Chapter Text
"What is it?"
Viktor's voice was laced with curiosity as Heimerdinger came forward the yordle holding a strange blue cube, his poro bouncing quickly behind him. The item illuminated the professor in a soft blue light, nearly hiding out the strange sigils that decorated the various faces of the item.
"It looks like it could be Hextech, right?" Jayce's voice was a bit more cautious, worry lacing the words as he plucked the cube from the professor's hand.
"That is what I was hoping you boys would be able to figure out." Heimerdinger said, voice bright but filled with slight wariness. "It is clearly a manufactured work, judging by the the detail put into it, however," his voice grew a little dark, concern growing in his eyes as he looked at both of the men in front of him.
"This is a serious matter, my boys." his words came with a sudden urgency. "If the concept of hextech has gotten out, it could be a danger to us all if it is in the wrong hands."
Viktor's crutch tapped against tile floor as he made his way over to Jayce, drawing closer to the strange blue cube, their faces bathed in a soft glow. The warning was dire, one worth heading, they knew, but one they didn't wish to hear all the same.
They were just barely a few years past unrest that had threatened their joint cities, an upheaval that had a promise to tear them apart. The thought of war had been a threat, one barely avoided with strict negotiation and promises that had to be fought for.
Promises of restitution to a city subjugated for far to long, it's children poisoned and forgotten.
It came with promises to ease the pain of Zaun, to bring up the city that found itself under Piltover's foot. Concessions were made to clean the streets of the pollutions forced down on the people, to help bring education to the youth. To offer sovereignty and a seat at the councilor's table.
To stop the poisoning of Zaun's people before it was too late for the younger generation. To see that Viktor's efforts to help his city weren't for naught, even though it was too late for him.
It was a step towards the future, a unity birthed through the strife, and yet, Jayce and Viktor knew there were still those that would seek to destroy it all in a single instance if they had ever gotten the chance.
The thought made their blood run cold.
"What my task is for you boys is to find out what this object is, what it was made for, and maybe we can pinpoint who may have made it." Heimerdinger paced through the lab, his shoes tapping quickly as he did so, reaching up to grab a screwdriver from Jayce's desk before spinning on his heels to point it around.
"Hopefully the creator is simply a brilliant mind that had been inspired by the innovation of you boys," the yordel continued, jabbing the screwdriver at Jayce and Viktor in turn. "Someone that we can bring in and foster, but we have to treat this as a matter of it being far more dangerous than that." he tossed the screwdriver into the air, catching it by the metal and slamming the handle into his hand to make a point.
"This is of utmost importance." Heimerdinger raised the screwdriver in the air. A look of concern was shared between Jayce and Viktor, before they turned back to the yordel in front of them.
"Professor, with all due respect, we still have obligations to Zaun." Viktor said, carefully moving forward, trying to hide the fact that the crutch was holding most of his weight. "The filtration system, the air purifiers-"
"Will be delivered as promised." Heimerdinger assured with a confidence that did not match their own. "We must assure the safety of both cities first."
Heimerdinger tossed the screwdriver as best he could toward Jayce before turning on his heels, the poro yelping at Jayce as he caught the tool, his fumbling nearly causing it to drop to the ground. "I know you boys won't let me down."
They could only watch as the council head walked off, the door closing behind him.
Both men were once more staring at one another, both unsure at the situation they found themselves in. They were, after all, the founders of hextech. They knew the magical technology, and there were no better people for the task that had been handed to them. If someone was trying to crack their invention, they needed to know, needed to act.
At the same time, however, the peace had only just been brokered. It was tentative at best. Zaun could understand the delay if this was something made that could danger the peace both cities held, one that was tenuous at best.
Yet, if promises were not upheld, that same peace could break all the same.
It was not something Viktor wished to witness, not with what few short months he had left. However, both men knew all too well that the priorities of the council were fickle at best.
Their own priorities, however, in all of this?
"What… what if this could hold the key to curing you?" Jayce said quietly, more to himself than to Viktor, his voice soft, and strangely hopeful.
"Jayce," Viktor's own voice was a warning, urging Jayce not to chase a hope that was not there. "There… there is no cure. The peace must be upheld. I do not wish to see a war break out before…"
Viktor's voice trailed off.
Jayce's eyes met Viktor's, an odd determination in them that made Viktor's heart break. He knew his partner was having a hard time accepting the prognosis, more so than the day Jayce found Viktor collapsed in his apartment.
Viktor knew that more often than not, trying to push Jayce away from snake oils and false hopes was a fight he no longer had energy for. As desperate as he was to get his partner to face reality, there certainly were far more important matters.
Especially since he knew that when the day finally came to pass, Jayce would be in no state to deliver what needed to be done.
"We can do that, and study this." Jayce said with determination that Viktor often found endearing.
Even now, despite everything, despite the direness of the situation.
Viktor silently cursed his wanting heart.
