deernet | video; un: viktor

[it does take a little while before he formulates a proper reply.]

I do remember, but I am afraid it will make little difference. I have never been built for fighting, you could say.

This power in our blood seems promising, but the reports of its use and the costs are... conflicting.

[ should’ve guessed that. she saw those doodles and more specifically, the finger tapping against the page. smooth, unblemished skin. intact. unsplit. even the nailbed looked well kept. all in stark contrast to the pair of mitts vi is sporting. she tips her head, regarding the soiled wrappings and the ruddy coloring of bruised knuckles. yeah, he’s definitely not a melee fighter, at least not hand to hand.

she wonders then, what he means by built for it. it could mean anything from an inability to stomach the violence to a generalized weak constitution. what’s she dealing with here? nothing. because he’s not her responsibility and she’s sure as hell not looking to take in any strays. ]

still working out the details on that myself
i haven’t been here all that long

[ in other words? she’s no help in this area. good luck prodding the other sleepers for the rundown on what to expect and how to hone the blood power. ]

[ sigh. that’s not where it ends. vi hesitates and reconsiders. he’s a stranger. a nobody. just another poor sucker in the long line of suckers stuck in some kind of second chance.

… but vi has so little left from before. she has powder. powder is enough… when her sister isn’t volatile and abandoning vi before vi can, supposedly, abandon her. maybe it’s curiosity. maybe it’s undisclosed want. topsider or not, he shares some piece of life before and vi just wants… just needs…

she types it out without another thought and hits send. ]

we should meet

[ and no, she won’t be explaining herself beyond that. ]

[ah, that's a shame she's new as well, he would have liked a somewhat reliable seeming source to question. ah well, this omni alone was an endless source of information.

and it may be useful to have someone with new eyes as well, hear what she has to say, perhaps compare notes later to their mutual benefit. certainly useful to have the opinion of someone not actively hallucinating. sigh.

but he's surprised again, this time by her offer- or it seemed an offer. if it's risky to meet a stranger in a hostile place well... he's always been a risk taker. curiosity wins out.]

Do you have a place in mind? I have only really seen Lumenwood, I believe is the name. I can meet you at that lamp location if you would like

[ vi hasn’t been here long, but she’s been diligent in getting a lay of the land. in short? yeah, she knows lumenwood enough to have snagged a tether for her lamp friends. figures her new acquaintance would be in the more blood-soaked district. she has to wonder if the blood blisters will be more problematic there. either way, here’s hoping she doesn’t get a front-row viewing of how he’s not built for fighting. ]

works for me
twenty minutes

[ should be sufficient time to tie up any current engagements. and more specifically, enough time for her to settle into the location first, so she spots him before he spots her. ]

( ooc: would you like to switch to action in this network post or should i set up a log? C: )

[ooc; here is fine! though if you want to switch to a log we absolutely can!]

[viktor sends a 'very well' in the affirmative, turning his attention back to the hounds prowling nearby. now that he's aware there's something addling his senses it is at least easier to pick out certain unusual shifts, trailing thoughts, his sense of reality perhaps rattled more than simply waking up to learn he's apparently a squid.

he makes his way past the lumenflowers and blisters to the lamp- in truth he hasn't been very many places since waking up. his waking was a messy one, one of those lovely ones with a placenta and plenty of confusion, a slow regaining of his senses. a little irritating he wakes up to hallucinations but so far things have been peaceful enough. he's lucky and he knows it.

he'll be sitting by the lamp, only rising when people come through. it'd help if he knew what vi looked like but he thinks he can hazard a guess if she is from the undercity. so when she does get close he'll pull himself up with his crutch, eying her curiously, a little cautiously. without his knee and back brace his posture is very difficult to keep even remotely straight, very easily giving away how literal he was about 'not being built for fighting.'

hopefully this isn't all just to mug him. ah well.]

