Viktor (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mehanizovati) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
deercountry2022-03-31 12:24 pm
mehanizovati) wrote in deercountry2022-03-31 12:24 pm
april catch - all
Who: viktor and others, open to all with some closed prompts
What: some late march/early april logs, including some tdm stuff. i'm happy to attach something else on if anyone's interest in doing something specific
When: late march through april
Where: various
content warning; terminal illness, arcane season 1 spoilers, likely game typical beast gore/body horror, potentially ableism mentioned, claustrophobic imagery
open prompts.
fishers of dreams - the lighthouse, early april (tdm)
a. while awake
[if you've been roped into this lighthouse business too you may enter to find a man already there. he seems vaguely disgruntled by the business, offers vague greetings but otherwise sticks to scribbling in his notebook. it looks like schematics and formulae, but anyone with an eye for either might notice they tend to trail off and start in odd bursts.
viktor will offer to cook when evening falls (or whatever seems to be the right mealtime in this place) so maybe that is a better time to strike up conversation. the smell coming from the kitchen is heavy on whatever spices the place stocks, promising pain to anyone who doesn't have the stomach for that sort of thing. worse if he finds the rotgut liquor tucked away, which he will pull out and offer despite smelling more like turpentine than anything edible.
these tricks of the eye though, flashes of people vaguely recognizable, he chalks it up more hallucinations. last month was mushrooms, so this? irritating, far more distracting, but it followed the pattern.
it isn't until later in all this he'll track whoever is with him down.] Did you see someone else come through? There, just up the stairs.
b. nightmare
[trying to reach the odd lighthouses is fruitless, the shadows converge and when the dark clears the area seems more closed in than before. it shouldn't be, he was just outside on the shore, yet now the dark sky seems to hang too low, lower still, suffocating.]
What now? This is another illusion of sorts, is it not? One this place is so fond of. [viktor sounds more irritated than anything, maybe defensive since the grip his has on his crutch is white-knuckle tight. in the distance seems to be a lighthouse, though the light is far and the area is so stifling, promising a tunnel that will close and snuff out the light entirely.
it's ridiculous of course, the walls are not that close, certainly not enough for this suffocating grip on the lungs and throat. there's no real explanation, less so when a few steps forward and the ground begins to dot with great metal cables, the distinct, sickly sweet smell of chemicals in the air. there are pools between them where the ocean should have been, this time shallow spills of what could be gasoline or something similar, slick rainbow puddles, oily and difficult to walk through without slipping or sinking.]
(ooc; for this one please, feel free to add your own character's nightmare in any flavor at any point!)
odds and ends - willful machine, early april
[viktor can be found around the vendors often enough, especially those specializing in scrap metal, tools or small machinery. for the most part he doesn't stick out, except for the fact often his massive omen often accompanies him, some sort of huge pink salamander/axolotl that he'll lean against or ask rather politely to help carry larger purchases.
he doesn't seem to notice or care about any attention, though the creature will blink curiously around. feel free to approach or find him haggling rather intently for such a stick of a man, accent thickening when it gets heated enough. maybe you want the same scrap? or are looking for something and he's standing nearby enough to notice a lost look and offers assistance?]
[one might also find him about by the sound of a nasty coughing fit. he stands with his back curled, a rag to his mouth as a makeshift handkerchief. it's a wet cough that shakes his entire frame, and when it's over his sniffs and clears his throat, straightening.
the cloth is stained in a pale color that catches the perpetual moonlight of april. paleblood, that he regards for a moment before folding the cloth in on itself with a small frown.]
closed prompts.
jinx - willful machine, late march
[viktor doesn't stay by the lamp exactly. he would usually but he hardly sees the point when this person he's meeting knows him by sight as far as he can tell. it leaves him feeling comfortable to wander within eyeshot mostly of the lantern, strolling down the canal docks to find a place to stand and watch the boats cut slowly through the water.
