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[hearuthinking]

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[mehanizovati]

Jason, it is Viktor. I was wondering if you'd be interested in exploring these odd portals the meteors keep creating.

I'm fascinated by them but I doubt I would be able to handle it on my own if something particularly nasty came through. I'd happily pay you for your troubles, at the very least in a meal.

[hearuthinking]

[Is Jason interested in going through those portals? Not really. But it doesn't surprise him that Viktor wants to]

You don't have to pay me. Where'd you see one of these portals? I'll come over.

[mehanizovati]

Of course not, clearly my threat of a meal as payment is to subject you further to my agendas about spice.

Meet me at the lamp for the Willful Machine? A few have fallen in the distance only a moment ago.

[hearuthinking]

[He chuckles to himself at that. This guy's funny and cute]

Hang tight, I know where that is.

[He'll just shove a few things in his pack before heading over. Always be prepared. Travel by lamp is still weird despite the months he's been living here. He arrives looking ready for whatever kind of nonsense is through that portal]

[mehanizovati]

[viktor raises a hand when he sees him, a smile in greeting. a bag is slung over his shoulder, some level of preparation, though to be fair his idea of preparation is having a notebook ready incase he needs to record something. the omnis are better in that regard but it's hard to break old paper and pen habits.]

It's fascinating, isn't it? A chance to see into another world. [he's in a good mood, maybe some of those hope orbs fell on him on the way over, or maybe he just genuinely enjoys this sort of thing. he's certainly relieved jason agreed to come, he's come to trust the man knows what he's doing in areas viktor couldn't hope to handle.] Eh, less so the potential monsters. We have enough of those here.

[hearuthinking]

[There's something endearing about Viktor's excitement. Jason still doesn't have much interest himself, but he likes that Viktor's happy about it. He steps a little closer trying to determine what kind of place this portal leads to. There are no monsters that immediately pop out, so he dares to get even closer.

What he steps into looks like a little town or something. The hanging lanterns look Chinese to him. There are two men sharing a beer. This is... normal. Jason shoots Viktor a "what the fuck" look. But then one of the men speaks and Jason freezes. The voice isn't an exact match, but it's eerily close. As is the face. And he's wearing dog tags? It's too weird]

What the fuck?

[mehanizovati]

[this first area is interesting, the decorations look vaguely ionian to him though not by much. certainly not runeterra, which is a shame, he rather would like to see his world again for nostalgia's sake if nothing else.

the people make him keep close to jason, concerned they may end up being combative- but no, one is... jason? or looks just like him. the voice is a little off but it has viktor quickly glancing over.]

... do you have a twin? [jason looks just as baffled though.]

[hearuthinking]

[Jason shakes his head, still confused by this man who looks and sounds sort of like him. He doesn't want to get any closer; he doesn't know how these portals work. Will they be seen and disrupt whatever is going on, or are they invisible? But he saves himself the worry by finding out he can't even go inside anyway]

Must be... some kinda alternate reality or somethin'? Guess I'm a soldier in this version of things, too. See the dog tag he's wearin'? It's what we use to identify ourselves.

[mehanizovati]

Is he from the same country's army? His voice is different. [honestly viktor is a bit fascinated by this, leaning in a little to give this fake jason a better look.] Perhaps this is a branching timeline where you were born in a different place?

[he can't help an amused breath as he says,] Well, at least you know now you have a tendency to become a strapping army man regardless of circumstances, assuming this isn't just some doppleganger situation.

[hearuthinking]

[It's true; this soldier's voice is a little higher pitched. And the face isn't exactly the same, but it's close. Now Jason is studying the other soldier, the one not-Jason is calling "Charlie". That face is kind of familiar, too, the more he looks at it.

He turns at the comment, a little smile tugging on his lips]

"Strapping", huh? Ain't heard that one in a while.

[He tugs on the brim of his cap to shadow his face. No he's not blushing at the compliment, shut up]

That other soldier looks kinda like one of the guys from my team. Funny thing, his name was Joey. Well, it was José, but we called him Joey.

[mehanizovati]

I am sorry to inform you, but yes, strapping is a good descriptor. [viktor says it like giving faux bad news, lips quirking to see him pull down the brim of his hat like that.] My condolences, truly.

[his attention goes to the other, head tilting.] Huh, this really does seem like an alternate timeline then. I wonder if we'll see more look alikes of this team of yours. [he glances around the area and asks,] Does this place look familiar at all?

[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.]