( ooc: staying here is fine! )

[ with a solid assist from her lamp friends, vi’s there in four. it’s one of the least favorable locations for a stake out. with a mostly bare plane surrounding it, the lumenarium offers little cover. the upside, she supposes, is that it’s busy. this being the main hub for healing keeps the halls bustling; blood ministers and apprentices wandering in and out, seemingly always needed in some capacity elsewhere. and the lamp itself, flickering alight any time some new soul passes through, some yelling for help and others traveling further into the district for unrelated errands.

vi makes due with popping up her hood and blending in around the corner of an alcove, just inside the lumenarium, not too far from the lamp itself. it doesn’t take too long for her to figure it out.

when she first notices him, she thinks he’s a soon to be patient. isn’t that what this place is for? healing? fixing the broken pieces? the crutch and disjointed set of his body have her disregarding him quickly. except the minutes drag on and he stays sitting there, only beginning to rise when the lamp flickers with someone arriving.

oh. that must be…

vi steps further into the alcove and frowns at the floor, debating. she isn’t so generous to think he’s not a liability. she likes to run with people who can keep up. she sighs. it wouldn’t be the first time she’s been surprised though; afterall, cupcake passed the first test in a skirt. maybe there’s more to him too. does that mean vi minces her words when she wanders close? ]

Guess you weren’t kidding. [ hood still up and hands stuck deep in her jacket, her body language reads closed off. still, she does do him the decency of looking him in the face, rather than eyeing up his crutch. ]

[despite not knowing her voice the words are very much like the stranger's, something he'd expect from their brief interaction. viktor snorts, unable to see a point in taking any offense to it.]

No, I am afraid not. The undercity's unique chemical cocktail at work, as you can see, on multiple levels. [dry as dust, and though there's humor there it's a touch too sharp. funnily his health hasn't even been morbidly amusing to him as of late.]

Why did you call me here? I can't tell if you are too good intentioned, too curious or I am about to be mugged.

[ the whole reborn shitshown is best forgotten. it isn’t, of course, and so, vi is stuck with a memory of having to piece herself back together. legs, arms, face, everything. she filled in the blanks as she believed they were meant to be filled. wouldn’t that mean then, in theory, that in being able to build oneself from the ground up, one could alter oneself for the better? guess not, if he’s still carrying around the parting gift of the undercity. and how cruel is that – to be given a reroll on life, only to be stuck with the same shitty cards.

she stays silent through the beat and makes no change in expression as he lists off possible motives. good intentioned? no. too curious? fairly accurate. about to be mugged? heh. not one to play the straight-forward game, vi hedges. ]

Didn’t consider mugging you. [ one side of her mouth up kicks and she pulls her hands free from her pockets. ] But if you’ve got something good…

[viktor probably shouldn't laugh. even if he spent half his life in piltover the other half isn't one he forgot, and he knows the worst possible thing you could do in a mugging or attack of any kind is make said attacker feel belittled, laughed at. not unless you could back it up, and he simply can't.

but of course he does laugh, quiet but unmistakable, more a snort than anything.] Depends. My crutch might be worth something, but I would be desperate enough to keep it that it may not actually be worth the effort. [desperation was the most dangerous thing a person could be, in his experience at least.] The rest? Eh. I hid the more useful things before coming here.

[then again he's heard blood is valuable. wouldn't that be a new and fascinating thing to be mugged for?]

[ true. usually vi’s temperament is more unforgiving. laughing at her is a sure way to have her debating between suckerpunches and knees to sensitive places, but there’s something oddly disarming about this guy. not that she likes acknowledging that. nonetheless, he hasn’t risen to any of vi’s baits and more often than not, has poked fun at himself rather than becoming defensive. curious, really. it’s the kind of easy attitude that vi isn’t at all accustomed to.

here, she’ll keep that small, slanted smile and give a one shake of her head. ]

Still got your street smarts. [ is that a slight, very slight sound of approval? arguably, overlooking stranger danger is a cardinal sin but other than that, at least he’s wise enough not to bring valuables to a possibly shady first meeting. a beat and then she backtracks, figuring that maybe he deserves to have his question answered properly. ]

It was the second one. [ too curious. she shrugs with forced flippancy. ] There aren’t a lot of options when it comes to connections to… before.