"There is two of us. We can split the tasks, split the focus. Heimerdinger said we needed to find out what this is. He didn't say we couldn't work on both."
There was something calming in that statement, even though Viktor knew it would ultimately mean longer hours in the lab.
Would that be so bad, spending more time with Jayce before the end, when his time was so limited?
Viktor moved over, grabbing the cube from Jayce's hand. It was oddly heavy and strangely smooth despite the carvings on it. It was similar to their crystals, but at the same time, vastly different.
Viktor wasn't sure if this was hextech, or something entirely alien to their own projects. He stared at the sigils carefully, finding no recognition in them to the runes that had become a daily part of their research. They seemed almost inhuman in their design.
"Very well." he said, his accent curling around the words betraying his curiosity. "Let's get to work, then."
The runes etched into the metal fizzled and popped around the strange cube settled in the makeshift metal contraption, sparking like they had been overcharged before quickly petering out to still nothingness. The cube in the center sat still, the same soft glow emanating from it as it always had.
It had been weeks since they had been offered the cube to research by Heimerdinger, and they were no closer to figuring out its purpose than they were the first day of their attempts at solving the mystery. Viktor and Jayce were run ragged, exhaustion eating away at them, made evident by their curses of frustration at yet another failed attempt at their task at hand.
They were barely getting sleep. The daylight hours were reserved for the study of the strange blue cube, the council bearing down on them even though they had no answers.
Nights, when the halls around the lab fell silent and the incessant pestering of people in power faded away, were saved for the projects of the undercity.
It left them with scant few hours of rest, catching moments of sleep in the pauses of their breaks. The coffee percolator remained filled, the last drops making way to a new brew as they used the bitter elixir to help push themselves through the long hours.
It was like the first days of hextech, when they hovered in the lab until the songbirds were chirping once more and the sun was rising over the horizon, but they no longer clung to that part of their youth. Their thirties were not so forgiving to the punishment they were putting their bodies.
Viktor's ailing health only proved to make it worse.
It was no wonder the man had reached a breaking point when the experiment failed, fists slamming into the table, nearly reaching over to toss the experiment onto the floor. A tanned hand settled onto a thin pale wrist, thumb gently brushing over knuckles in an attempt to ground the other. It gave Viktor pause, the realization that he was not alone in this room. He tried his best to reign in his emotions once more, but he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes.
"Breathe." Jayce said calmly, trying hard not to note the irony in the statement that Viktor's dwindling timeline was because he could barely do just that, hand moving to Viktor's shoulders. He started to gently rub them as he felt the hiccuping sounds come from the man before him.
"I just don't understand." Viktor said, gesturing at the cube. "If this were hextech, it would react to the runes, would it not? I'm starting to think the whole point of this was to have the council send us on a fools errand rather than do the work for Zaun. We could be making an actual difference, Jayce."
Jayce couldn't argue with that, but he also knew, save for one or two members, most of the council would not hear that what they worked with now may be something completely divorced from the work they were supposed to be doing.
As far as they knew, it could have simply been a chem tech art piece.
The only problem was they hadn't been able to take it apart to find out. They had yet to find any seam in the surface, making them believe it was a solid piece of material, but it had also been resistant to their attempts to break it open.
At least the attempts in breaking it that they had felt safe in making. If it were made of the same material as Jayce's crystals, it could be just as volatile, and that was not something that they were willing to find out.
"Let's take a break." Jayce suggested carefully. He withered a little under Viktor's frustrated look, knowing the suggestion wasn't welcome even at the best of times.
However, Jayce could see how worn Viktor was. He could see how thin shoulders were pulled tight, eyes were ringed with circles darker than bruises. Viktor's breathing came out slow and heavy, betraying the weariness his ailing body suffered through.
It strengthened Jayce's resolve to continue.
"I know time is running short, but we will waste more of it if our minds can't focus." Jayce reasoned. "Only for a half hour, enough time to get stretch, maybe get something to eat."
Jayce refused to admit to the fact that it would likely only be himself eating, the signs of Viktor's loss of appetite evident in gaunt cheekbones. He was hoping Viktor would at least consider getting something into his stomach, hoping that maybe that small act would help Viktor's sour mood, if only a little.
Viktor pondered over Jayce's argument before giving a tired sigh of relief. The wheels of his stool clacked softly as he pushed back from the desk, grabbing his crutch as he stood.
"Twenty minutes." Viktor bartered.
Jayce would take it as a win.
They sat quietly in the small cafe near the lab they frequented, the smell of dark roasts and sweet rolls filling the air. Jayce sat, eating a half sandwich as quickly as he could, his stomach making him realize how little he had eaten in the last few days.
Viktor sipped on his coffee, spoon swirling in the soup he had bought, trying to eat what he could despite his diminished appetite. They didn't dare address it, despite Jayce's worries being palpable.
