Living in constant uncertainty must not have been easy for you. [ there is quiet sympathy in his voice — she must be so worried, every day, not knowing who will live and who will die. and despite viktor's personal feelings about the council, well, cassandra kiramman is certainly one of the best ones there. ]
... I believe we could have achieved it. Independence for Zaun. But the bomb will have destroyed that, too.
[ the slight strain to his voice betrays how much this rattles him; if he dies, fine, he was dying already, it'll just have made it quicker. if some in the council die? well, piltover will name new councilors. but the dream of an independent undercity, left bleeding on the council chamber floor, dead before it's had a chance to truly even be born? no, that one truly hurts him.
he nods, then, to what caitlyn says of silco, and then jinx... and then he freezes, just for a moment, eyes widening. he may not be as expressive as jayce, but he's not made a habit of concealing his feelings; and so his surprise is evident, as is the fact that the smile he aims at caitlyn afterwards is entirely genuine. ]
I see. That is a surprise... but a welcome one. It makes me glad to know you haven't been here alone.
It...hasn't been, no. And this place has a way with throwing your fears in your face. [Gods, they haven't even gotten into what this place is, and she already feels like she's thrown so much information at him. This is exactly why she grabbed the alcohol.]
Everything we did....it was really all for nothing. [Trying to stop Silco, trying to make the Council see reason. As Viktor said, they were voting on Zaun's freedom, but Jinx's bomb made sure that would never happen. Sighs. She understands just how badly it hurts him, because she's been living that for well over a year now. It's incredibly personal, for both of them. Parts of both of their worlds were in that chamber.
Caitlyn rarely avoids eye contact, but the few moments she looks away gives her time to avoid seeing his face and how he initially reacts, her gaze only returning to him in time to see the smile appear on his face. She knew he would approve, and yet, she still found herself relieved.] No. I haven't been alone. And there are plenty of others here, like us. Trapped, I mean. Most aren't so bad.
[Which. Speaking of. She probably needs to get to that. He's smart enough that he probably figured out the tablet quickly enough, but that device didn't give all the answers.] I'm sure you have questions. About our situation.
Does it, [ says viktor, except it sounds less like a question and more like a statement, something exasperated and exhausted at once. well, that just means the more he keeps to himself, the better — that way, he can hopefully avoid this whole fears-being-thrown-in-your-face thing.
he doesn't say anything more about the futility of it all; that, too, exhausts him, the idea that everything they tried so hard to do to fix things has come to nothing, that he will be dead and gone just like that, that jayce —
well. better to focus on what caitlyn is telling him about vi, about not having been alone. ]
Trapped. [ another statement, complete with one of his eyebrows raising significantly. ] Yes, I do. Where are we?
The city itself is called Aldrip. It's not a part of Runeterra at all, best we can tell. The running theory seems to be that this-- everything and everyone here-- are part of a simulation. That somehow, someone with advanced technology was able to pull us out of our worlds and into this program. It might make better sense to you than to me, but it's very overwhelming to consider, personally. But it's the best theory we have, and it makes sense. There's an artificial intelligence that has reached out on the network, and we had to do system reset on it recently. There have been glitches, and other strange occurrences that don't exactly align with anything that should be reasonable in a normal reality. Then there's the cycle we seem to be stuck in. It's a two month cycle that rules what occurs. Right now, we're in the month where new people arrive. The Council is also judging people and putting out sentencing at the moment, too. Next month will be...something. Sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's nothing extreme, but it's always something of significance, usually involving the city changing in some way.
[Ugh. Caitlyn feels bad, throwing so much at him, but she knows it's necessary. He has to know what kind of trouble he's found himself in to prepare himself.]
The Council claims we're all criminals, and this is in the name of "rehabilitation", but there's a lot of people being accused of things that don't make sense, or are just flat out wrong. It's definitely a faulty system, and we're not even sure they're even real, and not just another piece of the AI too.
[ he frowns as he listens to her — about the ai, the glitches, the council, the sentences, the two-month cycle... hm. it is certainly a lot to take in. he stays quiet for a moment that seems to stretch on and on, until, ]
I see. So it is possible that we, too, are nothing but – [ he pauses, makes half of a movement like a shrug ] – fragments, our consciousness drawn into this artificial construction that we perceive as reality. Which it is, of course, since reality is all about perception.
That's the thought, yes. I've heard some suggest that maybe our real bodies were taken and are outside the program itself, and others suggest that maybe our consciousnesses were simply pulled from our realities. Neither of which are exactly appealing. Either way, whatever power brought us here has the power to cross time and space. People here are from different worlds entirely. Only the small handful I mentioned already are from Runeterra at all.
[It's confusing and scary and still hard to wrap her mind around, honestly. She says it like it's nothing, but she's been here, what? A year and a half, almost? It really is almost nothing, at that point. Just how it is, now.]
Of course. I know...it's a lot. I thought it might be best, coming from someone you know.
