[open] january/february catchall

[techmaturgy]

Who: Viktor and special guests and YOU
When: January through early February
Where: Cadens, the Horizon
What: open stuff, closed stuff, dangerous and illicit magical surgery, the usual
Warnings: the usual references to terminal illness including a steep decline and medical procedures/surgery. will list additional warnings as needed.

[open and closed starters in comments! This is also a general catch-all for Viktor’s do-or-die attempt to cure himself, and the events leading up to it, and his recovery (to come later). If you want a custom starter or something specific, just hit me up. full horizon details are here for any and all wildcarding needs. For everything else, I’m on plurk at whitticus and on discord at whitticus#8139.]

Comments

[techmaturgy]

[It's unfortunate that this is the piece of the puzzle where Viktor could use the most assistance. He has the Hexcore, and he has a substance to help him withstand the transformative magics, but modern surgery in the way that Strange understands it is beyond him, and everyone he knows but Tony (who is, notedly, not a surgeon). He's thought of Nadine, of course, and she'll probably be their next best bet, but she's used to cutting up cadavers for study, not living subjects. The general technology level of Cadens, too, is lacking in this department.

Not ideal is probably an understatement.]

I have to be.

[Viktor thinks he's made it clear that there's very little he won't do, in order to not die. Yes, he's afraid, but he'd much rather try and fail than allow himself to waste away.]

Our stop-gaps are becoming less effective. If I wait much longer I may not be able to withstand the procedure.

[sorser]

[That's the problem, isn't it? It's do or die, and quite literally. And though Stephen is a risk-taker in his own way (calculated risks only, or so he would like to tell himself), this still brings him unease. The worst kind of chances to take are when lives are on the line.

But it's Viktor's decision, not his. If he was honest, he'd probably do the same thing.]

I understand. Doesn't mean I have to like the circumstances.

[But to criticize would really be hypocritical on his end, and he's grown enough in the last few years to recognize this. Begrudgingly, sometimes.]

But I know what it's like to be willing to try anything that could be your best bet. [His hands, their scars; reminders of a time when he flitted from surgery to surgery, for reasons far less pivotal in retrospect than what Viktor is going through.] So I'm not going to try to talk you out of it.

Just... keep in touch. Before, and after. You can consult with me for as much as you like, until you can't any longer.

[Because of the surgery, and hopefully nothing worse than that.]

[techmaturgy]

I don’t think anyone likes these circumstanced.

[He doesn’t. Jayce certainly doesn’t, but even if they weren’t functioning on a newly-imposed time limit, Viktor doesn’t think he’d want to carry on with stop-gaps forever. He doesn’t want to be reliant on magic or medicine or various serums to keep his illness at bay. He wants to be cured, definitively, or die trying.

All of that is a little hard to articulate, but he gets the feeling Strange understands.]

We will. Nadine has some surgical experience, if you know her. [Of course, by “surgical experience” he mostly means “has autopsied corpses”.] That said, the medical technology in the Free Cities is likely far beyond anything you’d consider reasonable, or fully safe.

[Viktor turns, giving his chalkboard notes a good look up and down.]

The procedure we’ve developed is fairly invasive, given the technological limitations. [No keyhole surgeries or even the aid of imaging equipment.] If you’re available to help us practice in the Horizon, I believe that will greatly increase our chances.