A light turns on and Blake finds himself taking an even closer look at Viktor than ever before, eyes searching for those unseen facts that form pictures all around them. Sighing, he rubs at his hands and takes a lean on the nearest suitable surface. This makes sense.
"It was a power project," he finally says. "Huge investment in givin' everyone in the city — and eventually the world — access to free, clean energy. First step in changin' the world for the better. That kinda stuff. And I'm not—" Blake takes a pause to wipe at his lip, feeling the way sweat is threatening to gather. "It's not one-to-one, but I think we can both agree caution's due when we don't exactly know how it could be used against people."
It's the unintended consequences that worry Blake the most and he hopes that his friend doesn't take it heart because Blake would have the same concerns no matter who suggested the idea.
He locks eyes with Blake, scrutinizing just as much as he's being scrutinized. It's difficult to explain his own past, even if he thinks it would justify the trajectory of his research. Luckily, there are still unanswered questions.
"And how was this used against people? What happened?"
Viktor doesn't doubt that Blake is telling the truth. He does not, however, find this equivalent just yet--he can tell that perhaps there was some nefarious purpose or bad actor involved from the start. He likes to think he'd be smarter than that, especially now that Blake is cautioning him directly.
"I understand the implication of this technology. I don't plan to enact it irresponsibly."
"No one plans to enact technology irresponsibly, Viktor," he says, patient but still finding strength in his voice to borrow those words. He's been criticizing so long he's used to the flare of reasonable aggression most people feel when taken to task. Viktor's no different, although the little voice in the back of Blake's head is screaming you need this job, you idiot.
Frown deepening, he keeps the gaze as best he can, going on, "Terrorists took control of the machine and they held the city hostage — my city — for six months. Men, women, and children locked under the threat of a nuclear holocaust with no recourse. No way in, no way out."
It's been eight months of hell here in the Free Cities and still he thinks he might choose that over reliving those six months in Gotham. Maybe it shows.
"People starved. People died. In the chaos, people were put on trial and shoved out onto thin ice to drown in the rivers. And with no one to disarm the bomb, it was a countdown to the end for all of us and he knew it."
Blake will never forget standing next to a bus of children waiting for the end. He hadn't seen a flash of memories in the light of that explosion, hadn't felt peace knowing this was the end, and even surviving miraculously hadn't changed the aftermath. The cleanup, the destruction, the lives lost.
"It's not the same, I know—" He sighs. "And maybe it'll all work out exactly like you're plannin', but it wouldn't be conscionable to say nothin' at all when I feel so strongly 'bout it. Guard your vision, Viktor, but don't let this tech get into the wrong hands if yours aren't available to guide it anymore."
"They do," he spits back, sounding angrier than he perhaps intends, given the fact that he doesn't doubt Blake's own experiences. But he's seen this, too. "All of the time, especially if the venture is lucrative. That is the only thing that matters, even to some scientists. Everything else is acceptable loss."
Viktor's own work co-opted. Weaponized. Blake talks about a city held hostage--what about a city held hostage for years? Decades? Living under the thumb of an upper class who directly profit from and don't care to know about the suffering that happens underneath them. And they weren't even terrorists--they were the government.
But he's told Blake nothing of this, or his past, or why he does this work in the first place. Why he so desperately wants to ensure that what happened to him never happens to anyone else. He seems to wrangle himself after a moment, carefully considering what he says next.
"You're not wrong." And Blake might get the sense that Viktor finds this difficult to admit. Before his time here, he might take more offense to the very idea that his technology could be misused. Now, Viktor is less idealistic. He knows better. He will not allow what happened in Piltover to happen here. "But you are not the only person who has seen that kind of suffering."
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no subject
"It was a power project," he finally says. "Huge investment in givin' everyone in the city — and eventually the world — access to free, clean energy. First step in changin' the world for the better. That kinda stuff. And I'm not—" Blake takes a pause to wipe at his lip, feeling the way sweat is threatening to gather. "It's not one-to-one, but I think we can both agree caution's due when we don't exactly know how it could be used against people."
It's the unintended consequences that worry Blake the most and he hopes that his friend doesn't take it heart because Blake would have the same concerns no matter who suggested the idea.
no subject
"And how was this used against people? What happened?"
Viktor doesn't doubt that Blake is telling the truth. He does not, however, find this equivalent just yet--he can tell that perhaps there was some nefarious purpose or bad actor involved from the start. He likes to think he'd be smarter than that, especially now that Blake is cautioning him directly.
"I understand the implication of this technology. I don't plan to enact it irresponsibly."
no subject
Frown deepening, he keeps the gaze as best he can, going on, "Terrorists took control of the machine and they held the city hostage — my city — for six months. Men, women, and children locked under the threat of a nuclear holocaust with no recourse. No way in, no way out."
It's been eight months of hell here in the Free Cities and still he thinks he might choose that over reliving those six months in Gotham. Maybe it shows.
"People starved. People died. In the chaos, people were put on trial and shoved out onto thin ice to drown in the rivers. And with no one to disarm the bomb, it was a countdown to the end for all of us and he knew it."
Blake will never forget standing next to a bus of children waiting for the end. He hadn't seen a flash of memories in the light of that explosion, hadn't felt peace knowing this was the end, and even surviving miraculously hadn't changed the aftermath. The cleanup, the destruction, the lives lost.
"It's not the same, I know—" He sighs. "And maybe it'll all work out exactly like you're plannin', but it wouldn't be conscionable to say nothin' at all when I feel so strongly 'bout it. Guard your vision, Viktor, but don't let this tech get into the wrong hands if yours aren't available to guide it anymore."
no subject
Viktor's own work co-opted. Weaponized. Blake talks about a city held hostage--what about a city held hostage for years? Decades? Living under the thumb of an upper class who directly profit from and don't care to know about the suffering that happens underneath them. And they weren't even terrorists--they were the government.
But he's told Blake nothing of this, or his past, or why he does this work in the first place. Why he so desperately wants to ensure that what happened to him never happens to anyone else. He seems to wrangle himself after a moment, carefully considering what he says next.
"You're not wrong." And Blake might get the sense that Viktor finds this difficult to admit. Before his time here, he might take more offense to the very idea that his technology could be misused. Now, Viktor is less idealistic. He knows better. He will not allow what happened in Piltover to happen here. "But you are not the only person who has seen that kind of suffering."