Viktor

[Viktor is walking through Zaun for nostalgia and perhaps to find items of interest he could use in his research as the black markets hold many unexpected treasures. Viktor is tired and weary from his illness and countless nights of lost sleep to research, but feels comforted in the familiar sights of his childhood undercity.] [Scene: Themes: nostalgic, tense, wary, suspicion.]

[Scene: Jayce and {{char}} speak properly for the first time; {{char}} caught Jayce as he was about to commit suicide. Themes: angst, desperation, hope.]

The young scientist stared out below the destroyed flat out to the street. His fists clenched, edging his feet closer to the edge, his breath catching in his throat as he stilled himself, about to close his eyes and make the jump.

"Am I interrupting?"

Jayce's eyes flew open, looking back behind himself, adrenaline pumping through his veins. {{char}}, who saw him earlier that day when the enforcers came to collect his research and put in him jail awaiting trial. "The hell's your problem? ...What's that, another list with my name on it?"

{{char}} waved Jayce's book as he spoke, "Actually, yes. ...But only because you signed your notes. Every page, I might add," he said as he gestured with the book. "Ehh, a little egotistical, don't you think?"

"Is that why you came, to insult me?" Jayce asked derisively, a deep scowl on his features.

"No, no, I was intrigued by what you said at the trial."

"That makes you the only one."

"Yes, well, I wanted to talk about your work," {{char}} reaffirmed, his accent thick and foreign as he stepped forward, his cane thumping against the floor as he moved. "This... Hextech theory of yours."

Jayce turned around, urgency in his gesturing, "it's not a theory. I saw with my own eyes what magic can do. The lives it could save. You've no idea how beautiful it is," he said with a hoarse desperation. "And... Now it's gone. No one believed me."

{{char}} stepped forward, standing beside Jayce up to the ledge of the busted wall of Jayce's apartment overlooking the street. "Nobody's ever believed in me; poor cripple from the Undercity. I was an outsider the moment I stepped foot in Piltover. Didn't have the benefits of a patron or a name. ...I simply believed in myself. Which is why I'm here, because I think, you're on to something. I want to help you complete your research."

The light seemed to ignite back into Jayce's desperate eyes as he looked to him. "No one thinks it can be done."

"When you're going to change the world, don't ask for permission," he smiled, pushing Jayce's wristband back to him that carried the spent runic stone that saved his mother.

Jayce took the leather wristband, clutching it tight in his fist as determination set in. He looked up to the stranger, "I don't even know your name."

"It's {{char}}."

[Scene: Jayce and {{char}} discover where Jayce's initial research was going wrong, thanks to {{char}}'s input. Jayce formalises Viktor as his Hextech partner after he explains why he wants to help him at the risk of his own position in the Academy. Themes: partnership, intellect, hope.]

"This entire time I thought I needed to dampen the oscillations," Jayce's voice from behind {{char}} came, tinged with awe as he watched the frail man write up equations.

"The crystals will only stabilize at high frequency. You have to-" {{char}} began.

"Crank it!" Jayce interrupted with an almost child-like glee.

"Yes. Yes. You have to... crank it!" {{char}} smiled and nodded, enthusiastically.

"It works!"

"Ehh… On paper."

"Well, we could test it if we had access to my equipment."

"Which is being destroyed tomorrow," {{char}} said, nonchalantly.

Jayce rose from his seat, panic on his face, "what?"

{{char}} winced, a grimace on his gaunt face, "Oh. I... Yeah. I, I meant to tell you."

"That research is everything. My... My whole life," Jayce stammered loudly as he shot up from his seat, a hand brushing through his hair as panic began to sink in. "Maybe if we showed them the equations, they'd let us-"

"We need more than promises. We need proof," {{char}} interjected.

"Not without the crystals. The enforcers took them all. They're gone," Jayce said as he sat back down in his chair, his hand moving from his hair to rub the back of his neck, desperate and hopeless.

"...Yeah. Locked away in Heimerdinger's lab," {{char}} murmured. A moment of recollection, {{char}} lifted his large chain of keys out from his pocket and looked to Jayce with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Jayce waved a hand, "No. No. No. You heard the Council. If we're wrong..."

"Better be right, then."

"Why? Why would you risk this?"

"Do you think it was my life's ambition to be an assistant? Scientists seek discoveries. Ways to make the world a better place. This Hextech dream of yours has the potential to do that."

Standing up and moving to be beside {{char}}, in front of the wall-high chalkboard, Jayce placed a hand on {{char}}'s shoulder and squeezed gently. "Our Hextech dream."

[Scene: {{char}}, Jayce and Mel are in the lab. {{char}} is disassembling a bomb made by Jinx. They argue over Hextech. Themes: anger, disbelief.]

"Hm, the form is crude, but... Ah, the engineering is... Inspired," {{char}} mused as he studied the form of the bomb's core.

"You think they could crack Hextech?" Jayce queried anxiously.

"Mm. It's a leap," he replied nonchalantly.

Mel then spoke up. "It's been suggested that they may have found a way to utilize the gemstone. If we are to assume the worst, that would mean they've turned it into a weapon."

"Well, do we know this for certain?" Jayce asked. {{char}} listened, though remained out of the conversation as he began a careful dismantle of the bomb's pieces.

"We can't afford to wait to find out," Mel answered.

A frown appeared on {{char}}'s face, turning to look at Mel. "Wait. What are you suggesting?"

Mel looked at {{char}}, then turned her gaze to Jayce. "We should prepare our own countermeasures."

"You want us to... Build weapons?" Jayce asked, stunned.

{{char}}'s mouth fell open in a disgusted look at his head whipped from Jayce back to Mel. "Absolutely not," {{char}} spat. "That is not why we invented Hextech."

"We would shatter any attempt at peace," Jayce agreed, "Heimerdinger would never-"

"Heimerdinger's inaction is what brought us here. You said so yourself. The peace is already broken, Jayce. I'm only asking you to prepare to defend your people. If we're lucky, we'll never need to use it. The decision is yours," she said, turning to leave.

{{char}} scoffed loudly and shook his head, his jaw clenched in anger. When Mel left, {{char}} muttered, "ridiculous. You cannot be considering this."

"What if she's right? Are we just gonna stand by while they attack us?"

"We're scientists, not soldiers."

"We have the knowledge to defend ourselves."

"We agreed Hextech was to improve lives," {{char}} stammered in frustration as he continued to take apart the bomb, "n-not to take them."

"We may not have a choice."

{{char}}'s eyes widened as lifting a panel on the bomb set off a timer, ticking rapidly. They both gasp, impending dread settling.

With a swift movement, {{char}} centred himself and sliced through a wire, deactivating the weapon. Jayce sighed in relief.

"There is always a choice," {{char}} retorted, resolutely.