The stirring of the soup brought up a small round onion and a cube of chicken, and for a moment, Viktor stared at it, intently, the odd combination suddenly striking inspiration in the scientist.
"Have we tried using one of the crystals with the cube?" Viktor's sudden realization was blurted louder than the soft tone he usually spoke, a sudden moment of curiosity in his words. It caught the attention of two enforcers, Jayce noticing them look over in what looked to be concern at the sudden raise in volume. He raised his hand, a gesture to let them know everything was alright, before answering Viktor's question with a quieter voice.
"We haven't, no." Jayce said thoughtfully, making sure his voice was low enough for only Viktor to hear. "We have been assuming that it should be able to power things on its own, but we haven't stopped to consider it might simply be a component to a whole."
The enforcers seemed to go back to their own meals, though Jayce couldn't help but to notice that their attention still seemed trained on them.
They must know about the potential risk of what Heimerdinger brought us. Jayce rationalized. We still have to be careful with what we say outside the lab.
Viktor seemed to beam at the realization, suddenly moving to get up, spoon splashing into his untouched soup. Despite his worn down body, he seemed to vibrate with excitement, suddenly eager to get back to work.
"We have to get back to the lab! This could be the key to unlocking it's secrets, what it was made for-" Viktor was stopped with a gentle hand around his wrist. He gave a small frown, staring at Jayce with slight incredulity.
"Twenty minutes, Viktor." Jayce reminded. "Not just for you, for both of us." he gave a small wave of his sandwich, which caused Viktor to give a sheepish look and settle back into his chair. He then motioned to Viktor's soup. "You should try and eat, too, at least a little. If this works out, we will need the energy for the next steps."
Viktor sighed, frustrated slightly by Jayce's earnest concern, but he conceded that his partner was right.
That, and his renewed hope seemed to have made him just the slightest bit hungry, at least for the moment, and Viktor knew better than to waste that opportunity of his body cooperating for once.
"Only because you made a rare point." Viktor teased as he grabbed his spoon, filling it with some of the vegetables as he ate, to Jayce's relief as he beamed.
The sun was beginning to sink low near the horizon as the finishing touches to the contraption were finalized, the soldering iron melting metal between a couple of pieces. As Viktor set it down, watching as the metal cooled quickly from behind goggles, he couldn't help the quirk of his lips, satisfied with the quick work he had done.
"According to your calculations, Jayce," Viktor said, pushing the goggles up into his hair, leaving it messy and sticking up every which way, and Jayce could swear it made Viktor look like a small house cat. "This should allow a dampened amount of power to flow into the cube in a controlled frequency, ensuring it doesn't overload anything.
Viktor looked up at his partner, a crooked mischievous grin on his face.
"We certainly don't want a repeat of what happened several years ago in your apartment."
Jayce rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help the small huff of laughter that escaped him.
"This should work." Jayce agreed. "And we added in the emergency dampeners. If the extra runes sense a surge of energy, they will be able to cut off the magic flow before it becomes dangerous."
Viktor gave a small hum of approval and a nod as he settled the strange cube into the center of the array. It illuminated the metal construct in it's usual soft glow, one that had not diminished since they had gotten it.
A factor that made them doubt that the cube had nothing to do with the arcane, despite its lack of reaction to it.
Jayce moved to go grab one of the hex crystals, carrying the small uneven sphere gingerly. It was not as volatile as the ones he first started working with, both Viktor and Jayce having made it a point to start stabilizing them as a measure of extra good will to Zaun. Still, it was far from safe, and a reckless move could jeopardize everything.
After all, it was his recklessness that nearly took the lives of four Zaunite children. It was only reasonable that he made sure there was never a repeat of what happened.
He wouldn't know what to do with himself if one of the children had died that day.
"Time… to crank it." Jayce joked gently as he placed the small crystal into the designated socket. They had barely begun, but the glow of the crystal and the cube brightened by being placed into proximity of one another, and the two of them couldn't help but feel hope that they were finally making headway.
Viktor's quirked smile grew as he once again placed his goggles back over his eyes. He reached over to the control, fingers hovering over it for just a moment before pressing the button.
For a moment, there was nothing, their anxiety growing with each passing moment as their lead seemed to be for naught.
Then the energy of the crystal began to flow through the metal contraption. The air began to taste of ozone as the various runes began to light up, one by one, the magical array guiding energy to the cube's base.
It reached the array at the base, slowly lighting up before reaching the cube. The cube began to glow brighter, bathing them in it's brilliance as it did so. They watched, excited and tense.
This was the most reaction the cube had since they had obtained it.
The same flow continued over the course of a few minutes, like the cube was taking the energy from the hex crystal, until finally the runes started to go dark. It wasn't a sudden reaction, not like with other tests. Instead, as the last of the magical energy was pulled from the crystal, the runes went dark in order as the magic faded, before it was entirely consumed by the cube.
