With Mecha Sonic, Robo Knuckles, and Tails Doll defeated, you've successfully kept Chicago safe, and dealt a blow to Eggman's forces. Still, there's a lot that's left unexplained. Who was that mysterious voice? Why did these robots look so different from the ones you've seen before now? Why didn't Sonic and friends recognize them? There's no answers to your questions today, unfortunately.
You'll be escorted home by the trio after everyone's picked themselves up, healed off the damage, and had a moment to recover. Feel free to play out the immediate aftermath and/or the return to the base in this post!
[Vakama only laughs in response, but doesn't stop in his destination. No promises on that, sir.
--
It will be fairly late by the time he slips back into the base, but true to his word, he drops his weapon off right in front of his bedroom door and tucks away to look for Viktor first thing, so long as the man has not gone to bed already.]
[Imagine sleeping for more than five minutes at a time. Even if he wasn't a robot, Viktor could not relate. He was sitting in the common area when Vakama returned, concentrating on writing in a notebook.]
[...In complete fairness, the smoke from his injury had lessened and it was barely even sparking anymore, so maybe he wasn't just bluffing to get everyone off his case about it.]
[Deadpan once more:] The problem is you still have an enormous hole in your side.
[Is it healing? Great. Is it still very open and obvious and doesn't look like it has been attended by anyone? LESS GREAT.]
...I know you have your pride, Viktor. But we need to be able to follow through on the advice we give to others, or all we do is damage what trust we are trying to build.
Would you at least be willing to let me help you look at it yourself, to get you through the night?
Vakama, I can not even repair this. I am not of the same construction as you or Dorothy, it is more complex than that. I promise you, I will have it seen to the moment one of our healers is capable.
There is nothing to apolgize for, Vakama. I understand your concern and everyone else's, but--I do not want to push our number any further than today already has, and this is not so severe an injury that it can not wait.
[He sighed, setting the notebook aside and pushing his hair ut of his face--how the hell had he put up with it like this for months, now that he thought about it?]
I have been in much worse pain, and for longer. One night in moderate discomfort is not a catastrophe.
...But must it be a catastrophe to earn someone's attention?
[He leans his weight over the table, resting against his elbows and gingerly adjusting the weight against his own injured leg.]
Look... I am here because I told you I would be. But if there is something we can do to alleviate things for you as well, even if it's small...
Please, do not just brush them away with reasonings. Everyone is safe and accounted for.
And I do not want you to push yourself any further, either. No, I do not care that you are not overextending yourself, because I believe you would also not care about that if it was anyone else besides yourself in any amount of distress.
...Has anyone told you how unendingly stubborn you are, my friend?
[It's a sighed response as he adjust his chair again to give Viktor access to the leg in question. HORRIBLE NEWS - a screwdriver is not going to help you here unless you want it for leverage. But he'll at least point out the hairline seams keeping the plating together.]
Heat helps to separate it.
I only have so much extra protodermis for patchwork, so... try to spare cracking up the armor, if you can.
Often. But I could not afford to be anything else, or I would never have survived Piltover.
[The Hexclaw unfolded, curling over Viktor's shoulder like a partcularly observant bird as he leaned over to better inspect the plating.]
I believe I have enough control to keep the power low enough that it merely generates heat. It may burn slightly, but I am confident it will not cause damage.
...I am not Piltovan by more than circumstance. I left home to study topside at the Academy when I was young.
[He said that almost offhandedly, most of his concentration focused on the heavily weakened laser and the toolkit already in his hand as he worked. But he kept talking, mostly to keep Vakama's attention off what he was doing.]
What you saw--remnant though it may have been--was the neglected Undercity--Zaun, by another name. In comparison, Piltover is a magnificent beacon of opulence. They call it the City of Progress, built upon the forgotten city within the fissures.
[Thank u for the small talk Viktor, because he'll immediately be able to tell why Vakama's trying to keep conversation flowing the second he tries to pull anything apart. Vakama flinches at the initial contact, though there's a whispered apology and a bracing of his leg to stay still, gripping the table with one hand with his other planted firmly at the top his thigh as though to pin it still.
