deernet | video; un: viktor

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video; un: viktor

[the video starts near one of the blood blisters, though by 'near' it's clear the video taker has no particular interest in getting close enough to be in a potential splash zone. the video itself is more focused on the pair of blood hounds gathered around it.

when a voice speaks it's with a heavy czech accent and only after scratching that sounds like he's writing something.] I suppose it is customary to make greetings here, as a new arrival, so hello. I am Viktor.

[he clears his throat like he's glad that's over with, onto what he apparently really wants to talk about. the video pans down to a pale finger tapping his notebook, one page blurred and off the the side with what looks like confused formulas trying to figure out how the hell an omni works in his frame of knowledge, the others with notes on the bloodhounds.

one noticeable feature to people without paleblood is he keeps drawing/referencing mushrooms on the beasts, which clearly aren't there.] I've been curious about this fungal growth, especially as I've noticed it on more than just the eh... stag dogs.

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[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.

[funnily enough he was kind of assuming dumpster diving would be his best bet, given he's still working out the economy of this place. yes though, vastly prefers maybe not doing that, so vi gets a grateful nod as he commits those names to memory.]

Apparently a great many oddities wash up on the shores here. [like them.] Thank you, I'll keep both in mind. I thought the best I could manage this early on would be a scrap heap or land fill. [not sure looting wrecks on the Farther Shore is safer or better, but it sounds more interesting at least.]

[ she knows he’s got undercity blood in him, but he’s played the part of an topsider for years. meaning? she does take some delight in the mental image of this neatly dressed, well groomed man searching for scraps in piles of rubbish. ]

Those might yield better results in the end, so don’t count out digging. [ a pause and then an added: ] Good luck. [ she thinks she might even mean it genuinely.

… great. she may not be at fond or even respect, but she’s moved past her earlier hostility. she wanted some feeling of familiarity to her previous home and now that she’s got it, she’s not certain she wants to let it deepen. so – perhaps it’s time to go.

she turns her head and takes a peek over her shoulder at the lamp, soon looking back to him with a half, up-tipped nod. ] I’ll leave you to get back to your research and whatever else. [ she should get going and check on powder anyway. maybe even coax a look at that hexgem. ]

[viktor regards her for a moment before deciding on something, unsure of how it will be received. a bit hot and cold so far, their conversation. it certainly gave him a lot to think about he didn't imagine he would after leaving their world.]

Will you tell me your name before you go? [she already knows his thanks to his post. with how guarded she is he doesn't expect much. he offers a shrug.] I could stick with 'that pink haired girl,' if you prefer.

[ heh; a tiny shake of her head and an even tinier touch of amusement. ]

Not the worst name I’ve been called. [ and she’s not exclusively talking about the undercity or stillwater. trench has a few mouthy brats in it as well and vi’s racked up some interesting nicknames. there’s a certain feeling of safety when anonymity is involved and for a few moments, vi clearly hesitates, eyeing him as though she hasn’t been conversing with him for however long now.

new life, new start, she thinks. doesn’t matter anymore, she repeats. the lines, the divides… they don’t exist as before and so, she concludes that she can play friendly. a breath and then a: ]

It’s Vi. [ she’ll even smile at a slant, the cheek branded vi plumping rounder. yeah, about that – don’t ask. she turns away shortly after and pulls up her hood, flicking one hand out in a backward wave. and that’s it, she’s off to call on her lamp friends and get herself back to crenshaw. time to check in on powder. ]

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video; un: viktor

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