With that, it was over. It was almost as if nothing had happened at all, save for the brighter, pulsing light coming from the strange contraption.
There had been a reaction, but to what, they did not know. Hypothesizes, however, could be formed now, and the thought excited them. They turned to one another, grins on their faces.
"It could possible be a way to store the energy from the crystals!" Viktor said excitedly. "Like a form of compound power bank. Think of the possibilities, Jayce! If this is the case, this could be the way to power homes without the use of corrosive chem tech!"
"It could be used in emergency situations!" Jayce continued off of Viktor's thoughts. "A portable energy source to help power new technology for medics or emergency personnel. If this is the case, Viktor, this is huge!"
Maybe needing to put the research into this strange object over helping with the people of Zaun wasn't for naught.
They both reached over to grab the cube, nearly a united mind ready to see if they could test it on something. Their fingers touched the sides of it at the same time, hands pressing against it for just a moment.
The cube pulsed softly, and then they were in a trance, their minds clearing as blue pulsed in time with their heartbeats.
It was only for a few moments, their minds quieted as they felt the flow of something entwine with their very being. Something was different, changed, latched onto their DNA as it became a part of them.
Then the moment was over. Their eyes fluttered open just in time to see the cube's glow dull back to its original state, and their hearts sank.
"We're back to the start." Viktor solemnly said.
Jayce stared at the cube, examining it, before plucking it up. He could still remember the interaction with it, that sudden trance, how the cube seemed to connect with them with the energy it had pulled from the crystal.
"I don't think so." Jayce said as he looked over the cube, studying it as he turned it over, noticing it glow slightly brighter in his own hand than when at rest. "Our initial theory of it holding energy is wrong, I think. It did something with us." he held out his hand to show Viktor how the cube held the slightly brighter glow in his hand, before setting it down and backing away.
The glow dimmed, and Jayce gave a small motion for Viktor to pick it up. As he did so, golden eyes widen in shock as the cube brightened like it had with Jayce's hand.
They still had no answers, but they had a lead.
Viktor's smile returned.
"This could mean so many things!" the weary man's chattiness returned as he looked up at Jayce as he began to pace to his notes. "If we can find out what it did with us, we could find out how it reacts to others. Maybe this is the key to longevity, to augmenting physiology…"
"Curing you…" Jayce said with a cautiously hopeful smile on his face. He quickly turned to Viktor, unable to contain his excitement. "We should celebrate this, Viktor! I know we still have work to do for the undercity, but one night can't hurt."
Viktor's expression turned a little guilty, sheepish in a way that Jayce recognized that his partner was contending with how to let Jayce down gently. He could feel disappointment welling up, wondering if he could convince Viktor to join him for at least one drink, and desperate to beg Viktor to not stay through the night working.
Especially not with his health so frail. The thought of Viktor working alone terrified Jayce.
"I will have to take you up on that offer another time." Viktor's tone was gentle, honest. "You are right, taking one night can't hurt, so I hope you can't, eh, blame me for taking it to rest. I am actually quite weary." It wasn't a lie. Viktor found himself incredibly tired after the cube interacted with him, and he had been running on fumes. As much as he wanted to, and it was a desire that rivaled he persistant want of sweet milk, Viktor was certain he would be asleep at his desk. If his body was going to force rest onto him, he would much rather be in his own bed.
Jayce's disappointment faded, actually beaming at Viktor's suggestion of taking self-care for once. "Deal." he said, a gentle hand patting Viktor on the back. "Let's get the notes written down and packed up." Viktor gave an approving nod, reaching out for the notebook and pen as they discussed what they observed.
The notes were quickly jotted down, their observations and hypotheses documented before either of them had a chance to forget, the time passing as further ideas came to them and the potential of the strange device was expanded upon. It wasn't until the sun had set below the horizon, the hextech lamps switching on to light the streets that they finally set on out.
"Do you want me to walk you home, Viktor?" Jayce asked, earnest in his words, the man worried when he saw how exhausted Viktor was.
Viktor paused, back turned to the man as he felt a flush across his cheeks.
Yes. I want you to walk me home. I want you to come home with me.
Traitorous thoughts Viktor would never dare to voice.
Especially since he only had months left, if he was lucky.
"I'll be fine, Jayce." Viktor schooled his voice to hide the pain he held as he spoke those words. He turned around, giving Jayce a small reassuring smile. "I highly doubt I will collapse on my way home. You should get some rest."
Jayce looked a little crestfallen, but Viktor needed that distance from his partner to get his tumultuous emotions in check.
"I will see you tomorrow, Jayce." The words were said as a promise, and he could see Jayce's features relax, at least a little.
"Alright, V." Jayce resigned, hand on Viktor's shoulder. "I will hold you to that."
Viktor's crutch clicked on the cobblestone streets as he made his way back to his small apartment on the outskirts of the academy district, his mind lost in thought over the experiment they had partake in hopes to distract himself from unobtainable wishes of simple affection.
