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[hearuthinking]

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[hearuthinking]

Smart-ass. [Still smiling, still looking just a little red in the face.

He's glad for the portal to take attention away from his reaction. He doesn't know what to do with these feelings so focusing on the strange Chinese-looking place is a good distraction]

Nope. The lights kinda remind me of China, but I've never been there. The war wouldn't have taken us there, either.

[mehanizovati]

[viktor chuckles, easing off the mild teasing to focus on what they're seeing.] Hm, it looks a little like something from Ionia, in my world.

[that's more japanese flavored though. he watches as the other man goes to play some sort of punching game, tilting his head at the machine the woman uses.] That's a clever little piece of work. [a pause and he says,] If you don't mind me asking what was the war of your time?

[hearuthinking]

Yeah? We'll have to see if any of these portals open there so you can show me.

[He too watches the punching device. They could use something like that for self-defense classes. His lips pull into a little frown]

It's kind of bullshit. We were attacked, so we sent troops over to take out WMD's-- weapons of mass destruction. My team was sent to a location that supposedly held a huge store of 'em, but what we found instead was a fuckin' temple full of vampires.

Hope these guys don't have to deal with somethin' like that.

[mehanizovati]

[viktor's actually thinking the same, glancing to jason as he asks,] Could you use one of those for your classes? I could make it easily enough. [a glance back to the machine and his lips quirk] Where I grew up there was a far more advanced model that was popular in the arcades, when people weren't breaking it.

[oh. well. that has viktor looking over in surprise.] Vampire? That... was not what I was expecting. Did you eh... defeat them? [that's what you did with vampire, right? no magic but vampires, what an odd world jason has.]

[hearuthinking]

[He glances over at Viktor and shoots him a smile] You sure you didn't hear that outta my head? I was thinking that same thing.

[He shrugs his shoulders] Two of my people were here briefly and said as much, and I trust them. But last I remember we were still down there makin' plans to blow the fuckers up. Sometimes I think I fell into that temple just to prepare me for livin' here.

[mehanizovati]

Great minds think alike. [viktor informs him, a smirk before he looks over to the machine again.] Give me a week, give or take finding the parts. It will be an enjoyable project. [simple, which is nice once and a while.

he frowns as he considers all that, nodding after a moment.] Maybe the fact something so strange happened to you is why you caught the attention of the whims of this place.

[hearuthinking]

Maybe. [He watches not!Jason for a bit longer. He is a little curious now. What happened to this guy? Did he stumble on weird shit too?]

You wanna check out another portal? See if we can find one from your world?

[mehanizovati]

Yes, let's. [hanging around does feel a little like they're tempting fate.

he heads out to take a careful look around- there is something coming out of one portal, a goat of some sort that looks harmless enough. when it looks at them it just... curls up and rolls away. viktor stares in shock for a few moments.] Well... that is not any world I know.

[at least it wasn't a monster? so far so good? he keeps moving, and eventually one of the portals does catch his interest and he points it out.] Over there. [it's an extremely industrial, hobbled together and grimy looking city behind that one, and viktor's eyes light up with both recognition and a touch of confusion as he approaches.]

[hearuthinking]

[He just blinks at the goat. He catches Viktor's eye and cracks up laughing. What else can you do when you see a thing like that? They are getting pretty lucky with these portals. Strange doppleganger aside, that first one was just a Chinese port town. And the goat was weird, but harmless.

Jason turns his attention to the next portal, glancing from it to Viktor]

That where you're from?

[mehanizovati]

[viktor has to helplessly shake his head in return, a little charmed to see jason laughing openly, especially at that ridiculous goat. it has him chuckling, similarly glad that they haven't met any monsters of note just yet. he thinks the portals are largely random but do seem to intune a little who is around, so they're probably lucky no vampires showed up.

viktor frowns at that question, a pause as he considers how to explain it. the city is kind of a lot to take in] Yes? It's ah... this is no doubt the undercity, it's just off in some odd way?

[aka this is the league of legends zaun, not arcane, which is throwing him for a big loop. the portal opens on an alley that is mostly empty, the yells and jeers of a busy street in the background. a step closer and he is positive it's zaun in some way, that overpowering smog and chemical air that fills every street is unmistakable. after a moment of frowning over it he says,] It must be a similar case of alternate universes? Or perhaps this is the undercity some years in the future? Fascinating.

[hearuthinking]

[It is definitely a lot to take in. Jason can't really think of an equivalent from his home. New York can get pretty hectic but this is on another level. It's more like something from that Batman cartoon show]

Well, lots of people here come from different times. Don't see why the portals wouldn't work the same way.

[mehanizovati]

[gotham is honestly not a bad comparison at all, especially when people in gas masks and a general weird grungy punk aesthetic run from one building to another, just casually parkoring up the side like that's normal.

it must be, viktor doesn't bat an eye. instead he focuses on the area, saying] This looks like Emberlift Alley, just subtly off. I grew up near here. [he sounds fond enough, or at least nostalgic. his attention goes to jason.] I don't suppose your world has cities like this? Most in Runeterra aren't like the undercity, it's a rather odd place really.

