[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]

[No, Jayce is handling any lingering sales, but the workshop has been mostly closed for the last two weeks. The two of them have more important things to focus on. Now that Viktor is feeling better, he's ostensibly working again, but mostly on his own personal projects.

That said, he looks a little surprised at the reason for Altaïr's visit. It's possible he's still getting used to people having investment in his well being.]

Word travels quickly. [He realizes that perhaps he sounds a little ungrateful, and swiftly course-corrects.] Thank you.

[aquilus]

I'm sure there are many details that haven't. [So, his private details haven't been totally blabbed all over the place.] But people like to share good news.

[He means the implication sincerely. Viktor may not be the social butterfly type like some Altaïr can think of, but he's a good man and has a place in their community, such as it is. The Summoned of the Free Cities would have felt his absence.]

How are you feeling?

[He is faintly aware that this is actually none of his business, but this also happens to be Altaïr's first time paying a convalescent visit, so he's making his best guess at what the thing to do is.]

[techmaturgy]

I should hope so.

[Mostly because. All of this was experimental and highly illegal, but if Altaïr isn’t going to bring up the fact that the government has been in and out of his Academy workspace, Viktor isn’t going to draw attention to it. Better to focus on his current work, instead.]

Well enough. Better than a week ago.

[Better all the time, actually, which is very thrilling. Now that the incision has mostly healed, Viktor is starting to notice his own marked improvement.]

If everything continues to go well, I should be out of this—-[A gesture to the wheelchair he’s sitting in,] —-within a week.

[aquilus]

[It's good to hear, and Altaïr even believes it, though he suspects that Viktor is the type to lie and conceal how he feels if he doesn't want to share.]

You look better. Though I hadn't realized you were so ill.

[He'd like to think that's because something changed for Viktor, or that he'd been very good about hiding his ailment, but it still hasn't been that long since Altaïr started paying attention to people as more than targets or rivals. It's possible he simply missed it.]

[techmaturgy]

It wasn't really anyone's business.

[Viktor mostly just assumed that the state of his health was an open secret. That said, he'd never wanted anyone to pity him or treat him differently, which probably explains why he simply existed in a state of obvious unwellness while also going to great lengths to never address it, ever.

Now, with all of it behind him, he feels as though he can speak on it more freely, especially if people are going to ask him directly.]

But it was a chronic condition that was rapidly worsening. I decided to do something about it.

[aquilus]

Would that we could all be so decisive and successful in critical moments.

[Of course, it's better to not have to be decisive about saving one's own life to begin with.]

Was it magic or other advances available in this land that helped you? If it's not too intrusive to ask.

[As they've just established, not his business. But he can't help but be curious, as a man who's seen too many die deaths that should have been avoidable and weren't.]

[techmaturgy]

It was a personal project that I adapted to this world’s rules.

[So, a bit of both, and the fact that Viktor seems to have worked on it prior to arriving here might give some indication of just how long this has been in progress.]

Unfortunately, I have nothing to show for it. We destroyed it soon after.

[He doesn’t think he needs to explain why.]

[aquilus]

[Altaïr actually isn't sure he knows exactly why. But based on what he's heard, he can make a good guess.]

Then it's a fortunate thing that it did what it was meant to do. Your life is certainly something to show for it.

[techmaturgy]

Well, it had...other applications.

[Things that could really help this world, if he were allowed to refine his work further. Jayce, however, had been frightened of what happened during the procedure, and that was enough for Viktor to table the issue for now.]

But it wasn't worth the risk. The Free Cities would weaponize it. This is for the best.

[aquilus]

[His expression clouds over at that. Even if he doesn't understand enough of the magic/science to know how it could be weaponized, Altaïr doesn't doubt Viktor's words.]

I suspect that would be the case for any project that could be used that way. Ultimately, we're a resource to be plundered.

[techmaturgy]

Yes, I suppose that's the best way to put it.

[Depressing as it is. The Summoned are useful when it's convenient, and stifled more often than not, counterproductively. He still isn't sure what the government wants with them, most of the time.

Viktor tries not to sound so despondent about it. He pulls his mouth into a tight-lipped smile.]

Thank you. For stopping by.

[aquilus]

[There are several better ways to put it, but none would be accurate.]

Of course. Stay well, Viktor.

[Now that he can. Altaïr nods and steps toward the door.]