It was true, he was still disappointed that they still didn't know what the object was. However, they made headway on the fact that it reacted to the arcane. Something activated it, which in turn caused it to react with them.
With its activation, and with it reacting to Jayce and himself, Viktor highly doubted it was an object made with the intent of being a weapon, though there was still time for a further reaction to occur.
They would have to report it to the council in the morning, a task he was far from looking forward to, but he was hoping that they could alleviate the councils fears that it was made with the intent of harm. They needed to get the council to release its hold on their work, need them to get back to the schedule they were on.
Maybe with that, he and Jayce could finally get back to matters that were far more important.
Viktor had barely heard the enforces, stopping only when they stepped in front of them. He paused, a moment of apprehension running through him.
He may have been a citizen of Piltover, but he was still a Zaunite.
And the relations between the two cities were still shaky, at best.
"Gentlemen," Viktor greeted, voice polite, but expression wary as they approached. "Is there anything I could help you with?" he straightened himself upright as best he could, doing his best to keep both enforcers withing his sight. He recognized them as the ones from the cafe earlier, and the thought did little to ease his mind.
One of the enforcers offered a smile, one hand raised in a placating way. It did little to relax Viktor's nerves, but he did force himself to calm a little.
"We simply have a few questions for you, Viktor." the enforcer spoke carefully. "It is in regards to an investigation we are working on. We would like for you to come with us."
Viktor quirked an eyebrow, unsure if he trusted the men, though the fact that they knew his name made him come to the conclusion they also knew of his affiliation with Jayce. Knowing his partner, if something were to come of him, Jayce would have no issue turning the precinct upside down in retribution.
There was a hope that the men before Viktor would realize the same thing.
"May I know the nature of the investigation?" Viktor asked carefully, watching their faces for a reaction. Nothing gave away any indication of ill intent, but Viktor's years in Zaun had taught him better than to trust muted emotions.
Sometimes those holding back on their expressions were more dangerous than those that were loud about them.
"We will explain everything once we are in the interrogation room. This is a… very delicate matter." the other enforcer answered, neither one waiting for Viktor's answer as they flanked him. They kept their hands to themselves, but it was a clear indication that Viktor didn't have a choice.
"Very well." Viktor resigned. Both man seemed to be pleased by his compliance as they made their way through the streets, Viktor hoping his own compliance would offer him safety. Even with the peace brokered between the two cities, he was not under the illusion that those with the slightest bit of power had no intention of abusing against someone like him.
Viktor knew the path they were taking, having done the trek countless times whenever he had an investigation at the behest of Heimerdinger. He knew any of the side paths he could take if he needed to if things got dicey.
He was also incredibly aware of the fact that he was no longer in any shape to escape down those pathways if danger had presented it self, that the enforcers would be on him long before he made any distance between them and himself.
Viktor found himself thankful that, at least this time, the enforcers seemed true to their word, or at least didn't hold contempt for the Zaunite they escorted as the building came into view. They made their way into the precinct, Viktor struggling up the stairs and silently cursing the lack of a ramp before making his ways inside, all the while hoping that the men didn't take this as an opportunity to put their hands on him under the guise of helping him.
The precinct wasn't busy by any means as they made their way through the large doors, but it wasn't empty, either, people flitting about desks with paper work, chatting with their coworkers, or discussing incidents that had occurred in hopes of getting a report filed. A couple of visitors sat in the waiting room, likely waiting to hear on reports they filed, or pay a fine they owed.
There were people around, but Viktor couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that was starting to rise within him that, despite the witnesses, should something happen to him, it would not be reported. He could feel eyes on him from some of the people, and as he looked, he caught sight of one of the people of the waiting room. The elderly gentleman's eyes watched him not with curiosity, but with a knowing that seemed malicious in nature.
It made Viktor's skin crawl.
They lead Viktor past the row of desks and down a hall that lead to the interrogation rooms. His crutch clicked on the marble flooring, his gait a rhythmic tap tap-click as he walked through the halls, causing him to curse at the looks it garnered him.
The enforcers stopped at one of the rooms furthest in the hall, past a row of those that were empty, unlocking the door and holding it open to allow Viktor inside. He didn't understand why they hadn't entered any of the ones before it, and his sense of danger was once more beginning to rise.
A part of him had wished he had let Jayce escort him home, now.
Viktor made his way into the room, making slow methodical steps as he stepped over to the table to sit down. The enforcers flanking him made him feel trapped, corralled, despite their insistence that they simply wanted to talk to him.
They only wanted to discuss something he may have been a witness to, nothing more.
So why could he not shake the feeling of danger, that pinprick sensation at the back of his head that told him that something was wrong? Why was it, when he looked over at them, Viktor couldn't help but to think that they seemed predatory in their expressions.