[hearuthinking]

[He has to do a double-take when he sees the parkour. Yeah, that's definitely something that would've happened in the Batman show. People back home probably do that, too, but it's not really something Jason has ever seen done in real life. For one, where he lived there weren't buildings nearly tall enough to inspire such parkour]

Nope, never seen a place like this. Closest I can think of are cities like Chicago and New York. My friend Nick's from Chicago; he'd be able to tell more than me if it's like this.

[mehanizovati]

There's a city above that is more traditional. I believe it's called art deco? The style at least. [still a little steampunk but otherwise yes, a little less... whatever is happening here.

he considers the place for a few moments until movement startles him, figure sweeping through with a determined step. with that third claw arm retracted viktor has absolutely no clues to what he's looking at, blinking rapidly.] Well... I've never seen augmentations like that before. A little dramatic.

[great self burn, buddy. frankly if it wasn't for the hair he'd assume he's maybe looking at a very complicated robot, which is fascinating enough.]

[hearuthinking]

[Jason knows very little about architecture so he can't really comment one way or another on the style. All he can say is that it looks more industrial than the landscapes he's gotten used to seeing.

He too blinks at the robot? Person? Thing?]

Wait. Are you sayin' that was a person?

[mehanizovati]

Hm, perhaps? Honestly they might be a robot, though the hair seems an odd addition. [viktor answers, tilting his head as he regards the weird maybe a man. at the very least he finds what he can see of the augmentations fascinating, even if the whole picture is a little... well, he doesn't really get what the point of this is. leave it to the undercity to go a little overboard in self expression.]

Augments are fairly common here, though this is far more than I've ever seen one person have. Usually it's just an arm, maybe a jaw or an eye?

[hearuthinking]

[He thinks about it for a moment, trying to find something from Earth to relate this with]

So what, it's kinda like... self-expression shit? Like how people get tattoos or piercings where I'm from.

[mehanizovati]

Ah yes, that's similar. To be fair it's often also medical but... well, if you lost an arm you may as well make your new one exactly to your liking, hm?

[the figure turns, and for a moment viktor thinks it might actually see them, the way it freezes. viktor hastily puts a hand to jason's elbow to tug at him lightly.] Ah, maybe we should retreat, in case this isn't... friendly.

[hearuthinking]

[He tries to imagine what sort of prosthetic Eric would have gotten if he could design it exactly to his liking, and gives up. This is the sort of shit that's better left to people like Merwin or Eric who understand mechanics.

It's all thanks to their adventures at the lighthouse that he immediately responds to the touch at his elbow. Viktor's touch is familiar there and Jason moves accordingly]

Don't suppose you got any idea how to close these things off?

[Just in case something less friendly than that weird rolling goat tries to get through]

[mehanizovati]

Not a clue, I am thinking retreat might be the only option. [well, so is fighting, and that weird robot man is now moving so viktor starts to head away, keeping a hand at jason's elbow just in case.

thankfully nothing seems to come out after them, a quick glance behind showing him the portal remains peacefully standing there. he doesn't stop moving just in case but he does ease the pace a bit, huffing an amused breath.] Well, so far so good. I admit I was worried we'd have to deal with an angry cyborg of some kind. Knowing the undercity they would try to mug us.

[hearuthinking]

[He's a little reluctant to go the fighting route. As long as that robot creature stays in its own world and doesn't attack them, Jason would rather just back off.

Jason has to admit it was interesting, and he's glad he got to see Viktor's world. He has to snort at that mugging comment]

Sounds like New York or Chicago, all right. My mama was always goin' on about people gettin' mugged in the big cities. It's why learning self-defense is important. Though I don't think any of the tricks would work on a fuckin' robot.

[mehanizovati]

[it was nice to see zaun again, even a weird, apparently more robot-filled zaun. now that it seems like they aren't going to have to fight a robot man he's perked up again. it's been a good exploration, what can he say? curiosity sated.]

Ha, she isn't wrong. Well, in the undercity it is nearly a rite of passage to get mugged at some point, I suppose. Less so topside. [so pretty much new york or chicago in all honesty. maybe a little weirder than either, which is saying something.] You make it sound like you grew up more in the country.

[hearuthinking]

Don't know if "country" is the right word, but it was a pretty small town. Most of the time there wasn't enough money to bother muggin' over.

[mehanizovati]

That and more likely to be recognized, I imagine. I've never lived in a small place, even now my lab is in the busier part of the Willful Machine. It's a little hard to picture the streets not always being swamped with people.

[hearuthinking]

If your home was anything like that portal? Yeah, I can see smaller towns bein' strange. [He nods a little] Right. Well, don't forget to swing by the stables sometime. I'll show you a taste of country life.