he likes it here, he thinks, in this district. the noise and foot traffic, the winding canals and dirty water, the boats bobbing to and fro - it wouldn't be a bad place to set up. a lab that will double as his home because he doesn't see the point in separating the two any longer, even if he can practically hear heimendinger's tutting about his work-life balance in his ear. it will be closer to the vendors, less of a hike to acquire what he'll need to start fresh. first a new brace for his leg and back, then some basic experiments into lunar energy to get a feel for it.
his lungs flare and burn, minor enough he manages to swallow it down without reaching for the rag in his pocket. he makes a note of the severity and timing, adds it to his growing mental list that seems to indicate his illness does indeed remain but is diminished. promising, if he's being optimistic, but at the moment he feels only a sense of irritation that now he doesn't know the timeline of his own life. one he might be shortening drastically with this ridiculous stunt.
a sigh and viktor goes back to watching the boats, trying to clear his head. he considers trying to message vi and ask her opinion of this but... no, he doubts he'll get anything. he's not sure if he disgusts her as a class traitor or amuses her in truth. better to just see for himself what he's gotten himself into like a fool.]
allen - willful machine, early april
[the 'grand tour' doesn't amount to much yet, the lab area just a large, empty space dotted with a few tables and a couple of desks, not even a chalkboard he's been keeping an eye out for or something that could do the same. one of the desks at least is littered with junk, at the moment tools and the starts of a knee brace, a table nearby with all the scrap he's managed to grab that could be useful in the future. one corner has a cot, maybe he'll clear out whatever other small rooms the place has later for a bedroom proper. maybe not.
viktor seems satisfied with it as he gestures around, and rio has commandeered one of the tables for her own to lie across.] A solid start, I think. I like this area, this eh... Willful Machine, that is.
[he'll never admit part of it is the boats. everyone's allowed a sort of childish interest, right? they're soothing, even if they lack the motors that fascinated him.] Have a seat, if you'd like. How have you been since the tombs?
wildcard.
[as i said, feel free to ask for anything else, including other tdm prompts, i am more interested in seeing the worlds built by others for the archway prompts so i didn't include any here. my plurk is![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
dichotomy or you can dm me here!]
What: some late march/early april logs, including some tdm stuff. i'm happy to attach something else on if anyone's interest in doing something specific
When: late march through april
Where: various
content warning; terminal illness, arcane season 1 spoilers, likely game typical beast gore/body horror, potentially ableism mentioned, claustrophobic imagery
open prompts.
fishers of dreams - the lighthouse, early april (tdm)
a. while awake
[if you've been roped into this lighthouse business too you may enter to find a man already there. he seems vaguely disgruntled by the business, offers vague greetings but otherwise sticks to scribbling in his notebook. it looks like schematics and formulae, but anyone with an eye for either might notice they tend to trail off and start in odd bursts.
viktor will offer to cook when evening falls (or whatever seems to be the right mealtime in this place) so maybe that is a better time to strike up conversation. the smell coming from the kitchen is heavy on whatever spices the place stocks, promising pain to anyone who doesn't have the stomach for that sort of thing. worse if he finds the rotgut liquor tucked away, which he will pull out and offer despite smelling more like turpentine than anything edible.
these tricks of the eye though, flashes of people vaguely recognizable, he chalks it up more hallucinations. last month was mushrooms, so this? irritating, far more distracting, but it followed the pattern.
it isn't until later in all this he'll track whoever is with him down.] Did you see someone else come through? There, just up the stairs.
b. nightmare
[trying to reach the odd lighthouses is fruitless, the shadows converge and when the dark clears the area seems more closed in than before. it shouldn't be, he was just outside on the shore, yet now the dark sky seems to hang too low, lower still, suffocating.]