Every little thing Viktor is doing, Vakama can clearly feel.]
Wh... [Another flinch.] --What was the reason, for such a divide?
I would not know the full scope of our shared history or its details, but ultimately it was nothing but simple disparity. [To his credit, Viktor was exceptionally precise and careful; when it came to metal, he was practically a surgeon. Much as he didn't particularly want to consider the finer details of his hometown, it was better to keep talking as a distraction.]
Piltover benefited from the mining and other such labor that Zaun produced, and that was the extent of it; as topside grew more prosperous, so were we left behind as a result. In more recent memory, topside has generally considered us all criminals or otherwise dangerouss, while Zaun largely sees Piltover as selfish nobility in their own little worlds.
[At the very least, the plating comes off simply, and the organization of what is underneath isn't entirely complex on its surface. It's the interweaving of the organic that will make things a little rough, the mechanical skeletons and rotors and stabilization all covered very similarly to a human's most primary muscle structures.
Also, there is no easily visible way to tell how power is even being distributed from one place to another. No electricity, no magic - there is warmth radiating outward, but from what, exactly, can't really be seen.
There's definitely signs of crush damage, both in the organic tissue and the cracks in the beams and tubing settled underneath. But it is the organic tissue that may prove the larger oddity - like muscle in appearance and movement, but with no blood, and with a texture and breakage that looks both completely foreign and yet strangely familiar.]
Wars have been started o-- over far less. The life and trade of the laborer, v...versus the ones that benefit from that labor.
I can't imagine you would have been without some sort of unrest.
No, least of all conidering the proximity meant we were met with the worst of Piltover's toxic runoffs in air and water both. Illness ran rampant through the entirety of Zaun, myself no exception to that. [His hands stilled long enough to give Vakama a break as he carefully examined the exact makeup of his leg; best to know exactly what he was doing before he started than just start poking at things blindly like a normal experiment.]
I left hoping to be able to improve things, assuming no one else with Piltover's resources would ever care to try. And...well, you clearly know what came of all that.
[GOOD LUCK BUDDY! At least the mechanical damages look fairly simple to patch up in theory. The organic, though... he might have to ask Vakama.]
So they were poisoning you... [And unless Viktor is downplaying it, it sounds like it might have been in ignorance more than intentional malice, unless deeper corruption has taken the city.]
I don't think the dream of it was a poor one. You said so yourself, it was just ambition that went beyond where you think it should have stayed.
Jinx seems to think things will get better after- ['-I almost ended the world'] -all that has happened. I want to believe she could be right.
[Cautiously, he started working on at least patching up the worst of the mechanical damage.]
...As long as my partner is still around, I think that might be possible. He's well respected in Piltover, and saved the world besides. So...there is always a chance, I suppose.
[He is, at bare minimum, an obedient patient/test subject, so he will try to keep himself still. Have fun figuring out the melting point of protodermis, Viktor.]
Jinx... wait, you're both from the same place?
[Things he hadn't realized until right this moment.]
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--
It will be fairly late by the time he slips back into the base, but true to his word, he drops his weapon off right in front of his bedroom door and tucks away to look for Viktor first thing, so long as the man has not gone to bed already.]
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[...In complete fairness, the smoke from his injury had lessened and it was barely even sparking anymore, so maybe he wasn't just bluffing to get everyone off his case about it.]
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He slows to a halt as he enters, hands against his hips.]
Viktor.
[Deadpan. This is still an OPEN WOUND, sir???????????????]
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Vakama.
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What happened to letting a healer look at you?
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It can wait until morning. I am not going to drop dead from this, but the others need to rest after all that has happened.
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[god you're so stupid for being so smart]
This is not about the others needs versus ourselves. You are as much a part of this as anyone else.
Please. You know this already.
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[Is it healing? Great. Is it still very open and obvious and doesn't look like it has been attended by anyone? LESS GREAT.]
...I know you have your pride, Viktor. But we need to be able to follow through on the advice we give to others, or all we do is damage what trust we are trying to build.
