[OVER HIS DEAD BODY except not this dead one but a better, deader one.]
We're still not sure. I've been trying to trace it. [He chews on his lip for a minute, clearly unhappy. But Viktor is a scientist, so... he can share this much, he guesses.] If my suspicions are right, then it's probably a strain of something that should've been destroyed over twenty years ago. [...] It's supposed to have gene-repairing properties, though the chances of irreversible damage and death have always been far too high. This isn't the first time that it's been tested on unsuspecting people.
[The gas attack--that wasn't "wrong place, wrong time," really. But this, the illness that's shaved his lifespan down to three years and change--that very well might be.]
Viktor frowns because he is an engineer, and he has spent his whole life wanting nothing more than to create things that help other people. He's... a fixer. He solves problems. That's the only thing he thinks he's good at, he thinks.]
Luke...
[He's not sure what to say. There isn't any kind of reassurances he can give.]
I'm sorry. I do... understand. In a way, I guess. The doctors said the pollution of the Undercity is... what made me sick. They only gave me a year or so to live. I know it's... hard.
[Viktor is being so kind, and distantly, Luke knows that his instinct to recoil is a bad habit. He lost count of how many times he lashed out at Aaron during his stay in the hospital back then, and even now, he gets prickly if he feels too exposed. He looks away, pressing his lips together, wrestling with the clash between his instincts--the desire to run from having his weaknesses looked at so closely, and the desire to stay and offer that same comfort to Viktor, someone who just relived his own traumatic memory.
After a moment--]
...Three, for me.
[Which--he wouldn't have said anything anyway, but that's part of the reason he thought it was okay; it wasn't supposed to catch up with him this quickly.]
[He won't act like three years is something to be grateful for at all. He knows how it feels, too, for people to tell you that you should be proud of what you've done so far, and you should be happy you even get three more years. He's tired of it coming from people who have more than a hundred and fifty-year long lifespans, too.]
I know it means nothing sometimes, but... I'm sorry.
[Luke really just keeled over speedily after waking up on the ship, damn.]
I imagine you're... not much different than me, hm? Working on a way to try to stop it, to fix it. How close are you to that?
[It grates, even from Viktor--but now that the adrenaline of reliving his nightmare is starting to fade, he's a little more able to regain control of his facade. So he nods quietly, accepting the sentiment for what it is: understanding, not pity.
He sighs, some of the tension leaving him in favor of exhaustion.]
I'm working with a special investigation team to try and trace where it's coming from, since it shouldn't even be in the country. We've made some progress, but we haven't found our answers yet. [...] My doctor's been working on treatments. But I'm the only person he can test them on, and I can't afford to be hospitalized for long periods of time.
[So. It is what it is. Rather than focusing on a cure for himself, Luke has turned his attention to preventing others from befalling the same fate.]
[You are closed tighter than a nun's legs, Luke, goddamn.
And also continue to just be a little like Viktor anyway. Very funny half the fucking people in the graveyard at first all had the same sort of arc. LOVE THAT FOR THEM.]
It's okay... I haven't found the answers either. [A gesture at nothing.] Clearly.
[IT'S TRUE. HE'S CLOSED SO TIGHT. HE NEEDS TO BE LOOSENED. GIVE US A GIRL WHO CAN LOOSEN HIM. Or Scien who can bully him, I guess.]
I... don't know. It's science, right? There has to be more than one outcome usually, but... It was work we had done, it was... something new and amazing. I wanted to see what it could do.
I just... didn't account for... other people getting involved in my research.
[No he gets even worse when he loves you that's his entire character arc]
Yeah. I know you wouldn't have wanted anyone getting hurt. [Except YOURSELF, FOOL...
He looks like he's choosing his words carefully--which, honestly, is less of a sign of Luke's kindness than it is evidence that he likes Viktor, because this whole thing is so... complicated for him, in such a personal way. Viktor's intentions were better than those of the people who unleashed Flora X on unsuspecting victims, and Luke believes him when he says he'd intended to keep the risks contained to himself--but Luke is too personally affected by dangerous experiments to be truly supportive and sympathetic.]