What now? This is another illusion of sorts, is it not? One this place is so fond of. [viktor sounds more irritated than anything, maybe defensive since the grip his has on his crutch is white-knuckle tight. in the distance seems to be a lighthouse, though the light is far and the area is so stifling, promising a tunnel that will close and snuff out the light entirely.
it's ridiculous of course, the walls are not that close, certainly not enough for this suffocating grip on the lungs and throat. there's no real explanation, less so when a few steps forward and the ground begins to dot with great metal cables, the distinct, sickly sweet smell of chemicals in the air. there are pools between them where the ocean should have been, this time shallow spills of what could be gasoline or something similar, slick rainbow puddles, oily and difficult to walk through without slipping or sinking.]
(ooc; for this one please, feel free to add your own character's nightmare in any flavor at any point!)
odds and ends - willful machine, early april
[viktor can be found around the vendors often enough, especially those specializing in scrap metal, tools or small machinery. for the most part he doesn't stick out, except for the fact often his massive omen often accompanies him, some sort of huge pink salamander/axolotl that he'll lean against or ask rather politely to help carry larger purchases.
he doesn't seem to notice or care about any attention, though the creature will blink curiously around. feel free to approach or find him haggling rather intently for such a stick of a man, accent thickening when it gets heated enough. maybe you want the same scrap? or are looking for something and he's standing nearby enough to notice a lost look and offers assistance?]
[one might also find him about by the sound of a nasty coughing fit. he stands with his back curled, a rag to his mouth as a makeshift handkerchief. it's a wet cough that shakes his entire frame, and when it's over his sniffs and clears his throat, straightening.
the cloth is stained in a pale color that catches the perpetual moonlight of april. paleblood, that he regards for a moment before folding the cloth in on itself with a small frown.]
closed prompts.
jinx - willful machine, late march
[viktor doesn't stay by the lamp exactly. he would usually but he hardly sees the point when this person he's meeting knows him by sight as far as he can tell. it leaves him feeling comfortable to wander within eyeshot mostly of the lantern, strolling down the canal docks to find a place to stand and watch the boats cut slowly through the water.
he likes it here, he thinks, in this district. the noise and foot traffic, the winding canals and dirty water, the boats bobbing to and fro - it wouldn't be a bad place to set up. a lab that will double as his home because he doesn't see the point in separating the two any longer, even if he can practically hear heimendinger's tutting about his work-life balance in his ear. it will be closer to the vendors, less of a hike to acquire what he'll need to start fresh. first a new brace for his leg and back, then some basic experiments into lunar energy to get a feel for it.
his lungs flare and burn, minor enough he manages to swallow it down without reaching for the rag in his pocket. he makes a note of the severity and timing, adds it to his growing mental list that seems to indicate his illness does indeed remain but is diminished. promising, if he's being optimistic, but at the moment he feels only a sense of irritation that now he doesn't know the timeline of his own life. one he might be shortening drastically with this ridiculous stunt.
a sigh and viktor goes back to watching the boats, trying to clear his head. he considers trying to message vi and ask her opinion of this but... no, he doubts he'll get anything. he's not sure if he disgusts her as a class traitor or amuses her in truth. better to just see for himself what he's gotten himself into like a fool.]
allen - willful machine, early april
[the 'grand tour' doesn't amount to much yet, the lab area just a large, empty space dotted with a few tables and a couple of desks, not even a chalkboard he's been keeping an eye out for or something that could do the same. one of the desks at least is littered with junk, at the moment tools and the starts of a knee brace, a table nearby with all the scrap he's managed to grab that could be useful in the future. one corner has a cot, maybe he'll clear out whatever other small rooms the place has later for a bedroom proper. maybe not.
viktor seems satisfied with it as he gestures around, and rio has commandeered one of the tables for her own to lie across.] A solid start, I think. I like this area, this eh... Willful Machine, that is.
[he'll never admit part of it is the boats. everyone's allowed a sort of childish interest, right? they're soothing, even if they lack the motors that fascinated him.] Have a seat, if you'd like. How have you been since the tombs?
wildcard.