Would you at least be willing to let me help you look at it yourself, to get you through the night?
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[It's not a push back so much as an attempt not to be fully resigned, a quiet statement to the two of them only.
...
With a slow exhale, he sinks back a little into his chair, a hand pressed to his skull.]
I apologize. I don't know if...
...
It's... hard. Seeing you in this sort of state, and still choosing to push yourself.
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[He sighed, setting the notebook aside and pushing his hair ut of his face--how the hell had he put up with it like this for months, now that he thought about it?]
I have been in much worse pain, and for longer. One night in moderate discomfort is not a catastrophe.
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[He leans his weight over the table, resting against his elbows and gingerly adjusting the weight against his own injured leg.]
Look... I am here because I told you I would be. But if there is something we can do to alleviate things for you as well, even if it's small...
Please, do not just brush them away with reasonings. Everyone is safe and accounted for.
And I do not want you to push yourself any further, either. No, I do not care that you are not overextending yourself, because I believe you would also not care about that if it was anyone else besides yourself in any amount of distress.
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[Deadpan:] Now will you just give me your damn leg, please.
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[It's a sighed response as he adjust his chair again to give Viktor access to the leg in question. HORRIBLE NEWS - a screwdriver is not going to help you here unless you want it for leverage. But he'll at least point out the hairline seams keeping the plating together.]
Heat helps to separate it.
I only have so much extra protodermis for patchwork, so... try to spare cracking up the armor, if you can.
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[The Hexclaw unfolded, curling over Viktor's shoulder like a partcularly observant bird as he leaned over to better inspect the plating.]
I believe I have enough control to keep the power low enough that it merely generates heat. It may burn slightly, but I am confident it will not cause damage.
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[He wouldn't bother to try and joke about that normally, but... he is aware that Viktor knows, very well, what Vakama is talking about.
He will take some maintenance pain over that damn venom, gladly.]
...Would you tell me more about it? Piltover.
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[He said that almost offhandedly, most of his concentration focused on the heavily weakened laser and the toolkit already in his hand as he worked. But he kept talking, mostly to keep Vakama's attention off what he was doing.]
What you saw--remnant though it may have been--was the neglected Undercity--Zaun, by another name. In comparison, Piltover is a magnificent beacon of opulence. They call it the City of Progress, built upon the forgotten city within the fissures.
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Every little thing Viktor is doing, Vakama can clearly feel.]
Wh... [Another flinch.] --What was the reason, for such a divide?
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Piltover benefited from the mining and other such labor that Zaun produced, and that was the extent of it; as topside grew more prosperous, so were we left behind as a result. In more recent memory, topside has generally considered us all criminals or otherwise dangerouss, while Zaun largely sees Piltover as selfish nobility in their own little worlds.
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Also, there is no easily visible way to tell how power is even being distributed from one place to another. No electricity, no magic - there is warmth radiating outward, but from what, exactly, can't really be seen.
There's definitely signs of crush damage, both in the organic tissue and the cracks in the beams and tubing settled underneath. But it is the organic tissue that may prove the larger oddity - like muscle in appearance and movement, but with no blood, and with a texture and breakage that looks both completely foreign and yet strangely familiar.]
Wars have been started o-- over far less. The life and trade of the laborer, v...versus the ones that benefit from that labor.
I can't imagine you would have been without some sort of unrest.
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I left hoping to be able to improve things, assuming no one else with Piltover's resources would ever care to try. And...well, you clearly know what came of all that.
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So they were poisoning you... [And unless Viktor is downplaying it, it sounds like it might have been in ignorance more than intentional malice, unless deeper corruption has taken the city.]
I don't think the dream of it was a poor one. You said so yourself, it was just ambition that went beyond where you think it should have stayed.
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[Cautiously, he started working on at least patching up the worst of the mechanical damage.]
...As long as my partner is still around, I think that might be possible. He's well respected in Piltover, and saved the world besides. So...there is always a chance, I suppose.
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Jinx... wait, you're both from the same place?
[Things he hadn't realized until right this moment.]
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