it like he doesn't really believe it. The whole summit had seemed like the factions realizing they'd come too close to the brink, balking at the reality of all-out war, and held the gathering in an attempt to convince themselves that things aren't as dire as they really are. Better that he stayed with the Free Cities--even given the opportunity to leave and go elsewhere, he's not sure if that would have branded him somewhat undesirable.

But, politics has never really been his strong suit. He's much more willing and able to talk about blowing things up, and the lab, now that Jesper is apparently judging it. Viktor shrugs.]

I can't just leave all my secrets sitting out in the middle of the room. But no, I shared this space with my research partner. That's his desk.

[A nod, to the area in question.]

Eh, what I took from it was mutual wooing of people to different sides. They wanted to show off why someone would want to live in their area more, hoping to recruit, and it was like a group agreement to let people do that. Maybe thinking they'd get more than the others.

[ Jesper doesn't know if it worked or if that was the intention, but that's the energy he got from when he was wandering from area to area. They were putting their best steps forward, their magic or technology, their power or money or whatever else they thought was attractive. He would say it was for the Summoned, but they are a low percentage, and it seemed anyone could move places. But to get the people they wanted, it took some honey. Each faction probably thought they'd have something better than the next. ]

There was a conflict right before it happened, my friend Inej told me about it. Thorne was sending these caskets intended to have magic or something from the Singularity, and Free Cities and Solvunn had their Summoned hijack them.

[ So that's why he saw it as a wooing. A 'forget that other side, our side is best.' They were all able to have the same amount of power now, in their other ways. Jesper doesn't know if he cares, outside of that he doesn't really want to fight in a war. But Inej did take part in that attack, which means he might have to, for her, and he will, for her. ]

Aw, I don't get to see the science genius secrets? I was almost one of you.

[ Unfortunately science came far too close to his powers being revealed, so he cut that off entirely. And then he cut all of school out and became a criminal. You know, the natural spiraling downward of a smart mind. ]

Yes, I think they all realized they pushed things a little too close to the brink.

[Even if it was a display of power or superiority, the factions did seem to recognize the need to avoid all-out war. It’s more than he can say for back home, which is something of a depressing thought. Then again, things hadn’t exactly ended on a high note at the summit, either. In the end, Viktor had decided that no matter how intriguing Thorne’s magic is, he’s best suited for the Free Cities. That’s where his talents are—anywhere else, he’d be starting from scratch, and he simply doesn’t have that kind of time.

Jesper, at least, has a way of lightening the situation, and Viktor offers an exasperated little laugh.]

Almost. [Don’t mind him and his many degrees, probably. It’s not that Viktor is particularly worried about Jesper stealing his work or selling secrets, only that he thinks there are others who shouldn’t be allowed unfettered access to certain projects.] If you must know, there’s nothing to see just yet. I’m still getting started.

[Just doing a little light exploding.]

With the end of it, not so sure we won't be at that brink again soon enough. But maybe not. I didn't see war-worthy reactions to a scuffle gone wrong.

[ So far nothing violent has occurred as a consequence of that particular drama, but it also might not be enough to cause actual battle. Jesper assumed something was going to blow up and he has more than a few suspicions, like how that would play right into the hands of war mongerers who had every reason to set it off. It was a setup, if he ever saw one, and he's a criminal, so he's seen a lot of them. But that's a problem for another day. Although he's wondering if that day is sooner or later.

Jesper sighs dramatically. ]

It's not my fault the university was boring. They said it was the best in the area, but there was so. Much. Sitting.

[ Even now it's clear that Jesper doesn't stay still well. He always seems to be a little in motion, wandering with his feet or fiddling with his hands when he's in one place. Definitely not the sort of behavior that works well with long studies and classes. His mind was sharp but his Grisha illness has a way of ruining a lot of things in his life. He doesn't know if he'll be able to sit still for classes here. ]

Also they weren't that enamored with the farmboy nobody gumming up the works.

[ Jesper isn't bitter about it, sincerely. It wasn't the place for him and as friendly as he is, it was difficult to find friends there. His true friends came from the barrel, from the gang. ]

What do you plan on making? Is it cool?

[He shrugs a little--Viktor almost always feels like there's going to be another shoe that drops, and he doesn't exactly like feeling so powerless in the meantime. Better to keep as far away from politics as possible, if he can help it.

Still, there's some amusement in listening to Jesper talk about school, and he's particularly drawn to the offhand comment that they didn't want a nobody gumming up the works.]

I had a similar experience, at first. There were plenty at the Academy who were...not so pleased that I was there.

[But, of course, he'd never let that stop him, as evidenced by the lab that he now calls his own, even in this strange mindscape.]

Ideally, I'd like to recreate a project I began back home. A sort of...adaptive matrix. Whether or not you find that cool is probably subjective.

Let me guess, from a lower class? Some things I'm not surprised are true everywhere. Academics for all their smarts can be the most snobby.

[ This is his experience, plain and simple, and they never let him forget it either. It used to bother him, and it probably was a factor in why he bailed, if he had a lot of friends and was doing well, he might have tried to stick it out. But he never fit there. Not with the other students, not with trying to sit still in a classroom while he'd like to be doing anything else. ]

I don't really have any regrets making my own path instead, outside of my Da having a meltdown.

[ Jesper lied to him for years on purpose because it's not as if a parent wants their kid to become a criminal instead of a brilliant scientist or architect or whatever else his dad used to dream he'd become. He does rationally understand why it was the worst in his eyes, but Jesper feels good about his life. No matter what he says. ]

I don't know, it depends on how shiny it is.

[ Whether he'd find it cool that is. ]

You may have some stiff competition here, Professor, is yours better than what they could make here?

Something like that.