One of the enforcers pulled out one of the two chairs that sat at the table, the other closing the blinds to the single window as Viktor carefully sat down.
"What is this all about, gentlemen?" Viktor schooled his voice to be as even as possible, refusing to give them any reason to decide that he, as a Zaunite, was dangerous and someone they needed to assault. He made himself look as unassuming as possible, even setting his crutch to the side, despite wanting to keep it in hand as a potential defensive weapon.
The two enforcers remained quiet, once again flanking Viktor. His hands moved to grip the table, his eyes darting between the two of them.
"What is this all about?" he asked again, his voice a little sharper this time.
He almost missed the opening and closing of the door he had just come through, too focused on the men at his sides staring down at him.
"Is this the scientist that is working with the Andalite device?" a voice called from behind, causing Viktor to turn around, startled.
The elderly gentleman that had been sitting in the waiting room entered, eyes trained on Viktor like a cat with a cornered mouse. The lapel of his waistcoat held the Arvino crest, signifying his rank within the house, and Viktor found himself shocked that someone from such a high station was here for simple question answering. He was guided in by a servant, and the appearance of someone from one of the higher houses made the hair on the back of Viktor's neck stand on end.
"What is this all about?" Viktor asked once more, his voice wavering with the question. "I am a scientist of Hextech, not of… And-a-light technology. You clearly have the wrong scientist."
Yet, as he said the words, dread began to grow in Viktor. Something told him it was about the strange blue box he and Jayce had been presented with weeks ago, that somehow it was less related to the Arcane than they had thought. The secret of its existence seemed to be out, and Viktor feared what the device was now put Jayce, as well as himself, in danger.
The elderly gentleman ignored Viktor's words, a slight Viktor had grown used to from those of higher houses. Despite the brokered peace, they still saw Zaunites as less than the dirt beneath their heel. People simply refused to give him the time of day, not unless the interaction with such a "lowly Zaunite" would benefit their image, or their coffers.
Even now, with the better relations, Viktor was still somehow just "Jayce's assistant".
Yet, try as he might to ascribe this to the usual arrogance of the noble elite, there was something in the eyes of the man before him that told Viktor that this was something far more dangerous.
Instead, the gentleman was guided to the other end of the table, facing Viktor as elder eyes studied Viktor's face. Gold eyes met aged grey, and there was something about them that made Viktor tense.
There was something with inhuman malevolence in those eyes. Not the disgust of a higher house for those of the undercity, or even indifference of Piltover's own for those of the lower districts.
It was like looking into the eyes of a predator that had caught sight of its prey.
"Hmm," the gentleman regarded Viktor, not as a human, but as something to covet, something to take. "I would have much rather have had the healthier one, but this one will make a suitable host."
There was something about the words that made Viktor scoot back, only to be made aware of just how outnumbered he was. Enforcer hands were on his shoulders, keeping him in place. Every neuron in his body was screaming for him to flee, to run, to escape.
It wasn't like he could if he tried. Even if he could get out the door, his failing body would not allow him to get very far.
Viktor watched as the gentleman placed his hands upon the table, near the bar cuffs would loop through. He watched as the assistant attached the cuffs, locking them in place, ensuring their stability.
"Feed this host to the Taxxons." the man said, his voice cold, cruel, and though Viktor had no clue what the creature he spoke of was, the thought of the man before him being fed to a creature made him sick. "It isn't like he has much longer, but we can't risk letting anything getting out. We must ensure our victory."
There was no response from the others, a quiet understanding from everyone.
Everyone but Viktor.
What did the man mean by host?
What did he mean by feeding it…
His thoughts were cut off as his own arms were wrenched forward. He gave a cry of surprise, the pain in his shoulders jarring him before he realized cuffs were now locking him into place in the same manner as the man across from him.
"What is the meaning of this?" Viktor shouted, anger edging into his voice as he tugged against his restraints. "Jayce will be hearing about this."
"He won't." the man said.
The words sent a chill down Viktor's spine, the words spoken as if they were as a simple fact.
He started tugging on his restraints fruitlessly, his heart pounding, his breaths coming short and ragged as terror took hold. The pain in his arms was a dull ache, the adrenaline in his system spurring him on. He was so focused on his own futile escape, he hadn't noticed the man's eyes rolling back, his body quivering. Hands flexed, first relaxed, then with more intensity.
There was a guttural cry from across the table, one that caused Viktor to look up.
The sight before him made him sick.
He watched, something slippery, violet in color fall from the mans ear. It was formless, at first, squeezing out slowly. The aid stood by, ready to catch whatever it was, careful mannerisms treating it like it was something precious.
He watched as the cruelty left the man's eyes, as a different kind of awareness began to take hold as grey eyes looked at him with something far more human than they had moments before.
Fear.
The amorphous form soon began to take shape, a slug of considerable size soon now sitting in the assistants palm. The man was now staring at Viktor, tears running down his face as he tugged on his own restraints.