...It's hard to make advancements without hurting people. Especially when it comes to medicine. There are some things that have saved countless lives that we never would've discovered without taking dangerous risks. [He'll acknowledge that first. The only reason he's still alive (well, "alive") is because of those advancements. He knows full well that had he been born in a different time, he never would've made it out of the hospital to begin with.] And you deserve to look for answers for yourself. There's nothing wrong with fighting to survive, and that sort of power--I can understand why you wouldn't want to leave it untouched.
[...]
...But I don't see anything good coming from that thing. [This is the nicest way he can say "don't be a fucking idiot."] So, I think... if there's another option, then you should take it.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
We're still not sure. I've been trying to trace it. [He chews on his lip for a minute, clearly unhappy. But Viktor is a scientist, so... he can share this much, he guesses.] If my suspicions are right, then it's probably a strain of something that should've been destroyed over twenty years ago. [...] It's supposed to have gene-repairing properties, though the chances of irreversible damage and death have always been far too high. This isn't the first time that it's been tested on unsuspecting people.
[The gas attack--that wasn't "wrong place, wrong time," really. But this, the illness that's shaved his lifespan down to three years and change--that very well might be.]
no subject
Viktor frowns because he is an engineer, and he has spent his whole life wanting nothing more than to create things that help other people. He's... a fixer. He solves problems. That's the only thing he thinks he's good at, he thinks.]
Luke...
[He's not sure what to say. There isn't any kind of reassurances he can give.]
I'm sorry. I do... understand. In a way, I guess. The doctors said the pollution of the Undercity is... what made me sick. They only gave me a year or so to live. I know it's... hard.
no subject
After a moment--]
...Three, for me.
[Which--he wouldn't have said anything anyway, but that's part of the reason he thought it was okay; it wasn't supposed to catch up with him this quickly.]
no subject
I know it means nothing sometimes, but... I'm sorry.
[Luke really just keeled over speedily after waking up on the ship, damn.]
I imagine you're... not much different than me, hm? Working on a way to try to stop it, to fix it. How close are you to that?
no subject
He sighs, some of the tension leaving him in favor of exhaustion.]
I'm working with a special investigation team to try and trace where it's coming from, since it shouldn't even be in the country. We've made some progress, but we haven't found our answers yet. [...] My doctor's been working on treatments. But I'm the only person he can test them on, and I can't afford to be hospitalized for long periods of time.
[So. It is what it is. Rather than focusing on a cure for himself, Luke has turned his attention to preventing others from befalling the same fate.]
no subject
And also continue to just be a little like Viktor anyway. Very funny half the fucking people in the graveyard at first all had the same sort of arc. LOVE THAT FOR THEM.]
It's okay... I haven't found the answers either. [A gesture at nothing.] Clearly.
But... I... still would like to try.
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BUT TRULY THOUGH WHY ARE THEY ALL THE SAME FUCKING PEOPLE. This is why you're all Luke's water bottles even if you exhaust him (*hypocritical).
He's quiet for a minute.]
Are you sure that Core is the only way?
no subject
I... don't know. It's science, right? There has to be more than one outcome usually, but... It was work we had done, it was... something new and amazing. I wanted to see what it could do.
I just... didn't account for... other people getting involved in my research.
no subject
Yeah. I know you wouldn't have wanted anyone getting hurt. [Except YOURSELF, FOOL...
He looks like he's choosing his words carefully--which, honestly, is less of a sign of Luke's kindness than it is evidence that he likes Viktor, because this whole thing is so... complicated for him, in such a personal way. Viktor's intentions were better than those of the people who unleashed Flora X on unsuspecting victims, and Luke believes him when he says he'd intended to keep the risks contained to himself--but Luke is too personally affected by dangerous experiments to be truly supportive and sympathetic.]
...It's hard to make advancements without hurting people. Especially when it comes to medicine. There are some things that have saved countless lives that we never would've discovered without taking dangerous risks. [He'll acknowledge that first. The only reason he's still alive (well, "alive") is because of those advancements. He knows full well that had he been born in a different time, he never would've made it out of the hospital to begin with.] And you deserve to look for answers for yourself. There's nothing wrong with fighting to survive, and that sort of power--I can understand why you wouldn't want to leave it untouched.
[...]
...But I don't see anything good coming from that thing. [This is the nicest way he can say "don't be a fucking idiot."] So, I think... if there's another option, then you should take it.