etrayalogs | [CLOSED]

Entry tags:

[CLOSED]

Who: Viktor, the Machine Herald + closed prompts in the comments
What: A little pre-mission prep
When: In the weeks prior to the mission
Where: All over (will indicate in the prompt headers)
Warnings: Blanket warnings for surgery, body modification, body dysmorphia, will update as needed

Anyone interested in a closed prompt, feel free to hit me up at

brutallyamish!

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[ Viktor isn't really the type to sit still or wait, and he only stayed in one place long enough to rewire something in his forearm before he threw open the doors to the empty greenhouse area. It previously had been filled with various plants from home, some from foreign shores, all of them thriving amongst each other and in spite of the fog of Gray that always threatened to creep in. The greenhouse was likely the safest room in the entire lab where breathing was concerned, not that Viktor was terribly concerned about it with his mechanical lungs that filtered the air better than the ones he was born with could ever hope to do.

That greenhouse had been proof that Viktor was more than the violent, inhuman monster Piltover claimed he was, because his work - the treatments for the chem spills, his augmentations that saved lives - meant nothing to them but they meant everything to Viktor and the people of Zaun who suffered.

Instead of simmering in that anger, Viktor tore through the empty beds, turning them over to prepare them for new plants. Still, he was mindful of the knocking, and true to his word, he opened the door, mask in place as always. ]

How many did you try before you found my lab?

[Sciel is bright-eyed and pleasant when the door opens, her tan skin tinged pink by the cold. She looks immediately pleased with herself, victorious at last, after trudging through all of Harbour Point. A challenge for the sake of a challenge, but who is she to turn down a bit of fun?

He looks… intriguing. The angles of his mask are sharp and intimidating, but he’s clearly more man than machine. Her gaze drifts over him, unselfconscious about openly sizing him up, and she smiles. He asked a question.]

Plenty. Thought I’d found you much earlier, but I found your neighbour’s clubhouse first. [“Neighbours” is relative; two people in the same region is close enough.] Is there a reason you decided to put your lab all the way out here?

[She’s leaning forward on the balls of her feet, ready to come inside and see what she’s working with, but she’ll be patient and wait for him to invite her in. For now, anyway.]

[ Standing in the doorway, Viktor regards her with something close to curiosity. She has a similar enough accent to two others he's spoken with, something more obvious in person than it had been over the devices.

As for her own stare, Viktor is so used to it at this point that he doesn't react, waiting to see if she is the type to announce her observations or turn them over in her mind. ]

I am not used to having neighbors. To be honest, I do not interact with them if I have no reason to. [ And Viktor is very good at finding reasons not to. ] The anonymity of being in the middle of everything is preferable to standing out in the emptiness of the more open areas.

[ Viktor takes a step back, holding the door open for her. ]

[Sciel steps in, immediately starting up unfurl her scarf and unzip her coat; winter is a miserable and bulky business. Her smile grows a little teasing:]

Well, I can be chatty sometimes, but don’t hesitate to tell me when you’ve had enough!

[Low social batteries, she’s got it. The coat comes off next, and she slings it all over an arm. Her gaze flits back up to his face, the hard planes of his face. Despite her cheer, the next question is a touch more subdued, though no less comfortable:]

Can I ask about the mask?

There is a cabinet there.

[ Viktor gestures vaguely towards it. Nothing is inside except for a stack of blank paper tucked into a corner, and the hooks are bare and sturdy enough to support a jacket and a scarf at the very least. ]

You can ask. [ A pause. ] I do not have to answer.

[ Leading the way through the silent warehouse towards the start of the greenhouse, he adds: ]

What is it you want to know?

[Sciel steps to the cabinet, then, receiving herself of her coat. His pause has her glancing back over her shoulder, and she nods; she'd expect nothing else.]

Did you make it yourself?

[Some of these engineering sorts do. She falls into step beside him, eyes ahead of her. Quiet place for one person.]

Yes.

[ An easy answer. It's not a feat of engineering he's particularly proud of, but there is more thought that was put into it than might be visible at first glance.