[as i said, feel free to ask for anything else, including other tdm prompts, i am more interested in seeing the worlds built by others for the archway prompts so i didn't include any here. my plurk is
no subject
he leans heavily on rio as they move away, glancing back to both this new man and the... they seem human. he's seen intense augmentation but this really is beyond even the odder of zaun. augments are typically meant to be intimidating or fashionable, not mildly deranged. certainly not so overpowering as this, almost tumorous.
there is a corner they can duck around, and when they do viktor turns to the man again.] Do you know what we're up against? I've never seen augmentation taken so far.
no subject
Seen cyberware before?
[ That's not an answer to the question, and there's a slight apology in his expression even as he forces himself to concentrate on all the feedback his cyberware's providing him before turning to look at the stranger again. ]
Yeah - gang they're from's called Maelstrom. Easy enough to spot 'em 'cause they're all diced up with cyberware like that. Heard some stat 'bout how a third of 'em are now sufferin' with cyberpsychosis 'cause of all the cyberware.
[ Not that they are cyberpsychos - V knows better than that - but that they're afflicted with cyberpsychosis. All the jobs he did for Regina to help cyberpyschos yanked away the stigma attached. This is probably where he should explain what he means, but those gangoons aren't slowing down and V can feel the responsibility to contain them mount up. ]
I can fix this.
[ Which isn't to say it'll be a walk in the park, but V's good at what he does, even more so when he's dealing with a known entity from his world. ]
Please - stay here. No idea how many more o' those 'nades they got stashed but we don't wanna find out and they got no problem with throwin' first, askin' questions later.
no subject
Something like it. What you have is far more advanced.
[cyberpsychosis is a word and viktor has so many questions he knows he should wait to ask. just check it off in his head for later. he can guess at some of it, some sort of adverse psychological reaction to extreme augmentation? incredibly fascinating but yes. not now.
his glance at v is concerned, even if the man has proven he can certainly handle himself. it's not the first time he's considered building himself a weapon of some sort, but...]
Yes, please be careful. [pointless but the last thing he wants is this man to die helping him. or die at all. but he will be good and keep behind the corner, rio curled protectively around him.]
no subject
Meeting Vik via Jackie had been the gateway to V's current setup; a ripperdoc who'd treated him no different to anybody else. If V's being honest, actually, Vik treated him way better than a lot of other people.
All this cyberware - all of Vik's hard work - pulls together in situations like this. And V's more than comfortable with taking every morsel of info his cyberware's giving him, decisions made what seems instantaneously, before he really should know to make them. What is new is the omen in the shape of a jackal that appears alongside, distracts the Maelstrom scouting party, and the name Johnny might be heard a few times. There's probably a story behind that.
The gangoons aren't anything novel or new, and the way V rounds them up, avoiding where he can to do more than incapacitate, is a cakewalk. Except there's no way to return them from where they came from, no matter how hard V tries. Seems like it's a one way portal and the pile of unconscious gangers still very much here attests to that.
He's still scratching his head over what to do with them when he belatedly remembers he's got somebody else to think on too. ]
Uh... any ideas 'bout what we can do with 'em?
[ A louder question shot in the general direction of his new friend. ]
no subject
he really does need to consider arming himself in a real way. being reliant on the kindness of strangers has been incredibly reliable but he thinks he's largely lucky there.
when the coast is somewhat clear he comes out, leaning heavily on both rio and his crutch. it gives him a chance to get a better look at the goons, a small frown on his face.]
Honestly? I have no idea. The hope would be they'll fade with the portals but if not... you said something about cyberpsychosis, could you explain that? [he glances over, straightening to regard v- oh, he should offer a wane smile and say,] Oh, and thank you. I would very much be in pieces right now if weren't for you.
no subject
[ For a moment, V's response is a distant agreement at something, though he's yet to look fully sold on the idea that these Maelstrom scouts are simply going to fade right before their eyes. Feels like something he should stay back for, to doublecheck they aren't going to screw up anybody else's day. If that's what days without light can even be called.
It's clear when V's back in the present; optics flicking to the stranger with a sharp kind of focus. Cyberpychosis is something he's had a second-hand brush with more than a few times, but he's always got at the back of his mind that it could happen to him too. All the more reason to stay grounded. ]
Happens when a human has too much o' this.
