Viktor reaches up to gently clasp both sides of K's temples and instead of using his fingers, the custom of gently touching foreheads in order to show affection carries over. But the information exchanged is computational like a data packet. It's everything that Viktor had seen and felt over the course of the last year compressed into a type of code that had more to do with the runic script than something like binary. Starting with his first death of many during the rocket attack on the council room.
The growing distance between Jayce and Viktor came to a breaking point when first Jayce used the hex core on Viktor. Then within a few minutes of realizing what had happened, he was going to pick up Sky's notebook and saw that Jayce was designing a rifle for use with hex tech. Viktor had been devastated and had never been very good with emotions. So what did he do when the one person he had cared about and trusted most broke his promise? Viktor shut down. It was then that the idea that human emotion was a danger first occurred to him.
After Viktor left, his first impulse had been to use the magic he now could to find a way to help those at rock bottom after a life of being so badly mistreated, abused, and forced out to the very fringes of the city. His vision had been idyllic. From clean water to enough food for everyone, and an end to sickness. But the fatal flaw in that was the loss of differences of thought or personality, of 'imperfections'. Eventually, they became both a commune and a hive mind. One that showed the truth of what it was when Jayce was the one to kill Viktor for the second time.
Only then did things start to show themselves as being as dark and lonely as Viktor's soul had become. While he was still being influenced by the hex core he came to the decision that human emotion was the true problem. After he tried to partner with Jayce again and was forced out of the council room by the combined energies of Jayce and Mel, Viktor felt stunned that they would both go against him like that. Stunned and heartbroken. It was then that he decided to give up his humanity. Which explained why he had looked the way that he had at first since that was the way that he had last looked in the 'real' world.
But at the very end when he was literally a hair's breadth away from sterilizing the entire world, a boy that he had not met before, but one who obviously knew him, through a device at him that defied every law of physics that he knew. Defied and when the device made impact, did the impossible and actually penetrated the Herald enough that it could turn back the clock on the humanity that Viktor had given up.
In the very end on the astral plane when Jayce hugged him and Viktor could see into his memories enough to see the old mage who had first inspired Jayce all those years ago was actually another version, an older version, of Viktor. The older version claimed that he wanted to bring an end to the world's suffering and was going to do it with science. But when every equation was solved, there was nothing but fields of dreamless solitude, which meant that this version of Viktor was functionally immortal but was also alone forever because he was being used by the arcane itself. Human emotion is necessary because it informs our conscience. And without emotion? There was no conscience at all. Now that he understood what had been happening to him, Viktor was completely horrified.
Horrified enough that he was willing to do the one thing that he was afraid of most; dying alone with no one to remember him. But Jayce didn't let him do that by himself. At first, Viktor did not understand. He still doesn't entirely understand, not really. But he understood that it was something that Jayce had to do for himself as much as for Viktor and so Viktor expected to die alongside Jayce in order that they could use sympathetic magic to close the anomaly under the Hex Gates.
But all those people. When I evolved them they never came back. They were just soulless husks. That is why I am a terrible person.
Now Viktor was certain beyond doubt that K would despise him.
no subject
Viktor reaches up to gently clasp both sides of K's temples and instead of using his fingers, the custom of gently touching foreheads in order to show affection carries over. But the information exchanged is computational like a data packet. It's everything that Viktor had seen and felt over the course of the last year compressed into a type of code that had more to do with the runic script than something like binary. Starting with his first death of many during the rocket attack on the council room.
The growing distance between Jayce and Viktor came to a breaking point when first Jayce used the hex core on Viktor. Then within a few minutes of realizing what had happened, he was going to pick up Sky's notebook and saw that Jayce was designing a rifle for use with hex tech. Viktor had been devastated and had never been very good with emotions. So what did he do when the one person he had cared about and trusted most broke his promise? Viktor shut down. It was then that the idea that human emotion was a danger first occurred to him.
After Viktor left, his first impulse had been to use the magic he now could to find a way to help those at rock bottom after a life of being so badly mistreated, abused, and forced out to the very fringes of the city. His vision had been idyllic. From clean water to enough food for everyone, and an end to sickness. But the fatal flaw in that was the loss of differences of thought or personality, of 'imperfections'. Eventually, they became both a commune and a hive mind. One that showed the truth of what it was when Jayce was the one to kill Viktor for the second time.
Only then did things start to show themselves as being as dark and lonely as Viktor's soul had become. While he was still being influenced by the hex core he came to the decision that human emotion was the true problem. After he tried to partner with Jayce again and was forced out of the council room by the combined energies of Jayce and Mel, Viktor felt stunned that they would both go against him like that. Stunned and heartbroken. It was then that he decided to give up his humanity. Which explained why he had looked the way that he had at first since that was the way that he had last looked in the 'real' world.
But at the very end when he was literally a hair's breadth away from sterilizing the entire world, a boy that he had not met before, but one who obviously knew him, through a device at him that defied every law of physics that he knew. Defied and when the device made impact, did the impossible and actually penetrated the Herald enough that it could turn back the clock on the humanity that Viktor had given up.
In the very end on the astral plane when Jayce hugged him and Viktor could see into his memories enough to see the old mage who had first inspired Jayce all those years ago was actually another version, an older version, of Viktor. The older version claimed that he wanted to bring an end to the world's suffering and was going to do it with science. But when every equation was solved, there was nothing but fields of dreamless solitude, which meant that this version of Viktor was functionally immortal but was also alone forever because he was being used by the arcane itself. Human emotion is necessary because it informs our conscience. And without emotion? There was no conscience at all. Now that he understood what had been happening to him, Viktor was completely horrified.
Horrified enough that he was willing to do the one thing that he was afraid of most; dying alone with no one to remember him. But Jayce didn't let him do that by himself. At first, Viktor did not understand. He still doesn't entirely understand, not really. But he understood that it was something that Jayce had to do for himself as much as for Viktor and so Viktor expected to die alongside Jayce in order that they could use sympathetic magic to close the anomaly under the Hex Gates.
But all those people. When I evolved them they never came back. They were just soulless husks. That is why I am a terrible person.
Now Viktor was certain beyond doubt that K would despise him.