[Explaining the politics of Piltover and Zaun seems a little complicated, to say nothing of where he fits in to all of this, so he thinks it's best to leave it at that. Jesper can likely fill in the blanks anyway, having experienced it himself, and Viktor of course is not going to judge him for forging his own path. He might have, as well, if things were a little different.

For now, however, he seems excited about sharing his research, scoffing a little at the idea that the technology of the Free Cities could even compare to the things he has percolating in his head. He considers something for a moment before directing Jesper's attention to his desk, materializing the Hexcore, which hums and chimes, emitting a blue-violet light.]

It's a conduit. It's meant to harness and channel arcane energies for a variety of applications.

[ Class and politics are complicated everywhere, not to mention the added problem of the Grisha powers, so he understands that some things are just too complex. He never really did care what any of those people thought of him, and he still doesn't. He smiles when Viktor points him toward the desk and the Hexcore seems to appear there.

Gray eyes brighten and he steps closer. The hum and chime doesn't only make sound out loud to him, there's another hum, one that he blinks and focuses on the object curiously. ]

Wait, what was ... this made of?

[ It only exists in terms of the Horizon here, so it's a replica, not the full thing, he understands that, but it feels different all the same. Maybe he's just supposed to, he can't shake something feeling off. ]

So remember when I mentioned I had special skills? I can manipulate matter. Sometimes it looks like transmutation, I don't know how to describe it, only how it feels.

[ That is so off the cuff now, because Jesper isn't afraid, not with the other Summoned. Out and about, he keeps it silent, but here? Faced with something so interesting? He hesitates to call it magic sometimes because he knows he would be kicked out of the fictional Grisha academy for doing that. They call it the small science and hate the term magic. But it's easy shorthand. ]

The things here they say are made with New Magic, they hum in a way.

Ah--don't touch.

[Even Viktor is probably not supposed to be touching. He does it anyway, but nobody really needs to know that. They don't need to find out what might happen to an interloper who decides to put their hands on a conduit he's barely begun to understand.

What he does not expect is this kind of confession, though he does recall Jesper tell him that he has a knack for certain things. He supposes that this is what he meant by that. Viktor has a lot of questions--that much is evident on his face.]

You can detect these energies? To what end can you harness them?

[ Jesper doesn't touch, he listens, but he wants to. There's something about it, although he does generally like touching things he's not supposed to. Shiny, interesting things most of all. He turns his attention to Viktor instead though. ]

I don't know. It's like.

[ Jesper picks up a pencil and while it's true people can create whatever they want in here, what he does is clearly an extension of what he's talking about. The pencil shimmers and turns into what seems to be a liquid form instead. It hovers around his fingers, held up by the force of his gift. He turns it into a circle and then makes it solid again, the edges completely smooth like this was the form it was always, not just modified by him. ]

I can feel every molecule in what I touch and I can move it or change it. They all feel different though, the make up, some things are harder than others. But yeah I can tell when something is ... I don't know. In motion?

[ Modifying. Changing. All on its own. He doesn't think he'd say alive, but there's a difference in something being worked on and something finished. ]

[Well, there's something to be said for showing, rather than telling. Viktor's eyes widen a little, though he does keep in mind that just because someone can do this in here, doesn't mean it translates fully to the real world. Still, Jesper has no real reason to lie to him, so he watches carefully and listens.]

Truly fascinating. [And, potentially, very useful. No wonder he'd agreed to an exchange of favors. Though he's reluctant to bring it up, Viktor can't help but wonder what Jesper might be able to detect in the Hexcore.] And this is an inborn ability?

It's not exactly wise to show it off back home, that's why I've kept it mostly quiet here. Only other Summoned know.

[ Jesper has been warned that despite magic being more popular here, it still doesn't mean it's smart to go mouthing off about everything you can do in Free Cities. So he hasn't. He has kept it strictly to the people in their group who he feels like would understand or would use it wisely. It is why he hinted at abilities to Viktor but hasn't showed him until now, when he feels safer about it. ]

It's a born talent, yeah. Back home you either get taken to the army as a child, murdered by enemies, or used for it, so it's not really safe.

[ No one has tried any of those things to him yet, so he feels pretty stable considering. Also he thinks he can probably fight off any trouble these days, now that he's embraced it and he's getting quite skilled at it. ]

I'm helping Alucard with the restoration, stripping off rotten and dead wood and replacing it with healthy. I can add runes and things to them, I guess, I don't know the full plan there, but I'm rolling with it.

Understood. What happens here stays between us.

[Unfortunately, the Free Cities seem to be less tolerant of magic as well, at least in a general sense. He thinks, maybe, they might appreciate something more technology-based, like what he's seeing now, but Viktor will keep this secret, if that's what Jesper feels is best.

Besides, it's not like he can't relate to what seems to be a hard childhood, made even harder by needing to hide some kind of magical ability. He's sympathetic, and it does make him feel better to know that Jesper is finding a productive outlet for his talents.]

I'm sure Alucard would be happy to fill you in. It's quite the project.

Durasts, my kind, they're the technology inventors of the Ravkan army. They make bulletproof clothes and unbreakable steel. I'm one of the few who ever used the power like a soldier would, rather than as an engineer.

[ And that was a reflection of the life that Jesper lived. He needed to survive so he learned how to use them to give himself the power, but it's part of why he seemed so prime to go to the academy, how he could have been like Viktor given a few key differences in his life. He wouldn't change it though; he's a man of action, not really all that great at the thinking first part. ]

I think we're on the same wavelength. He's very direct, which helps as I'm very obtuse.

[ He flashes a grin at Viktor, always happy to mock himself. ]

I have no idea how I could be useful in this creation of yours, but if you think of something, do let me know.

[open] march catchall

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we can wrap here or on yours if you want!