[ and look at her, desperate enough to come running to a topsider. she really ought to be ashamed of herself. ]

You’re pretty much it. The lone representative of Piltover.

There are some things you never forget, I suppose. [he nods, not easing exactly but he at least thinks she's probably not going to violently mug him. probably. if she is she's certainly taking her time with it, which is new. he's never had a mugger who wanted a nice chat beforehand.

the second one- yes, that's largely why he came despite said stranger danger and knowing better. connections to before, more so connections to zaun, he hasn't had that in anyone other than sky for years, the odd trip down.

she does get another snort though before he can help it.] The lone representative of Piltover. That... is quite ironic, given how hard they worked to make sure I did not represent Piltover. [of course he helped, he had no interest being on the blimps. but that's another matter and he shakes his head.]

That is why I came as well. I suppose it comforting, to know there is at least one person familiar with the place that made you who you are. In truth for me it is less about our world and more about the undercity.

[ how fucking unsurprising. the elites trying their hardest to keep their precious city as clean and as untainted by undercity filth as possible. vi is, unfortunately, missing some details here, but she clears that jump to conclusion and runs with it. it sours her mood, unearthing the feeling of inadequacy and less than she’s grown up with since a child.

smile gone, vi listens with distracted attention, again withholding the full extent of credit he is due. ]

You talk like you still care about that place. [ that place. her home? his once home? before he tried to fit in with them. it doesn’t even matter anymore, but vi’s never been one to let go of a grudge. she’s not always the best at holding it against the right people either. ]

When was the last time you were even there?

[he eyes her for a few moments, curious and cautious again, though this time of minefields of a more emotional variety. he knows the undercity changed since he left, he knows things have only gotten worse. all that he knows just from a few visits, a few hushed conversations with sky, so he cannot imagine what it was to live through those changes or even the true catalysts of them.

assuming she did live through them, assuming they're of the same time, assuming a lot of things really.

the last time he was there was after he found out he was dying, which is not an answer he's going to give. he doesn't think the answer matters anyway]

Would it matter? I would still be a tourist no matter how often I visited, always with a ticket out. [he shrugs a shoulder, a beat before he offers,] I care because it was my home, and for all Piltover's talk of progress and goodwill the undercity is where I saw true generosity and innovation.

I left because in order to get the funding to make a difference with my work and studies, to get the resources I needed, I would have had to turn to making chems or weapons. That is the unfortunate reality of it.

[he can't help but feel a pang of defensiveness despite it all, maybe defeat. hextech was supposed to help, they spent so many years on the gates alone and for what? to be shot down and reigned in when they finally had freedom to make something for the people? should he have been so content to line the pockets of the elite on the vague promise of 'soon' when it came to projects that mattered?

and now what, his legacy will be a footnote in piltover's history, dying on the vain hope of all he wished to do- air and water purification, biomedical engineering, tools to offer even the weak and sick in zaun a chance at working without pain and endless fatigue.

he forces himself to try and ease, the tension around his shoulders dangerous, too easily misread. it just leaves him looking tired when he lets it go.]

[ he makes a solid point. the undercity’s changed a lot in the years vi was pilfered away to stillwater. it’s always had it’s seedy undercurrent, but it’s expanded and flooded the streets in a way vi wasn’t prepared for. silco and his fucking empire of shit; vi’s sorry she never made good on her vow to tear it down on top of his narrowframed, jacked-eyed, dumbfuck of a face. alas, she found herself squided.

as quickly as the hostility came, it eases. disappears? no. it clings at the edges of her expression and keeps her lips flat-lined. as for her tone? it’s reluctantly agreeable. ]

You’re right.

[ on a lot of points, namely his need to settle into piltover for resources. people do what they need to in order to get by in the lanes, maintaining a steady set of morals is a luxury not all of them are allowed. so chems or weapons? not a far off prediction if his chance meeting never happened. vi’s yielding only goes so far though. she’ll cut down that agreement on the next beat, minimizing it to a far shallower: ]

It doesn’t matter anymore.