... Yes. Yes, it certainly seems to be able to do that. [ would that be possible with the use of the arcane? could the real mages do that? his hypothesis is yes — with the right combination of runes, with a deeper connection with the arcane... yes, it should be possible.
he decides to say nothing of that. ]
I do appreciate it, Caitlyn. I confess that if anyone else had told me this, I might have called them a liar, or a number of less flattering names. But I know you speak the truth.
I almost didn't believe it, either, but you'll get used to it. Unfortunately. I've been here fifteen months now. Vi's been here even longer. At this point, we're hardly phased.
[Weird shit happens? Oh, it's just another day. That didn't mean they necessarily enjoyed any of the weird shit, but it was practically expected by now.]
I have detailed notes that you're welcome to go through. But-- take your time. As I said, it's a lot to wrap your head around.
Then... I look forward to getting used to it, I suppose.
[ wryly said — his tone conveys just how much he isn't actually looking forward to it at all, as well as his quiet sympathy for her having had to do that. vi, too. ]
Thank you. I will see those notes, I believe. [ with a half-smile, ] If nothing else, this place has not dulled your investigative instincts.
[ and he will stay — to ask more questions, to read over the notes, until he has a coherent picture of everything important that has happened. ]
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expiationlogs2024-10-14 08:59 am
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... I believe we could have achieved it. Independence for Zaun. But the bomb will have destroyed that, too.
[ the slight strain to his voice betrays how much this rattles him; if he dies, fine, he was dying already, it'll just have made it quicker. if some in the council die? well, piltover will name new councilors. but the dream of an independent undercity, left bleeding on the council chamber floor, dead before it's had a chance to truly even be born? no, that one truly hurts him.
he nods, then, to what caitlyn says of silco, and then jinx... and then he freezes, just for a moment, eyes widening. he may not be as expressive as jayce, but he's not made a habit of concealing his feelings; and so his surprise is evident, as is the fact that the smile he aims at caitlyn afterwards is entirely genuine. ]
I see. That is a surprise... but a welcome one. It makes me glad to know you haven't been here alone.
no subject
Everything we did....it was really all for nothing. [Trying to stop Silco, trying to make the Council see reason. As Viktor said, they were voting on Zaun's freedom, but Jinx's bomb made sure that would never happen. Sighs. She understands just how badly it hurts him, because she's been living that for well over a year now. It's incredibly personal, for both of them. Parts of both of their worlds were in that chamber.
Caitlyn rarely avoids eye contact, but the few moments she looks away gives her time to avoid seeing his face and how he initially reacts, her gaze only returning to him in time to see the smile appear on his face. She knew he would approve, and yet, she still found herself relieved.]
No. I haven't been alone. And there are plenty of others here, like us. Trapped, I mean. Most aren't so bad.
[Which. Speaking of. She probably needs to get to that. He's smart enough that he probably figured out the tablet quickly enough, but that device didn't give all the answers.] I'm sure you have questions. About our situation.
no subject
he doesn't say anything more about the futility of it all; that, too, exhausts him, the idea that everything they tried so hard to do to fix things has come to nothing, that he will be dead and gone just like that, that jayce —
well. better to focus on what caitlyn is telling him about vi, about not having been alone. ]
Trapped. [ another statement, complete with one of his eyebrows raising significantly. ] Yes, I do. Where are we?
no subject
[Ugh. Caitlyn feels bad, throwing so much at him, but she knows it's necessary. He has to know what kind of trouble he's found himself in to prepare himself.]
The Council claims we're all criminals, and this is in the name of "rehabilitation", but there's a lot of people being accused of things that don't make sense, or are just flat out wrong. It's definitely a faulty system, and we're not even sure they're even real, and not just another piece of the AI too.
no subject
[ he frowns as he listens to her — about the ai, the glitches, the council, the sentences, the two-month cycle... hm. it is certainly a lot to take in. he stays quiet for a moment that seems to stretch on and on, until, ]
I see. So it is possible that we, too, are nothing but – [ he pauses, makes half of a movement like a shrug ] – fragments, our consciousness drawn into this artificial construction that we perceive as reality. Which it is, of course, since reality is all about perception.
... Thank you. For telling me.
no subject
[It's confusing and scary and still hard to wrap her mind around, honestly. She says it like it's nothing, but she's been here, what? A year and a half, almost? It really is almost nothing, at that point. Just how it is, now.]
Of course. I know...it's a lot. I thought it might be best, coming from someone you know.
no subject
he decides to say nothing of that. ]
I do appreciate it, Caitlyn. I confess that if anyone else had told me this, I might have called them a liar, or a number of less flattering names. But I know you speak the truth.
no subject
[Weird shit happens? Oh, it's just another day. That didn't mean they necessarily enjoyed any of the weird shit, but it was practically expected by now.]
I have detailed notes that you're welcome to go through. But-- take your time. As I said, it's a lot to wrap your head around.
🎀
[ wryly said — his tone conveys just how much he isn't actually looking forward to it at all, as well as his quiet sympathy for her having had to do that. vi, too. ]
Thank you. I will see those notes, I believe. [ with a half-smile, ] If nothing else, this place has not dulled your investigative instincts.
[ and he will stay — to ask more questions, to read over the notes, until he has a coherent picture of everything important that has happened. ]