[ Lifting his right hand, his fingers flex, the reflection of light somewhere reflecting briefly off the dark charcoal grey synth-skin, bone-white phalanges and bronzed knuckles. ]
Lose sense of their humanity. Makes 'em very dangerous. And very unpredictable.
no subject
too much augmentation, isn't that an interesting concept. his eyes go back to the people on the ground, brow furrowing. v's distraction gets noticed too, a brief curiosity about what caught his attention before he focuses on the conversation properly.]
Interesting, there's augmentation in my world but rarely in such extensive ways. [not yet there isn't, mr guy who is going to pioneer doing that shit.] Still, that is... troubling. If they stay here it's likely that will translate into corruption then beasthood.
no subject
No question, then. He's got to stay to make sure they do disappear and, if not... he'll cross that bridge if he comes to it. ]
This kinda thing - cyberware - exists more in certain cities than others. More in some countries, even. Parts o' my world're still stuck fifty years back from where Night City is now.
[ He could explain that his cyberware has all been acquired in the last seven months and before that he was 100% organic. Maybe he will, at some point, but for now he's very aware of the fact that he doesn't want to put this choom into any other shitty situations. ]
Gonna keep an eye on these gonks. Make sure they don't start throwin' 'nades around again. You should go, though.
no subject
(that and the idea that perhaps, if he just tried hard enough, studied this hard enough, he could make a functioning pair of lungs and-)
his attention returns to v with a frown.] Hm, well certainly not without a proper introduction, I think. I am Viktor.
no subject
Despite everything that's gone down, he's got a broad smile for Viktor and sticks out a friendly (and wholly organic) hand for shaking. ]
Viktor? Preem name. Got a close friend called Viktor.
[ 'Close friend' is a bit of an understatement - V's Viktor is a ripperdoc who has literally saved his life more than once, installed most of his cyberware, and is the closest thing to a father figure he's had since he left his clan. ]
I'm V.
...uh, not short for Viktor. [ Though he's very picky about who he shares his full name with and 'V' works, for the most part. ] Not the weirdest sitch to be meeting in given... [ a vague hand gesture. ] everything.
no subject
Ah... I have been using V as username, I hope that doesn't cause any confusion. [he says with a shake of the head. he's terrible at usernames.] It's a nickname my old research partner used to use.
And I suppose you have a point there. I will say a frag grenade is one of the more alarming things I've dealt with here. [a glance around before he offers,] Are you sure you wish to wait here alone? We could at least ask a hunter to help, perhaps.
no subject
Nah, been goin' by the username 'nomad' myself.
[ Which is probably a reasonable insight into part of who he might be as a person. Regardless he shakes his head, and maybe he'll learn sooner rather than later that asking for help from a hunter is the preferable option. He's just not got that figured out yet. ]
These're my responsibility. Wouldn't be right anybody else gettin' caught up in it. I got some tricks up my sleeve, don't worry.
no subject
Because you are the nomadic type, I imagine?
[maybe it just sounds cool. also valid.
he doesn't look thrilled at this idea but he also is aware it's not his place to push, and more so he's a liability that makes things more difficult, should they wake again. so he offers a reluctant nod, glancing to the vaguely grotesque figures one last time before turning back to v.]
Hm, well if you do need assistance you now know my username. Admittedly all I could do was call for hunters but- [a shrug. it's something?]
no subject
[ A lot of the time being a nomad isn't perceived kindly, but V's so used to being discriminated against for being a nomad that he's hardened to it. Toughened up against it from a young age by his elders so that the weight of society's bigotry didn't crush him.
It's the kind of conversation that maybe requires a bit of explanation, but here and now ain't the right time. Instead, he offers up a smile despite the Maelstrom gangers at their feet and nods his understanding. ]
Got it. I'll look for 'V' on the network if there's any issues.
[ Regardless of what Viktor was or wasn't able to provide, V appreciates the offer all the same. ]