He continues to lead the way through the cavernous warehouse, mostly empty with most of the rooms sealed for now. A handful are locked. ]

I assume that is not the only question you have.

[This place is much larger than she expected, and she has about a million curious questions about what one person could do with such a space –– Lumière is every living soul crammed together in one little place, at one time maybe a hundred thousand or more, people living two families to an apartment, and now much more sparse. They still never had anything like this.

But he’s prompting more questions about his face.]

Sure. [She’s not going to pry, exactly, but.] What does it do?

[ Emberflit had always been larger than Viktor had need of, but that meant that he had the space to pursue various projects without needing to make room for them. It's been a lot to maintain, but he was nothing if not efficient. ]

It covers my face.

[ There's a note of humor in his tone. ]

It also filters the air.

[ The fact that it's made of treated steel should give away one of its other uses. ]

[She gives an amused little sound –– got her there –– and glances up at him again. Flippant, teasing:]

The world can’t see how handsome you are under there or else you’d never know a moment’s peace, got it.

[A touch more seriously:]

What’s wrong with the air?

The screaming is distracting. I do prefer peace.

[ Though there's enough distance that he can joke, Viktor has a complicated history with his appearance. Truthfully, he feels less like a stranger in his own body now than he did without all the augmentations. It's too bad he can't do anything yet about the grey in his hair. ]

Nothing dangerous, unless you happen to have a congenital lung defect.

[She knows she’s being a little presumptuous, especially with someone she barely knows, but this is the game. Some people want to play, some people don’t, and he’s not sidestepping her answers like he suggested he would.]

Missing a different organ entirely, fortunately. I like it, though. [She nods her head towards him. His mask, not… missing an organ.] The friend I told you about, the engineer –– he’s down an arm. He’s had a few different prosthetics over the years, it’s really impressive what people can do to accommodate life’s little tricks.

[ Viktor makes a noise, something as close to sympathetic as he can manage. In one of those locked room are notes on the organs he'd replaced years ago, all of them lined up for study, preserved in jars, and there are more he never kept, so he understands missing organs more than most might, and it means that he doesn't ask her for clarification. ]

I think I might have met this friend of yours. We are similarly... afflicted.

[ He gestures towards his right arm, metal all the way up to the shoulder. ]

[She smiles.]

Probably have! He's hard to miss.

[Her gaze does follow his gesture, though, sliding from the metal plated fingers to the joint of his shoulder. It's bulkier than Gustave's, harder to distinguish from armour around an organic body, but–– three fingers?]

There's a couple amputees here, though. Dark curly hair?

It is usually hard to miss a metal arm.

[ There are four fingers. This time anyway. Viktor's first prototype had been missing one and he tries not to think about that error in design and execution. The hexclaw wired onto his back still has only four claws but that's more a private joke than anything. ]

That sounds familiar. Admittedly, I was more interested in the design of the arm than the state of his hair.

[Four fingers it is! Sciel just smiles, a little sly.]

Oh, you types always are. His arm is dark marble and gold, with a slim wrist and a few dials on the side. It’s quite a bit lighter than a lot of the other ones I’ve seen.

I cannot argue that.

[ Viktor knows when he's been thoroughly read. ]

That is the arm. I offered a suggestion to help him deal with the cold, but the design was otherwise sound.

Oh, yes, this winter has been his first time dealing with cold. Not that I have much more experience under my belt, or metal limbs, but I’m glad his first time is at least somewhere he can get pointers from others.

[Etraya has a penchant for super-smart, super-talented amputees, it seems.

Sciel smiles and gestures at the lab ahead.]

So! What’s your current growing set-up?

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[CLOSED]

Sciel, @cache_coeur - Emberflit Alley

Ahh, late!! Thank you for your patience!!

no worries!!

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lmao everything i know about Viktor i know from you or looking at his (old?)character model for work

LOL that's so fair. i have spent too much time with this weirdo and i have so much lore knowledge

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