[ who they were before. where they’ve come from or what they’ve wanted. they’re in trench now. ]

[viktor shakes his head, any lingering defensiveness falling to that increasingly familiar defeated feeling. it doesn't matter, not now, then and certainly not here. there should be some comfort to that. maybe in time there will be, but now it all mostly feels like failure far too long in the making.

he sighs, readjusts his grip on his crutch before moving. not closer or farther, more just for the sake of moving, eyes scanning the rather unsettling area. when he glances back to vi he notices a fungus not unlike those from the fissures growing out her neck, a dull bioluminescence that makes her look pale. a blink and it's still there, dismissed for the hallucination it is.]

The last time I went was shortly before ending up here. [he answers belatedly] It was the first time I've been down since the attack during Progress Day. Tensions on the bridge were... troubling. The state of the undercity was not much better.

[ she watches him move about; curious, somewhat. she doesn’t avert her gaze when he glances her way, though that steady watching takes on a questioning look, one accompanied by a raising of her brow, when his attention snags on her… neck? thankfully, he picks up the slack and fills the silence vi so gracefully forced them into, before she can break it with a what.

though, perhaps thankfully isn’t the right assessment.

progress day attack. vi doesn’t want to think about that. she has enough intel and theory in her head, aided largely by caitlyn, that vi knows the culprit. powder is here too; briefly, vi wonders what mr. ex-undercity would do if he knew about powder and her involvement… and more specifically, knew she’s here. she flicks her gaze to his crutch. likely nothing. the rule of law is different here. there are no enforcers at beck and call.

she scoffs, pushing out her right hip on a favoring of weight to that leg, arms crossing over her chest. ]

We can thank Silco for that. [ her? bitter? fuck yeah. ] He better hope he never finds his way here. He has a lot to answer to and I don’t feel much like listening, if you know what I mean.

[ the dirty, worn wrappings along her arms and hands are clue enough: she is very much into settling disputes her own way. ]

[that has viktor's brow rising. he can't say he's terribly surprised, he's not so out of touch not to know silco is a name one avoided. he is out of touch enough to be shocked he'd make such a bold move.

he turns fully to vi, brow furrowing again. for a moment he thinks of keeping mum on the theft at the lab, but what's the point? they're here now. there's no information to leak.]

The attack was a cover to steal a very important prototype from Hextech. They keep asking us if it will be made into weapons. [he has to snort, grip tightening on his crutch. hilarious how they could dismiss the idea of trenchers unlocking it when a 'trencher' helped make it. better this way, but still.]

[ vi keeps rounding back to the same placating thought: it doesn’t matter anymore. they can talk freely about their previous lives because there is no imbalance of privilege between them. the slate is as clean as it can be and perhaps here, they can even be agreeable acquaintances. nonetheless, even in telling herself all this, vi doesn’t take up the cue for honesty. there is one aspect that does still matter: powder. even without enforcers, vi isn’t about to out her sister. or let slip that vi knows where a certain blue marble is.

because that’s what this is about, right? vi can put two and two together, okay, even though getting straight answers from powder is… difficult. she’s got some cryptic footnotes of it being a power source fueled by magic and some grumblings about how it enriches the pilties, to allow them to lord over zaun. most of all, powder says it’s hers. that she needs it.

so sorry, dude, but fuck property rights. vi’s going by finders keepers. that isn’t to say she isn’t curious enough to try to figure out what powder’s favorite knickknack is though. ]

Could it be? [ it comes out a little more invested than she means for it to. giving herself a mental shake, she consciously downplays her interest, voice casual. ] I mean – how powerful is this prototype?

Yes. [viktor answers, more curious about her reaction than anything. so far she's been so careful, the fact she's even asked so directly is more than he expected.]

It is a stable crystal called the hexgem- all Hextech devices, including the gates, were built around stabilizing a very dangerous source of arcane energy. This takes that source and allows it to be manipulated far more easily. [very simplified explanation but he thinks in this case short and sweet is better than a lecture.

especially since the point is this:] It is, at it's core, all the possibility of magic. So yes, it can be made into a weapon capable of incredible amounts of destruction. Incredibly unlikely, but if someone clever enough to crack and adapt our notes had enough time with it... yes, maybe.