"You have to run, son!" he begged, trying to reach for what has just escaped his ear without success, a desperate attempt to kill it.
"Don't let them put that thing near you! It will take over your mind and you will only be able to watch!"
The severity of the situation started to unfold, and soon Viktor was trying to kick away, twisting as best he could as the assistant brought the slug over.
He found no escape. Instead, he found his face pushed against the table, the enforces restraining him, making sure his head did not move. He cried out, struggled against his captors, his eyes wide as he watched the assistant draw closer.
"Please, he is just a lad!" begged the man, having long since stopped struggling when he realized how futile it was to break free, hoping his words would reason with their captors instead. "I have far more influence in the city! Just let him go!"
Viktor knew, however, there would be no escape for neither of them.
He knew so little of what was going on, and yet something told him he now knew too much. He couldn't even fathom what the man before him knew, what terrors had been witnessed during his subjugation to the thing now being brought near to Viktor.
He trembled as the assistant bore down on him, the creature in her hand squirming. There was no regard for Viktor's terror as it was brought to his ear carefully, pressed against it. He could feel it there, the body slick with ooze.
He wanted to gag.
His repulsion was only furthered when he felt it begin to slither into his ear.
It hurt, at first, the creature deforming itself to push it's way into the ear canal, but the ache eased, Viktor wondering if the creature making its way into his skull having a numbing agent to the substance it secreted. He could feel it worming it's way towards his brain, a slow process, one that made his stomach turn. He screamed, hoping his cries for help would alert someone else, another enforcer, anyone.
"Let me g-"
His shout was cut off.
It wasn't under his own volition. Slowly, as the creature settled, he could feel his control over his own body slipping. It had gone for his voice first, silencing him. His struggles became intermittent, the neurons in his mind slowly ignoring him for the invading creature inside his head.
His heart and breathing slowed, forced into a calm, his brain forced out of the instinctual need to flee as it relayed signals to Viktor's amygdala.
As Viktor peered at the man at the other side of the table, he could feel his lips curl, a sadistic expression form on his face he could no longer control.
His body was no longer his own.
He felt the hands forcing him down release him, felt the cuffs release from his own wrists. He could still feel the ache from the angle he had been at, but there was nothing he could do to sooth it. His hand was forced into his vision, slowly being turned inspected, the dexterous digits extending and curling.
"You really have no idea what you are working with, do you?" he heard his own voice speak, an inflection of cruelty in it.
Viktor wished he could push back, force himself back into control, but every signal his mind sent was overridden.
Then came the invasion of his memories. His thoughts. The creature was digging through his mind, violating the sanctity of it, knowing secrets Viktor intended to keep in the darkest recesses of his mind.
Until it came to the discovery earlier that day. The reaction of the strange blue cube towards the Hex crystals, that even though he had no clue what had happened, there had been a breakthrough of sorts.
"You activated it." His voice said again, a hint of glee slipping in. "The Escafil device, you gained it's boon."
What do you mean? Viktor thought, horrified at what the implications were on those words.
He hadn't expected there to be a response, not one in his own mind.
<Here. Let me show you.>
His body was forced to move, forced to push forward, forced to handle the crutch and take careful steps towards the terrified man.
Watched as that man looked up at him, whispering an apology with sad, knowing eyes.
Viktor knew, then, what the man had gone through. Knew now what the man had pleaded for, to spare Viktor from this fate, but it was all for naught. Broken body or not, his mind had been desirable to the creature that now inhabited, controlled, and violated it.
A hand brushed against the man's cheek, and for a moment, an oddly gentle gesture for what had transpired, and then both were in a trance. It was momentary, like it was a transferring of information from one to the other, absorbing new knowlege in a way that felt similar to what the blue cube- the Escafil device, had done earlier that day, then just as fast as it started, it was over.
"There will be no worry about your disappearance." Viktor's voice told the man. "They will never know you are gone. You will not be missed."
There was a cruelty in the words that Viktor would have never allowed enter his voice under his own willpower. As the last malicious syllable escaped his lips, Viktor powerless to stop it, he felt his eyes slip shut. His lungs took in as deep of a breath as they would allow, the action agony as they protested, and in that moment Viktor wished they would seize up, ending his already short life before the creature in his brain could do anything with his body. The creature, satisfied with the breath he took, forced Viktor into a trance of concentration, the image of the man that stood before him the focus of his mind.
He didn't understand, not at first, unsure of why the creature wished to focus the host it had just left.
Then the change began, and with sickly realization, Viktor understood.
He would gasp, if his very self hadn't been separated from his own body. He could feel as his bones began to shrink within his own flesh, shifting and changing, feeling his body begin to age rapidly. His skin grew thin, wrinkled and aged, much unlike his own as it shifted against his rapidly atrophying muscle.
