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[Sure enough, Talia did greet him at the door--markedly less chipper than usual--and led him back to the garage, where Viktor was in a chair by the workbench, his attention on some unholy amalgam of wires.]

Oh--hello, Garrus, it's good to see you. [Talia, meanwhile, crawled right into his lap like she belonged there.] What's all that you're carrying?

[That's a little disconcerting. The creature seeming more subdued than the last time he'd seen her. But he follows, regardless - and is a little glad his facial expressions don't register as much as a human's.]

[Otherwise there'd be a hell of a lot of concern there.]

Yeah, you too. Didn't want to show up empty handed - found some bits and pieces you might want. Computer parts, mostly. At least one decent motherboard in there.

You did not have to do that. [The chair moved on its own--metal manipulation was useful for things like that--as he turned to face Garrus fully, ash pale with a tired smile.]

But...well, I will hardly turn it down.

I know. But the shop was on the way... Shame to let the parts go to waste in there.

[His head rolls on his neck as he says it, all smug swagger on the outside. Viktor definitely... looks rough. Which is saying something, considering he'd seen him after the lab fight.]

Holding up all right?

[And thanking all the deities in the city the concern humming in the words may not be audible for a human.]

I...um... [As he accepted the parts and set them aside on the workbench, Viktor seemed to abruptly realize how he looked right now. Face flushing pale pink with shame and embarrassment both, he looked anywhere but at Garrus and fumbled for a response.]

It-it's just the ambient magic making things difficult. Once the month turns over, I will be...fine.

Ah, sorry... I uh.

[Now he's fumbling. Absently squeezing his hands together, studying a wall. He's potentially screwed up the most important relationship in his life, and here he is putting his foot down his throat with someone he considered a friend. And he doesn't tend to make a lot of those.]

That was - I shouldn't have asked that, huh?

No--no, it's okay. It is not you, I am just-...mm. A little frustrated.

[Extremely so, but there was nothing to be done about it right now.]

I am...flattered, that you are concerned about me. You have not done anything wrong.

That's understandable. [He absently rubs at the scarred side of his face. To be fair, that recovery was through a hell of a lot of drugs and stubbornness, but feeling sidelined, or like people were looking at you like you could fall over... wasn't a great time.]

Good to know. Hate to bulldoze over more than one friendship in a day.

...Is there something bothering you, Garrus? [Grateful for a subject change, he looked up again as his arms settled loosely around Talia.] I do not mind listening, if it would help you.

At this point, the hole's so deep, I'm not sure what's going to do any good.

[It's not a "no", though. Just him deflecting a little as usual. He folds his arms, leaning a sharp hip against the table.]

Someone from my world is here... but not. One of those reincarnation things. It's not going well.

Mm--a common situation, and certainly no easy one.

[Viktor tilted his head slightly in invitation for Garrus to continue.]

No... No, it's not.

[He takes a breath, and ducks his head.]

We - [A frustrated noise, not really words, more of just a vibration.] We were together. I love - loved? - her.

You can see how that would go south. If you say it wrong.

[Which, given his track record, he very well may have.]

Ah...yes, that would complicate things.

[Someone you did but didn't know, who did and didn't remember you? It sounded like a nightmare as far as Viktor was concerned.]

What happened?

She was angry. Said... I didn't care about her. Just the version I knew.

[Which couldn't be further from the truth, even if he doesn't know how to put it into words.]

Could've been worse. But saying "I need space" with someone as stubborn as she is... could be better, too.

Well...I can not say that fails to make sense, on both sides.

[Humming quietly in thought, he idly pet Talia's head as he formed a response.]

It must be a strange discrepancy, no? To meet someone who is and also is not the person you knew and loved...a difficult thing to imagine. Harder still to withstand, I would presume.

Yeah. Can't blame her for being upset. I would be, too, probably.

[Maybe he should have said something when they'd first met, here. Maybe that would have been better. Or... hell, he doesn't know.]

She's... I don't know how to explain it, really. It's still her. Memories, experiences, those are different, sure. But ...

You can see why I need to do something with myself.

I have often found that work is an excellent way to sort out...hm, complicated emotional issues. And if not that, then...at least provide something to think about other than them.

[He gave a gentle, almost sympathetic smile before gesturing to a large Shape kept off to the side, covered by a thin cloth.]

I may have mentioned before--there's a secret project for a game some friends and I have been playing. It's an animatronic creature; all that's left to do is build a remote control and finish adding in a few LED lights. Could I trouble you to help me with that?

No arguments there. Back where I'm from, I coded firing algorithms for hours on bad days.

[The real reason he was always calibrating everything. Numbers were easier than feelings.]

Yeah - I was wondering what that was. Had me curious for days. So - hell yeah. I'd be happy to.

Well, we can work on that, and if you decide you want to talk...mm, I am not one to share secrets. If not, that's just as acceptable. Talia, if you will?

[Talia hopped down from Viktor's lap and skittered over, reaching up to the edge of the cloth.]

Now--I hope you're prepared for a terror from beyond the stars, venturing through planes of reality. [The little Tinkaton dramatically swept the cloth off, revealing a mostly completed horror some five feet tall and nearly as long, metal and clockwork skeleton largely covered by a casing resembling black ichor and dozens of eyes.]

[What the fuck.]

I don't know. Maybe. Rather focus on the project. [There's a beat. He hums, and then adds:] But thanks. It's appreciated.

[Viktor says "terror from beyond the stars" and his brain immediately thinks the man's somehow built a model of a Reaper.]

[It isn't, but it's a little close. His head pulls back on his neck, mandible flaring wide off his jaw in surprise for a good long few beats.]

[And then said mandible angles, flicking in a way reminiscent of a grin.]

... How much did you want it to do, exactly?

[oh no.]

It does not have to do too much; the sound system and smoke machine will do a fair amount of the heavy lifting. But I'd like to be able to control it remotely; the jaw and a few other points have articulation built in, and the mouth is lined with multicolored lights amidst all the teeth.

[There was definitely a note of pride creeping into Viktor's words despite his exhaustion, corner of his mouth pulling into a crooked smile.]

I take it you're impressed.

Impressed? Very.

[If there were water glasses around when he said that last word, the reverb in it could have reenacted the Tyrannosaur's appearance in Jurassic Park.]

Oh, we can do that. We can definitely do that. What about the lights blinking? Or sound? You want any of that, maybe?

[These players are in for Horror.]

I have the sound taken care of, and once I have finished installing them the lights should cycle through the color spectrum automatically. Here, let me see if I can demonstrate what we have so far-

[Viktor's crutch moved as automatically as the chair did, floating to his extended hand for him to pull himself to his feet with some effort. Talia sticking close to his side, he moved to an open panel on the construct's side and reached in to connect some wires. The far too wide jaw creaked open further, an ethereal glow projected from the back of its throat in swirling and shifting colors refracting through the clear material of a hundred teeth.]

I don't need it to do much more than this- ['this' also being the shifting of tentacles with the telltale clicking of clockwork] -so it is a simple matter of finishing touches. I could control it through my own magic, but a remote would prove just slightly less effort.

[He leans in, because of course he does. His attention focused on the creature model. It opens, glows, and he looks like a kid who's got the cool new toy on space Christmas.]

Yeah... yeah. Remote control should be easy to install. You've basically got the groundwork already laid out.

Hear me out. What if it produced fog? I'm guessing it's supposed to attack the players, right? So a fog or a low powered laser to represent something like that. Unless you want it to actually fire projectiles or something along those lines.

Mm...well...

[It didn't take much convincing.]

I suppose incorporating the smoke machine into the frame would be more efficient than operating two separate things...

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