[ yes. oh. very dangerous, possibility of magic, destruction. one, two, three, none of that sounds good. someone clever. ah shit. when she’s attentive enough on the execute, vi has a superb poker face. here, it serves her well. she watches him throughout, making no significant reaction to any of it, despite reeling on the inside. powder is – powder’s good. all the shit everyone’s been mouthing off about her sister? it isn’t going to hold water in trench, not when vi is around to take care of her.

so it’s fine. it’s okay that vi lets powder keep this hexgem. powder won’t do anything with it. she doesn’t have the notes… right? besides, she’s already got pow-pow and fishbones and the bombs she’s been piecing together in her spare time…

… everything is totally fine. ]

Hm. Guess that isn’t something you have to worry about here. [ … heh. a pause and then a thought. actually: ] Unless you’re planning on continuing your research…?

[ maybe not hexwhatevers specifically; who knows what resources this place has. but vi remembers some jibber-jabber equations in his notebook. is he going to find a new project? ]

Not that research, no, given there's no way to continue it without the gem. [and sure that is far, far away, never to be a part of his life as long as he's here. he is content with that knowledge, a heavy problem now clearly completely off his shoulders.

besides, jayce was always better with the runework. maybe if he had the hexcore he could manage something but that is also beyond him now. no chance of popping up again. etc.]

I do plan on researching lunar energy at the very least. [he offers a shrug there. what else is he going to do? the blood magic intrigues him as well, but you don't work for heimendinger for years without having at least some caution when magic is involved. again, he's not the type to just fall to dangerous blood magic. surely.] It's a fascinating energy source, far more streamlined than any our world held.

[a pause and he sighs.] I was about to make a wry comment on my research hopefully not being stolen for nefarious purposes here, but... what is the term? Knock on wood.

[ lunar energy seems harmless enough. not that vi understands it beyond, lunar activity + crystal ball catching system = power, but sure, yeah, knock yourself out, buddy. have fun looking into that and good luck improving on it…? or expanding it.

uncrossing her arms, she half-smiles to his sigh, some levity finding her. ]

I never said mugging you was off the table. [ though, even as she says this, she flips back her hood, giving her heavy fringe a flick. ] Maybe I’ll swing by in a few weeks when you’ve jotted down something valuable.

[ kidding, kidding… probably. ]

Ah, so I should write in code. I will keep that in mind. [he answers with a soft snort. not entirely kidding there, though more because of the whole 'someone stole our very dangerous work and notes so maybe i should be more careful' than because he's particularly worried about this odd woman making good on finally mugging him.

not that he's entirely convinced she won't. for all he knows she's a good actor and works for silco. thankfully he doesn't even jokingly bring up that possibility.] If you can keep from mugging me and leaving me for dead for a few moments more would you know any places to round up scrap? I haven't had much luck, unfortunately this place isn't quite as fruitful in that regard.

[ hard ask, but she supposes she can steer clear of the aggravated robbery and murder charges. she looks like a scrapper though, huh? she wonders if she should take offense to that. heh, why get mad at the truth? it comes with the territory of being an undercity miscreant, she supposes. those types are always scanning for something of value, even if it’s in the gutter, covered in filth.

he probably isn’t looking to dumpster dive for discarded appliances and whatever else, so she’ll kindly skip right over to: ]

If you’re in the market for scrap of the metal kind, Shape of Blood in Prufrock handles most of the metalworking here. You could probably barter for their discarded pieces. [ or maybe even get them free, she doesn’t know. oddly enough, powder would be better at answering this. vi knows she’s quickly acquiring bits and bobs to fiddle and create with. though, wherever powder is getting her supply from, probably best not to introduce competition. ]

Or you can try your luck on the Farther Shore. Word is that items from various worlds regularly wash up. [ a beat. ] Shipwrecks too.

video; un: viktor

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1/2 i feel like i should apologize for spamming w 2 tags so often but fhgff

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text; no please, the more vi icons i get to see the better imo. look at that face!

you make a fine point. she is rather gorg

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