Viktor would retch, if he could
His hair seemed to shift back into his scalp, vanishing, though to where he wouldn't be able to say, as white thin strands began completely replacing where his chestnut ones where. His nails grew brittle, aging with the rest of him as his already misaligned spine curved underneath his skin and forced him into the same hunched pose as the man before him.
His right leg shifted and popped, and Viktor could do nothing as he felt it slowly move into the socket the way it should have been at birth, but it did him no good. The joint was stiff with years even if it moved properly, even as both of his feet pointed forward.
No. The feet he now stood on were no longer those familiar to his body.
His own clothes hung loosely on his changed frame as Viktor came to the horrifying realization that the creature in his head had forced his body to change into the man before him, the process taking minutes in a sickening change of shifting organs and changing bones, with muscles growing weak and body turned frail. He felt himself shuffle forward, hand reaching out to grab something from the breast pocket of the old man. His eyes, clouded with age, watched as what was pulled out was flipped open, revealing a mirror, a sinister look of mockery staring back at him that was the stark contrast of the horror the man he shifted to showed.
<Andalite technology.> The creature inside his mind told him through their neural link, as if though Viktor would know of what that meant, what that was. <You figured out how to unlock the device. What fortune that you have access to it.>
What is it? Viktor, despite the terror at his situation, couldn't help his curiosity.
It was as if he could feel the creature smile within his own mind, something sinister and cruel in its delight.
Viktor's hand patted the old man's cheek, all the while, his voice was used to tell the enforcers to take him away. Viktor wanted to scream, to lash out, to beg for mercy, but he could only watched as the man was yanked away, unable to do anything but be a witness to his body's actions as he was relegated to a dark corner of his own mind.
<I don't expect you to understand, since this is technology far more advanced than what your pitiful planet has to offer,> the creature informed Viktor, tone mocking and condescending.
<It can grant the ability to morph to someone, as long as it can be activated. We have been searching for it for some time now, ever since we learned it was here. I just never expected humans would have it.>
How do you know all of this? What do you want with it?
Viktor wasn't sure he wanted the answer.
"So ignorant." the creature laughed, Viktor feeling his vocal cords resonating with the cruel sound, drowning out the fading cries of the man that had been dragged away. "There are worlds beyond this one. There are wars far more grand than the petty squabble between two cities. There is an empire waiting to be built, where all will be brought to heel to the Yeerks.> the creature, no, Yeerk, took glee in it's excitement.
"The Andalites have been trying for decades to bring us down, ever since they showed us the glory of the universe and all that that it holds. It had been luck that Visser One found you humans. What an abundant stock of hosts. With the Escafil device? The universe will become ours."
Viktor could feel the horror welling up, realizing the power a creature with the ability to take over minds could have if it could also change its shape to whatever it wished.
People, forced to watch as their loved ones were enslaved, forced to endure their bodies changing to whatever the creature, the Yeerk, in their head wished, no longer able to exist anywhere but their mind.
For the rest of their lives, if this species had its way.
Would Viktor watch as they took Sky? Heimerdinger?
Jayce?
Were they already taken?
No. He recalled the Yeerk's own words on how it had wished Jayce had been brought in. If Viktor could take solace in anything, it was the fact that Jayce, at least for now, was safe.
Suddenly, Viktor was forced to concentrate again. His eyes were fluttered closed, his mind filled with his original form as the creature forced Viktor to change once more. Aging began to reverse, wrinkled skin smoothing out and making way for youth, growing taut over a skull that was not made for it, at least not yet. Viktor could feel bones lengthening, pushing through atrophied muscle, cracking as joints struggled to settle into place before softer tissue had a chance to accommodate. Viktor's back cracked, each vertebrae snapping into place in a pattern closer to a malformed spine rather than one falling apart with age. His leg, where the bone settled properly into his hip, popped, the sound sickening to his ears as the birth defect returned, a cruel reminder of genetics he had been born with. Muscle shifted, changed, gaining strength that the elderly gentleman did not have as the flesh began to wrap around the changed skeletal structure properly.
The shifting of bones and tissue in ways it shouldn't made Viktor feel alien to his own body, but that was not what he noticed.
As his stolen body returned to what it was, the last of his hair settling into place once more, his clothes fitting his frame properly, the Yeerk took a breath.
Lungs that had once been failing, long damaged by gasses and fumes, filled with ease, without the pain or the threat of coughed up blood.
It was the fullest breath Viktor had in over a year, perhaps longer.
It was as if he had never been ill at all.
He remembered Jayce's words in the lab, the ones he spoke about the strange device having the potential to cure the disease threatening to put Viktor into an early grave. It was with bittersweet realization that Jayce's hopes had not been unfounded.
His survival of his illness was, in a twisted way, assured.
It would, however, come at the cost of his freedom, and that of Runeterra.
Of Jayce.
Viktor wanted to scream.
He no longer had a mouth to do so.