[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

[preferscuffs]

[Some of those frustrations are likely ones that Caitlyn even shares with him. Which might surprise him. She's pretty good at surprising people recently. But ever since she'd had her world view... expanded, Caitlyn's been looking at a lot of things differently.

Honestly, Caitlyn probably should be in a hurry to return home. There's so much left unfinished, but... she's not sure if she really wants to either. There's so much good she can do here and now. With results that she can actually see. Which... almost never happened in Piltover. Just lots of red tape and stonewalling.]

I can't really say I blame you.

[Though it definitely isn't ideal. But given how she doesn't actually know that much about the hexcore, it does lead to a question.]

But what's to stop you from recreating it again another time?

[techmaturgy]

[Viktor has the answer to that, and gestures for her to get a little closer, bending slightly to indicate that she should look inside the spinning facets of the device.]

The crystal.

[It's the source of the blue glow, the rest of the Hexcore revolving around it.]

We had to make a deal with a researcher at the Academy. The government doesn't know we have it. [And they probably aren't going to be happy, when they find out.] So, it's unlikely we'll be able to make another, at least without direct access to the power source.

[preferscuffs]

[And bend down she does, not reaching out to touch. Not that close and comfy with it, but enough to really get a good look.]

Is there no way to separate them? Destroy the main mechanism, but hide the crystal?

[Sure, this is probably stuff they've thought about. But she used to do this for Jayce. It helped sometimes, having a set of eyes that's not used to the project or how things work. Goodness knows she's a little too familiar with hidden, deadly crystals. Damned things. Which... is probably reason enough it's not a good idea. But it does seem like a terrible waste.]

The thing you're planning. You think the government will find out?

[Making deals with the Academic types isn't a surprise. But if the government doesn't know... how would they find out?]

It's beautiful Viktor. I mean that.

[The blue had always struck her as a lovely color. Even if it also carried with it a tinge of warning given everything that's happened because of it.]

[techmaturgy]

No, once installed, extracting the crystal is too dangerous.

[She should know how volatile these things can be. Installing the crystal has imbued the entire device with arcane power—-they won’t be able to separate it now that they’ve begun. Viktor is just going to have to figure out how to live with it.]

I believe that the government monitors us, yes. I also believe that this is far beyond what they could conceive of, technologically. If we destroy everything it’s unlikely they’ll be able to retrace our steps, even if they’re watching.

[Of course, he’d much rather the government stay in the dark, but he knows it’s unlikely. The longer this drags on, the greater their chances of being found out. Predictably, he doesn’t seem happy about it, but a smile pulls at the corners of his mouth when she offers the compliment.]

Thank you. I only wish I could do more with it.

[Saving himself, and then destroying it, seems selfish, even though he knows it’s an irrational thought.]

[preferscuffs]

[Her protests die before they can even start. The urge to say 'But that's what they said about hextech too' going unsaid. Now really isn't the time. Ultimately, he does know way more than she ever could about how this stuff works.]

You've probably already thought this through, forgive me.

[It's more formal than she'd be with say... Jayce, but that stands to reason. Viktor isn't Jayce and she ultimately doesn't know him anywhere near as well. If that means relying somewhat on the manners hammered into her by her mother? Well, that's not too unusual for her, darn her mother for being right far too often.]

I'd be surprised if they weren't.

[The political situation here seemed just as complicated as the one back home. Maybe even more so, if just by nature of there being more groups involved.]

Maybe not now, but maybe one day.

[There's a hint of a smile, allowing the playfulness that she'd show around Jayce display with his partner.]

If you work anything like Jayce this just means you'll just use it as fuel to do even more, find something even better someday.

[A block in the road is ultimately just a stepping stone to new progress. She's seen how the genius types work. Enough to be overtly fond of them for it. Only, usually when Jayce isn't around to see it. Perish the thought.]

[techmaturgy]

If there was a way, we'd do it.

[Given time, Viktor thinks he could figure out how to extract the crystal, but every day they spend working on the Hexcore is more of a chance for the government to discover it. He isn't going to have a chance to dismantle it safely or carefully--destroying it, comparatively, is easy.

He hopes, anyway. There must have been some reason why he couldn't do it, in that vision he saw of Jayce's future.

But that's not for Caitlyn to worry about. He offers her a smile, though it's a bit strained around the edges, given the situation. Her sentiment, at least, is understood.]

I hope so. There's much more I'd like to do.

[preferscuffs]

Of course. I don't doubt that.

[Time. One of their biggest enemies. Always. It's getting a little old, but it's not like there's anything they could do about it. At least not this time, not right now. So, it's certainly better to be safe than sorry in this case. Because giving the hexcore to a government? Absolutely not.]

And you'll have the chance to do them and plenty of other things you haven't even thought about yet.

[Little miss optimist, that's her. Full of idealism and dreams still, despite everything.]

Is there anything I could help you with now?

[Sure, she's not as good as Jayce or an Actual Scientist. But she knows enough and is used to assisting. So it doesn't hurt to ask.]

[techmaturgy]

[Viktor nods, and sighs, an indication that he certainly has enough to think about, in that department. They just have to get through all this, first.

Unfortunately, there isn't much to do, practically, beyond reconfiguring the runic array and testing and adjusting and testing again, which is the fairly boring part of scientific progress. Still...]

Just company, if you have the time.

[She certainly doesn't have to stay--in fact, the fewer people in here, the better, probably, but Viktor is only human. He's spent too many nights working by himself in the lab to know how desperately lonely it can be.]

[preferscuffs]

[Luckily, Caitlyn has had to translate a fair amount of sighs in her life. So she can figure out more or less what this one means.

Seems fortunate, that there's only tying things together, doing checks left. If they had much more to do that would have been... difficult considering.]

I have time.

[Even if she hadn't, she would have made some for this. Especially with him outright asking for it. How could she turn him down? Easy answer, Caitlyn couldn't.

Besides, it's not exactly odd for Caitlyn to spend time around here. Not entirely odd anyway.]

Is this a conversational companionship or would you prefer I just sit here for now. I'm fine either way. I've done both for Jayce before.

[techmaturgy]

Thank you.

[Viktor swallows hard and nods, perhaps slightly embarrassed by even that tiny moment of weakness. He doesn’t need conversation, really, but having another body in the room could prove to be comforting. All of that, however, feels a bit too personal to admit, so he deflects.]

You don’t—we don’t need to talk, if you’d rather not.

[Or, at least, she shouldn’t feel obligated.]

Jayce will be back soon.

[preferscuffs]

It's my pleasure.

[Oh Viktor... that's not weakness, that's just called being human. Luckily for him, Caitlyn's been aware of his status as a living person for quite some time now. So it's not a new or surprising revelation.]

I wouldn't want to be a distraction. [A pause] But it does seem like an opportune time to get to know each other better.

[It goes unspoken that considering their importance to Jayce, it seems logical that their relationship should be worked on considering. It's only sensible since they'll be in each other's lives for the foreseeable]

Of course.